What is a Challenge
A test of one's abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating situation requiring extra efforts to overcome.
Something that by its nature or character serves as a call to special effort
You jump a two feet wall daily with ease as do many others
The height of wall is increased by ¼ th of foot. You will still be able to jump it with some difficulty. Few days later you will be jumping this wall with ease
The height of wall is increased slowly and you are repeating the process
Few months later, you are jumping three and a half foot wall with ease
Had the height of wall by increased one and half foot on first day itself, what would have happened ?
You may not have even attempted to jump the wall
What challenges do
Challenges motivate you to excel
Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat
Appropriate Challenges must be relevant to the learning being undertaken. Should be not be mere exercise of just memory recall but should also engage learner’s mind in new areas connected with specific learning. They should not be unachievable with learner requiring to cover large conceptual gaps. But should be achievable with some effort by learner , i.e they should be natural extension of learner’s knowledge and skills which he/she can reasonably handle
Challenges force recipient to engage in learning
Challenges by focusing the mind on a particular instruction, induce learner to review that has been learned . In addition , challenge helps to motivate learner by highlighting the unknown part of knowledge in context which should have been learned.
A good challenge captures imagination of the learner and initiates best efforts from his mind to solve it thus leaving lasting impression in memory
Challenges promote depth of critical and analytical thinking
Challenges , properly graded, ease transition between different levels of education
In Teaching normally there is a linear presentation or delivery of instructions where instructions are organized and presented in certain or specific order
In assessment on subject taught, the questions are haphazard throwing a cloud of connections on already received instructions and mind learns to connect the instructions |
