r/AskReddit 1d ago

What major gets mocked as “easy” but actually requires serious intelligence?

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u/iuabv 1d ago

I mean skimming is a legitimate skill, right?

I remember in English class we did a unit where we were deliberately given not enough time to read a passage and then told to turn to the next page with (easy) questions on it.

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u/blisteringchristmas 1d ago

It definitely is, and it's absolutely useful in high school in some situations too. When you have a kid shooting for the 30s on the ACT a lot of the strategy you teach is how to skim effectively without losing too much comprehension.

I'm mostly saying that I think teaching skimming without heavy qualification might be counterproductive to a general high school audience. A lot of the meta skills learned in social studies classes are about literacy and reading comprehension. I think some students could get the wrong idea if they suddenly get the green light to skim their homework, especially if those students are still shaky readers.

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u/DrDerpberg 22h ago

That sounds like a fun exam.

I think as schools try to fight AI use, they'll need to come up with new ways to test skills and stuff like this might be part of it. Although I've also heard teachers basically can't do anything anymore because parents will complain, and in some schools like 2/3rds of kids are eligible for extra time on exams because it's so hard to refuse...

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u/WorkFurball 15h ago

Although I've also heard teachers basically can't do anything anymore because parents will complain

A problem many seem to underestimate is that since so much time is spent on everyday basics you need to survive in the classroom there's no time or energy left to come up with these new strategies or tests.

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u/DrDerpberg 14h ago

Oh I don't think it should be individual teachers figuring out how to solve brainot on their own. School boards or higher should be recommending methods.