
Please Destroy My Plan to Disrupt Higher Education - judahmeek
http://www.slideshare.net/JudahMeek/just-the-basics
======
dalke
What is the basis for the belief that this system is different?

There's a long history in the US of businesses working with local education
systems in order to train people. This is more formalized through technical
school and vocational education. Given that this proposal is very similar to
systems we've had, why should we expect better success?

McDonald's is one of the companies mentioned as possibly supporting this
scheme. Note that McDonald's already has its own Hamburger University, which
is a corporate university.

The text says "Unlike traditional accreditation boards, this board is formed
of representatives from relevant corporations and professional societies." How
is this "unlike traditional accreditation boards"?

Professional societies already influence traditional accreditation. Here's the
IEEE page on their role in accreditation -
[http://www.ieee.org/education_careers/education/accreditatio...](http://www.ieee.org/education_careers/education/accreditation/ieee_role.html)
. So do corporations, as you can see in on this page for ACBSP -
[http://www.acbsp.org/?page=corporate_members](http://www.acbsp.org/?page=corporate_members)
.

How much time is needed from the 'institutional advisers and industry experts'
to provide the 'deep personalization'? Is it an extra 500 hours per year per
student? Or 2 minutes? Since they 'interview students at predetermined
milestones', it will certainly be at least several hours per student just for
that. It's hard to be 'deeper' than the current system with under 10
hours/year, so I'll assume 25 hours/year. Who pays for this time? Assuming
$50/hour that's an extra $1,250 per student, or about a 10% increase in
tuition.

Do these industry experts get any training in how to evaluate students? What
mechanisms are in place should the industry experts, say, discriminate against
students who are veterans - is the school responsible, or the company? What if
the expert simply doesn't like a given student; can the student request an
alternate?

What methods are in place should the local company with the industry experts
decide to relocate or otherwise stop assisting with the program?

~~~
judahmeek
First off, thank you for taking the time to write a critique on what could
easily have been a spam post from a throwaway account.

I'll do my best to address each of your points.

\--- "What is the basis for the belief that this system is different?"

This system is different from traditional education in that there are no
standardized tests, no tenured teachers, and the student determines the pace
of their education. This system also differs from traditional education in the
amount of information made available to the student concerning career options
and to the student's potential employers concerning the student's character
qualities and experience upon the student's graduation.

As you mentioned, this system has slightly less differences when compared to
vocational education.

\--- 'Given that this proposal is very similar to systems we've had, why
should we expect better success?'

I actually had someone refer to this model as 'vocational education for white
collar jobs' and that's a fairly close summarization. I have no intention of
competing with tech schools. Instead, I'm going to apply the vocational
education model to traditional education, whose attempt to provide
students/society with a "well rounded" and "cultured" students has led to a
second system - [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/660900/the-three-
systems-...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/660900/the-three-systems-of-
man-how-do-you-build-a-third-system) \- while standardized testing has bled
students' creativity and intrinsic motivation.

\--- 'Note that McDonald's already has its own Hamburger University, which is
a corporate university.'

Noted. I also noted the severely limited scope of Hamburger University's
curriculum to "development paths for crew, restaurant managers, mid-managers
and Executives". The was no mention of software engineers, marketing staff,
logistics coordinators, etc. Seems like McDonalds is still a potential market.

\--- 'The text says "Unlike traditional [...] societies."'

No, the text says "Unlike traditional [...] societies, streamlining the
process of determining learning objectives for each occupational role."

I'm aware that traditional accreditation boards are influenced by both
industry and professional societies. Most of the research I've done on
accreditation boards was on ABET and here is their list of partners -
[http://www.abet.org/network-of-experts/expand-your-
network/](http://www.abet.org/network-of-experts/expand-your-network/)

However, most accreditation boards allow the educational institution to create
the educational objectives: [http://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-
criteria/cri...](http://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-
criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-computing-programs-2015-2016/#objectives)

I want to see Industry create the minimum viable educational objectives, in
order to increase both transparency and standardization. I say "minimum viable
educational objectives" because these requirements would the most commonly
requirements shared by the majority of the industry for specific entry level
roles.

I do see how appending the actual variance between ABI and traditional
accreditation boards to the end of the sentence weakens the statement and I
will be editing that.

\--- "How much time is needed from the 'institutional advisers and industry
experts' to provide the 'deep personalization'?"

This is an issue that is going to require some experimentation. I suspect
there will be a high level of variability in the amount of time individual
students will require and the fee structure is going to have reflect that.

My current model is that my institution will cover advising fees to a certain
cap, after which the student will be charged at an hourly rate.

\--- "Do these industry experts get any training in how to evaluate students?"

Yes, all advisors receive guidance on advising best practices.

\--- "What mechanisms are in place should the industry experts, say,
discriminate against students who are veterans - is the school responsible, or
the company?

What if the expert simply doesn't like a given student; can the student
request an alternate?"

My current model is that industry experts would be treated as independent
contractors. Students would choose the industry experts that they wished to be
advised by and be able to rate those experts at certain milestones. As opposed
to advising experts, interviewing experts would be randomly selected from
within the same field of study and can not be rated by interviewed students.
There would be an appeal process for interviews however, that would trigger a
second interview, but incur additional charges if the second interview is
failed.

If an expert can be statistically proven to be discriminating against a subset
of students, that expert will likely be dropped from the program.

\--- "What methods are in place should the local company with the industry
experts decide to relocate or otherwise stop assisting with the program?"

If all goes well, this education model will be based on an online platform so
the physical distance between expert and student, within a certain number of
time zones anyway, won't be a severe factor. Face-to-Face advisement can
certainly be more efficient in some cases, but whether those are offered and
at what price will depend on what we learn as we go along.

