From the article, it sounded like a lot of engineering programs are almost devoid of lab and project work. My experience as an ME student wasn't like that, I had labs and project courses every term that I can recall. I also worked in a lab every summer and sometimes during the term. A few of you here have technical degrees, what was your experience?
No or few labs is the new normal. Labs are expensive, and there's a trend among colleges and universities to cut them or not require them. It's depressing.
And I thought freshman physics was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Biology came easily to me, and even organic chem was a snap compared to physics.
I think this problem is due as much to the way that physics is taught than an inherent super-high level of difficulty. I struggled through first-year physics and really understood very little of it, in spite of doing okay-ish on exams. I've recently been self-teaching, and am amazed that I ever had trouble with this stuff. I'm using University Physics (plus a few other books and the web), so I'm not teaching myself physics for poets. It's the real thing, calculus and all. And seriously, it really isn't all that hard. But the way I've seen it explained...leaves a lot to be desired.
