All Things Educational

[Aloha_Shooter]

Do you want a degree? What kind, and why?

I have a B.S.E. in computer science and engineering and a M.S. in applied physics plus practical systems engineering knowledge from my career. I decided a while back that while my ego wanted a doctorate, pursuing one was a waste of time and money.

Do you like to attend classes, whether your career needs them or not?

I like classes if they are germane to helping me solve problems. I hate taking something just to check a box.

What's your favorite subject, and why?

No real "favorite" subject as I'm interested in a wide variety of things from military history to constitutional law to basic science to applied engineering and science to literature to ...

Do you continue studies on your own time?

I read a lot on my own time, I don't know that you'd call it studying. I tend to be somewhat of an omnivore academically and am not disciplined enough to stick with just one subject enough to call it "study" -- yet another reason I decided not to pursue a doctorate.

Do you have memories of a favorite teacher you'd like to share? Are you seeking a class on a particular subject?

Lots of great teachers over the years. My Biology teacher in high school outlined theories of creation from Biblical to spontaneous creation to natural selection then said that students were free to believe in Biblical theories but that we wouldn't spend any more time on them because we couldn't test them scientifically. A computer engineering prof gave us a Poet's Guide to Digital Circuitry on day 1 then proceeded to tax us mentally by giving us homework involving trinary logic.

Afraid I'm not a parent so not qualified to answer the second set of questions although I have observed the homeworks and reasoning capabilities of my Boy Scouts over the years. It seems to me that subject matter is much more politically influenced these days. I was never impressed with instruction in "critical reasoning" even when I was in school but it seems even less prevalent today than it was 35 years ago. It seems like there's a lot more female teachers having sexual relations with male students today than there was when I was a kid -- can't talk to male teachers with female students although I'm sure there was some of that.

My sister and her husband go to great lengths to supplement their sons' education. It has paid off with one of the two but it's been a lot of work for them. They were a lot more involved in their sons' education than I remember my parents being in mine but that might be because I did fairly well anyway. I offered to help but their sons were more interested in me taking them shooting than quizzing them on math or science.