Said another way, you don't get to the part about analyzing the Maginot line without knowing who France was trying to protect itself from and why.
What fraction of American college freshman do you think know that it was to protect France from Germany, and that it failed near the beginning of World War II? If the percentage is small, I think it makes sense for college history classes to test for knowledge of facts like these. Ideally, well-prepared college students who know such facts will be able to start with more advanced history classes.
The Maginot Line was covered in 9th grade World History in my day, and came up again in APUSH, so assuming these are successful high school students, the percentage should be somewhere in the high-90s.
And it wouldn't even be proper to say "it failed," rather, it would be proper to say, "The French failed to consider enemy alternatives to a frontal assault, to man the line itself properly, and to plan for reserve units behind it that could respond to contingencies." But that's the sort of thing you're supposed to learn in college.
