ext_37867 ([identity profile] danalwyn.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] danalwyn 2005-12-03 06:53 pm (UTC)

"Over here, science students learn facts and parrot them back at their lectures/examiners. Arts students engage their brains."

Over here, I think both sides are pretty much parroting facts back. My cousin and I (he works in Middle Eastern Languages) recently commiserated on this fact, and I've heard some grumbling from the history department as well.

I think what we're seeing is a lot of mediocre students never engaging their brains, and a lot of smart students engaging their brains within their own discipline. After all, I've known some pretty smart European physics students.

Britain may also over-specialize, where in the US the trend runs in the other direction-leading to the opposite problem.

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