I have just been helping my 5th grade daughter with her science homework which has been an extremely painful process to both of us. Though it would be easier to blame the lack of interest on her (most children her age are inherently lazy and disinterested, etc...) this would be all too easy. In reality the problem should be apparent - let me demonstrate;
Suppose you wanted to learn about the way parachutes work? How would you begin? You might read a book about parachutes or you might investigate on your own. An investigation is a procedure that is carried out to gather data about an object or an event. An investigation can be as simple as measuring an object or observing a response to a stimulus.
This is an excerpt directly from the text. Now to the eye of an adult not sitting with an actual 5th grade kid - might see this as a fine statement. Closer inspection through the eyes of a 10 year kid - has now likened reading this material to having their teeth pulled. The only long term affect this has had is to further distance my daughter from science. With the assistance of a 5th grader - let me rewrite;
What is an investigation? Lets start with gathering data, something we all do without even thinking about it. Have you ever watched a baby given a new toy? They will turn it around in their hands, they will look at it, they will put it in their mouth, they will sit on it. In short they are investigating the new toy - their little minds are gathering data about the object.
Do you gather data? Well - has your mother or father ever tried to feed you a new food. Do you blindly eat the food or do you sniff it, take a little taste and then make a judgment to whether the food is edible. You are gathering data about the food.
How else can we gather data? It helps to understand the concept of a stimulus. The smell of the food is a good example of a stimulus. Whether you wrinkle your nose and say gross, or smile and say yum - would be a response. You react to stimuli (the word for more than one stimulus) all the time. Heat, cold, tastes, smells, pokes, prods, and tickles - they are all stimuli.
If you watch how something (or somebody) reacts to a stimulus - you are conducting an investigation.
We took this new language and actually conducted an experiment, determining that our 4th grade daughter will resist a tickling stimulus 100% of the time, giggle 75% of the time, and be silent 25% of the time.
Science is all around us - and is not as boring and dull as we make it. What really needs to be done is science texts need to be written with scientists AND people who understand children (like a child psychologist). The effectiveness of the book needs to be tested on actual children (our school system spends a lot of money on these texts - how hard is itto demand good ones?). For those who read this who do not have children (but plan to) - you will all soon feel my pain. For those of you who have felt my pain - this is a shared pain, not only children feel it - but also the parents who work through this with their kids. I also applaud all those wonderful science teachers out their who breathe life into science - had it not been for them my life might have gone much differently. And special thanks to my 9th grade physics teacher at Spartanburg High School who opened class the first day by driving a nail through a board with his hand - and then showed all of us how the principles of momentum make this quite easy to do - and also fostered a small group of future scientists.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Academic or academic
(1) Academic: academician, an educator who works at a college or university.
(2) Academic: hypothetical or theoretical and not expected to produce an immediate or practical result.
These are 2 of the definitions of academic. I have through most of my life aspired to the first of these 2 definitions having been influenced by teachers in my life and my parents. In my association with academia I have come to realize why both definitions have very close meaning, and I have always tried to stay away from the second of these definitions.
The experiences I have had in my research work have been extremely varied, having started my Ph.D career as an environmental engineer. It did not take much time for me to push the limits of where I wished to go in that field – so I turned my attention towards the broader field of software engineering for which I had a strong “knack”
As I expanded my work and research and took on varying projects I developed a strong desire to work on project that had a real meaning and impact. The first project of this type was Drugnet which was an FDLE project, but that led to more project in public safety. The current FINDER project has been a direct result of that early desire to do something with a strong positive impact – and any deep look into that project will reveal the incredible impact that it has had. Not to say it has been without its critics, I’ve learned that even doing the right thing will put you in the line of fire nearly every time.
One other project that I took on – which really was an incredible interest of mine was SCINET, which was championed by a number of strong visionary people in Seminole County government. The entire idea was to look at government operations with a holistic and unbiased approach and to do what was necessary to increase the efficiency of government. With SCINET we had a willing government participant with a strong champion within the government organization. When I took the project on – a colleague of mine who I know and respect warned me that the nature and culture of government was designed to breed inefficiency and mediocrity and that the project was doomed at the start. I took this as more of a challenge than anything else.