~~~
dalke
You appear to regard "traditional education" as a monolith. My comment was to
point out that there have been many diverse systems. While your proposal may
be different from the most stereotypical modern college system, it is not
significantly different from existing or historical alternative systems.

You write 'This system is different from traditional education in that there
are no standardized tests, no tenured teachers, and the student determines the
pace of their education'

First off, 'standardized tests' doesn't apply to higher education. At least,
all of the tests I took in college, at a US state school, were created by the
teacher. While there has been an increasing emphasis in standardized tests in
the primary and secondary level, the only college level and higher tests I
know of are for admittance, like the SAT, ACT, LSAT, an GRE. From what I
understand, the first two are decreasingly important, and in any case many
schools, especially public junior colleges and community colleges, have open
enrollment policies.

Second off, the University of Phoenix is an example of a 4 year college with
no tenured teachers. Searching now, the Franklin W. Olin College of
Engineering and Lindenwood University are two other colleges without tenure
positions. (Olin College seems to share other aspects with your proposal.)

As for 'student determines the pace of their education'; what do you mean by
that? Many school allows part-time students. But taking 1 class per year,
which would mean taking 40 years to graduate, is usually not possible. It
certainly isn't manageable by your scheme, since you expect higher continuity
between the student and industry experts.

On the other hand, traditional correspondence schools, and schools like the
Open University, are structured around the needs of part-time students.
Quoting from the Open University's home page: "You don’t need any formal
qualifications to study with us, just commitment and a desire to find out what
you are capable of." and elsewhere "If (like most OU students) you study part
time at a rate of 60 credits a year, you'll take six years to complete an
honours degree". (Eyeballing now, they have a time limit of 12 years in their
program.)

Actually, the Open University seems rather similar to what you propose. At
[http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/strategy/partnerships](http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/strategy/partnerships)
\- "We also offer a choice of 22 foundation degrees, designed in collaboration
with employers to provide the intermediate technical and professional skills
they demand."

While not 'traditional', my question wasn't "how is your proposal different
from (to pick an example of a traditional school) the University of Chicago"
but "how is your proposal significantly different than existing examples of
higher education?"

"My current model is that industry experts would be treated as independent
contractors."

