Do you want to improve your physics and chemistry grades? Well, maybe you should first learn something about the struggles (奋斗) of great scientists.
The American Psychological Association did an interesting study. More than 400 students from schools in New York City took part in it. The students were divided into three groups. Group 1 read a typical textbook that describes the achievements of great scientists. Group 2 read about those scientists' personal struggles. For example, as a Jew, Einstein (爱因斯坦) ran away from Nazi Germany to avoid persecution (迫害). The last group read about the scientists' intellectual struggles, such as Marie Curie's failed scientific tests. These stories about struggles also told students how the scientists dealt with these obstacles(障碍) .
The students took a science exam before the study. After the six—week study, they took another. Scientists found those in Groups 2 and 3 improved their science grades. Students in Group 1 didn't see a grade increase. Some of them even had lower grades after the study.
The study was led by Xiaodong Lin—Siegler, a teacher at Columbia University. According to Xiaodong, kids often think Einstein was truly intelligent. They believe they will never match him.
Many of them fail to realize that any success requires a long journey. Along the way, there are many failures(失败) .
Students who read the struggle stories more probably said that great scientists were like themselves. The "great minds" also had to overcome obstacles to achieve success.
Xiaodong says today's science textbooks fail to bring science to life. As a result, students seldom regard science as part of their everyday lives. Instead, they just see a long list of facts that they have to remember. Xiaodong thinks textbooks should include more stories about how great scientists had to struggle to succeed. And students should focus more on how these scientists dealt with the obstacles they met along the way.