Over the years the project had solid successes. We analyzed the government processes, we made changes, and we built software to support these changes and new processes. The software had a leveling effect of bringing accountability to government workers – for once, everyone could see true productivity. The project was not without its challenges and often played out like a video game. Each time we would vanquish one challenge – usually in the form of people, another more powerful foe would take its place. I did, however, have my team and we marched forward. How much was saved by Seminole County as this project moved forward, - I do not want to steal the thunder of my graduate students who have quantified this savings and are publishing it as a result of their thesis and dissertations – but we’ll go with “quite a bit”
Now I face more challenges in the project, and as a direct result of shying away from the second of the two definitions. The software and analysis produced has real monetary value. If you even want to see the true color and motivations of people you have to confront them with the temptation of money. I have faced this same situation with the FINDER project, and now get to see it with this project too. It seems to be human nature that is compounded in a government setting – that when the possibility of one person doing something of distinction presents itself, others will ensure that they are pulled back down into the masses. This should be an interesting period of time – we hopefully will find a way to work out the IP here, I always hold the optimistic hope that “cooler heads will prevail”. We’ll see how it goes on this one – stay tuned and hope for me as I stay with definition 1.
(2) Academic: hypothetical or theoretical and not expected to produce an immediate or practical result.
These are 2 of the definitions of academic. I have through most of my life aspired to the first of these 2 definitions having been influenced by teachers in my life and my parents. In my association with academia I have come to realize why both definitions have very close meaning, and I have always tried to stay away from the second of these definitions.
The experiences I have had in my research work have been extremely varied, having started my Ph.D career as an environmental engineer. It did not take much time for me to push the limits of where I wished to go in that field – so I turned my attention towards the broader field of software engineering for which I had a strong “knack”
As I expanded my work and research and took on varying projects I developed a strong desire to work on project that had a real meaning and impact. The first project of this type was Drugnet which was an FDLE project, but that led to more project in public safety. The current FINDER project has been a direct result of that early desire to do something with a strong positive impact – and any deep look into that project will reveal the incredible impact that it has had. Not to say it has been without its critics, I’ve learned that even doing the right thing will put you in the line of fire nearly every time.
One other project that I took on – which really was an incredible interest of mine was SCINET, which was championed by a number of strong visionary people in Seminole County government. The entire idea was to look at government operations with a holistic and unbiased approach and to do what was necessary to increase the efficiency of government. With SCINET we had a willing government participant with a strong champion within the government organization. When I took the project on – a colleague of mine who I know and respect warned me that the nature and culture of government was designed to breed inefficiency and mediocrity and that the project was doomed at the start. I took this as more of a challenge than anything else.
Over the years the project had solid successes. We analyzed the government processes, we made changes, and we built software to support these changes and new processes. The software had a leveling effect of bringing accountability to government workers – for once, everyone could see true productivity. The project was not without its challenges and often played out like a video game. Each time we would vanquish one challenge – usually in the form of people, another more powerful foe would take its place. I did, however, have my team and we marched forward. How much was saved by Seminole County as this project moved forward, - I do not want to steal the thunder of my graduate students who have quantified this savings and are publishing it as a result of their thesis and dissertations – but we’ll go with “quite a bit”
Now I face more challenges in the project, and as a direct result of shying away from the second of the two definitions. The software and analysis produced has real monetary value. If you even want to see the true color and motivations of people you have to confront them with the temptation of money. I have faced this same situation with the FINDER project, and now get to see it with this project too. It seems to be human nature that is compounded in a government setting – that when the possibility of one person doing something of distinction presents itself, others will ensure that they are pulled back down into the masses. This should be an interesting period of time – we hopefully will find a way to work out the IP here, I always hold the optimistic hope that “cooler heads will prevail”. We’ll see how it goes on this one – stay tuned and hope for me as I stay with definition 1.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
More on Shift Happens
Thanks (and actually thanks to all who emailed privately both agreeing and disagreeing with me). The fact that we can have this debate openly is one of the great things about this country. I do not diagree with any of the things that Julian says here in this email, and though it may seem like the opinions are counter to each other - in reality the true outcome is not (in disagreement). So lest we get sidetracked by opinion and debate - let's hit the real issues and responses (note I preface everything with "My response" - I want to note that I am giving my opinion and that it is OK to disagree with me);
1. The world has flattened alllowing other countries to directly compete against the US in key technical areas where they have not been competitive in the past.
