Sort of like when a person is learning ASL: if they just go into class or look at their book and getting information dumped into their head: here's how you sign this, here's some vocabulary, here's some grammatical structural stuff, etc., they might comprehend, but they probably don't retain very well. It's just a bunch of stuff getting dumped into their brains, why would they remember it? But if they think of something they want to say, and ask themselves: "how do I sign this?" and try to figure it out or research it, and then bring their question to class, *that* piece of signing they're likely to remember much better, you know?
I think there are alot of commonalities between learning math and learning a language. There is information you need to become aware of, but then you need to get good at using that information: you need to develop skill at applying techniques, and you have to develop a sense of when to do what. There is active skill (like expressive) when you solve a problem, and there is something more like receptive when you try to understand what a problem is asking you.
I mention this commonality because I saw a post recently where you mentioned that you've helped some people with their ASL. So I figure you're familiar with that learning process. When I was in grad school, I often helped myself learn by thinking of what I do when I'm teaching and a challenge comes up, and I helped myself teach by thinking of some of my struggles as a student. I think it's a big advantage to be teaching things and learning things at the same time, because you have both perspectives at your disposal. So maybe you can take advantage of that. Ok. I'm going to *try* to stop hogging your thread now.
