I was talking with one of my neighbors at church today. He's an electrical engineer with interests of study quite similar to my own. We were discussing finals and how they might go, as well as what he might do after he graduates. While we were talking, I once again realized the fact that I'm a good test taker. So good in fact, that I can fail to pay attention, study, or read for a class through the whole semester show up for the final (having crammed for a couple days) and pass with flying colors. (Note, I have a final tomorrow at 11 am; check back and see if I'm so confident in my abilities to this after the test.) The problem is, I don't retain the information like I should. After this semester is over, I probably won't be able to tell you the difference from a Banach or Hilbert space, or how to do LU decomposition without looking it up. The education system we live in inherently produces students with similar types of abilities. Now and then you'll get someone who actually reads the whole semester, pays attention in class every day, and studies as the class progresses.
One of my professors made an interesting comment while quoting someone else. He said, "Education is a funny thing, it's the only product where most people don't want their money's worth." But is that really the case? Why do you go to college? Do you go to learn? Do you go to get a better job? Or possibly both? I was never a fan of thermodynamics, and as I'm not doing anything related to that in my research and have no desire to pursue a degree in that area, will it matter that I can't remember the difference between a Grashof and a Nusselt number? Anyway, I'll quit now so I can wake up early to study Bayesian Classification and projective reconstruction in imagery. Yay.
3 comments:
yeah, I used to be the same way...I think I inherited it from my Dad. It was a wonderful blessing, and then the horse kicked away all test taking abilities...:( So now I'm one of those people who read the whole semester and go to class. It sucks, I totally don't suggest it.
I have found that my brain works in the same way. I rarely study for a class until the night before the test. I think the same attributes help on interviews (for jobs) as well but... I have found that if I get stuck in a job without frequent new challenges I get bored, and then I have to go through the whole interview process again.
On the other hand how often are you really going to use the information you are tested on in school and how practical is it for real life application? For me, not so much. I haven't used a single lick of calculus in all my years as an accountant yet. I took and passed the class in college. So I digress, that is a whole different discussion on the value of our current education system.
Well, with my degree I use what I learned in school constantly. Is that true in your field? It'd be concerning if it was and your employers are going to want to see you do these things in interviews. Probably though, it's like most degrees you study for 4 years to prove you are smart and then you get a job and must learn how to do it.
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