My response: Nothing spurs performance like competition, and all this innovation improves technology, in turn improving the ability for others to join in the competition. Even if the US does not develop many of these innovations we will benefit from them. We can and will be competitive in this environment - but we will probably not be the center of all the new developments in the future.
2. The global standard of living will increase.
My response: Julian is correct in stating that there is no reason the US standard of living must decrease for the global standard of living to increase. This is a choice we as a nation will actually make (and are making). Basic infrastructure (roads, plumbing, schools, hospitals, etc..) are what really make the SOL in the US high. (if you don't believe me just visit a 3rd world country, you will appreciate indoor plumbing and sanitary sewer systems after that). We can choose to invest in improvement of these items (or not) and they will have an effect on SOL. As far as the global SOL increasing - we can see countries building this infrastructure before our eye. BUT - the material required to create this infrastructure is finite (at any point in time - no need to go into the economics of this, I do understand it) , so when China purchases more of the worldwide concrete supply, we do see higher prices in the US.
3. The US has been a good world leader.
My response: I agree with this. Despite our mistakes and ills caused by the US, as far as world leadership goes I would have to give it good grades especially compared to the other options. This is probably because we have a very diverse and free population. And we will continue to be a world leader, I simply think that we will be more in a position of sharing the role with other countries. There are other opinions about this I could state (I am bothered that we could concentrate on injustive in Iraq - but completely ignore places like Zimbabwe and Sudan - but I also understand why).
4. We can prepare our next generation for the problems they will face.
My response: Between global warming, flattened world economy, and all the other issues we will leave the next generations plenty of challenges. And I think they will be up to those challenges (we better hope so). By teaching the next generation to think critically, to view problems as opportunities for solutions, to think independently and creatively, to work hard and use their minds, to keep an open mind, and many other things - we are leading them in a good direction. I am very hopeful for the future.
Lastly: We must avoid what many have come to phrase as "engineering arrogance". Engineers do play a key role in what will transpire with our economy - but so do people of other disciplines. It is this arrogance that has made it difficult to recruit students into STEM disciplines as students view them as the hard path. We must work to understand the benefit and the role of all the disciplines to our students and to ourselves.
1. The world has flattened alllowing other countries to directly compete against the US in key technical areas where they have not been competitive in the past.
My response: Nothing spurs performance like competition, and all this innovation improves technology, in turn improving the ability for others to join in the competition. Even if the US does not develop many of these innovations we will benefit from them. We can and will be competitive in this environment - but we will probably not be the center of all the new developments in the future.
2. The global standard of living will increase.
My response: Julian is correct in stating that there is no reason the US standard of living must decrease for the global standard of living to increase. This is a choice we as a nation will actually make (and are making). Basic infrastructure (roads, plumbing, schools, hospitals, etc..) are what really make the SOL in the US high. (if you don't believe me just visit a 3rd world country, you will appreciate indoor plumbing and sanitary sewer systems after that). We can choose to invest in improvement of these items (or not) and they will have an effect on SOL. As far as the global SOL increasing - we can see countries building this infrastructure before our eye. BUT - the material required to create this infrastructure is finite (at any point in time - no need to go into the economics of this, I do understand it) , so when China purchases more of the worldwide concrete supply, we do see higher prices in the US.
3. The US has been a good world leader.
My response: I agree with this. Despite our mistakes and ills caused by the US, as far as world leadership goes I would have to give it good grades especially compared to the other options. This is probably because we have a very diverse and free population. And we will continue to be a world leader, I simply think that we will be more in a position of sharing the role with other countries. There are other opinions about this I could state (I am bothered that we could concentrate on injustive in Iraq - but completely ignore places like Zimbabwe and Sudan - but I also understand why).
4. We can prepare our next generation for the problems they will face.
My response: Between global warming, flattened world economy, and all the other issues we will leave the next generations plenty of challenges. And I think they will be up to those challenges (we better hope so). By teaching the next generation to think critically, to view problems as opportunities for solutions, to think independently and creatively, to work hard and use their minds, to keep an open mind, and many other things - we are leading them in a good direction. I am very hopeful for the future.
Lastly: We must avoid what many have come to phrase as "engineering arrogance". Engineers do play a key role in what will transpire with our economy - but so do people of other disciplines. It is this arrogance that has made it difficult to recruit students into STEM disciplines as students view them as the hard path. We must work to understand the benefit and the role of all the disciplines to our students and to ourselves.
