Albert Einstein at School class 11 Important Questions Answers AHSEC 2024

Albert Einstein at School class 11 Important Questions Answers AHSEC 2024 : The lesson “Albert Einstein at School” class 11 English is an extract from the biography of Albert Einstein, named “The Young Einstein” by Patrick Pringle. Here, you will get Albert Einstein at School class 11 Important Questions Answers AHSEC 2024.

Albert Einstein at School HS 1st year Important Questions Answers AHSEC 2024

Q1. What was the view of Elsa about Albert ? AHSEC 2014

Ans: Elsa was Einstein's cousin who used to live in Berlin where her father had his business. She believed that one must learn just enough to pass exams. Elsa was Albert's cousin. She told Albert that she was sure Albert could learn enough to pass the examinations if he tried. She told him that she knew many students more stupid than Albert.

Q2. How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation ? AHSEC 2014, 2018 

Ans: Information gathering refers to collection of data and facts. It means knowledge of specific events or situations that has been gathered or received by communication. Insight formation, on the other hand, refers to the perception one has of things through his deep understanding of a subject.

Q3. What was the Mathematics teacher Koch's opinion about Albert's mathematical knowledge ? AHSEC 2015, 2019

Ans: Mr Koch had a high opinion of Albert. He thought that he couldn’t teach Albert any more and probably soft he would be able to teach his teacher. Mr Koch certified that Albert was ready immediately to enter a college or institute for the study of higher mathematics.

Q4. What was Einstein's idea of education ? AHSEC 2016, 2018

Ans: Albert Einstein's theory of education is based on reasoning and logic. He believed that education is not about learning facts but thinking about ideas. Education according to him is not something to mug up like remembering the year of the battle or any event but the reason why it all started.

Q5. Why does Einstein think that learning facts is no education at all ? AHSEC 2017

Ans: As Albert Einstein observes in the story that it is all about factual knowledge that does not really benefit us. He believed that education should be about advancement of learning and lead us to enquire and think further. Hence he refused to learn dates and facts for merely passing an examination

Albert Einstein at School HS 1st year Common Questions Answers AHSEC 2024

Q6. How does the example of Einstein prove that the school systems ends up by curbing individual talent ? AHSEC 2017

Ans: The school system is often found to curb individual talent because the pressure of following a set curriculum and prescribed syllabus means a lack of time for encouraging students to express their creativity and give full space to their imagination.

Q7. What is highlighted as the basic difference between the idea of learning as advocated by Elsa and Albert during their short conversation ? AHSEC 2019

Ans: Learning dates and facts of history is not education, rather thinking new ideas to solve existing problems was education. For example, instead of learning dates about defeat of the French at Waterloo, he would rather like to learn why those soldiers were killed not the numbers of soldiers were killed.

Q8. Why did Mr. Braun scold young Einstein ? AHSEC 2020

Ans: Mr. Braun, the history teacher had a very low opinion of Albert. He called Albert an ungrateful boy who ought to be ashamed of himself. He scolded young Einstein because he argued that it is not necessary and there is no sense to remember the dates of history or wars rather we should know the reason of the wars. He suggested that Albert should ask his father to take him away from school.

Q9. Why did Albert see no point in learning dates and facts from history books ? AHSEC 2020

Ans: Dates and facts are parts of knowledge which are content based. Albert thought that there was no point in learning dates and facts because firstly, these could be, ascertained from the books any time by just looking them up. Secondly, for him, learning facts was not education.

Q10.  How did music help Albert ? AHSEC 2022

Ans: For Albert, music was comforting because it offered him an escape from the drudgery of his everyday life. So, apart from books on science, his only comfort was music and he used to play the violin regularly until his landlady asked him to stop.

Q11. What kind of a student was Einstein ? AHSEC 2022

Ans: Albert was lazy and poor at learning. He was different from other boys of his age. He did not earn top grades in every subject, but he excelled at math and science. He hated the oppressive atmosphere of the school and was sure he would fail in the examinations.

