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In my experience the liberal arts classes I was required to take were all big 100+ person lecture -> memorize -> test classes. I tend to think a lot of the pra

In my experience the liberal arts classes I was required to take were all big 100+ person lecture -> memorize -> test classes. I tend to think a lot of the praise heaped on liberal arts is the fallacy that since these skills are not learned in STEM classes, they must be learned in liberal arts classes. It also seems like those classes are taught at a much lower level. Plenty of people fail out of STEM and go on to be liberal arts majors but not the reverse. I think that bumping up the difficulty to the point that people are actually failing out would go a long way to these majors regaining credibility, and I hope they do because I am not anti-liberal arts in principle, only in practice.

cowsandmilk 8y ago
> In my experience the liberal arts classes I was required to take were all big 100+ person lecture -> memorize -> test classes The classes you were "required to take" likely were intro classes with large enrollments. What you describe is how many intro science classes are taught at many universities as well. And even many second year science classes. It is generally only in the 300-400 level classes that are within your major that you start to have small sections with more intimate interaction with the professor.
- travisoneill1 8y ago
  Right. My point is that the liberal arts classes are not different and special.
lmns 8y ago
Bumping the difficulty to make it credible is basically video game logic, though. It should be as difficult (or easy) as it needs to be.
your-nanny 8y ago
Almost none of my liberal arts classes were like that, and a lot of the lowest level science classes were. So there you have the power of anecdotal evidence. My liberal arts classes required lots of writing and a hell a lot of hard thinking.
- your-nanny 8y ago
  on further reflection, theliberal arts degree taught me how to think about complexity and ambiguity, and how to think about intersubjectivity, whereas computer science taught me to think in the clean room of mathematics where things mean what they mean.

cowsandmilk 8y ago

> In my experience the liberal arts classes I was required to take were all big 100+ person lecture -> memorize -> test classes The classes you were "required to take" likely were intro classes with large enrollments. What you describe is how many intro science classes are taught at many universities as well. And even many second year science classes. It is generally only in the 300-400 level classes that are within your major that you start to have small sections with more intimate interaction with the professor.

travisoneill1 8y ago
Right. My point is that the liberal arts classes are not different and special.

lmns 8y ago

Bumping the difficulty to make it credible is basically video game logic, though. It should be as difficult (or easy) as it needs to be.

your-nanny 8y ago

Almost none of my liberal arts classes were like that, and a lot of the lowest level science classes were. So there you have the power of anecdotal evidence. My liberal arts classes required lots of writing and a hell a lot of hard thinking.

your-nanny 8y ago
on further reflection, theliberal arts degree taught me how to think about complexity and ambiguity, and how to think about intersubjectivity, whereas computer science taught me to think in the clean room of mathematics where things mean what they mean.