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You'd be surprised to learn how many college students goals aren't actually to "Learn the most possible."

• tkahn6 13y ago
  I'd be more surprised if even 1% of college students had to goal to learn as much as possible as opposed to get the highest grades possible.
• benblodgett 13y ago
  Schools emphasize the numerical values that represent the 'amount learned', not the actual acquisition of knowledge. Any college student with the sole goal of learning how to learn & think unfortunately doesn't survive the education system.
• jasallen 13y ago
  It's not that any of us are surprised, it's that that is the core problem with the construct of the educational system. The system encourages this 'number juicing' through whatever means. During the course of a class, if as much education is given to each individual possible, then at the end of the class what does the actual grade matter? These grades turn out to be a poor proxy for things like earning, ingenuity, creativity, changing-the-world, or for that matter even grokking the materials. The only thing for which they're (maybe) a valuable proxy is 'how well can this student juice the grade of the next course in the line' -- a question whose answer ultimately adds no value to society.
  • HarryHirsch 13y ago
    > These grades turn out to be a poor proxy for things like earning, ingenuity, creativity, changing-the-world, or for that matter even grokking the materials. It's unfortunate, but in my department about 80 % of the students go up to med school. The GPA plays a great part in determining just what school will accept you, which in turn has massive impact on your future earnings.