Ah, finals.... Something I don't miss now that I'm no longer a student.
I used to take my textbooks, pick problems at random, and see if I could solve them. If I didn't I'd spend a lot of time trying to see where I might have gone wrong. Sometimes I'd borrow a whole stack of library books on the subjects in question and do the same with those.
While I was working on my second master's degree, the Students Union operated an exam bank from which one could buy copies of old exams in certain courses. I bought as many as I could and found that going through them certainly helped. In one case, the final exam was the exactly same as the one I looked at the night before.
I must have done something right as I did manage to earn 4 degrees.
I want to know who the fuck they think they're helping. Occasionally I go to YouTube and search for some of these videos on my own. They all have 9 views, 4 views, etc.
It really is the Me generation still, right?
There's a fantastic article in the new 20 year anniversary of Wired magazine all about this current generation, their use of technology and what it has done to their personalities. They really are a different kind of human, as anyone who has a class of freshmen waiting already knows.
While that generation considers itself technically astute, I don't see too many of them who know how the real world functions. How many know how to do simple car repairs, know how to use a needle and thread to sew on a button, or bake a loaf of bread?
Maybe I'm biased. I was born in the mid-1950s and both my parents were journeymen in their respective trades.
They're not technologically astute in any way. Few of them can debug a wiring problem, design a website in HTML, write a computer script, etc, etc. Their technical skills are at a far lower level than my generation, who had to jump through a lot more hoops to a primitive video game to work.
They DO know how to consume media, though, and contribute to the general buzz of online conversation. But in no way should you mistake this for being technically literate.
Few of them can debug a wiring problem, design a website in HTML, write a computer script, etc, etc.
John, Paul, George and Ringo on a tandem bicycle, they can't even format a word-processing document. Some of the little darlings don't know about headers and footers, or even about automatic line breaks. I've gotten double-spaced electronic documents in which there were two carriage returns after each line, as though they were using a typewriter.
And try to get them to use a spreadsheet... As you say, there is no way anyone should mistake our students for anything approaching "technically literate."
"How many know how to do simple car repairs, know how to use a needle and thread to sew on a button, or bake a loaf of bread?"
Bagpipe dirge for the demise of Home Economics classes. But there's a gateway drug for such knowledge called the skateboard. Despite the damage skating causes, I just love that it's a DIY sport. Every skater I know (students, my sons, their friends) knows how to install trucks, change out wheels, and clean and pack bearings. They know "righty tighty, lefty loosey". They learn carpentry by building ramps. Once they've adopted this DIY ethic, it's natural for them to sew on their own buttons and patches and learn to repair a zipper or change a bicycle tire.
As for baking bread, they like the kneading and the eating, but otherwise find it boring. I'm pretty sure the last generation who did that regularly came of age before World War II.
One thing my parents taught me is to take care of myself. It's particularly useful nowadays as I live alone and I have to watch every penny I spend. To save a few bucks, I do my own repairs when possible. If I don't try to fix things myself, they'll stay broken. If I can't fix them, it's either because I don't have the time or tools to do it myself so I have to find a shop that can.
I can also sew on a button and do minor repairs to my clothes. And, yes, I bake my own bread and I even brew my own beer.
Everybody should know practical skills like these. Unfortunately, with the members of the generation now in university, I don't see much of that. They seem to be completely clueless about what's wrong, let alone know how to fix it. Quite likely, they just let whatever's broken sit there, not say anything and figure that, magically, somebody else will come along and take care of it for them.
I love the guy who is aware enough to joke about his final. In answer to Hiram's question of who they're helping: themselves, of course. No one does anything to help others anymore, right?
Thanks, Cal, for the vidshizzle, and Hiram for the link. It is, indeed, a strange and a bit worrying, but also wonderful in some ways, generation. I suppose that's what the old fogeys always think, and the world has survived.
Ah, finals.... Something I don't miss now that I'm no longer a student.
ReplyDeleteI used to take my textbooks, pick problems at random, and see if I could solve them. If I didn't I'd spend a lot of time trying to see where I might have gone wrong. Sometimes I'd borrow a whole stack of library books on the subjects in question and do the same with those.
