Your 9/26 editorial about the unfairness of being asked to “memorize” stunned me. It showed a level of immaturity often seen among college students, and thoughtlessly maligned an important step for achieving success in any field. All fields, from the arts to the sciences, require mastery (memorization) of thousands of odd new words and phrases representing the ‘language’ of the field. To succeed in medicine, one must memorize thousands of new labels for parts of the body, phrases for disease symptoms, and words describing physiological processes. Often, key terms and principles are named arbitrarily after the discoverer. “Parkinson’s Disease” in medicine, “Gerrymandering” in political science, the “Dulong-Petit Law” in chemistry, “Shakuhachi” instruments in music, and “Keynesian Policies” in economics. There is no critical thinking involved in familiarizing oneself with these peculiar expressions. It’s raw memorization. And I’m sorry to have to say it, but – there is no quick & easy method for successfully memorizing the extensive new vocabulary of one’s field. One must simply endure the drudgery of review and repetition in order to master the meanings of basic tools and terms. Yes it’s boring, but the payoff will be enormous. As an eventual “specialist,” you can then collaborate with others in the operating room, follow a complex courtroom discussion, run a political campaign, create artistic products such as movies with teams of performers and technicians, and conduct research with other biologists.
Community college courses are lower-division, and we should thoroughly test students on their mastery of new terminology and orthodox principles. Once you learn the mainstream jargon and principles of your field, you can start criticizing them – but you have to know how to “speak the language,” first, in order to be able to communicate effectively with the ‘movers & shakers’ in your field, challenge them, and make a big impact. My students must demonstrate they have memorized key terms and understand basic tools used in economics, and I don’t apologize for it. Instead of spending time feeling sorry for yourself, I recommend spending time ‘applying the seat to the chair’ and start memorizing as well as reasoning, questioning and wondering. I look forward to seeing you in my classes.
Dr. Pam BrownPolitical Science/Economics Department