Albert Einstein at School HS 1st year Important Long Questions Answers AHSEC 2024

Q1. Describe the circumstances leading to Albert getting a medical certificate issued declaring him unfit to continue school. 6 marks AHSEC 2015

Ans: Albert was facing problems with the history teacher in school and the situation was worsening for him. Only his Mathematics teacher was kind to him. He felt as if the rest of the school was against him and did not want him there. Albert had told his father to take him away from the school. However, his father insisted that he should obtain a diploma first. Hence, he was unwilling to take Albert away from school. So, he decided to get a medical certificate issued which would say that he has had a nervous breakdown. Yuri fixed appointment with Dr Ernest Weil and asked Albert to tell him the truth. Albert was frank and truthful. He could enter some Italian college or institution at Milan without diploma. The doctor issued a certificate advising him rest for six months. The certificate proved useless as the head teacher was bent on expelling Albert.

Q2. "The school system often curbs individual talent" Discuss with reference to Einstein experience at school . 6 marks AHSEC 2016, 2018

Ans: The school education system  has no room for individual aspirations, brilliance or aptitude. It discourages genius and originality and encourages mechanical dullards or the so called ‘average’ students. This system lays stress on facts and dates rather than ideas. It ignores originality and creativity, which lead to progress and development. No wonder then that most of the students manage to pass the examination by cramming-learning things by heart and repeating it in the exams. This parrot like learning or learning without understanding may help to get the diploma but fails to enrich the mind or inculcate ideas. The teachers and authorities insist on discipline and conformity. The history teacher and the Head teacher are sticklers for rules, pedagogy and discipline. Brilliant students like Albert Einstein are considered dullard, stupid, incompetent, unfit rebels whose very presence makes it impossible for teacher to teach and other pupils to learn.

Q3. What do you make of Einstein's nature from his conversations with his history teacher, his mathematics teacher and the head teacher ? 6 marks AHSEC 2017

Ans: Albert Einstein was an intelligent student, but was against the school education system and specially he hated learning dates and facts of history. His nature was a spontaneous one. He found memorizing facts and dates quite useless. Ideas lured him more than facts because of which he had a heated argument on education with his history teacher. He was so restless and indifferent to the importance of attending school that he didn't mind not attending it at all.

Q4. "I think it's not facts that matter, but ideas". Evaluate briefly Albert Einstein's concept of real education in the light of this statement . 6 marks AHSEC 2019

Ans: Einstein said it to Mr Braun, the history teacher, in his Munich school. He hated learning dates and facts by heart. He argued that ideas were more important than rote learning. He was not interested in knowing when the battles were fought but why they were fought.

Q5. How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation from your reading of Albert Einstein at School ? 6 marks AHSEC 2020

Ans: Learning the dates of battles or the details about victorious armies are facts. These details are part of knowledge which are content-based. There is no point in spending precious years of student life on information gathering because dates or facts could be ascertained from the books any time by just looking them up. Learning facts or parrot-like learning i.e., learning without understanding is what we call information gathering.

Analysing the facts, ascertaining the causes that led to a certain incident such as an uprising or a war and learning the ideas that spring from such actions are part of insight information. It gives us a clear perception into the true nature of a thing. Such knowledge increases our logical reasoning, power of analysis interpretation and understanding and makes us think.

Q6. Were the teachers interested in understanding Albert Einstein and bringing out his potential ? AHSEC 2022

Ans: The teachers were not interested in understanding Albert and bringing out his potential. They always thought that he was a constant menace and nuisance to them. The History teacher did not like his behaviour and said that he was an ungrateful boy and ought to be ashamed of himself. He followed the traditional method of teaching history and laid more emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge, by rote learning, rather than the understanding of ideas. He also had a sarcastic attitude and mocked Albert for his views. He did not help the talented boy achieve his potential, rather he complained to the head teacher and got him expelled. The mathematics teacher, Mr Koch, on the other hand, was very encouraging. He confessed that he could not teach Albert anymore, rather Albert would soon be able to teach him. The head teacher humiliated Albert and expelled him from the institution for being rebellious and for not allowing the class work to go on neither the history teacher nor the head teacher acknowledged Albert's mathematical genius. 

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