Ah, so treat them like adjunct professors? Yeah, few in industry will want to
deal with that hassle. Adjuncts put up with it because they hope for a full-
time academic job. What does the independent industry expert get out of it?

~~~
judahmeek
\- "You appear to regard "traditional education" as a monolith. My comment was
to point out that there have been many diverse systems." -

To clarify, when I say "traditional education", I'm referring to the liberal
arts college model. I do this because currently 66% of high school graduates
enroll in college within a year and 88% of high school graduates enroll in
college by the age of 26.

\- "While your proposal may be different from the most stereotypical modern
college system, it is not significantly different from existing or historical
alternative systems." -

"existing or historical alternative systems" is a really big scope. If the
scope is limited to just "existing alternative systems", then I respectfully
disagree. Udacity probably has the most similar model (if there is something
more similar, then I have yet to find it) and the resemblances are striking.
However, my model differs in the amount of intrinsic motivation, problem
solving, & project management skills required of the student. The model is
designed to test and record the students' character qualities and display
those qualities to potential employers. It's for what Marie Bjerede describes
as "Hobbyists" \- [https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-09-02-hobbyists-
scholars-a...](https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-09-02-hobbyists-scholars-and-
their-learning-environments) \- and I hope that, should the proof of concept
succeed, the model will encourage all students to become hobbyists, so there's
a strong social impact angle here, rather than just trying to serve the
existing market. I want to promote personal growth.

\- "First off, 'standardized tests' doesn't apply to higher education. At
least, all of the tests I took in college, at a US state school, were created
by the teacher." -

You're using a really limited definition of "standardized testing". While all
my exams were also created by the instructor, the questions were selected from
a "common bank of questions" and "scored in a “standard” or consistent manner,
which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual
students or groups of students", which fits the definition provided here:
[http://edglossary.org/standardized-test/](http://edglossary.org/standardized-
test/)

I'm aware that the primary association of the term "standardized test" is with
large scale tests, such as the SAT, ACT, TAKS, etc, but many college exams
still fit under the definition.

\- "Second off, the University of Phoenix is an example of a 4 year college
with no tenured teachers. Searching now, the Franklin W. Olin College of
Engineering and Lindenwood University are two other colleges without tenure
positions." -

Tenure is not the issue. The issue is having instructors who have near total
control over teaching methods, assignments, and grading rubrics for their
courses, yet whose skill at actually facilitating student learning can't be
quantified. This issue is why the No Child Left Behind act and the Common Core
are so controversial. My model solves this issue by giving the student control
of determining the instruction methods & assignments that suit them best and
disposing of grading scales completely.

\- "As for 'student determines the pace of their education'; what do you mean
by that?" -

I mean that there will be no classes, no semester, no academic year, no common
schedule of any kind. The student designs & implements projects & meets with
advisor as the student chooses to. Accordingly, the fee system will reflect
this by charging individual fees for individual meetings or a hourly rate
instead of a single fee (say tuition) that covers services for 4-5 months at a
time.

\- "What does the independent industry expert get out of it?" -

I suspect that most of the industry experts won't be freelancers, but rather
will be employed by one of the corporations with which we have a strategic
partnership. I don't know all the reasons that freelancers are freelancers,
but I suspect that two main categories are "Autonomy & Flexible Schedule" and
"Extremely High Demand". While freelancers in the High Demand category will
probably pass us up due to their ability to make much higher income, I believe
our model has a lot to offer freelancers in the "Autonomy & Flexible Schedule"
category. In addition, there is the social impact and giving back to the
community aspect. Will it be enough? I can only hope so.

As for your comparison to adjunct professors, did you know a quarter of part
time college faculty receive public assistance? We won't even be able to treat
our independent contractors anywhere near as bad. Colleges depend on the fact
that their entire industry is institutionalized to be able to pull that kind
of garbage.
[http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/04/13/adjunct_pay_a...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/04/13/adjunct_pay_a_quarter_of_part_time_college_faculty_receive_public_assistance.html)

Finally, I would like to point out that any advising will be more along the
lines of "Here are some links where you can find information on industry best
practices" and "You might want to consider taking this approach instead" as
opposed to Death by Powerpoint, taking attendance, and grading essays for 8
hours.

~~~
dalke
> "when I say "traditional education", I'm referring to the liberal arts
> college model"

Yes. My response concerns the 'this is intended to be different' on the first
slide, which grates because it's a blanket statement. Had it added 'different
from a liberal arts education' or 'different from what most think of college'
then I would not react as strongly.

> 66% of high school graduates enroll in college within a year

Not all of those enter a liberal arts school. That 66% is those 'who enroll in
2- or 4-year colleges in the fall immediately after completing high school'.
23.8% are in 2-year colleges and 42.1 are in 4-year colleges. (See
[http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_302.10.as...](http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_302.10.asp)
). Concerning the 2-year colleges, and quoting from
[http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-03-10/features/os-f...](http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-03-10/features/os-
florida-associate-science-degree-20140310_1_bachelor-degrees-valencia-college-
science-degree) .

