[mywaifuismeta]

We're going to college at the worst time in our lives. When I was in college I did exactly what you described. I didn't really cheat much (I remember just one time), but all I cared about was grades and getting a job. I couldn't have cared less about learning or retaining anything. And I didn't learn much. This strategy worked out well for me, but it was a huge waste of time.

I'm in my 30s now and I would absolutely love to go back to school to learn. Now I feel like I'm in a position where I can appreciate academic material and concepts because I understand how they relate to the real world. Please give me those advanced graph algorithm, database, and real analysis classes that I couldn't appreciate 15 years ago due to a lack of real-world experience.

[MaxLeiter]

Us students would generally love to learn too. The problem I often encountered was engineering professors did research first and foremost with teaching a second priority. It often felt like if the teacher isn’t putting in the work why should we? Conversely, my business teachers cared far more for us students and I believe people put far more effort in.

[jackson1442]

Exactly this. I've noticed in my classes there's less cheating when people respect the professor. It's honestly not hard to get that level of respect from your students; just clearly put in effort for your classes.

Far too many have just been screwed over time and time again from professors who reuse old (usually outdated) course content and whose lectures don't actually add anything to the textbook or slides.

Anecdote time: I took a class where a module taught Python 2.7 in Fall 2021, and I know it was taught again in Spring '22. My professor literally read the slide content to us in lectures, that was it. I found out that a professor wrote all the course content in 2017 and it's just been passed around by all the professors who got assigned to teach that class. The same assignments have been used, and apparently they've been published to every "student assistance" platform around.

[Aeolun]

As sad as it is, Python 2.7 is still relevant :P

[the__alchemist]

https://openlearning.mit.edu/courses-programs/mitx-courses

There's good stuff there!

[mywaifuismeta]

Thanks. I know that all the raw material is available to me, but it's just not the same. It's different when you can completely focus on studying, be part of a community with a bit of peer pressure, and have a social circle that goes through the same experience. You don't get the this from online courses, reading books, or MOOCs.

I think a big part of this is split attention, but I also don't feel comfortable taking 1-2 years off my job in the middle of my career just to study.

[emodendroket]

On the other hand, if you study now, you can be surprised by how much the material is immediately applicable to your day-to-day work.

[teeray]

Yeah, I had a blast attending “lockdown university” during the deepest part of covid in 2020. Grades only for fun points and just taking classes and doing assignments that I thought would be beneficial.

[paulcole]

> I'm in my 30s now and I would absolutely love to go back to school to learn.

You love the idea of doing something you’re not doing now. I see further down in another comment, you dismissed the idea of learning from free online resources.

If you were in your 30s and in school, you’d love to be able to go off in the and work with your hands — or something else to distract yourself.

[mywaifuismeta]

I didn't dismiss the idea of learning from online resources. I constantly work through online courses/lectures and books. I only noted that the experience is inferior to going to college where you can completely focus on learning with a group of peers, and where you are held accountable.

I'd love to have the "college experience" again now, but this time with a focus on learning instead of a focus on getting good grades. Focusing on good grades (over learning) is the rational choice as a young student and I don't regret doing so, but now my goals are different.

[1270018080]

It's not a waste of time, only caring about grades and getting a job is the most efficient use of time. I would've loved to learn too, but when passing classes impact the rest of your life, cheating and taking easier classes to maximize GPA are the right choices.

[gmd63]

The "right" choices? For who? It seems like engineering culture has suddenly become rife with this exploitative mindset with zero regard for honor.

When you're faced with a public scandal at your hands as CEO after you've cheated your way up the ladder, are you going to admit fault and take a loss for the sake of society or are you going to make "the right choice" for the business and double down on your deception?