My experience as a student is that the vast majority are not learning. They're just studying to pass an exam and get an A. One thing I've also noticed is that (

My experience as a student is that the vast majority are not learning. They're just studying to pass an exam and get an A. One thing I've also noticed is that (for Astronomy at least) the material covered in the introductory courses are repeatedly covered in higher level courses. I guess if you study something enough it will stick, but I have to wonder how well this prepares students for post-college academic life.