KNOT SELF-STUDYED BECAUSE…kI DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START
Being the first batch to take the high school graduation exam according to the 2018 General Education program, Trang Trieu Hong Phuc, a 12th grade student at Huynh Man Dat High School for the Gifted (Kien Giang), determined to self-study early. to have enough knowledge, especially in the three subjects of math, physics, and English.
“Every night, I spend 1 – 1 and a half hours reading reference books for these subjects. In social subjects, I use ChatGPT to condense knowledge and synthesize practical examples, helping to optimize self-study time.” , the male student shared.
Although he always spends time self-studying, Phuc still studies the above three subjects at the same time, because he cannot determine what are the key types of lessons in the subject to achieve the best results. Meanwhile, extra classes provide students with documents and illustrations that closely match the exam requirements.
Nguyen Chanh Khiem, a student of class 9/1 at Kien Luong 1 Town Secondary School (Kien Giang), also combines self-study and extra study with the goal of achieving the best score in next year’s 10th grade entrance exam. “Every day I spend 1 hour self-studying one of the subjects math, physics and English,” Khiem said. However, male students also study 4 additional subjects: math, physics, chemistry and English, also for the reason of “deeply understanding the knowledge and format of the test”, thereby being able to do better on the test. Khiem said that most students take extra classes to achieve the best results on the test.
D.TA, a high school student in Ho Chi Minh City, stated that one of the reasons he does not self-study is… not knowing where to start. “In class, teachers just generally tell you to go home and study more on your own or open the book to read the previous lesson without giving specific instructions on what to do to prepare effectively. And whether you study on your own first or not, the teacher when Going into class and teaching as usual, it makes me feel that self-study is not so important,” the female student confided.
DO TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES, SOCIAL NETWORKS, EXAM METHODS
Currently teaching middle and high school levels, Master Khuu Hoang Nhat Minh, CEO of Minh Khuu Academy (HCMC), believes that many students have not built high self-study skills, unless they really focus on learning. study or be accompanied by parents. One of the reasons, according to Mr. Minh, is that many people have poor concentration and forget quickly, due to the influence of technological devices and social networks.
“This affects your learning progress very much even when there is a teacher closely following you, so your self-study is poor. Another reason is that even though the new program has many sets of textbooks, you take the same exam. a transfer subject, making students not dare to explore new knowledge but only learn from experienced teachers,” Master Minh explained.
Master Khuu Hoang Nhat Minh mentioned the concept of “washback effect”, meaning that the exam questions will determine the pedagogical method and teaching content. Therefore, if there are still common exams, changing the educational program will also result in students having to achieve high scores.
“Teachers still play a big role in students’ learning journey, because if they self-study and stray from the exam matrix, it will be a complete waste of effort,” Mr. Minh shared.
GSOLUTIONS TO INCREASE SELF-LEARNING
Faced with the above reality, Master Minh proposed that teachers need to learn thoroughly about constructivism, task- and project-based instruction methods, and other types of support that teachers can give students. thereby encouraging self-study. “Some schools open a large project to teach during the semester and invite experts to grade. This is a great way to help students self-study,” said Mr. Minh.
Mr. Le Van Thuong, head of the Foreign Language group at Kien Luong High School (Kien Giang), said that with proactive students, teachers need to suggest the concept of self-study as well as introduce learning methods and reference sources. Meanwhile, with the group of passive students, they first need to have their foundational knowledge reinforced, then teachers can inspire them to learn more on their own.
The vice principal of a high school in District 3 (HCMC) affirmed that the self-study ability of many high school students has developed more than before. Many students have a good sense of self-study and know how to take advantage of their time to independently research different topics outside of official class hours. However, there is also a group of students who still rely heavily on teachers and are not really proactive in learning, the teacher said.
“Thanks to technology, it is easier for students to find documents and online courses for self-study. High schools in Ho Chi Minh City also try to create conditions for students to develop self-study skills through Giving students assignments, projects, and group activities that require self-study. However, a risk is that they will be easily distracted by the dense amount of information online, affecting the quality of self-study. “, said the vice principal.
Faced with this reality, at the management level, he recommends that schools promote the development of online learning platforms. Teachers also need to teach students how to look up information and select reliable sources, and at the same time instruct how to use self-study tools such as AI, according to the vice principal.