Does IIT require more Cramming or Real Understanding?

[sachin_rocks]

the title.

 

[Varun]

Well, well. My favourite topic.

IIT requires real understanding but the problem with the pattern of their exam - IITJEE is that, if you aren't a born-genius, you have to confine yourself in a room, like a nerd, for a whoppy two years, and detach yourself for any social life (ludicrous!). Plus the fact you've to mug up books regarding science and you probably never will learn anything practical, until you get into IIT itself. (Which is the opposite in western schools, where you develop a practical base from the start).
IIT-JEE or IIT you can say, or most IIT students are more intent on getting lucrative jobs, topping classes, getting marks etc. rather than exploring science to the core, which again is quite opposite in the west, you can see the efficacy in their online lecture videos themselves.

Plus, it's rather fallacious that to earn a seat in Computer Sciences, you need to clear an exam which contains only PCM, not even a pint of computer science.

But still if you're ardent on becoming an engineer, I would say try your hand in IIT. But if you are more intent on becoming a researcher or something, western unis are the best. (you need to have a good grasp on english, and a realistic thinking). MIT, CalTech, Standford, Oxford, Max Planck Institute are some of the famous ones, I can name more.

 

[sachin_rocks]

Well, well. My favourite topic.

IIT requires real understanding but the problem with the pattern of their exam - IITJEE is that, if you aren't a born-genius, you have to confine yourself in a room, like a nerd, for a whoppy two years, and detach yourself for any social life (ludicrous!). Plus the fact you've to mug up books regarding science and you probably never will learn anything practical, until you get into IIT itself.

if IIT require real understanding you shouldn't have to mug(cram) up books regarding science?

 

[Varun]

it requires too much real understanding, by which I mean, more than what is taught to you in the school. For this you need to join coaching centres, who hand you plethora of books and study material to 'top IIT'. If you need to get a rank in IIT, and you're not a child prodigy or genius, you've to spend hours and hours mugging up those questions, detaching yourself from everything - your social life, sports, girls () - everything, if you want to get a rank.

Talk about real understanding, and it means that you know both the theoritical and practical aspects of a topic. If you study the way which is aforementioned, you'll almost never get to know the practical aspects. For eg. You'll know angular momentum is this this, blah blah, all formulas etc. but you'll probably not know how to use it in practical; that spinning tops exhibit a strange but fascinating gyroscopic effect, but you'll know how to calculate it only. If someone asks you to watch a spinning top and explain, you'll hardly been able to.

That's for the 90% of the students who join coaching centers, I've been in FIITJEE for 10th class, and I've seen the condition.

ANd if you try to do it the other way, understanding practical aspects, treat science as your passion, then you'll need time - lots of time, not just two-three years but your whole life. But then it's almost a cinch that you won't top the JEE.

----------

Moreover, the coaching centre guys will fit into your mind, that you need to have a real understanding - but - only to top IIT, get marks. They'll dissuade you from having a life at all, they'll tell you that humanities is ████ or social sciences are ████ (one of our sirs did it in FIITJEE).

And if you fail eventually, you will implode into depression. That's the case for many people.

----------

I might be obscure in my opinion, but I think it'll be intelligible.

 

[sachin_rocks]

it requires too much real understanding, you've to spend hours and hours mugging up those questions

mugging up and real understanding is contradictory.

 

[Varun]

they aren't really.
mug up - definition of mug up by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[sachin_rocks]

Young Indians are cramming for their lives | YP.SCMP.com - the online edition of South China Morning Post Young Post

"Our objective is to get students into IIT,” says Maheshwari. “If examination papers were being set to test critical thinking, the coaching institutes would put effort into developing students’ critical thinking. But if the exam system is based on rote learning, then coaching institutes will concentrate on that.”"

----------

they aren't really.
mug up - definition of mug up by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

mostly in slang it means rote learning.

 

[Varun]

Ahh, forget it.
Firstly, you must have got what I'm saying from that article which you linked.

Secondly, I actually mean that you need understanding - but just for an exam. Not for loving science. And also, it's a mixture of understanding and rote learning, you understand what you can, but when it's complicated they ask you to memorize the formulae.


P.S. - Pardon me for those confusing statements, I actually wasn't able to articulate my thoughts correctly, but I think you get it, do you?

 

[AkshayC]

Do read this. IIT

 

[sachin_rocks]

IIT

a parody on ANYTHING is likely to contain the least amount of facts and truth.

 

[Varun]

I guess he meant it, he obviously knew it was a parody, but, eh, wrong time?

 

[sachin_rocks]

Ahh, forget it.
Firstly, you must have got what I'm saying from that article which you linked.

The article tells cramming is REQUIRED for iit.

you should also read five point someone.

 

[Varun]

The article tells cramming is REQUIRED for iit.

you should also read five point someone.

Yes. It is.
But it's only for those students who don't really have a passion in science. If you have the spark to do it, you can do it by real understanding too.

And coaching centres make it seem that it requires cramming, the coerce the students to cram. If there weren't any coaching centers, we wouldn't have had these big cramsters making it to IIT.

 

[AkshayC]

a parody on ANYTHING is likely to contain the least amount of facts and truth.

In my opinion parody sites or matter tells us more truth,clear facts and figure.I do not know whether you are or want to be an IITian or anything else but I am sorry to say this that tells you more clearly about the life of an IITian sitting like a geek in a corner and just studying,studying,studying,studying......................................... and doing nothing else.
and about cramming I am dam sure that more then 60 % student in IIT are crammers of high level.

"Suppose everyone gets a full ride to study at MIT. How many of the top IIT students do you think will prefer to transfer?"



(but the hypothetical situation would never happen anyway.)

 

[Varun]

IITian sitting like a geek in a corner and just studying,studying,studying,studying............... .......................... and doing nothing else.

How do you know? I've been actually telling him that the coaching centre make it seem like a cram test or something which it isn't basically is. More about understanding.
But the increasing competition has coerced the students to join the coaching centres and cram like mads, (if only ever a coaching centre teacher did demonstrated a practical in class ), but it really isn't that way.

IITian doesn't mean studying in a confined room, and having sex with your books (pun intended), but exploring science in all spheres of our surrounding (not really all, I'd leave a space for non-scientific cordial banter ), which it doesn't seem, because of the METHODS used by these coaching centre. And with so many students cramming their way to IIT, it becomes virtually impossible for an enthusiasts to get an admission. I don't know what happens at IIT, I'm just a 10th grader, but I have read articles, scrutinized these "meticulous" people and even experienced some of it, albeit at a lower scale.

In my opinion parody sites or matter tells us more truth,clear facts and figure.

No, they don't. Parodies are parodies. The IIT uncyclopedia page has a little bit of satire in it, shows apparently the true conditions of there, but that doesn't mean it is a piece of text to rely your beliefs on.

----------

I do not know whether you are or want to be an IITian or anything else

He is in 9th grade I believe, and it's actually a beneficial thing that he'd know about it at an early stage. Many 9th/10th grader are fooled into belief by their parents/coaching teachers that IIT IS YOUR SOLE AIM, YOU HAVE TO REACH IT AT ANY COST. This is ridiculously absurd.