> I found practical assignments were better when they felt less synthetic, it's much easier to motivate to learn for something when the task seems more authenti

> I found practical assignments were better when they felt less synthetic, it's much easier to motivate to learn for something when the task seems more authentic. So much this. When I was doing organic chem back in the day, I found a lab textbook that pitched each lab specifically in the context of "You are an [petroleum engineer] hired to analyze whether this sample of [whatever] contains [something]," and built up a whole - surprisingly detailed - business context for what you were doing, and why you were doing it that way. It was like OChem: the RPG. It made the actual assignment feel engaging and useful - like leveling up - rather than being a random hoop to jump through because someone somewhere decided this was something that needed learning. Feeling useless is one of the worst things in the world. Grounding things in reality, building things in the context of what you'd actually utilize it for, is amazing. I wish every class did.