Education is extremely important, on this I believe we can all agree, yet how do we justify regurgitation as learning?  As we make our way through the education system we are told many different things, from economics to history to mathematics. 

When the time comes to take a test we simply write down exactly what we’ve been told, going so far as to write down what we know the teacher wants to see!  How is this learning?

Prior to college we have 12 years of education, during which time we forget almost all we’ve been taught.  I can recall being asked a question about Paul Revere and the date of his ride (April 18/19, 1775) but never saw the question “How was Paul Revere successful in arousing the public the way he did, while William Dawes (know who he is? 

He rode west at the same time as Revere rode north with the same goal in mind) failed?”  While knowing the date of the ride seems important, and is obviously easily regurgitated, doesn’t his success in light of Dawes’s failure seem to be much more important and much more useful?

As a tutor I constantly run into the problem of regurgitation.  While the students I tutor can tell me who said what and what they meant, but they usually have no clue as to why it is important.  In what way does being able to regurgitate what you’ve been told count as being educated?  I know, from personal experience, that employers and professors prefer actual knowledge to that of the meaningless word-vomit we’ve been taught since first grade.

We’re taught quantity > quality: more rooms = more wealth.  When it comes to our education we should expect nothing less than the quality being far greater than the quantity.

Jordan Olsen

Senior - Philosophy Major, Sociology Minor