From R. D. DYSON and K. K. DYSON
We would like to give the warmest thanks to Jon Turney (‘Science by
degrees’, 21 April) for drawing attention to a pressing educational problem,
adding only that the problem is not limited to physics. It is happening
to other subject areas too.
We have a son studying mechanical engineering at university, whose experience
closely parallels the plight of physics undergraduates so eloquently described
in the article. It has been traumatic enough, as parents, to watch a son,
able, hard working, conscientious, always regarded as a high achiever at
school, suddenly gasping for breath simply trying to keep up with courses
that are flying past the undergraduates at supersonic speed. The shock,
frustration and disorientation experienced by the students themselves can
be imagined. The workload is crushing, the schedules impossible – though
the teachers will not admit it – and no time is allowed for proper absorption
of facts and ideas.
There is simply far too much to cover, and who says there are three
years in which they can do it? Beginning in October of the first year, the
poor souls hit their final exams by the last week of April in the third
year, so there are just two and a half years inclusive of vacations in which
to run the race. Is this the way to train the nation’s scientists and engineers?
R. D. Dyson, K. K. Dyson Kidlington Oxon
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