Professors or University people... would you say what you teach/learn is very rigid and directed or do you think it's fair and open?

I think its rigid, but its what I need to be taught. Then again, I am an engineer, which may be different from other majors.

I think basically they teach us in the format way,giving only some main/related issue and you must find the rest of the other required raw materials yourself. I’m still trying to earn my B.S. in psychology. I don’t like when they add general physic(I hate physic) as part of the study course. I don’t think there’s a connection between that,but still they said it’s important and whether I like it or not I must do it<sigh>.
(You don’t have the worst-worded question in all fluther history. I have it).

I’m studying psychology and even though I really enjoy the content, I do feel they skip over certain things THEY don’t see as “important”, that really should be addressed. But I think it has a lot to do with which uni you choose to attend. My school is a very traditional, rigid, “science glorifying”, university. I know of others in the same area that are slightly more open to more “unconventional” ideas.

I’m not sure if this is what you are asking though….....

Is the question more related to if tertiary education is controlled by the elite, and if we are kept in the dark and only taught on a “need to know” basis?

If that is your question: I do think that knowledge is power. And I don’t think at a university level we will ever be taught everything in the depth that “others” understand it…..But I think within the university environment alone, knowledge is shared as honestly as possible.

I instruct Tae-Kwon-Do and Anatomy/Figure drawing on the college level. In both fields I will give you all the information and teach you all the required skills you need to succeed. Seeing a student go beyond what I taught them is what I strive for.

Well, of course it’s predetermined, whatever it is, so it hardly matters what one ‘thinks’ it is, does it?

After all, according to your philosophy there is no choice anyway, right?

I am not sure the question really is answerable for me as a University person. It seems to have the assumption that University teaching can force you to learn a particular thing at the expense of being able to think broadly, which I do not find to be the case. I do not think it is binary that way.

There are a lot of University courses that teach particular skills or knowledge fairly rigidly (as in, learn this, this is how it goes), and all teaching everywhere is always based on what the person who is teaching finds important—why would you teach your students unimportant things? That would be stupid. That does not, however, in my experience imply that a University education forces you to think in a particular way or to agree with the relative importances of things with other University-educated people (be they your teachers or your peers).

Maybe it is a paradox, but I find that you can get a broad-minded, “holistic” education from being taught particular things or theories in an exact, rigid manner. And that you can get rigid and narrow-minded in your thinking even when taught in a way that seems to allow for diversity. How people turn out after an education is not so much in what exactly is taught, but in what sort of example of thinkers the students encounter in the institute and in life while studying.

@CyanoticWasp said: “Well, of course it’s predetermined, whatever it is, so it hardly matters what one ‘thinks’ it is, does it?”

you’re looking at it from the wrong perspective: in a deterministic universe everything is absolutely necessary and pertinent. including concern and questioning.

@everyone else

I don’t think there’s anything to fear about university education. I do think it’s easy to forget to think outside the box they present, but i find that box helpful in guiding you along. provides a starting point for further studies.

Interesting question as studies show that faculty in Universities tend to be overwhelmingly politically liberal. I think a great instructor is always going to find ways to help you think critically and explore answers for yourself. Student motivation is a huge part of it. Do you just want the A or do you want to learn the content and then still learn more. If you are assigned a book to read…do you learn about the author too? I am a university professor and I love when students take a creative approach to assignments and bring elements of how their assignment/project is reflected in our society. Ask yourself what about the author’s own experience led them to write what they wrote.
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