How much Higher Education do you have?

[Anguille]

Can't believe it's going to be less than a month until I finish my first semester.

That is if I survive all these papers this weekend. One that is a seven page+ paper for Perspectives on East Asia. That topic being U.S. and Japanese Relations between 1937-1952.

Next time I see you posting too much I'm going to ask you if you shouldn't be doing your homework instead.

 

[Si modo]

Yeah, I've noticed there are a lot of teachers who shouldn't be teachers. I guess some of them go into teaching because it's so structured and they'll usually be able to find a job just repeating what they've learned. The problem is they never learned how to think in the first place and therefore don't fully understand the material.

(BTW, Organic Chem was always difficult for me because of the memorization required. That's why I went into Physics rather than, say, med school. Kudos to you.)

Actually, I went into academia because it gave me an opportunity to do my own research on my own terms. That's typically the primary reason for those in my field. Teaching wasn't the primary lure, but one had to enjoy it somewhat. I did. I enjoyed seeing the lightbulbs all of a sudden illuminating. I enjoyed it when my enthusiasm for the topic was contagious.

I also know that no matter what, some just will never like it. And, I know that I did not have the time to try every new teaching approach under the sun to reach all the students. I found methods that would reach the most that I could.

(I left academia, though. Several reasons for it. I am happy I did leave, too.)

And, one of the concepts I tried to instill in my students was that organic was not memorization, despite the rumors to the contrary. There are seven fundamental mechanisms. Learn those inside and out (along with the first principles, of course) and you'll never have to memorize a reaction again. How easy is that? Seriously, it's similar to mathematics - you can derive almost everything.

And, physics is the mother of chemistry in reality, so excellent for you! I bet you would have enjoyed physical chemistry.

I should've had you as a teacher! My Organic Chem instructors were very poor. When I was studying for the MCAT, there was just too much memorization and I didn't enjoy it. I'm exactly as you said: learn a few basic principles (or equations) and then solve everything from those.

(BTW, I've taken.... Lemme try to remember... 3 Physical Chemistry courses, I think, in both the Chemistry department and the Physics department. I remember being impressed with the Chemistry student's knowledge of Calculus.)

LOL. Don't be toooooo impressed with all chemists' knowledge on that front. Sometimes it's pretty scary, to be honest. The P-chemists know their math because they need it. A lot of organics are quite weak in math, so that's sort of funny. But, not all. Those that value the physical organic approach (as I do) don't stink in math.

Anyway, yes, I hate memorization. Give me the tools to solve a puzzle rather than memorize the solution. That is much more interesting, IMO.

 

[Modbert]

Next time I see you posting too much I'm going to ask you if you shouldn't be doing your homework instead.

Too busy putting the pro in procrastination, that's why.

 

[Anguille]

Next time I see you posting too much I'm going to ask you if you shouldn't be doing your homework instead.

Too busy putting the pro in procrastination, that's why.

Well, you've come to the right place then. Message boards are major procrastination facilitators. At least for me they are.

 

[Modbert]

Well, you've come to the right place then. Message boards are major procrastination facilitators. At least for me they are.

It's why I have nearly 15,000 posts.

Though in my defense, I have gotten four and a half pages done already. Past more than half, which is after Pearl Harbor. Just got to timeline the major battles during WWII, the theater in Europe ending, the two atomic bombs, and then talk about the occupation for a page and make some conclusions.