INST 262 (DCS and Fieldbus), section 2 Lab Automatically ...

General student expectations (continued)
Formal learning is a partnership between instructor and student: both are responsible for maximizing
learning. Your instructors’ responsibilities include – but are not limited to – maintaining an environment
conducive to learning, providing necessary learning resources, continuously testing your comprehension,
dispensing appropriate advice, and actively challenging you to think deeper than you would be inclined to
do on your own (just like an athletic trainer will “push” their clients to go faster, farther, and work harder
than they would otherwise do on their own). Your responsibilities as a student include – but are not limited
to – prioritizing time for study, utilizing all learning resources offered to you, heeding your instructor’s advice,
and above all taking your role as a learner seriously.
The single most important factor in any student’s education is that student’s dedication. The most
talented instructor, at the most well-equipped institution, is worthless if the student doesn’t care to learn.
Conversely, virtually no circumstance can prevent a dedicated student from learning whatever they want.
In order to clearly illustrate what dedication to learning looks like from a student’s perspective, the
following clarifications are given:
You are here to learn, not to receive a high grade, not to earn a degree, and not even to get a job. If you
make learning your first priority, you will attain all those other goals as a bonus. If, however, you attempt
to achieve those secondary goals to the exclusion of learning, you will seriously compromise your long-term
success in this career, and you will have wasted your time here.
Memorization alone is not learning. Sadly, many students’ educational experiences lead them to believe
learning is nothing more than an accumulation of facts and procedures, when in truth you will need to do
much more than memorize new things in order to be successful as an instrument technician. True learning
is gaining the ability to think in new ways. The “gold standard” of learning is when you have grasped a
concept so well that you are able to apply it in creative ways to applications and contexts completely new
to you. In fact, this is a simple way for you to test your own learning: see how well you are able to apply it
to new scenarios.
Observation alone is not learning. Merely watching someone else perform a task, execute a procedure,
or solve a problem does not mean you are proficient in the same, any more than watching an athlete play the
game means you now can play at the same skill level. Unless and until you can consistently and independently
apply your knowledge, you haven’t learned.
The goal of any learning activity is to master the underlying principles, not merely to complete
the activity. The instructor does not need your answers to homework problems. The instructor does not
need your completed lab project. What the instructor needs is a demonstration of your competence in
applying foundational concepts to real applications. The activity itself is nothing more than a means to an
end – merely a tool for sharpening skills and demonstrating competence. As such, you should never mistake
the result of the activity (a finished product) for the goal of the activity (conceptual learning).
The most important question to ask “Why?” Ask yourself this question constantly as you learn new
things. Why does this new concept work the way it does? Why does this procedure produce results? Why
are we learning this skill? Why does the instructor keep referring me to the literature instead of just giving
me the answer I need? “Why” is a catalyst for deeper understanding.
There are no shortcuts to learning. Relying on classmates for answers rather than figuring them out for
yourself, skipping learning activities because you think they’re too challenging or take too long, and other
similar “shortcuts” do nothing to help you learn. Let me be clear on this point: I am not advising you
to avoid shortcuts in your learning; I’m telling you shortcuts to learning don’t actually exist at all. Any
time you think you’ve discovered a shortcut to learning, what you have actually done is find a way to avoid
learning. Learning is hard work – always! Accept this fact and do the hard work necessary to learn.
file expectations
10