Nasa Education Hour

I happened to catch a live interview between two NASA technical people and some students of "West End High School". It was painful to watch the NASA guys attempting to answer really STUPID questions from some of the students including a football question!!! If this is the caliber of our latest crop of high school students we are in DEEP trouble. No wonder NASA has trouble with funding if the general public and politicians have no idea or real interest in what they are doing. I bet those same students could tell you anything you wanted to know about "American Idol" or some other "pop culture" drivel. It was appalling. I have heard better questions from 1st graders.

Not just NASA. The whole education system is a mess.

Jay Leno had a "Civic questions man on the street" segment on tonight. One sample was "Who was the father of our country?". Answer = Jesus Christ. Another, what war was John McCain a P.O.W.? Answer = Cold war. "How many stars on the present US flag and what do they represent?". Answer = 56 that represent the countries we own.

I'd laugh but these fools vote . . .

Hi John,

It does not get any better when they "graduate" from high school and attend university.

I have been teaching physics and astronomy at a range of universities in the USA for more than 11 years now and the standard of student is really bad, especially mathematical skills. (or lack thereof!)

And not just their lack of skills and basic knowledge, it is their attitude as reflected in their comments when they are doing poorly. Such as "your course is too hard, an average student cannot get an "A"". or "I don't see why I should fail this course just because I got an "F""! The one that really set me back though was "Why am I failing? I am entitled to an "A" because I have attended most classes." (From someone who had not handed in a single assignment)

From what I have seen, high schools are not allowed to fail students, so they drift through school never having to actually learn anything. It seems to me that it is partly the result of psychologists (don't harm a child's self esteem by failing them) and partly out of fear since school funding seems to be based on the number of students "graduating". It also seems popular to blame teachers when students fail instead of placing the blame where it most commonly lies... with the students and their parents.

Cheers,

Maurice