Are Gen Eds in college useful or just a drag on finishing? (school, psychology)

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by mitsguy2001

Perhaps Gen Eds should be graded pass / fail so that students could take more risks with them and obtain more of a well-rounded education without risking their GPA.

If students are choosing easy classes simply so they don't risk their GPA, one has to wonder what they are doing in college to begin with....

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by mitsguy2001

Maybe a better idea would be for students to work for 2 years after high school in their intended career, and then 2 years of college after that?

It's kind of a chicken and an egg problem. A professor is unlikely to provide you with work if you haven't attended at least some college... and you won't know what it's like to contribute to research in a particular field without having worked with a professor. That's why you go at them both at the same time and have "some" flexibility to shift your focus of study.

[houston-nomad]

I teach a gen ed class in a subject that most students have no intention of pursuing. The way I see it, the subject matter itself is not the big takeaway (though some students find it really interesting). But they also get a big scope of history, of other cultures, of means of expression. Ways of thinking about the world that they haven't had before. The idea that other cultures, at other times, did things differently, had different religions, had different values. It opens up possibilities in their minds, I believe. Helps them relate to people from other cultures today. Helps them think critically about information of all sorts.

It's hard to quantify those things as "skills applicable to a job." But surely, they are.

[mitsguy2001]

Originally Posted by TexasLawyer2000

If students are choosing easy classes simply so they don't risk their GPA, one has to wonder what they are doing in college to begin with....

Unfortunately, a lot of scholarships require you to keep a certain GPA. So that forces you to not risk your GPA if you want to keep your scholarship.

[mitsguy2001]

Originally Posted by TexasLawyer2000

It's kind of a chicken and an egg problem. A professor is unlikely to provide you with work if you haven't attended at least some college... and you won't know what it's like to contribute to research in a particular field without having worked with a professor. That's why you go at them both at the same time and have "some" flexibility to shift your focus of study.

I'm referring to real world jobs, not academic jobs.

[IDoPhysicsPhD]

Originally Posted by mitsguy2001

Liberal arts majors tended to take Animal Science 101 for their science requirement... There were math and other science classes for liberal arts majors to meet their gened requirements which were easier than what they'd take in high school.

As you can tell from my username, I had a liberal arts major and I can assure you that Animal Science 101 wasn't going to cut it. This overgeneralizing about large groups of people or areas of study is not helping anyone make a salient point.

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by mitsguy2001

Why is it that it seems that the groups that want to skip math and science courses in college are almost always liberal arts majors?

This is a strange thing to say... perhaps ironic.

[mitsguy2001]

Originally Posted by IDoPhysicsPhD

As you can tell from my username, I had a liberal arts major and I can assure you that Animal Science 101 wasn't going to cut it. This overgeneralizing about large groups of people or areas of study is not helping anyone make a salient point.

No, you were obviously a physics major, and I'd consider that to be STEM, not liberal arts. Maybe I was using the terms incorrectly. By liberal arts, I meant non-STEM.

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by mitsguy2001

No, you were obviously a physics major, and I'd consider that to be STEM, not liberal arts. Maybe I was using the terms incorrectly. By liberal arts, I meant non-STEM.

Liberal arts:

Life sciences (biology, ecology, neuroscience)
Physical science (physics, astronomy, chemistry, physical geography)
Logic, mathematics, statistics, computer science
Philosophy
History
Social science (anthropology, economics, human geography, linguistics, political science, jurisprudence, psychology, and sociology)
Creative arts (fine arts, music, performing arts, literature)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by jobaba

Just for one, it should be easier for people to switch careers. I mean, it's doable but it takes a lot of effort, and sometimes expensive degrees and making the right choices.

People are more productive and better teammates I feel when it's not a 35 year grind. When you're faced with that, you look for the easy way out.

My undergraduate degree was in computer science. I worked in that field for a bit before changing careers. I still dabble in the tech industry. I didn't have to do more work than someone who planned to enter law from day 1. I just took a different path.