The title of this article is really misleading - it's not that "It's Just So Darn Hard" it's that the teaching of science grinds everything that's interesting about science out of the curriculum. That's the point that everyone in the actual article makes.
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But as Mr. Moniz sat in his mechanics class in 2009, he realized he had already had enough. “I was trying to memorize equations, and engineering’s all about the application, which they really didn’t teach too well,” he says. “It was just like, ‘Do these practice problems, then you’re on your own.’ ”
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Engineers build things. So engineering education should have a heavy component of building things - that's what's exciting and motivating to engineering students. The theory should be in the service of the practice, and most classes get this completely backwards. So they lose students, and grump that kids don't want to work hard.
>> But as Mr. Moniz sat in his mechanics class in 2009, he realized he had already had enough. “I was trying to memorize equations, and engineering’s all about the application, which they really didn’t teach too well,” he says. “It was just like, ‘Do these practice problems, then you’re on your own.’ ” >>
Engineers build things. So engineering education should have a heavy component of building things - that's what's exciting and motivating to engineering students. The theory should be in the service of the practice, and most classes get this completely backwards. So they lose students, and grump that kids don't want to work hard.