Response from Julian Schmoke
This is an excellent reply to the issues brought up in the "shift happens" and my response to the shift happens video. As this is a forum for sharing ideas - I am by no means under the delusion that my opinions are correct, and as academicians we all agree that open debate is important to allow us to completely understand the issues. This comes from Julian Schmoke a faculty at Devry;
Ron,
My concern with the lack of US dominance has less to do with our standard of living and more to do with where we stand militarily because there is a connection between the two. A lot of people like to "hate" America, and we have not always been correct in the way we have involved ourselves in world affairs, but people want to forget the good things that America has done and hopefully will continue to do. I don't have to give everyone a history lesson on US involvement in WW1 and WW2, and our role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having been to Taiwan and reading the weekly rhetoric being exchanged between that small island and China I have no doubt that they would have been swallowed up by China by now were it not for the US. Israel might not exist as a nation anymore without US support. We are not perfect, but the US is still the place of choice to live for many people in the world. We should not have to apologize for that or feel guilty about that. Instead, as a nation we try to promote capitalism and democracy a a way of life to other nations over such alternatives as communism, socialism, dictatorships, etc.
I also reject the notion that the US standard of living has to drop in order for the world's standard of living to increase. There are also some pretty low standards of living in isolated pockets of the US and very some high standards of living is some less developed countries. What the US has is a way of government that allows people who are willing to work for it a chance to pursue prosperity that simply does not exist in some nations. Forgive me for flag waving, but having the most powerful country in the history of mankind that promotes "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" has some advantages to the entire world that we should not be so willing to surrender. Even our right to disagree with each other without fear of retaliation is something we should not take for granted.
The example of gasoline has the added factor that OPEC can control prices simply by choosing to cut back on production. There is no real oil shortage, only of shortage of people with control of the oil. We do have a lousy energy policy to begin with, so I agree that oil price increases may be a good thing in the long run to get our dependency removed from it. But lets not lose sight of the fact that as powerful as the US is, we could simply take the oil we wanted. The world knows that will never happen. Why? Because this nation is populated by a people with a moral compass founded on principles expressed in our constitution, and have enough say in the way the government runs to prevent it. Anyone who does not think this to be important should look at our involvement in Iraq. Whether you agree or disagree with the US, the american people have begun to assert themselves in a way that will eventually lead to our withdrawal, for better or worse.
If you think that it does not matter who the major economic power in the world is, I would have to disagree with you. With regards to the solutions, there is a greatr paradigm shift that has to occur in America before the necessary changes get made, and unfortunately that change probably begins at Wall Street. Promoting engineering as a profession only works if engineering is indeed, a better profession to be in than the ones that our prospective students are running to, and US business and government has not helped our cause in that matter with its short term focus on profit over longevity.
Julian Schmoke.
Ron,
My concern with the lack of US dominance has less to do with our standard of living and more to do with where we stand militarily because there is a connection between the two. A lot of people like to "hate" America, and we have not always been correct in the way we have involved ourselves in world affairs, but people want to forget the good things that America has done and hopefully will continue to do. I don't have to give everyone a history lesson on US involvement in WW1 and WW2, and our role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having been to Taiwan and reading the weekly rhetoric being exchanged between that small island and China I have no doubt that they would have been swallowed up by China by now were it not for the US. Israel might not exist as a nation anymore without US support. We are not perfect, but the US is still the place of choice to live for many people in the world. We should not have to apologize for that or feel guilty about that. Instead, as a nation we try to promote capitalism and democracy a a way of life to other nations over such alternatives as communism, socialism, dictatorships, etc.
I also reject the notion that the US standard of living has to drop in order for the world's standard of living to increase. There are also some pretty low standards of living in isolated pockets of the US and very some high standards of living is some less developed countries. What the US has is a way of government that allows people who are willing to work for it a chance to pursue prosperity that simply does not exist in some nations. Forgive me for flag waving, but having the most powerful country in the history of mankind that promotes "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" has some advantages to the entire world that we should not be so willing to surrender. Even our right to disagree with each other without fear of retaliation is something we should not take for granted.
