CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE?
Understanding the mistakes our brains make in processing visual information could provide important clues to help people learn and retain information, a public lecture at the Australian National University was told last week.
“The traditional approach to teaching and learning is what the ‘sage on the stage’ delivers the information and the learner learns it,” said Prof Eric Muzar, a physicist from Harvard University, who is in Australia on a visit.
“But studies in neurobiology show that isn’t true. We interpret what we see and hear and then attach our meaning, which can be dramatically opposed to what is being said.”
Prof Mazur says that mistakes in understanding come about because of the way the brain processes and holds information.
“The brain doesn’t store facts, it stores models. For example, if you slap someone in the face, you’re likely to get slapped back – that’s a model.
“If you have an incorrect model in your head though, and you see something that doesn’t correspond to it, you don’t have time to adjust your model and, instead, you’ll adjust your memory to fit the faulty model.”
Using this theory, Prof Mazur has changed the way he lectures and achieves significant improvements in students’ learning outcomes.
An interesting thought, isn’t it? What do you think? Post your comments for others to share.
ANGER OVER SHOOTING OF LIONESS
In a split-second decision Sally Padey, owner of Mozo Zoo on the south coast of New South Wales, order her marksmen to shoot her loved lioness as a group of 35 elderly tourists approached it.
The nine-year-old 190kg lioness named Jamelia, which Sally had hand-raised, bottle-fed, played with it and even tickled its under belly, was loose in her enclosure which had accidentally been left open at that time.
Her choice, obviously, was either the lioness or the potential risk to the lives of the tourists.
Instead of being praised, she was flooded with angry emails asking her why the lioness had not been tranquillised instead of being shot dead.
Sally, 51, who started the zoo 20 years ago, thought she had done the right thing.
Did she? Post your views for others to share.
POLICE TAKE TOUGH ACTION IN PERTH VIOLENT NIGHTLIFE
No-one disputes that the job of a policeman is tough and hazardous in this age of freely available excessive alcohol and drunkenness.
But, lately, several police officers have been brutally attacked as they tried to stop brawls at nightclubs and public bars where anti-social behaviour is only too common.
For an example, in a recent case at a Joondalup tavern, Constable Matt Bucher was head-butted from behind and knocked down to the ground.
Married only a year ago, Butcher was in hospital and subsequently suffered partial paralysis that deprived him of his love for sport.
The three men – a father and his two sons – who assaulted him were acquitted by a District Court jury to the aghast and outrage of the community.
They claimed that it was self-defence to stop the police from using excessive force on the father who has a heart condition.
Now the police will take tough action at venues where such brawls occur once too often.
The police have warned nightclubs and pubs in Perth’s entertainment precinct of Northbridge that unruly and crowded venues would be forced to close down if they don’t take more responsibility in serving alcohol.
One nightclub, The Rock, has been labelled by police as “the most dangerous and violent venue in Western Australia" – an accusation its owner denies. However, it will no longer rock the night if the police move to cancel its licence is successful.
And the police are now compiling a list of the most troublesome spots.
Northbridge is the hub of nightlife in Perth. It is usually crowed with young people on weekends until 3am. For most of them the night really begins at around 11pm.
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