Finally: Last post. Higher (Mis)EducationPart V

Continued from Higher (Mis)Education Part IV

I mean, if all my observations reflect some kernel of truth, then what I have experienced at German universities is a simple logic error. 

Difficult courses are being confused with difficult subjects. 

I mean, if half of your class fails, as in the Stony Brook statistic from the last post (Higher (Mis)Education Part IIII) and if you can correlate failing rates with a larger lecture hall, then it is not that the material is so hard, it is that your courses are harder than they need to be.

Imagine this, just a few hundred years ago, most of the western world was illiterate.  Reading and writing was considered really, really hard.  Today, I write from my blog because I assumed correctly that you all can read.  We consider literacy normal.  Did the inhabitants of the western world become biologically more intelligent?  I don't think so.  I think we have just benefited from a series of educational and philosophical reforms.

Similarly, the educational system really bothers me here in Germany because the system wants me to feel stupid. I feel as if it is trying to tell me that the course subject at the university is harder than it is.   The system wants only a few people to succeed. 

Check out this ranking of universities worldwide.  Fourteen of the top 20 universities are American universities.  (UPenn is number 16, and I feel that the following principles were applied there, especially principle 4, believe it or not.)

Times Higher Education Ranking

I think the philosophical foundation of the excellent American higher education system is the following:

1. Anyone can learn and every subject is learnable, with the right tools.  

Therefore, if too many students fail all together at once, there is a systemic problem, not a case of laziness or a lack of intelligence among students.   A systemic problem means just that: a problem with the system, not the individuals within it.  This principle also requires a lot of faith; it requires that you believe that most people are intelligent, not just a select few.

2. An educational system or a course can be flawed.   If it is, the problem needs to be fixed.

This goes back to principle 1 as well.  For this reason, a statistical average is a better judge of academic performance, at times, than the classical grade calculation.  In Germany, a whole class can fail and the bell curve is irrelevant.

3.  There are different types of learners, but all learners can learn the same material.  Diversity is important and valued.

This may seem obvious, but a system that supports this principle will provide materials and resources for students with different learning strengths.  Just like we wouldn't force someone nowadays to write with the right hand if they are left handed.  Whether I learn well through reading, listening, or through discussion, to name a few preferences, all learning methods can be provided through a course.     And, I want to reiterate: it is unfair not to provide these materials, especially for students who may have a hearing, speech or writing difficulties.  A difficulty is something you can overcome, unlike a bad attitude.   Like me, I have all of those difficulties in German. Ha ha ha.

I actually think that most students do better given lots learning resources based on different learning styles.  Like, read the chapter, hear the lecture, discuss it in class and work with your classmates afterward. 

4. Passion for learning is important.

Man, I can't really emphasize that enough. 

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The most disappointing part of my efforts to catch up on high school math is that I tried a lot of things, but nothing worked in Germany.  The university didn't offer the foundation I needed (as it would in the US) and the tutors I found outside of the university didn't want to teach me.

I have had two tutors.  The first one was very kind but lacked a structured teaching method (no plan and no textbooks).  The second tutor actually had a tutoring school, but he decided not to be my tutor.  I think it was too hard for him to try to adapt his teaching style, which was oriented for children, to a full-grown adult with no knowledge of the terms in German. I can talk to you about myself and about life in German, about tomatoes and about the history of bananas (introduced to Philadelphia in 1886), all in German, but I can't talk to you about anything mathematical in German, because I don't have the vocabulary yet.  I just needed a textbook.  I needed the type of dictionary that would translate the terms for me, but I haven't found that dictionary yet.

I was even turned down from a program (the equivalent of the GED) for non-Abitur graduates who wanted to go to university.  The program said that I couldn't take the class they offered in high school math (calculus, etc.) because I already had a high school diploma.  Rules are rules.


In the end, I gave up on my efforts in Germany.  I didn't feel that I had a choice.  I enrolled in an online math course at Brevard Community College, an accredited community college in the USA.  I visited Florida this year in March and got to meet one of my professors.  She was happy to meet me.  Everyone was happy to meet me.  And for your information, I got all A's.

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I look forward to your feedback, everyone.