Questions for Research

There are many open questions that are worthy of being studied in formal research. Below, a few very basic questions are asked, each with a simple description of the research. Details about how the research is to be done are outside the scope of this text.

1. What knowledge and skills do we retain from what we study at school? Test for knowledge and skills we got at school, at different ages and professional groups
6-year-old version: Do we remember what we study?

Age-groups:

• 60 years old
• 40 years old
• University graduates in their 20s
• University applicants

Professional groups:

• Hi-Tech
• Administrative / clerical
• School Teachers
• …

Knowledge subjects:

• Algebra - Basic concepts: quadratic equations
• Trigonometry - Basic concepts: Sine, Cosine, Tangent
• History - facts learned in school
• Literature - facts about pieces studied at school
• …

Skills subjects:

• Arithmetic - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, percentage
• Algebra - linear equations, quadratic equations
• Trigonometry - Basic concepts: Sine, Cosine, Tangent
• Reading
• Writing
• Foreign language studied at school
• Dealing with a historical / current affairs text

Type of questions:

• What is this ? (Sine, quadratic equation, Marshall Plan, …)
• Did you study this ?
• Solve this (arithmetical problem, algebraic problem, trigonometric problem)
• Write a paragraph or two (writing)
• Read and comment on a paragraph in a foreign language
• Listen and comment on a spoken text in a foreign language

Nice to have:

• Correlate with past grades
• Correlate with measurements/indicators of success is life

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2. What knowledge and skills that we studied at school are useful to us outside school setting?
6-year-old version: Why do we need to study this?

The research is similar to number 1 above (and could be conducted concurrently), but the main question type is:

• Did you ever use this skill or knowledge outside school settings?

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3. What skills do we acquire indirectly by studying at school, to what extent do we retain them, and to what extent are they useful to us?
6-year-old version: If I don't need this, why do I still have to study it?

When considering the study of subjects and skills that are of no direct interest to the whole population of students, we hear that by studying X, we learn to do Y, as an indirect side effect, or "collateral learning." It would be very useful to test the validity of this assertion.

Based on the answers to research questions 1 and 2 above, we can ask questions about the types of school study that did not leave a direct impression. A simple approach would be to guess the indirectly acquired skill and try to detect indications for it, based on the directly taught subject. A slightly more sophisticated approach would be to test for many skills, and try to correlate the results with subjects and skills studied.

Some examples of possible indirect learning to check for:

• Check for reasoning skills that may have stemmed from studying algebra or calculus
• Check for space perception that may be linked with studying geometry
• Check for studying skills (dealing with an unfamiliar text) that may have been improved by studying history
• Check for self expression ability in writing or speech that may be improved with studying literature and art
• Check for critical thinking skills that may be developed studying any standard school subject
• Check for scientific thinking habits based on studying physics, chemistry or biology

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There are probably hundreds of good research questions even without drilling down much. The questions above are just a few examples of the most simple questions. I bet the results would be somewhere between fascinating and shocking.