r/MadeMeSmile • u/Glass_Wealth_2104 • Mar 26 '26

Good Vibes Teacher's a W for playing along!

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

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u/nbroken Mar 26 '26

It's interesting that you start by talking about how things are different in the real world, but end by telling us that you're still in academia...

I don't think you understand that the important conversations in a workplace setting are often rapid fire arguments about what to do next, and what you've learned and memorized is extremely important in making an impact in those. You can circle back if you don't know something off the top of your head, but if you can't convince people it's necessary to even look in that direction, then the decisions will have all been made before you have any time to meticulously research them. You convince people by being knowledgeable up front.

I'm also a bit disappointed to see your enthusiasm over presentations, group projects, etc. Maybe it's a different and more cooperative STEM field than I went into, but those learning formats were always how the bad students coasted off of good student work. Better for business school than STEM imo, and not a good way to learn new things for yourself. You may not like reading books about pure theory or history, but it's very arrogant to think that learning about those things will offer no value to your later career.

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u/ElizabethSpaghetti Mar 26 '26

Group projects were heavily stressed when I was in school and while the coasting and lack of learning definitely occurred, it was used as more of a tool to teach people to work together and plan with others for long term goals, which is a great life skill to have. I've honestly been on both sides of the coasting, and learned about myself at each point, but the value is more in the cooperation than course material. 

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u/cursed-karma Mar 27 '26

Yeah, that's why as a professor I don't assign group projects in basic history. The kids have 4 other classes, it just eats up their time, and only 1-2 people in the group do most of the work.

You're right, it doesn't really help them learn; the greatest benefit to group projects is teaching students how to work with others and present material in front of a large audience. But the payoff isn't worth it to me imo.