In school we receive mixed signals about guessing. On some tests we’re told to leave no question unanswered, and that our first choice is typically the right one. On the other hand, we see supposed to be prepared for our tests, and guesswork is not a typical component of being prepared.
If you study the preferred learning strategies in boys in math class, for instance, early research studies found that boys preferred developing their own ways of solving math problems to the most obvious routes, like counting or standard algorithms that were being taught in class. The practice intrigued me, especially as we had often found when interview accomplished dyslexic engineers of various sorts that they described similar processes in their math school, even if developing their ‘own ways’ were slower or sometimes led to more errors.
However, in Fernette Eide’s article, she comes out strongly in favor of guessing, with the research to back it up. Guesswork is shown to be especially helpful in math, and can lead to children discovering their own methods for solving problems when they can’t seem to learn them the traditional way. Since there are no two brains exactly alike, it seems logical to assume that all children will not learn by the same formulas. I think that any method that allows a child to master a skill that they would not otherwise have mastered, should be put to immediate use.
Key takeaways
- Although the act of guessing gets looked down on, especially in math class, the author points out that there are some benefits to the practice of making a guess when learning.
- Some of the benefits of guessing can be as simple as getting the problem solver involved in the problem right away, it doesn’t allow for the ‘I haven’t been taught this yet’ attitude.
- Dyslexic engineers have said that they often had to start out with the process of guessing during their education not because it was easier, but because (as neuroscientists say) it was the only way they could learn without the standard memorization of steps, which proves difficult for a dyslexic mind.
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