I had a math teacher in a proofs class that always said, "the answer isn't on the ceiling or out the window; look at your paper and just write whatever you can think of. Either you'll think of something, or you'll show me that at least you know something."
I’d hate that teacher. Sad to see instructors not being aware that people focus in different ways. If anything, I thought that “looking into the distance” was the default way to focus? I’m literally looking at my window while thinking what to write in this comment.
In the context of this article and GP post I think the teacher trying to coach students that the act of trying something/anything has the probability of the solution snowballing out of your head. But often students give up before trying and it's a marker's nightmare.
I've seen many people hand in a totally empty answer sheet (something I've also been guilty of in the past). During one of my organic chemistry exams, I saw another student break down because a lot of the questions were unconventional and I could hear the very kind invigilator trying to encourage them mid exam "if you don't try something you can't get more than zero".
I read another examiner report for a notoriously hard physical chemistry paper that it was too hard to fit examinees to a curve because there were too many blank answers and the marks were too low.
Yeah, the point was, if you're totally stuck, then throw stuff at the wall and maybe you'll notice a pattern, or it'll jog your memory, anything is better than nothing.
Your comment triggered long buried memories of organic chemistry, which ultimately made me change my major from biology to math. Thanks!
I had a teacher who promulgated the same technique for what we called Calc III (similar to a proofs class, I imagine; Spiwak was the text). It was very effective.
