The sad state of Education

[capslock]

I wonder how the US is going to be like in the future... The current young people being so stupid... I shudder to think how the leadership would be like.

Its not that their stupid, its that our education system isn't teaching them. We've taken the focus of learning (not just the subjects either, learnign discipline, obideance,and other social skills) to self esteem. Kids are babied, and not pushed or expected to even try, let alone succeed. So they don't. Failure might hurt their self esteem, so we keep expectations low.

 

[El_Machinae]

Its not that their stupid, its that our education system isn't teaching them.

You might be right. But the discipline imposed on children is lacking something, something critical.

BTW: "ITS" is the possessive form. What you're looking for is "IT'S". Thought it was appropriate to this thread. You also got "they're" wrong. Just so you don't accuse us of babying you.

 

[El_Machinae]

On a similar thread, I was in a corresponence with a company, and there were seven incorrect words in the first paragraph of their letter to me.

None of the words were misspelled, spell check gets that. But the lady used the wrong versions of words like "except/accept" "there/their" etc.

It was awful.

 

[blackheart]

There'd better be lots of competant people.

Because the idiots outnumber the competant people at my school at least 3:1.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

- Socrates

 

[Godwynn]

PS Godwynn, what grade are you?

I'm a sophomore in College.

 

[capslock]

You might be right. But the discipline imposed on children is lacking something, something critical.

BTW: "ITS" is the possessive form. What you're looking for is "IT'S". Thought it was appropriate to this thread. You also got "they're" wrong. Just so you don't accuse us of babying you.

Yeah, I obviously don't know english because i dont display perfect grammar and spelling on a video game forum. i don't pay close attention to what I type on internet forums. SOmetimes I dont have alot of time to make sure everything is perfect. Its a typeing and time issue more than anything. Too much posting on WoW forums, too. lol

 

[Cuivienen]

Sadly, this is old news.

But, I can make myself feel better: Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar. Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital of Brunei.

 

[aneeshm]

If I was being cynical I'd say that education standards in every democracy are falling. Maybe the politicians want us to be stupid?

Incorrect . Education standards in the Asian deomcracies , like India , are actually rising .

 

[Speedo]

I remember a French Nobelist recalling in a book (translated title: Debunked!) how undergraduate physics students at a French university believed that ESP abilities were scientific verified, whereas time dilation was not.

Granted, I can't recall the exact numbers, and they are just undergrads, but still...

Well, it's not unique to France. In my physics (really electrodynamics) course this semester, the instructor showed us a study that had been done a few years ago of newly graduated electrical engineers from fairly prestigious US university (I think Caltech or Stanford, can't remember for sure). Only about 15% could correctly explain why a basic electrical circuit works.

 

[madviking]

College people should be as good as me, seriously! I think the US is lagging behind education, seen in the test scores. And I also think that geography is not being taught well enough, it is part of most jobs, reading maps, locating stuff and more. I think that geography should be a whole 1 month unit in social studies/history, history is easier to understand with geography. (hence I'm a history freak)

 

[Godwynn]

Here is a video that will make you cry.

 

[blackheart]

Here is a video that will make you cry.

Obviously a satire. "CNNN"?

 

[Shaihulud]

In my physics (really electrodynamics) course this semester, the instructor showed us a study that had been done a few years ago of newly graduated electrical engineers from fairly prestigious US university (I think Caltech or Stanford, can't remember for sure). Only about 15% could correctly explain why a basic electrical circuit works.

This is easily believable, I have found some Engineers who graduated from Singapores National University to lack basic knowledge about their field of expertise and have the most rudimentary idea of how it works. I suppose that it must be easier to give someone a degree than to give them brains. I wouldn't even blame school education because im sure that they must have learnt it sometimes in school, but they have "given it back during the Exams" as they like to call it. Engineers are popably the worst offender in this case, it is has a large intake in Singapore, but it is a complex subject, but many managed to pass by rote memorization instead of true understanding.

 

[silver 2039]

Incorrect . Education standards in the Asian deomcracies , like India , are actually rising .

Rising so much that people comitt sucide in large quantities.

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

Here is a video that will make you cry.

Now that is just funny. And sad. And scary.

I haven't lived in the US for a while, but I used to love this show called 'Street Smarts'. It was hilarious, asking extremely easy questions that 2 of 3 people would miss.

For our education, it is just a matter of what we put emphasis on. There are many in the US that have never been outside of their state, let alone the country. Many of them don't see a reason to know geography.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

I blame relativism. When people stopped saying "wrong" in life at large, this infected schools, too.

 

[plarq]

Say, what "relativism"? The one that allows doubts, or the one that passes dumbs?

 

[Erik Mesoy]

The one that denies the existence of absolutes and standards.

 

[covok48]

Basically schools just stopped teaching and parents stopped parenting. So learning and discipline that were once the hallmark of competence are lacking in today's students (hell and I'm still a student, senior in college actually.)

Spelling tests? Learning multiplication tables? Memorizing the scientific method? Putting history in context? Diagramming sentences? ABC order? Looking up definitions in the dictionary? Geography quizzes? Learning grammar (like the difference between 'to' 'too' and 'two')?

Na too hard. Students don't need to be pressured by what society expects them to be. They're children and need to express themselves. Blah blah blah...


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Note: I'm in a rush so please don't nitpick this messege for spelling and grammar errors

 

[ThERat]

working as a chemical engineer in my first company here in Singapore, I had this coworker (chem engineer as well) who asked me the following question.
"Can adding acid to acid turn a solution alkaline? I was wondering because another person (rem: mechanical engineer) has told me so"

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry...he is a graduate from National University of Singapore...