Yesterday, I spent my physics lecture doing a sudoku. I sat next to a friend who played solitaire on his iPod and who texted me in the middle of lecture, “If we’re not paying attention, what are we doing here?” I didn’t know. To not be rude? To fulfill obligation? In hopes that we’ll retain something? I know it’s me that’s responsible for my education. But what can I do if I’m simply not engaged? How much can I force? What if I don’t care what thermal convection means? I don’t care about thermal convection because I don’t understand how I’ll use it and how it will help me better the world. And I definitely don’t understand how it applies to Zoology or the things I’m passionate about.
Ironic. I went to my next lecture (The Information Society) and we talked about education and how it’s not all it’s cracked up to be anymore. We watched a video that shocked me but made sense at the same time.
I guess this blog in and of itself is a testament that I am learning. Half of what I write on here has to do with what I’m learning in class. This blog is a collection of my reflections and processing of the information I’m given in class. But still, why am I checked out half the time?
I guess we all need to learn how we learn and then get that for ourselves. But what if what we need is not available? I've been questioning my state university education, not because I don't think it's not good enough, but because much of the time I'm not getting what I need.
Attention. Dialogue. Human interaction. Some of that is missing here.
Kaplan University offers a solution: listen to America’s students and design education to fit their needs. But I think a question remains. HOW?
1 comment:
Excellent post!
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