Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Going back to the departmental meeting yesterday.
The same faculty who spoke up earlier expressed concerns about the sacrificing the broad scope of science courses that the students can learn for an extensive study of one particular area of science doesn’t appeal to her.

The chairman just said that the vice president’s intent was not to make the students jack of all trades, masters of none, but to emphasize in the new courses how the students can obtain more knowledge.
In other words, they will “learn how to learn”.

Again, I assume that also means the curiosity will be part and parcel of that process, because if the students are not ingrained with the wonderment of discovery for the world around them in the first place, the only time they’ll look anything up is if they want to settle a bet with their friends if violin bows are made from real horse hair. In other words, driven only by infrequent desperate need.

This also gives the hint that the courses won’t be spoon-feeding lectures anymore, but demonstrations on the scientific method.

There’s a side note on that about a suggested different way of teaching the laboratory classes, but I can delve into that another time.

Another professor, whose husband teaches in another university, says that there, they have subjects like “The Science of Scuba Diving” or “The Science of the Guitar”, which they change all the time depending on the demand or popularity of the class, and the availability of the faculty who could teach it (as it is, of course based on the offering faculty’s interest and expertise).

In another university, they said they have a course called “Science and Society” that even the doctorate holders are falling head over heels to teach. But then it was said that’s because it doesn’t take much preparation, and consists mostly of anecdotal lectures. It has summarily dismissed as not even being a science course.

On the subject of giving the students cursory knowledge in all sciences, I didn’t say it out loud, but this could be a symptom of today’s Multi-million-prize Quiz Show mentality. The more you know on a variety of possible categories, the more you can win.
To grossly misquote “Contact”: “What’s wrong with knowledge being practical?” Are facts that can earn you thousands in a game show practical?

On another side note: the Mensa members are preparing (or did, for last night, if not next week, I’m not sure) quiz questions for this contest in The Craic along Jupiter Street. Unfortunately I couldn’t participate in giving questions because it is midterms week here now in school, and that’s my priority. Why else would I be giving a film showing that cuts down on my need to prepare extensively for class?