English Man: "Iced Tea? Iced Tea? Good Lord Mildred. Did you ever hear of such a English Woman: "My word, no Henry. I think I should like to try some of that." The point trying to be made with these examples is that exposure theory states that nothing in life is obvious. What we do have are varying degrees of exposure. This means the next time somebody says: is painfully obvious to see the “It do not get excited. outcome of this situation,” Translate that statement into: being exposed to this situation for the last 20 “after years of my life, and having seen the same consequences for the same 20 years, it is now easy for me to conclude the outcome.” Well, this good sociology professor I wish I remembered his name and could – give him credit impressed me with his theory. obvious-bewilderment-exposure – Based on his theory I have created an equation: Bewilderment + Exposure = Obvious This equation states that bewilderment is where you start. With zero exposure it is not logical to immediately comprehend a new concept, let alone consider it to be However, let enough come your way, and yes, you too will obvious. exposure find something obvious that was confusing at the first introduction. This means that you need some special sympathy for your first instructor and your first book. I have had that theory work for, and against me. Students have come to me and said, made so much more sense to me when it was explained in college.” I “it have had the opposite claim with, only my first instructor had explained it as “if well as you did I would not have had so much trouble.” So just what is the point here? Something very weird happens with academic learning. Students, and I mean students of all possible ages, in all kinds of academic topics, expect understanding on the first go-around. Students open their books, and with some luck read a topic once. Perhaps a second, brief reading occurs immediately before an examination. And more than once, I have been told when I am repeating an important, probably confusing, you told us that yesterday point that requires repetition.
English Man: "Iced Tea? Iced Tea? Good Lord Mildred. Did you ever hear of such a English Woman: "My word, no Henry. I think I should like to try some of that." The point trying to be made with these examples is that exposure theory states that nothing in life is obvious. What we do have are varying degrees of exposure. This means the next time somebody says: “It is painfully obvious to see the outcome of this situation,” do not get excited. Translate that statement into: “after being exposed to this situation for the last 20 years of my life, and having seen the same consequences for the same 20 years, it is now easy for me to conclude the outcome.” Well, this good sociology professor – I wish I remembered his name and could give him credit – impressed me with his obvious-bewilderment-exposure theory. Based on his theory I have created an equation: Bewilderment + Exposure = Obvious This equation states that bewilderment is where you start. With zero exposure it is not logical to immediately comprehend a new concept, let alone consider it to be obvious. However, let enough exposure come your way, and yes, you too will find something obvious that was confusing at the first introduction. This means that you need some special sympathy for your first instructor and your first book. I have had that theory work for, and against me. Students have come to me and said, “it made so much more sense to me when it was explained in college.” I have had the opposite claim with, “if only my first instructor had explained it as well as you did I would not have had so much trouble.” So just what is the point here? Something very weird happens with academic learning. Students, and I mean students of all possible ages, in all kinds of academic topics, expect understanding on the first go-around. Students open their books, and with some luck read a topic once. Perhaps a second, brief reading occurs immediately before an examination. And more than once, I have been told you told us that yesterday when I am repeating an important, probably confusing, point that requires repetition.
Text01-IntroToCS.docx