> A.S. programs are different in that they require students to immediately
> specialize in a limited number of high-demand fields. They train in areas
> such as nursing, law-enforcement administration, media design and fire-
> science technology.

Certainly some of them are using a 2 year program as a stepping stone for a 4
year program. But college also includes religious colleges, culinary college,
.. and looking around, it also includes the Aerosim Flight Academy in Florida.
Which is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and
Colleges, which is for schools that are 'predominantly organized to educate
students for occupational, trade and technical careers, and institutions that
offer programs via distance education'. That is, it's definitely not a liberal
arts college.

So while 66% is correct, my question for you is 1) how many of those are going
to something other than a 'traditional' liberal arts college, and 2) why focus
on the differences to a liberal arts college, which is the most dissimilar to
your proposal, instead of the more similar technical and vocational colleges?

Regarding 'standardized tests', that definition you linked to goes on to say
'the term is primarily associated with large-scale tests administered to
sizeable populations of students, such as a multiple-choice test given to all
the eighth-grade public-school students in a particular state, for example'.
Your interpretation seems to be that just about any test is a standardized
test, so long as there is a consistent grading scheme and more than one person
being tested. Why not just call that a 'test', and leave 'standardized test'
for its primary association?

On the other hand, if you call teacher developed one-off tests for a given
classroom a 'standardized test' then I see no inherent problem with that. Just
bear in mind that you want to replace standardized tests with standardized
external advisers. Unless the external people are free to do whatever they
want, they are being held to some standard, yes? Which is why they will get
some (standardized) training in how to mentor students, yes?

Why do you think a standardized external adviser is more cost effective at
providing the education that the student desires than standardized custom
tests developed by the teachers for each course?

> "Tenure is not the issue"

You raised the issue, so I don't think you should so easily dismiss it. Yes, I
agree that your proposal is different than a liberal arts college. But why
does that matter? A lot of other school are also different than a liberal arts
school. Why should your proposal stand out among the crowd?

It's like saying that your new two wheeled human powered vehicle is different
than a car, when most people want to know how it's different than a bicycle.

> "I mean that there will be no classes, no semester, no academic year, no
> common schedule of any kind."

That is unusual for college. (Though standard for most of graduate school.)
Researching now, that is called 'competency-based education'. It's unusual,
but [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competency-
based_learning#Scho...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competency-
based_learning#Schools_with_this_system) list a handful of colleges which
support it. See
[http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/a-colleg...](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/a-college-
without-classes/400115/) for a more in-depth essay. The University of
Wisconsin's program at [http://ecampus.wisconsin.edu/online-degree-
programs/flex-opt...](http://ecampus.wisconsin.edu/online-degree-
programs/flex-option.aspx) shares many of the same aspiration you listed.

Regarding adjunct professors, I made that comparison deliberately. When you
say "We won't even be able to treat our independent contractors anywhere near
as bad", you assume a system where your scheme is in place, and required. But
why will schools switch to what appears to be a significantly more expensive
system? How do you reassure people that the extra cost is worthwhile? If the
colleges treat the external advisers like crap, and so get few advisers,
except the incompetent and those who feel they can make a 'social impact and
[give] back to the community' despite getting low-balled - then what's the
downside?

You say the benefit of having no standards is that the half-trained 20 year
old student can figure out what suits them best, rather than a fully trained
40 year old with years of teaching and industry experience. Yet what little
I've seen on the topic suggests that students are usually a worse judge of
their needs. For example, and quoting from
[http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2013/10/21/what-exactly-do-
student...](http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2013/10/21/what-exactly-do-student-
evaluations-measure/) :

> These studies confirm the common belief that good teachers can get bad
> evaluations: Teaching effectiveness, as measured by subsequent performance
> and career success, is negatively associated with student teaching
> evaluations. ..

> Students are arguably in the best position to judge certain aspects of
> teaching that contribute to effectiveness, such as clarity, pace,
> legibility, audibility. We can use surveys to get a picture of these things;
> of course, the statistical issues raised in part I of this blog still matter
> (esp. response rates, inappropriate use of averages, false numerical
> precision, and scatter).

> Trouble ensues when we ask students to rate teaching effectiveness per se.

