So is anyone else here a TA/teacher/professor/mentor for new employees etc? Concerned about the quality of education most kids in the U.S. are experiencing? For myself, I'm looking at a pile of 140 mid-terms where some 3rd year undergrads do not know how the hell to read, much less apply Bernoulli 's equation...it's got me scared. Don't mean to stir the ish here, thought maybe I could get some other opinions on the subject. Also, to any undergrads out there, I'd like to hear any feedback on the education you're receiving.
My girlfriend just started her job teaching the 5th grade and I'll tell you it is pretty hard to stat half way through the year were the teacher she is replacing was promoted and does not have anyone to really help her. The school she is teaching at now is very different than the one she did student teaching at and the kids are off the wall crazy where even the teacher she is replacing, 8 yrs of experience, could not control them. Just from talking to her I think kids are getting worse at respecting people and parents are getting bad at teaching their kids respect and what not and expect teachers to do it. May just be me but my parents told me to respect everyone and respect teachers and people of authority and not talk back and yell and scream. Being a undergrad student, I cant believe that some of my fellow students don't understand basic statics, I am a sr in mech. engg. Statics is the basics for pretty much everything and they cant get how to solve basic problems, alot of people learn it for the test then forget...personally I like to learn it. Dont want to go off on a rant but I dont mind helping people in my class but I can not deal with people who do not understand fundamentals that we learned 3 year ago.
I just graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Fiance and I can tell you first hand that many of my peers, outside of knowing finance material had an extreme lack of knowledge about basic and common knowledge material such as U.S. History, personal accounting, mathematics, and writing. Also, when doing group projects I was constantly having to edit papers because many group members had poor grammar and sentence structure. I feel like the quality of education isn't affected by teachers in most cases I feel like it is the lack of motivation of the individual student to reach outside the box of what they are suppose to know, they reach no further to educate themselves because it makes them a more well rounded person. There is just no care for educating yourself outside of what you are mandated to do. My two cents. I am going back to get my MBA next year as well as start studying for my CFA in two years and I look forward to the opportunity to learn more. I also think it starts with reading, young people now have little care to pick up a book. Now I am not saying this about all students, many do their good work, I am just saying there is a large population that have this mentality.
I agree with you, people are just not motivated anymore it seems like they use to be, not saying there are not any well motivated people as there are many. To be honest, like I said before, and not to be rude to any parents on this board but alot of parents seem to think, "I dont have to do anything or teach my kid anything the school will do that." I dont agree in that one bit, you know the old saying it take a village to raise a kid well that is true. People like to point fingers and not take responsibility and it is just a growing issue...oh well...I know that when I do have kids down the road I will be a active parent in his/her life and help them learn fundamentals and other things that school does not teach a person.
And I agree with you as well, I think it starts with the parents at home stimulating their kids with respect, honesty, good work ethic, and the passion to develop yourself as a human being by making an investment in your education. LOL sorry this is a touchy subject for me I could go on forever haha.
ha, dont worry Chas it is for me as well. Have the same story as many others, parents came to the stats from India to get a better education, grandfather did everything he could for his kids to give them the best education in India, once my parents moved here my Dad went to grad school. Both my parents have pushed my sister and I in school and community service and to be honest it had made life more enjoyable I think. My dad has always said, "Why not just put in a little hard work now so later in life you can enjoy life because you the education to get a job that will let you, but if you are lazy now then you will be working hard the rest of your life."
Thanks for the feedback guys... I'm just having a rough semester and needed to at least vent a bit on this subject. It's rare that I come across someone that actually understands the material being taught in lecture coming in with a question on what's being covered. Typically it's people that don't like doing calculus but call themselves engineering students for being able to plug and chug... I try to prod them to start at the fundamentals and derive the equation for themselves but most can't do it... not to sound overly dramatic but honestly it takes a toll on one's soul. I've got a couple students who are regulars for my office hours that have done significantly better on the exam then the majority that I'd like to think maybe I've had some influence on their efforts/understanding...anyhow, thanks reading
One of my professors has had the same issue with a few students in my design class, this project was to design a torsion spring for a garage door, so first you would need to look at the movement of the door and forces and yadda yadda. I was talking to him in his office about a few issues I was having and at the end he said thanks for only taking 10 min of my time to ask questions and actually get were you are messing up before I even finish because you forgot something simple. He said he had 2 groups come in and spend 2 hrs trying to make them understand that you have to take the door apart into each panel to look at the motion and they could not understand that, mind you this is sr. mechanical engineering students. Next day in class he said the baby stuff of plug and chug is done with, that was your first year or two of college, now you are big boys so you are the one deriving the equations that others use to plug and chug.
ah man....I'm glad at least your professor's will approach that, mine tended to just sweep it under the rug and go on pretending...you should see some of the junk that passes for senior design projects around here....hell i should take some pictures since the office/lab I'm in doubles for storage of past projects.
ha, yeah only thing is next semester when I am in Sr. Design the companies that sponsor the project come in to the presentations that are throughout the semester for progress reports and you cant have a group that is horrible presenting to Northrop Grummans and companies like that. Some prof I have had do just push it under but there are those few who take the time I guess.
Right now I'm in my second year at the University of Toronto. Looking at my peers, I come to think that a majority of the students in post-secondary education are just going through the motions. Very few of students today pursue their education with actual goals or ambition at all. This is probably why students now have little grasp on the material at hand. Like my mom says, you're physically in the classroom, but your soul isn't.
