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I'm somewhat skeptical of this explanation since I went to a private secondary school in Australia where these pressures did not apply, and had the exact same e

I'm somewhat skeptical of this explanation since I went to a private secondary school in Australia where these pressures did not apply, and had the exact same experience with Biology where what we were taught was to memorize taxonomies that made me abandon the subject as early as possible.

pm90 6y ago
One experience doesn’t disprove systemic reasons for the outcomes we’re seeing. Even if hypothetically all teachers were very well paid and the job was regarded as high status, there would be a nonzero chance that some kids still end up with shitty teachers.
bigger_cheese 6y ago
I went to public school in Australia, there was a lot of memorization, I can remember my tests were always big on making us label diagrams (here's a kidney match the words with arrows, now do it for the liver, now do it for the heart) etc. But we also did some experimental stuff in Biology. Which at least was memorable to me. Aside from the ever present dissections I can remember one notable experiment in year 11 involving Agar-Gel plates, we took swabs from various places around our school (Taps in the bathroom, Classroom door handle, AC Vents etc) and incubated the plates and compared what sort of bacteria was found and whereabouts.
fakedang 6y ago
Incidentally, for me it wasn't the taxonomies, but rather a teacher who was overly critical of me. He kept insulting my drawings, and since it was India, your parents too join in the "fun". For high school, I switched my stream to computer science almost immediately. It was only in my final years in engineering school (chemical engineering) where I began to get into Machine learning applications for biological processes under a really enthusiastic and encouraging professor (who ended up being a coauthor on a number of papers), that I really began to rekindle an interest in biology. Funnily, earlier this year, my now-fiancee prepared for and wrote the MCAT, and since I sat along with her during her prep, I decided to give it a shot too, in spite of my relative lack of prep and a full time job on the sidelines. Managed to score a neat 514. Turns out, having a good teacher matters a lot.

pm90 6y ago

One experience doesn’t disprove systemic reasons for the outcomes we’re seeing. Even if hypothetically all teachers were very well paid and the job was regarded as high status, there would be a nonzero chance that some kids still end up with shitty teachers.

bigger_cheese 6y ago

I went to public school in Australia, there was a lot of memorization, I can remember my tests were always big on making us label diagrams (here's a kidney match the words with arrows, now do it for the liver, now do it for the heart) etc. But we also did some experimental stuff in Biology. Which at least was memorable to me. Aside from the ever present dissections I can remember one notable experiment in year 11 involving Agar-Gel plates, we took swabs from various places around our school (Taps in the bathroom, Classroom door handle, AC Vents etc) and incubated the plates and compared what sort of bacteria was found and whereabouts.

fakedang 6y ago

Incidentally, for me it wasn't the taxonomies, but rather a teacher who was overly critical of me. He kept insulting my drawings, and since it was India, your parents too join in the "fun". For high school, I switched my stream to computer science almost immediately. It was only in my final years in engineering school (chemical engineering) where I began to get into Machine learning applications for biological processes under a really enthusiastic and encouraging professor (who ended up being a coauthor on a number of papers), that I really began to rekindle an interest in biology. Funnily, earlier this year, my now-fiancee prepared for and wrote the MCAT, and since I sat along with her during her prep, I decided to give it a shot too, in spite of my relative lack of prep and a full time job on the sidelines. Managed to score a neat 514. Turns out, having a good teacher matters a lot.