Quotes

“Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.”
–Ambrose Gwinett Bierce

How many facts do you remember from high school? Have you ever looked back at an old test or exam and wonder who wrote down those answers?

This situation isn’t too unusual for me. Personally, it wasn’t until graduate school that information started to “stick” for me, and this is primarily because I had to walk into a lab and apply my knowledge. I certainly did not want to be the one responsible for blowing the lab up!

For me, college was a time of self-discovery. I spent a lot of time figuring out what I did not like, and ended up loving biology purely by chance (an elective course). I wish that I had opportunities prior to college to help me out with this - I could have saved myself some money!

Which brings us back to the original quote. I think that all kids should have an understanding of all the basic subjects, but is it really necessary to make kids take 4 years of science, or math, or history, if they really know that they don’t like it? In addition, given the opportunity, many kids could have their fill of these subjects indirectly through other coursework - for example, an art class could teach history, or basic finance could teach math.

Especially with the internet these days, people can always go back and refresh their memories via online courses (or sometimes just a google search will do!) In my opinion, material would be more likely to “stick” in these situations, since the person is hungry for the knowledge…

What do you think?

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