If students already do a poor job in estimating teacher effectiveness (based
on subsequent performance and career success), then why should we believe they
do any better at judging curriculum details? Quoting again from that link:

> Worthington (2002, p.13) also makes the troubling claim, “the questions in
> student evaluations of teaching concerning curriculum design, subject aims
> and objectives, and overall teaching performance appear most influenced by
> variables that are unrelated to effective teaching.

Of course there will be exceptions, both in terms of specific people and
certain colleges. New College of Florida is one where more of these decisions
are placed in the hands of the students, but it is not completely hands-off.

As for "I suspect that most of the industry experts won't be freelancers, but
rather will be employed by one of the corporations with which we have a
strategic partnership"; do note that you have changed your position. You
previously 'the current model is that industry experts would be treated as
independent contractors.' These are not really compatible. If they are
employees of a company, will the goal of the industry expert be to provide a
student the best education for the student, or the best education for the
corporation?

When there is a conflict between the two goals, how often might the industry
expert suffer negative employment consequences for supporting the student
instead of the expert's employer? In the current system, the teacher's goals
are much more aligned to the students goals, so this is less of an issue.

Regarding "Here are some links where you can find information on industry best
practices" \- that's certainly not "deep personalization", which is what you
lead with. Nor are your examples more than what a teacher or undergraduate
adviser can already do.

"taking attendance"

Many if not most college courses don't take attendance except for those where
class participation is important. For example, I skipped out on a lot of my
intro. physics courses. The homework was due at the end of class. We would
skip class and work on the homework in the hallway outside.

There are of course classes where attendance is important eg, discussion-
oriented classes, lab classes, and music ensemble classes; I don't think it's
unreasonable to require a nursing student be present on the day the class
practices drawing blood.

These sorts of classes, which you'll note includes career oriented classes
like nursing, cannot easily be handled by your proposed system.

~~~
judahmeek
> "My response concerns the 'this is intended to be different' on the first
> slide, which grates because it's a blanket statement. Had it added
> 'different from a liberal arts education' or 'different from what most think
> of college' then I would not react as strongly."

Noted. I can and will adjust the wording, not only in this presentation, but
also in my future descriptions of this model.

> "But college also includes religious colleges, culinary college, ..."

Good point. I assumed the term "college" was restricted to liberal arts
colleges, some of which are religious. I don't have any proof of that. In
fact, these documents suggest that the Department of Labor defines colleges to
include technical schools:
[http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/consumerinfo/index....](http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/consumerinfo/index.html)
[http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_definitions_edtrain.pdf](http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_definitions_edtrain.pdf)

However, this website suggests that the Department of Labor does distinguish
between colleges and technical/career education:
[https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/](https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/)

> "1) "How many of those are going to something other than a 'traditional'
> liberal arts college?"

I'm no longer as sure of the answer to that as I was at the beginning of our
conversation. I'm going to have to do further research and probably also ask
the Department of Labor for clarification of how to interpret the information
they have available.

> "why focus on the differences to a liberal arts college, which is the most
> dissimilar to your proposal, instead of the more similar technical and
> vocational colleges?"

There's multiple reasons for this:

1.) Because my experience has been that liberal art colleges have far more
credibility in the eyes of the general public than tech schools, art
institutes, etc.

2.) Up until today, I was confident that liberal art colleges had a majority
share of the postsecondary education market.

3.) My model was specifically created to disrupt liberal arts colleges.

> "Why not just call that a 'test', and leave 'standardized test' for its
> primary association?"

Very well. I will adjust my future wording of this as well.

> "Unless the external people are free to do whatever they want, they are
> being held to some standard, yes? Which is why they will get some
> (standardized) training in how to mentor students, yes? Why do you think a
> standardized external adviser is more cost effective at providing the
> education that the student desires than standardized custom tests developed
> by the teachers for each course?"

Okay, I feel like you just used the term "standard/standardized" with three
different meanings.

I would like to reiterate that this model is built on the premise that the
information that the student needs in order to obtain mastery is likely
already available online in a format that the student can easily digest.

When I say that advisors "advise", it's not a euphemism for instruction or in-
depth mentorship. Students are encouraged to learn all they can on their own,
to "bootstrap" their education, if you will. Any instruction by someone
connected to my institution is only to provided as a last resort.

Are advisors held to a standard? Yes, the standard of student satisfaction.
Will that require some management of student expectations? Absolutely.

Are advisors provided standardized training? No. Advising best practices can
not be expected to be standard across all industries.

Even the conceptual mastery interviews will not be standardized. They will
most likely be structured, but the questions themselves will be unique to the
student's project.

\--- Starbucks is closing. I'll address your other points as soon as I can.

