- #1
Pengwuino
Gold Member
- 5,123
- 20
I had a discussion with my lab coordinator the other day about what exactly a university education should mean. Most of my students, mainly seniors and juniors, don't know how to use Excel. Their lab reports typically have atrocious grammar. They can barely read a lab manual and translate it into actual physical activities. If you're a frequenter of the Sunday chats, you know what I mean .
How do students like this make it in the real world? I mean, in a job market almost devoid of tough manual lab and more and more reliant on computers and software and the like, what kind of prospects exist for students who are so petrified of anything that isn't Youtube or Word? Are universities responsible for educating students in a way that prepares them for the real world? Sometimes it feels like universities are simply: Come to classes we create, we'll tell you stuff we think is cool, there are jobs that vaguely relate to what we think is cool, pay us $50,000 and we'll give you a piece of paper saying you didn't fail at coming to class. At no point does it seem like many students gain anything useful that differentiates them from high school graduates.
How do students like this make it in the real world? I mean, in a job market almost devoid of tough manual lab and more and more reliant on computers and software and the like, what kind of prospects exist for students who are so petrified of anything that isn't Youtube or Word? Are universities responsible for educating students in a way that prepares them for the real world? Sometimes it feels like universities are simply: Come to classes we create, we'll tell you stuff we think is cool, there are jobs that vaguely relate to what we think is cool, pay us $50,000 and we'll give you a piece of paper saying you didn't fail at coming to class. At no point does it seem like many students gain anything useful that differentiates them from high school graduates.