
Philg: Universities and Economic Growth - rglovejoy
http://philip.greenspun.com/teaching/universities-and-economic-growth
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tokenadult
"Why isn't all of an CS undergrad's education done via open-ended projects?
Consider the requirement to take Physics 1 (freshman mechanics). This could
easily be replaced by the professor saying 'I would like you to build me a
simulator for my home pool table.' The professor doesn't say what the
interface should be or how detailed the simulation must be. It is up to the
students, who will organize themselves into groups of 2 or 3, to figure out
what is practical to accomplish in a portion of the semester. It will also be
up to those students to work through exercises in a standard Physics textbook
as a subtask."

This is an interesting suggestion for changing the undergraduate curriculum.
See a famous video series

<http://www.learner.org/resources/series26.html>

for a startling problem with the old way of education: "Why is it that
students can graduate from MIT and Harvard, yet not know how to solve a simple
third-grade problem in science: lighting a light bulb with a battery and
wire?"