The example of gasoline has the added factor that OPEC can control prices simply by choosing to cut back on production. There is no real oil shortage, only of shortage of people with control of the oil. We do have a lousy energy policy to begin with, so I agree that oil price increases may be a good thing in the long run to get our dependency removed from it. But lets not lose sight of the fact that as powerful as the US is, we could simply take the oil we wanted. The world knows that will never happen. Why? Because this nation is populated by a people with a moral compass founded on principles expressed in our constitution, and have enough say in the way the government runs to prevent it. Anyone who does not think this to be important should look at our involvement in Iraq. Whether you agree or disagree with the US, the american people have begun to assert themselves in a way that will eventually lead to our withdrawal, for better or worse.
If you think that it does not matter who the major economic power in the world is, I would have to disagree with you. With regards to the solutions, there is a greatr paradigm shift that has to occur in America before the necessary changes get made, and unfortunately that change probably begins at Wall Street. Promoting engineering as a profession only works if engineering is indeed, a better profession to be in than the ones that our prospective students are running to, and US business and government has not helped our cause in that matter with its short term focus on profit over longevity.
Julian Schmoke.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Globalization
In response to what actions can we take to prepare our students for the next century as shown in Shift happens
http://www.glumbert.com/media/shift/
I do not often chime in, but this is a good occasion for me to throw in my two cents, some may agree with me, others may not - but hopefully I'll offer some good ideas with real actions that we, as a community, can do now.
- The question is not if America will lose its economic leadership, but more of a question of when. Most of us in the US view this as some potential terrible event - but in reality many nations that do not dominate offer a solid quality of life and standard of living. In the US there will still always be an educated and affluent portion of the population. Loss of our economic dominance will not affect these people as much as it will affect those at the lower ends of the economic ladder as the overall population will no longer be able to afford to sustain programs that help support them.
- In the talk of globalization, this presentation is very US centered. The very presentation carries an attitude that permeates the narrow minded view that most in the US has. What is really changing is the global standard of living. If the US standard of living must drop (for us 300 million) for the standard of living of the remaining billions to increase - is this a good or bad thing? We do see the effects of this daily - competition for gasoline has driven the price of gas up in our country (likely to $4 / gallon by summer's end). It may even force a percentage of American's to (gasp) purchase more gas efficient vehicles to maintain their travel habits or worse (gasp) change those habits. But again - is this a bad thing, and engineer could easily argue that higher gas prices now are a good thing, as they will force us to consider conservation measures, push us to national policy of better energy independence, and force technology to meet the need. And all this will happen!
over a period of time that will allow us to react - rather than push the inevitable crisis back in time - giving us less time to prepare.
- So what can we do ?
1. Bring these topics up in class in front of our students. They are the ones that will be the most affected, we owe it to them to know what they are facing.
2. Create competitions, sponsor workshops and conferences, and do what we can to address these issues. There are answers to many of these questions.
3. Make friends with these new global partners. Have abroad programs, student exchanges, faculty exchanges, etc...
4. Change our curriculum and keep it current (I'm only going to pop this bag of worms open a little)
5. Globalize our curriculum and introduce current affairs. (try polling your students by a show of hands on any current affair - you will be surprised)
6. Introduce Information Fluency and ability to process and use information as a foundation of the curriculum (yes this can be done).
7. As engineers and technologists get involved in the other classes from other disciplines, the skills from these classes will actually be the students edge.
8. Incorporate business and specifically international business into our students curriculum.
I'm sure there are many other things we do - and we are not the first folks to recognize that we must react to make our students competitive in this new world.
http://www.glumbert.com/media/shift/
I do not often chime in, but this is a good occasion for me to throw in my two cents, some may agree with me, others may not - but hopefully I'll offer some good ideas with real actions that we, as a community, can do now.
- The question is not if America will lose its economic leadership, but more of a question of when. Most of us in the US view this as some potential terrible event - but in reality many nations that do not dominate offer a solid quality of life and standard of living. In the US there will still always be an educated and affluent portion of the population. Loss of our economic dominance will not affect these people as much as it will affect those at the lower ends of the economic ladder as the overall population will no longer be able to afford to sustain programs that help support them.
- In the talk of globalization, this presentation is very US centered. The very presentation carries an attitude that permeates the narrow minded view that most in the US has. What is really changing is the global standard of living. If the US standard of living must drop (for us 300 million) for the standard of living of the remaining billions to increase - is this a good or bad thing? We do see the effects of this daily - competition for gasoline has driven the price of gas up in our country (likely to $4 / gallon by summer's end). It may even force a percentage of American's to (gasp) purchase more gas efficient vehicles to maintain their travel habits or worse (gasp) change those habits. But again - is this a bad thing, and engineer could easily argue that higher gas prices now are a good thing, as they will force us to consider conservation measures, push us to national policy of better energy independence, and force technology to meet the need. And all this will happen!
over a period of time that will allow us to react - rather than push the inevitable crisis back in time - giving us less time to prepare.
