Only Conservatives Can Save The American Campus–But Should We?

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2015/11/08/only-conservatives-can-save-the-american-campus-but-should-we/ ^

[CyberAnt]

You will never be able to change the campus until you get rid of the main reason for all the false teaching which has been going on at our campuses for 50 years .. The Teachers’ Unions.

These unions set the agenda .. and they are wanting to indoctrinate all these young people for the DemocRATS to have a continual line of voters coming from the campus.

To me .. it seems the only thing these unions want to teach our young people is .. how horrible Americans are.

And .. we wonder why our young people have turned away from their families and poisoned themselves with alcohol or drugs; or they have joined a group of protesters.

[Ford4000]

The reason that false teaching is so widespread is that truth is not considered important anymore. The only thing that matters is money and credentials.

[acapesket]

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

[Tax-chick]

If wishes were horses, we’d all be hip-deep in manure.

However, neither aphorism addresses the question of whether the university system as it currently exists should be preserved.

[JoeFromSidney]

You cannot get a science education through internet course work. Budding scientists need the hands-on experience of doing real experiments.

It's true that science and engineering courses need hands-on work. I got a lot of that while earning an engineering degree. However, I'm not sure that can't be done outside a university.

Years ago, well before the Internet, I took a correspondence course in TV repair. I didn't want a job repairing TVs, I wanted the TV set that the students built during the course, at the expense of the Veterans Administration. I was surprised at how much "lab work" could be done with the kits the correspondence school sent me. They were well thought out, and allowed me to understand the theory behind a TV set, and to work with actual hardware.

The set worked when I built it, and I used it for many years before it gave up the ghost. By then it was obsolete and not worth repairing.

It probably helped that I already knew a lot about electrical engineering before I took the course, but I still learned a lot about TVs that I hadn't learned in my engineering courses.

This experience leads me to think that a lot of "lab courses" could in fact be taught via the internet and kits sent to the student.

However, some means would have to be available for the student to get advice and help with things that weren't clear, or didn't seem to work right.

[acapesket]

I don’t disagree with you, I was more aggro with the intimation that we should not have our kids attend. Until if and when the system changes, our young, ambitious kids do not have much choice.

[exDemMom]

I think that learning something like laboratory electronics is a bit different than teaching chemistry or biology. I’m not sure I’d want students who have never handled chemicals before to be trying out chemical syntheses at home, for example.

[Tax-chick]

I agree. My oldest son is a senior at UNC-Charlotte. Not too much hassle in the business department, fortunately.

[JoeFromSidney]

I think that learning something like laboratory electronics is a bit different than teaching chemistry or biology. I’m not sure I’d want students who have never handled chemicals before to be trying out chemical syntheses at home, for example.

I understand your point. However, as a child I had a chemistry set that allowed me to do quite a few different experiments. I not only learned about acids and bases, but did things like making soaps and dyes. (I also made fireworks, but those weren't in the manual.) I think a chemistry lab could be based on the same sort of kit.

I had a microscope set that included some already-prepared slides, but which allowed me to make my own slides of things like slices of plant stems and pollen, and to see the microscopic critters in pond water. I think a biology lab could be based on a similar kit.

I had an Erector set that I used to make quite a few contraptions. I think a mechanical engineering lab or a structures lab could be based on a similar kit.

In short, I think it would be possible to make kits that would give suitable lab training in a variety of sciences. It would take careful thought, but we do hve examples to draw on, such as chemistry sets and Erector sets.

[dr_lew]

However, neither aphorism addresses the question of whether the university system as it currently exists should be preserved.

I must note that this passive voice is the liberal mode of exposition, the epitome being, "They shouldn't be allowed to do that."

Do you see how that works? To me it's actually disgusting.