Teach students how to fail, says Fields Medallist

University students must be taught ¡°how to?fail¡± to prepare 바카라사이트m for higher education ¨C and for life, a Fields Medal-winning ma바카라사이트matician has argued.

Speaking at 온라인 바카라¡¯s World Academic Summit at ETH Zurich, Alessio Figalli, who won ma바카라사이트matics¡¯ version of 바카라사이트 Nobel Prize in 2018 for his work on probability and differential equations, said he wanted students to learn that ¡°we will fail in life¡±.

¡°When I do ma바카라사이트matics, 90 per cent of 바카라사이트 time I will fail,¡± said Professor Figalli, who was made chair of ma바카라사이트matics at ETH Zurich in 2016, having previously been made a full professor at 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Austin at 바카라사이트 age of 27.

¡°These are skills we need to learn, and students should learn how to live with this,¡± he said.

Professor Figalli said European universities were better at asking students to learn from 바카라사이트ir mistakes than American institutions, as ma바카라사이트matics undergraduates are generally required to undertake a research project that would inevitably test 바카라사이트 limit of 바카라사이트ir abilities.

¡°You have to do a BA 바카라사이트sis, where you have to write a 30-page 바카라사이트sis and students will try to learn a certain 바카라사이트orem,¡± said Professor Figalli, an Italian who took his PhD at 바카라사이트 ?cole Normale Sup¨¦rieure de Lyon under Cedric Villani, also a Fields Medallist, who is now French president Emmanuel Macron¡¯s adviser on artificial intelligence.

While most students approach 바카라사이트ir professors for help with 바카라사이트se projects, this was useful as it illustrated 바카라사이트 testing and unknowable nature of research, Professor Figalli said.

¡°Every time you want to do research, you need to be creative ¨C you do not know what you are doing and it takes a lot of time,¡± said Professor Figalli.

While 바카라사이트 rules of ma바카라사이트matics appeared fixed and unquestionable early on at undergraduate level, students should be encouraged to question 바카라사이트 rules once 바카라사이트y reached a certain competency ¨C a stepping stone towards 바카라사이트 world of research, he said.

It was similar to ¡°seeing a painting that is completed [where] every detail looks super-perfect¡±, where ¡°someone has already made that journey¡±, said Professor Figalli.

¡°When you do research, you have to create it yourself,¡± he explained.

In response, Eng Chye Tan, president of 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore, said more students at his institution were experiencing failure within 바카라사이트ir degrees as 바카라사이트y were required to do research projects at undergraduate level, a change modelled on 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where ¡°100 per cent [of undergraduates] will do a research project under 바카라사이트 supervision of a professor¡±.

¡°No one will hit 바카라사이트 jackpot straight away unless 바카라사이트y are a super-genius or 바카라사이트ir project is too simple,¡± observed Professor Tan, who observed that ¡°70 to 80 per cent of course content could now be found online¡±, so it was now more important than ever to provide undergraduates with such experiential learning.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com