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Originally Posted by Lamplighter
The trouble is that students are not medical or engineering students when they get to college... they are (only) high school graduates.
Some have ideas about what they may want to do, but those ideas are often immature and/or unrealistic
and/or coming perhaps from pressure or tradition of their parents, etc. etc...
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Ideally, I don't disagree with you but I have my stance because I didn't really learn anything in my classes outside of engineering. I can also say with a pretty large amount of confidence that others in my field will say the same. The only class where I felt I learned anything was a history class and that is because I was interested in the topic and the TA was excellent.
What it comes down to is that people are going to learn in what they are interested in. If an engineer or medical student is interested in art or music, by all means let them take it because they will most likely get something out of it, but if an engineer or medical student is not interested in art in music, forcing them to take a class won't accomplish anything. As I said earlier, I have no problem with allowing students to take classes outside they are field for exploration or interest reasons or forcing students to take classes that will build a skill set (public speaking or writing for example) but I don't see much actually getting accomplished from forcing students to take classes outside their field for exploratory reasons.
And some students do come into college knowing exactly what they will do. Some take a few years to find it.
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It's those other interests that often can lead to what I perceive as contentment.
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I disagree. People are different. Some people find enjoyment in fine arts, some people find enjoyment in math. And keep in mind by math I mean actual problem solving, not long division.
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I contend the differences are based on history and art and religion and design, beyond just the knowledge of structural engineering.
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This is getting a bit off topic, but engineering is much more than just math. Everything must be taken into consideration when an engineering company gives out a proposal for a bid on whatever needs to be designed. If the bridge is out in the middle of nowhere, the cheapest bridge is probably sufficient. If the bridge is in the middle of the city, architecture, aesthetics, and historical factors should always be taken into consideration. If you don't another company will get the job.