Hagiwara1
Tomoya Hagiwara
Mr. James
ARW Section AC
14 Jun, 2007
Is college education really useless? I felt this question in slideshows of “Shift Happens” - Karl Fisch on the internet. In the slideshows, he/she suggests that your future job probably does not exit yet. He/she also suggests that half of knowledge that students study in the first year in college will have gone out of date by your third year. Therefore college education seems to be fairly useless. But I don’t think college education is useless. Therefore I would like to argue that college education is useful.
First, in college, students study the way they should deal with the fact although until high school, they are not told to pay special attention to the fact. Let me give an example of importance that they have to study how deal with the fact. If they undoubtedly believe something without evidence (just like feeling), it might turn out to completely be false. This suggests that a belief they believe without confirmation have a possibility of fault. Meiland says in “College Thinking” “it is rational to believe something only if one has a basis for that belief. One basis is what we call evidence” (Meiland 9). Therefore students learn that there is the possibility of false in all what we call “fact” and that we must have evidence to believe it.
And second reason is a little bit similar to the first reason I stated above. The reason why I disagree with this idea that a college education seems to be fairly useless is that in college students study not only current studies but also “how to think.” I believe it is important to think critically not only in higher education but also in daily life. For example, there is a lot of untrue information these days. Here is a famous incident that “Aruaru-daiziten”, the TV program, broadcasted untrue information. One of what they broadcasted untruly is that “it is good for our health to eat natto for every meals.” After this broadcasting day, there are no nattos in every supermarket because they watched the program and believe the content. But later the content was found out to be false. Consequently we have to examine it and to choose information which is relevant. And Meiland says in the same text “the college student must perform another sort of intellectual work on the material, namely critical examination and evaluation” (8). Therefore critical examination is required to college students and has to be learned in college education.
However, of course I have to admit that idea that “a college education seems to be fairly useless” is partly true, because according to the slideshows, many parts of what students learn in college would be out of date. I think college is also the place where they study latest technology or knowledge. And there are many fats that they have to memorize as Meiland says “The method of study most commonly used in memorization.” (6) Therefore if what they learn in college would be out of date, I can’t deny that idea i.e. I have to admit it.
Having said three things in order to explain my ideas in the paragraph of two to four, I don’t think college education is useless. To make the long story short, college students study not only the latest technology or knowledge but also learn how to deal with the fact and how to think critically, although I have to admit a college education is partly useless. Therefore college students have to study not only the latest things that would be out of date but also learn how to deal with the fact and how to think critically. Finally college students have to continue to study their specialty from book, journal, web site on the internet, and so on even after they graduate from college in order to solve the problem that half of what they learn in college will be useless.
Fisch, Karl. Shift Happens
Meiland, Jack W. College Thinking: How to Get the Best Out of College. New York: New American Library, 1981. (The ELP Reader, 2007. 3-23).
Mr. James
ARW Section AC
14 Jun, 2007
Meiland essay: Final draft
Is college education really useless? I felt this question in slideshows of “Shift Happens” - Karl Fisch on the internet. In the slideshows, he/she suggests that your future job probably does not exit yet. He/she also suggests that half of knowledge that students study in the first year in college will have gone out of date by your third year. Therefore college education seems to be fairly useless. But I don’t think college education is useless. Therefore I would like to argue that college education is useful.
First, in college, students study the way they should deal with the fact although until high school, they are not told to pay special attention to the fact. Let me give an example of importance that they have to study how deal with the fact. If they undoubtedly believe something without evidence (just like feeling), it might turn out to completely be false. This suggests that a belief they believe without confirmation have a possibility of fault. Meiland says in “College Thinking” “it is rational to believe something only if one has a basis for that belief. One basis is what we call evidence” (Meiland 9). Therefore students learn that there is the possibility of false in all what we call “fact” and that we must have evidence to believe it.
And second reason is a little bit similar to the first reason I stated above. The reason why I disagree with this idea that a college education seems to be fairly useless is that in college students study not only current studies but also “how to think.” I believe it is important to think critically not only in higher education but also in daily life. For example, there is a lot of untrue information these days. Here is a famous incident that “Aruaru-daiziten”, the TV program, broadcasted untrue information. One of what they broadcasted untruly is that “it is good for our health to eat natto for every meals.” After this broadcasting day, there are no nattos in every supermarket because they watched the program and believe the content. But later the content was found out to be false. Consequently we have to examine it and to choose information which is relevant. And Meiland says in the same text “the college student must perform another sort of intellectual work on the material, namely critical examination and evaluation” (8). Therefore critical examination is required to college students and has to be learned in college education.
However, of course I have to admit that idea that “a college education seems to be fairly useless” is partly true, because according to the slideshows, many parts of what students learn in college would be out of date. I think college is also the place where they study latest technology or knowledge. And there are many fats that they have to memorize as Meiland says “The method of study most commonly used in memorization.” (6) Therefore if what they learn in college would be out of date, I can’t deny that idea i.e. I have to admit it.
Having said three things in order to explain my ideas in the paragraph of two to four, I don’t think college education is useless. To make the long story short, college students study not only the latest technology or knowledge but also learn how to deal with the fact and how to think critically, although I have to admit a college education is partly useless. Therefore college students have to study not only the latest things that would be out of date but also learn how to deal with the fact and how to think critically. Finally college students have to continue to study their specialty from book, journal, web site on the internet, and so on even after they graduate from college in order to solve the problem that half of what they learn in college will be useless.
(655Words)
Work Cited
Fisch, Karl. Shift Happens
Meiland, Jack W. College Thinking: How to Get the Best Out of College. New York: New American Library, 1981. (The ELP Reader, 2007. 3-23).
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