While I was working on my second master's degree, the Students Union operated an exam bank from which one could buy copies of old exams in certain courses. I bought as many as I could and found that going through them certainly helped. In one case, the final exam was the exactly same as the one I looked at the night before.
I must have done something right as I did manage to earn 4 degrees.
God love them, the poor souls. Nice job Cal!
ReplyDeleteI am eternally grateful that I do not have to watch all of these original videos. I would blow my brains out.
ReplyDeleteI am eternally grateful, however, that Cal chops them up and delivers them in the pleasing vidshizzle size!
I was wondering if there was a final exam video coming! Thank you, Cal.
ReplyDeleteI rewatched this one today and laughed my ass off.
I want to know who the fuck they think they're helping. Occasionally I go to YouTube and search for some of these videos on my own. They all have 9 views, 4 views, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt really is the Me generation still, right?
There's a fantastic article in the new 20 year anniversary of Wired magazine all about this current generation, their use of technology and what it has done to their personalities. They really are a different kind of human, as anyone who has a class of freshmen waiting already knows.
Here is a link to the Wired article I referenced above. Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI think society's doomed.
DeleteWhile that generation considers itself technically astute, I don't see too many of them who know how the real world functions. How many know how to do simple car repairs, know how to use a needle and thread to sew on a button, or bake a loaf of bread?
Maybe I'm biased. I was born in the mid-1950s and both my parents were journeymen in their respective trades.
They're not technologically astute in any way. Few of them can debug a wiring problem, design a website in HTML, write a computer script, etc, etc. Their technical skills are at a far lower level than my generation, who had to jump through a lot more hoops to a primitive video game to work.
DeleteThey DO know how to consume media, though, and contribute to the general buzz of online conversation. But in no way should you mistake this for being technically literate.
Few of them can debug a wiring problem, design a website in HTML, write a computer script, etc, etc.
DeleteJohn, Paul, George and Ringo on a tandem bicycle, they can't even format a word-processing document. Some of the little darlings don't know about headers and footers, or even about automatic line breaks. I've gotten double-spaced electronic documents in which there were two carriage returns after each line, as though they were using a typewriter.
And try to get them to use a spreadsheet... As you say, there is no way anyone should mistake our students for anything approaching "technically literate."
"How many know how to do simple car repairs, know how to use a needle and thread to sew on a button, or bake a loaf of bread?"
DeleteBagpipe dirge for the demise of Home Economics classes. But there's a gateway drug for such knowledge called the skateboard. Despite the damage skating causes, I just love that it's a DIY sport. Every skater I know (students, my sons, their friends) knows how to install trucks, change out wheels, and clean and pack bearings. They know "righty tighty, lefty loosey". They learn carpentry by building ramps. Once they've adopted this DIY ethic, it's natural for them to sew on their own buttons and patches and learn to repair a zipper or change a bicycle tire.
As for baking bread, they like the kneading and the eating, but otherwise find it boring. I'm pretty sure the last generation who did that regularly came of age before World War II.
One thing my parents taught me is to take care of myself. It's particularly useful nowadays as I live alone and I have to watch every penny I spend. To save a few bucks, I do my own repairs when possible. If I don't try to fix things myself, they'll stay broken. If I can't fix them, it's either because I don't have the time or tools to do it myself so I have to find a shop that can.
DeleteI can also sew on a button and do minor repairs to my clothes. And, yes, I bake my own bread and I even brew my own beer.
Everybody should know practical skills like these. Unfortunately, with the members of the generation now in university, I don't see much of that. They seem to be completely clueless about what's wrong, let alone know how to fix it. Quite likely, they just let whatever's broken sit there, not say anything and figure that, magically, somebody else will come along and take care of it for them.
I love the guy who is aware enough to joke about his final. In answer to Hiram's question of who they're helping: themselves, of course. No one does anything to help others anymore, right?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cal, for the vidshizzle, and Hiram for the link. It is, indeed, a strange and a bit worrying, but also wonderful in some ways, generation. I suppose that's what the old fogeys always think, and the world has survived.
ReplyDelete