I never said you didn’t. Actually my original point (before I let myself get woefully distracted), was that as long as you were learning, and could prove it, why should you have to waste time and energy going through unnecessary contortions?
A degree is evidence of what you know. No one can prove HOW you learned it. You might have even known it all before you set foot on your college campus, but you can’t get that piece of paper until you’ve demonstrated to someone else that you know it. Why make it any harder than it has to be by dictating all the whys and wherefores?
Oh, I know you weren’t pointing fingers at me specifically, Lola. I just wanted to admit that getting that little slip of paper was at least part of my motivation for going to college. I think we’re coming at this from different points of view. I don’t view every assignment other than the final paper/test to be a waste of my time. So, given that our points of view are so different, I don’t think we can possibly see eye to eye on this. At best, we might come to the same conclusion about certain assignments being a waste of time, but I have no problem requiring students to jump through hoops. Either the instructor, or possibly the department, thinks that jumping through those hoops are valuable.
I agree with you. As far as I know, that is the purpose of university/colleges. If you simply want the nuts and bolts of a profession and out the door earning money, you go to a vocational/technical school*. A broader education that results in a degree should be about learning how to learn.
*Which are absolutely great if you want to learn what you need to know quickly and start working in your field. There is a place for both types of educations.