Is acupuncture or homework effective? (from my blog)
Does acupuncture work? The ancient Chinese medical art of puncturing the skin with tiny needles has now been approved in British Columbia and qualifies as a medical service covered by the public health insurance system. An opinion piece in the National Post today pointed out that while there is no scientific proof of why acupuncture works, a recent study in Germany showed that for back pain, patients treated with acupuncture did better than those treated with medicine and exercize. However, those treated by experts trained in the correct locations of the Qi meridians did about as well as those treated with random pin pricks. Go figure.
I once had IMS, intra muscular stimulus with needles, to treat a tennis elbow. The treatment worked well, but the practitioner stuck the needles into muscles, not into the elusive Qi meridians. So the ancient art of acupuncture has its defenders and detractors, but there is a lack of verifiable empirical proof of why or if it works, and for what ailments.
Also in today's paper, there was an article about reducing homework in the school system because it seems that homework is not very productive. At least some people feel that it is a burden on students without improving their performance.
But here again, it seems to me that the question should be the following. What kind of studying activity is effective? I cannot believe that only study activity in the classroom is effective.
Maybe homework is ineffective because too much of it is of the make work, worksheet, drills, "questions for the sake of asking questions" variety much loved by the teaching profession, and which I encounter in so many language learning textbooks. I know that it is common in teaching to think that if the learner does not immediately use what he or she has learned, then he or she will not learn it.
But what about those who did not learn it yet? What about those that might want to just hear about it and read about it a little more before being obliged to confront the fact that they did not understand? What about those who understood right away and do not want to do boring exercises?
At least in the case of language,I do not think that all these exercises of the kind that is often found in textbooks, is all that useful. As I indicated in an earlier post, passive learning, through reading and listening, is usually more pleasant and quite effective. Some things just need to gestate in the brain.
If students were encouraged to read and even listen to podcasts on the subjects they were studying, this might be more useful and meet with less resistance than tasks imposed by a teacher. Students might even do them more willingly.
At any rate, the homework issue appears controversial, with contradictory opinions, as is the case with acupuncture.
The effectiveness of either homework or acupuncture really depends on individuals of all parties involved. But that's the only thing that both are comparable upon.
Homework is just like anything other things in your daily life such as your jobs, your hobbies or even your driving skills. To be efficient you need to practice on one particular subject repetitively. When I was a kid, I never liked homework. I'd rather spend my time go fishing or trapping bunnies. But to get good marks so that my dad wouldn't spank me I had to do my homework. To me homework was a burden, but it spared my ass from being whipped and put me in college.
But acupuncture might be a little different. A pin prick can only make you feel the same as if you were treated by an expert who knows how to use Qi. But it's only the feels.
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