Interesting take.<\/p>\n
But I am going to argue that the “internal” factors (a student’s interest in science and technology, i.e. whether or not a student suffers from math-phobia, which in turn depends on the styles of pedagogy) matter too. Here’s why. Clearly someone who is math-phobic and has an aversion to mathematics will not opt for an engineering degree in college. So at the very least, something<\/span> must happen that makes the best and the brightest in India less prone to math-phobia. Clearly that something cannot be the style of science pedagogy, which, if anything, is even more authoritarian in India.
\nThe difference, I will argue, lies in the way that <\/span>other<\/span> subjects — the non-technical ones — are taught in India<\/span>. In these subjects, students are asked to learn a lot of things by heart (a.k.a. rote learning) and there is an emphasis on facts rather than method. <\/span>When compared with this, the best and the brightest often find the problem-solving methods of mathematics and science strangely appealing.
\nvia Reflections on Cog Sci: Math-phobia, pedagogy and the choice of occupations<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interesting take. But I am going to argue that the “internal” factors (a student’s interest in science and technology, i.e. whether or not a student suffers from math-phobia, which in turn depends on the styles of pedagogy) matter too. Here’s why. Clearly someone who is math-phobic and has an aversion to mathematics will not opt … <\/p>\n