Scene: [A girl in her early twenties strides up to a soap box in a public square. She takes her place, clears her throat, and projects the following words...]
This is my frustration:Last night I did my reading for one of my classes. In class today the teacher, instead of expounding on what we read and having a class discussion on that material, ended up paraphrasing everything the reading had described. This class time was ultimately spent to catch up the 95% of students who hadn't opened the book and used their eyes to intake the information. In fact, paraphrasing might be too generous a statement...
When I expressed this situation to fellow students they voiced similar, if not identical, experiences. Why is this mediocrity an accepted practice? Is this a generational issue? Is it just this University? Is it that fact that we are Undergraduate students? What is happening?! Why aren't we expounding on one another's ideas, delving deeper into material that is relevant to our fields of study, challenging opinions and getting our hands dirty? Why did I not walk out of that class with clarity, inspiration, and food for thought?
I didn't actually learn anything new - I learned more from doing the reading on my own than I did from sitting in impatience for 50 minutes, waiting for the time our teacher would give some new information or spark some debate.
*sigh* I tried to just "let it go," but it has been bothering me all day.
"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth."
-Diogenes Laertius
i totally agree alison vance. The meaning and quality of education, especially higher education has decreased very much and therefore the intellectual future of our generation seems a bit more dim. but I guess if our professors are lazy, it doesn't mean we have to be. We CAN still read the book dilligently and teach ourselves if we have to. love ya
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