~~~
dalke
I do not have the interest in continuing this discussion. I'll only mention a
few points.

1) Those who can bootstrap their education have no need for college. A college
provides support in various forms, for those who cannot do it all on their
own. It also provides external validation, either to the student or to the
world at large, that certain thresholds were achieved.

To point out, students in traditional liberal arts schools are _also_
encouraged to learn all they can on their own _in addition to_ what the
professor teaches. I already mentioned New College. Quoting
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida#Academi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida#Academics)
:

> Four core principles form the base of New College's academic philosophy: (1)
> each student is responsible in the last analysis for his or her own
> education, (2) the best education demands a joint search for learning by
> exciting teachers and able students, (3) students' progress should be based
> on demonstrated competence and real mastery rather than on the accumulation
> of credits and grades, (4) students should have, from the outset,
> opportunities to explore in-depth, areas of interest to them. To the end of
> putting this philosophy into practice, New College uses a unique academic
> program that differs substantially from those of most other educational
> institutions ...

They certainly reject your view that 'instruction by someone connected to my
institution is only to provided as a last resort', and yet they are also not a
'traditional liberal arts school' in the style you dislike.

2) Yes, I used standard/standardized with different meanings to point out that
you have done the same shifting in your statements. Consider your statement
'Advising best practices can not be expected to be standard across all
industries'. This is of course nonsensical. But you used 'standardized
testing' to include one-off tests created by a teacher for a single class
room. If that meaning were valid - and you have said that you won't be using
it - then teaching best practices for a specific industry niche is _also_
teaching to a standard.

3) Regarding what 'college' vs. 'technical/career education', it doesn't
matter. Your said '66% of high school graduates enroll in college within a
year', so you need to use the same definition as the source for where you got
the 66%. You can't pick an alternative definition that better suits your
personal beliefs.

~~~
judahmeek
Thank you once again for taking the time to critique my model. While I still
have every intention of realizing my model, I will be taking each of your
points into consideration. I wish you luck in your ventures and look forward
to participating in future discussions with you on whatever topics we happen
to encounter each other.

------
judahmeek
Thanks again to dalke to the hopefully continuing critique. I'd love to hear
your thoughts and concerns as well, dear reader.

That said, I'd like to take a moment to discuss my motivation behind
developing this model. Beyond the ordinary entrepreneurial reasons of wanting
to make a big splash and getting frustrated by an issue, I believe that the
need of the consumer is changing and that the education industry's focus must
change with it.

Up until approximately the Industrial Revolution, education was focused almost
solely on vocation training or procedural mastery. Education not focused on
vocational training was focused on providing "culture". Over time, abstract
information grew and gained value in the eye of the general public as
applications for it were found. Various societal factors required credible
wielders of this abstract knowledge to also have "culture". As a result, the
education industry created the monastery, the university, and the liberal arts
college - all of which focused on conceptual mastery.

Conceptual mastery education did not and will never replace vocational mastery
education. It simply provided another path to success for a select (but still
growing) fraction of the population.

However, both conceptual and procedural mastery are becoming obsolete in the
face of technological advances. There's no reason to memorize calculus
formulas or accounting algorithms where they are already stored in code
libraries distributed across the globe and available at the touch of a button.
There's no reason to learn how to build air conditioning systems when a robot
can do that faster, more efficiently, and more reliably. These days, we're
even automating roles involving human interaction and medical diagnosis.

So what kind of occupational roles will last in a world where responsibilities
of ever increasing complexity are being automated? What qualities will those
roles require?

My answer is that the required qualities will be:

The detection of highly complex and possibly almost abstract problems
(Predicting consumer intent, for example),

initiative & drive (Let's face it: dealing with complex issues is exhausting.
That's why we create stereotypes & labels. That's why we give directions in
landmarks or major roads. That's why America has a two party political
system.),

and the ability to conceive of and create solutions, whether those solutions
take the form of physical devices, abstract systems, or human organizations.

Just like educational institutions focused on conceptual mastery did not and
will not completely replace institutions focused on procedural mastery, my
institution will not completely replace current liberal arts colleges. I do
think that I will take a significant (and ever growing) fraction of the
education market, however.