- So what can we do ?
1. Bring these topics up in class in front of our students. They are the ones that will be the most affected, we owe it to them to know what they are facing.
2. Create competitions, sponsor workshops and conferences, and do what we can to address these issues. There are answers to many of these questions.
3. Make friends with these new global partners. Have abroad programs, student exchanges, faculty exchanges, etc...
4. Change our curriculum and keep it current (I'm only going to pop this bag of worms open a little)
5. Globalize our curriculum and introduce current affairs. (try polling your students by a show of hands on any current affair - you will be surprised)
6. Introduce Information Fluency and ability to process and use information as a foundation of the curriculum (yes this can be done).
7. As engineers and technologists get involved in the other classes from other disciplines, the skills from these classes will actually be the students edge.
8. Incorporate business and specifically international business into our students curriculum.
I'm sure there are many other things we do - and we are not the first folks to recognize that we must react to make our students competitive in this new world.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Somewhat Puzzled
I enjoy doing puzzles and solving problems. This is somewhat the heart of being an engineer - you seek problems and you look to find a solution. Having been in education for over 20 years I can also say with some authoirty that we do a pretty good job of teaching students to also solve problems. There is something however, that we do not teach. To answer the question to what this is - I must first give some background.
In the engineering disicipline most problems are solved by an engineering method, basically you follow a prescribed series of steps that will eventually lead you to a solution. A true understanding of the basic scientific principles behind these steps is not necessary to successfully solve the problem. Sure, it helps - but the majority of engineering students solve problems by first finding a similar problem and emulating the logic that leads to the solution.
So what happens when these students are confronted with problems that fall outside of their frame of reference, problems that they do not have an example to follow. The best way to find out of course is to simply give a group of problems that require the students to move outside of their current thought processes, and I often do just this to groups of my students.
Reactions to this type of experience vary greatly. Some students quickly lose interest and cannot wait for the session to end, others embrace the chance to solve something new and work tirelessly to come up with a solution. What the students do not see is what I am looking for. I am looking to see who will think outside the limits of what has been taught( or should I say schooled) into them in over 16 years of relentless education, creativity and risk.
Great discoveries are often made by mistake, but why? In the case of a discovery - was not the information needed for the discovery always there? A well-educated and prepared mind will immediately see the potential in something that is stumbled upon. Add that element called creativity to the mind and you will find that the discovery was not an accident after all.
So where is the point, in all this education we still are missing a few things. We want to teach love of learning, and proper problem solving methods, but we also end up cutting off the students greatest mental capabilities. For those readers who see the puzzle here, congratulations. I make no pretense for having the solution, but sometimes being puzzled is the answer.
In the engineering disicipline most problems are solved by an engineering method, basically you follow a prescribed series of steps that will eventually lead you to a solution. A true understanding of the basic scientific principles behind these steps is not necessary to successfully solve the problem. Sure, it helps - but the majority of engineering students solve problems by first finding a similar problem and emulating the logic that leads to the solution.
So what happens when these students are confronted with problems that fall outside of their frame of reference, problems that they do not have an example to follow. The best way to find out of course is to simply give a group of problems that require the students to move outside of their current thought processes, and I often do just this to groups of my students.
Reactions to this type of experience vary greatly. Some students quickly lose interest and cannot wait for the session to end, others embrace the chance to solve something new and work tirelessly to come up with a solution. What the students do not see is what I am looking for. I am looking to see who will think outside the limits of what has been taught( or should I say schooled) into them in over 16 years of relentless education, creativity and risk.
Great discoveries are often made by mistake, but why? In the case of a discovery - was not the information needed for the discovery always there? A well-educated and prepared mind will immediately see the potential in something that is stumbled upon. Add that element called creativity to the mind and you will find that the discovery was not an accident after all.
So where is the point, in all this education we still are missing a few things. We want to teach love of learning, and proper problem solving methods, but we also end up cutting off the students greatest mental capabilities. For those readers who see the puzzle here, congratulations. I make no pretense for having the solution, but sometimes being puzzled is the answer.
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