The Decline of the Well Rounded Education
About a week ago, on her personal Facebook page Claire posted a Huffington Post opinion piece about why this particular gentleman prefers English majors to business majors. I kind of laughed a bit, because the post was so general you could put basically anything except business majors in place of English majors and the article wouldn’t change. But it did get me thinking more about the role of humanities in our educational system.
I am a technology major. I received a Bachelor of Science in Informatics, and my concentration was and English. Informatics initially because I couldn’t pass my math prerequisites, but eventually because I realized I like the more applied side of computing. English because I thought I wanted to be a technical writer (thankfully internships made me realize quickly that no, that’s not what I wanted to do). And while I did find out that I wasn’t quite suited for the world of technical writing and wish I had more technical skills, I am still glad I chose English as my concentration because it enhanced my ability to communicate.
If you look at traditional technology degrees like engineering or computer science [Both are PDFs] you only see three or four required humanities courses. And few electives to squeeze them into if a student so chooses. This is sad. While obviously we all go to college to study something we’re passionate about. and it’s important that we are prepared to enter the workforce a well rounded education only enhances our abilities. History, writing, literature, philosophy, these are all important concepts of which we should have a working knowledge.
The reverse is true as well. If you’re going through a Liberal Arts [PDF] program, you should have to take more than a basic math course. You should be challenged. I’d go as far to say you should have to take an introductory programming class. Computers run the world, and there’s no excuse to come out of college without a basic idea of how they work.
When the arts are removed from high school, we are shocked and saddened. When high school students struggle in math, we wonder why. But when either of these are true in the collegiate setting we just brush it off as “oh they’re science majors,” or “they’re liberal arts majors” they don’t need that. We’re moving towards college being a place where you learn a skill, not a place where you get an education. And that needs to be changed.
Good insight. I thought the experience was intended to expand not narrow horizons. Your argument could be fueled based on how the younger students in social informatics class i took last semester view the world.
I’d really be interested in hearing more, if you’re willing to share.
If I had gotten any more well-rounded, I would have been a meatball. On the other hand, I majored in PoliSci and Bio, so it’s not like there was much overlap. No coding, though. You’re right. That should be a requirement.
You’re the outlier.
The other nice thing about coding is that it really helped me understand math. It’s the same way of thinking, just presented in another way.
To be fair, I’m not really a statistical outlier, I’m just weird. And yes re: coding and math. I might have enjoyed ‘math’ more (as coding) had someone mentioned “Hey, you can do practical, cool stuff with this!”
I’m good with my geometry, because I like to build things. But once we got into calculus I was like, “Nope. You can’t even make that thing in this dimension, I’m done.”
Speaking from my own personal experience, I have to respectfully disagree. The worst thing in college for me was when I had to take classes that had zero to do with my degree. They were a waste of my time, and my money. That’s what middle school, and high school were for; forcing things down my throat I will never remember after, and will never use in real life. Nothing I took outside of Liberal Arts helped me, or stuck with me, in any way. If I was forced into something such as programming, like you suggest, I honestly would not even bother going to college.