In an online discussion post, Alcorn State University history professor Dr. Jason Gibson posed a question that represented part of his students’ midterm. It was about the…

  • flubba86@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    I see the same thing in the software industry. Programming is something where it’s perfectly common to need to have cheat sheets at your desk and reference the documentation regularly. But freshly graduated students think that’s cheating. They’re convinced they need to memorise all aspects of a programming language and it’s standard library. The amount of new information I take in every day, it would be impossible to remember everything. The real skill is information retrieval, being able to look up what you need to know when you need it.

    • Dnb@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      13 days ago

      Yep. I always thought open book tests are the best.

      Otherwise if you read it but can’t memorize it, gl.

      If you did the work or can find the answer quickly without having done the work /studied, you’ll do okay in the real world too, because you have those skills to figure out the correct answer quickly.

        • nickiwest@lemmy.world
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          13 days ago

          Some professions, like ER doctor, require a high level of memorization. But that’s also part of medical training.

          Others don’t need that level of memorization, even other kinds of doctors. I’ve seen medical specialists in private practice leave the exam room to look up symptoms to help make a diagnosis. And I think that’s a good idea, since only TV doctors can “know” everything about incredibly rare diseases.

    • elephantium@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      This split shows up in interviews, even for senior-level positions. It’s infuriating. Want to get hired? Memorize the right snippets from the documentation!

      Want to do the job? Be able to find what’s helpful in the docs and incorporate it into what you’re trying to do.