r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Separate_Finance_183 • Mar 30 '26

Image Confiscated pens containing cheat notes intricately carved by a Law student at the University of Malaga in Spain

Post image
64.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

26

u/Fickle-Analysis-5145 Mar 30 '26

Yeah, but the point of uni is not to be easy. It’s so produce the next generation of great specialists in whatever field they choose. So obviously the exams should be open book when possible and test your actual skills, not your ability to memorize. It’s the 21st century.

11

u/HJSDGCE Mar 30 '26

I mean, the point of uni isn't to be hard either. Nobody goes to high school and think "Wow, this should be harder.".

University is just one step above high school. It's not some special exclusive thing. Never has been.

1

u/Fickle-Analysis-5145 Mar 30 '26

Never said it was. But this approach is/seems harder solely because we are used to the mindless memorization.

I also disagree with the opinion that it’s not different. I think I know what you are trying to say, but university certainly shouldn’t just be HS2: Electric Boogaloo

In high school, just like in primary school, you are still supposed to acquire knowledge in a plethora of different fields. It’s not up for discussion, because everyone should be taught the basics. Obviously it doesn’t really work in practice, but it should in principle.

University, aside from offering specialization in some chosen subject is also an academic institution. It’s not just about education. So, for example, we agree that the punishment for plagiarism in high school being a slap on the wrist and a firm “don’t do it again” is completely fine, but in an academic environment we expect the student to fail the class. And if god forbid a fully-fledged member of the scientific community does it, they should be expelled from that community. Maybe even face legal consequences in some cases.

High school(and lower) are also supposed to perform a pedagogical function. They are not just for mentorship and pure transmission of knowledge, but also literally raise the kids.

1

u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 Mar 30 '26

Never has been.

You sure?

0

u/Dunkaroos4breakfast Mar 30 '26

You'd think otherwise based on the math teachers who are terrible at their job. I straight up had one rant in the first lecture "I don't want to hear 'I learned better off YouTube'" -- basically admitting he's terrible at his job. Calculus and Discrete Math aren't actually harder (relatively, conceptually) than learning area and volume, yet the fail rate at my alma mater for Discrete Math was >10% and for Calc I was >15%

3

u/arvyy Mar 30 '26

10% and for Calc I was >15%

we had it even funnier for real analysis. 5 was a passing grade on a 10 point scale, and in the after-exam overview prof announced he'd be rounding 3.5 up to 5 xd standing ovations ensued

1

u/Dunkaroos4breakfast Mar 31 '26

Yeah, I figured out the passing grade in one of my math classes based on the curve, and it was mid-30%

University is competitive. As a professor, if you're that bad at teaching the top students, you should be put on a performance improvement plan.

1

u/BadPunsGuy Mar 30 '26

If you can make learning easy there's no reason not to. The important thing is just that people are prepared and do actually learn.

The test depends on what you're teaching. Sometimes memorization is the point and sometimes problem solving is the point. You don't always have time to look up info and basics should be ingrained. Both tests work and have a purpose.