When I was teaching at DeVry in the 80s, I was constantly frustrated by the pressure toward memorized theory and against job-type experience. Even in an officially job-oriented school, most students just wanted to memorize and get done. From their viewpoint it’s completely understandable. They were only seeking a CREDENTIAL so they could start EARNING.
I’m still frustrated by the same need in courseware. I want to provide a set of physical experiments, but the publishers only want memorized facts. Again there’s a good reason for the preference, but again the students are missing something. I did provide such a set in Audin, which is freely available, but it has never been noticed.
The same frustration continues in this blog. I enjoy putting together tech history pieces with moving demonstrations of ancient concepts and devices. Occasionally I do some real science. Nobody reads those pieces. The pattern of views is obvious. Even during a period of relative “popularity” (more than 3 total views per day) the good stuff gets no views at all.
What are most people seeking in online material? They want memorizable facts and theories to help them spit out memorized talking points against the Horrible Other Team, which is memorizing its own talking points against My Wonderful Team.
The test is the “fair and balanced debates” between partybots. The bots who throw the stinkiest and heaviest memorized turds win the “debate”.
We were better off when the Fairness Doctrine prohibited the whole nasty game.
Polistra's Mill 