I was a little disheartened, however, by the handful of students that made an exit when they realized that my talk wouldn’t be covered on any test they had in that class. It reminded me of this website I came across a few weeks back, which discusses some of the myths and realities of college education. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of what is said, I think this professor hits on some very good points.

I know that as a student I was probably guilty of a few of these, but as a teacher, it has become clear to me that the meaning of a college education has really changed over the past few decades. You read stories about students in the olden days really getting into learning the material and deepening their knowledge base, rather than just showing up to class and doing the minimum that is necessary to get that piece of paper at the end of 4, 5, or 6 years. The huge jump in demand for a college education has forced these eager learners to pursue graduate studies. Is this bad, or is it just progress? I think we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next few decades.

Thanks again to those students who spent just 45 minutes of their Friday with me, learning for the sake of learning. I really do appreciate it.