Let's reform the education system! We need new ideas people!

Ok i'll be straightforward, I hate school. I'm currently enrolled in college and it is just the same as high school in terms of class presentation. There need to be alternatives to teaching methods because for the last sixteen years of my life every single class, every single year, has been the same class presentation, over and over and over again.The usual method of teaching we see today in schools is this:

1.) The teacher has lesson plans for the day/week, and teaches the designated curriculum based upon a schedule throughout the semester/trimester/year.

2.) The teacher lectures the material to the class, through speech, visual diagrams, projected media, etc

3.) The students take notes upon the lectured material and keep the notes for future study purposes.

4.) The teacher assigns homework/project/paper, etc, to the class and assigns a due date.

5.) The teacher assigns a test for next week and the test is based upon the notes you take and what you remember from the lectures from the last however many weeks, months.

6.) You get graded on what you can put down on a piece of paper, and if you get high numbers, you pass with a degree, if you get low numbers, you don't pass with a degree.

In my opinion, this is not a good way to learn anything. All this is, is cramming information into your brain into a short period of time that causes you to worry more about memorizing the material itself in order to satisfy the requirements of arbitrary standards, rather than actually understanding it. Some people have a hard time doing school-work outside of school, and if you don't do the homework and other assignments, you don't learn anything. There needs to be a better way to teach.

I'm not saying I have the answers to make this system better, because I don't, but hopefully the forums of the world wide web might.

So let's hear it!

Thats how most people learn and not everyone can teach according to each students individual style. There is just not enough time, money, resources available unless you want to pay a lot more $ $

Besides once you get into university/college, professors aren't they're to teach you, nope, they are there to AIDE you. They have to present you with the material but its up to you to learn it. Most professors treat you as adults, meaning that you should know your learning style and if one way doesn't work for you, learn it your way. You can learn in whatever style you want, but you can't expect other people to conform your standards, its you that would need to take initiative and study one way as oppose to another.

To each they're own basically.

I guess it does make sense, because college is about responsibility and being able to manage things like an adult. However, it's not at all helpful when the teacher's have this same thought process, because all they do is make you read, write, read, write and they get paid for doing absolutely nothing. Why am I paying them any money at all if I'm just sitting there teaching myself. I might as well just sit at home, read the book and teach myself and not pay the teacher a dime. If college is about personal responsibility and me being able to learn things on my own, then why is it a requirement to get a college degree that we must sit through these classes where half the time, the teachers themselves don't even understand what they are teaching. College tuition is highway robbery for the service some teachers give. Online courses are a semi-good alternative, but the setup is just the same, minus the teacher, and you are still paying a lot of money. Maybe there should be an organization that manages majors' requirements (if there's not one already). I think that for each major, there should be arbitrary, hands-on, scenarios you must complete to a certain standard, and get graded based upon your performance, and not graded upon what you remember from the textbook and how well you can put it on a piece of paper. The point is to use not only textbooks, but outside information to learn as well, in order to complete these tests. This would be another way of grading students in order to give them a college degree, rather than to go to classes and listening to lectures. Some people have a hard time putting things down on a piece of paper in terms of tests, and this would be an alternative to that. And again, this system would not replace traditional education classrooms/work/etc, mearly add on to alternatives to traditional college classes and such.

Just my two cents

It sounds like you aren?t happy with the college/university that you are attending. Many college/universities offer more help outside of the classroom, there are TA?s, tutors, and professors have office hours to where if your learning style isn?t in sit down/in class setting, they will all work with you to what you need. But again it?s up to you to approach them and ask for help. You aren?t being tied down to a chair, if someway doesn?t work for you, you should approach the professor and tell him what you think.

I don?t know what kind of classes you are taking but many of my classes are both lectures as well as a variety of other type?s projects/scenarios that use real life prevalent data.
There is nothing stopping you from forming a group study session with other people in your class if you need it.

Also, many of my professors treat us as adults meaning that attendance isn?t required but is highly recommended. Some make it a requirement, others don?t. There have been classes where I never did go to class because the teacher didn?t teach the way I liked. I took the material and studied at home, by myself, and only showed up to take my tests. I made better test grades this way than when I went to class everyday. But this professor is one of the best professors I have ever had in the way he presented the material. All the notes he had were amazing to where I didn?t need to go to class, but they were HIS notes, not some textbook. I love going other to class because of the information I learn and the emphasis placed on certain ideas key me in as to what will be on the test, even though I would learn by myself better. You are going to class so that it gives you not only material that you can?t get anywhere else, but you are learning to think and do under pressure.

What you wrote as far as having scenarios/hands on performance is great and many classes (especially upper level classes) do provide those types of environments, but you have to realize that most technical degrees which are truly hands on degrees (i.e medicine, accounting, engineering) all have certificate tests that you take to get your license. And those test are sit down, timed tests to test your knowledge. And they aren't related to the educational system directly, so one way or the other, you will need to have pencil/paper tests. While some are scenarios, the biggest portion of those tests is sit down pencil and paper tests. That?s what most classes prepare you for. You have pass both sections of the test, hands on scenario as well as the analytical portion of it.

Ultimately, I think you need to find a uni that works with you. Doesn't seem like you're happy with the one you're attending now. Also the basic undergrad course often work the way you described. Once you start taking your core classes in the field you are majoring it, it gets better. Then its more geared towards the student and material together. You will find a lot more scenario, field trip, hands on type things than just lectures. Just have to get over the hump.