College nowadays: was Scientific method was physical pendulums/ an opportunity

[Joel Rauber <Joel_Rauber@SDSTATE.EDU>]

This brings up an interesting point.  The figures below seem to indicate
that a college education is no longer an education of 20% but now
approaching quasi universality.  When 90% of the population gets a college
diploma, it will no longer signify as much learning and ability as it used
to.  Presumedly because the average of 90% of the population must be lower
than the average of 20% of the population (loosely speaking I hasten to say,
since only roughly 50 years ago were the college students the higher 20%;
there is enough quibble room to drive a proverbial Mack truck through my
above statements; but I think they are roughly correct).    Which means the
learning that the people are expecting to occur in college, can not occur
any more.

and as a side effect, more and more employers will start requiring  a
master's degree, not for any reason other than it helps them in sorting the
applications.

BTW I'm all in favor of trying to improve the system; but I do think we
should acknowledge that a college education isn't what it used to be.

Joel Rauber
> I am just out of a ceremonial inauguration of our 8th college (now
> university) president. She just reminded us that a century ago only
> 4% of the US population went to colleges, half a century ago it
> was 20%, and now it is 70%. That is the source of our "troubles",
> and an inspiration for challenges. As long as they want it, she said,
> we should be happy, and try to improve the system.
>
> Joel Rauber wrote:
>
> > > Hi Paolo-
> > >         You ask:
> > > ********************************************************
> > > Forgive me, but I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean that
> > > students coming from high school are unable to use algebra
> > >  and solve m a = m g and the like symbolically? ....
> >
> > The sad fact is that many of our students in introductory
> physics, more
> so
> > the 1-semester physics for poets class than the calculus
> based course,
> (the
> > algebra based course lying in the middle) can't do the
> symbolic algebra.
> I
> > remember a talk from Cliff Swartz, where he was talking
> about this sad
> fact
> > and mentioned that is one of the reasons the Navy taught
> three forms of
> > ohms law
> >
> > a) V = I R
> >
> > b) I = V / R
> >
> > c) R = V / I
> >
> > It is a sad and depressing fact. BTW I also notice the same
> phenomena
> Jack
> > mentions below.
> >
> > Joel Rauber