Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study.
The proposition that universities should mandate students to take courses outside their field of study is highly contentious. However, a good reflection on the meaning and objectives of education and the current challenges it is obligated to tackle would be enough to support the statement.
Education, as defined by John Dewey, is the process of facilitating learning and acquiring knowledge, skills, beliefs, values and habits. A system where this learning process is confined to a particular discipline without any orientation with other areas undermines this meaning of education and its purpose. To understand one’s place in society and respect others’ viewpoints, one needs to be acquainted with anthropology, psychology and sociology. Similarly one’s position in the physical and meta-physical world can only be understood by learning astronomy, physics, theology, philosophy, political science, etc. Moreover, aesthetic appreciation of the world around needs familiarity with fine arts, performing arts and literature.
While education does require mastery in one particular domain in order to make significant contribution in it, this mastery cannot be achieved without a broad knowledge in other areas. For instance, political scientists must know psychological, sociological and historical events that shaped political ideologies; anthropologists must understand various political and social events that shaped human culture; etc. Even in technical fields this holds true e.g. computer engineers must be aware about different businesses, communication, transport, etc. to develop relevant softwares, scientists needs technical writing skills for publishing their work, engineers must know market demands and challenges to develop smarter solutions.
With the embracement of interdisciplinary research, it has become indispensable to have a broad knowledge base in order to excel. Without knowledge of human anatomy and cognition, it would not have been possible for researches to develop human bots. Similarly, without understanding of dynamics of motion, innovation of four-legged animal robots by MIT researcher would have been a dream. Juxtaposing different discipline and amalgamating them into a unified design made these inventions possible. It is because of this holistic scientific approach e.g. mixing architecture with nature, Mathematics with Music, arts with Science that new unimaginable scientific feats are coming to the fore.
Some may argue that merely dabbling with myriad academic offerings would result in dilettantes and not professionals, unable to make significant contribution in any endeavor. This can only be averted by not over extending one’s academic pursuits and striking a proper balance between one’s major field of study and other discipline. Another argument emphasizes the fundamentals of university education – specialization and streamlining. When students are coerced to take up courses not necessarily required, it diverts concentration. The already existing pressure on students due to gigantic syllabus, impossible deadlines, crunch time, etc. hinders them from focussing. This can be addressed by making students aware of the benefits different subjects that can help them excel in their own field and encourage them to take up those relevant modules instead of forcing. This in turn would promote a sense of responsibility and independence on part of students.
In conclusion, a pragmatic approach for universities is to encourage students to take additional subjects by highlighting the importance of different inter-disciplinary courses for excelling in their own professional careers and allowing them to decide and chose what they want to study instead of forcing them.
- Unfortunately in contemporary society creating an appealing image has become more important than the reality or truth behind that image 83
- Leaders are created by the demands that are placed on them. 66
- Although innovations such as video computers and the Internet seem to offer schools improved methods for instructing students these technologies all too often distract from real learning 89
- As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more complex and mysterious. 83
- In most professions and academic fields imagination is more important than knowledge 83
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 5, column 461, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Similarly,
...anthropology, psychology and sociology. Similarly one's position in the physical and...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 9, column 152, Rule ID: A_UNCOUNTABLE[4]
Message: Uncountable nouns are usually not used with an indefinite article. Use simply 'broad knowledge'.
Suggestion: broad knowledge
...this mastery cannot be achieved without a broad knowledge in other areas. For instance, political...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 9, column 668, Rule ID: KNOW_NOW[5]
Message: Did you mean 'now'?
Suggestion: now
...r publishing their work, engineers must know market demands and challenges to develo...
^^^^
Line 9, column 703, Rule ID: ALLOW_TO[1]
Message: Did you mean 'developing'? Or maybe you should add a pronoun? In active voice, 'challenge' + 'to' takes an object, usually a pronoun.
Suggestion: developing
...must know market demands and challenges to develop smarter solutions. With the embrac...
^^^^^^^^^^
Line 17, column 10, Rule ID: MASS_AGREEMENT[2]
Message: Possible agreement error - use third-person verb forms for singular and mass nouns: 'argues'.
Suggestion: argues
... are coming to the fore. Some may argue that merely dabbling with myriad academ...
^^^^^
Line 21, column 106, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...age students to take additional subjects by highlighting the importance of differ...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, e.g., however, if, may, moreover, similarly, so, while, for instance, in conclusion
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 17.0 19.5258426966 87% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 16.0 12.4196629213 129% => OK
Conjunction : 22.0 14.8657303371 148% => OK
Relative clauses : 8.0 11.3162921348 71% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 34.0 33.0505617978 103% => OK
Preposition: 84.0 58.6224719101 143% => OK
Nominalization: 24.0 12.9106741573 186% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 3241.0 2235.4752809 145% => OK
No of words: 542.0 442.535393258 122% => OK
Chars per words: 5.97970479705 5.05705443957 118% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.82502781895 4.55969084622 106% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.27363053937 2.79657885939 117% => OK
Unique words: 302.0 215.323595506 140% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.557195571956 0.4932671777 113% => OK
syllable_count: 1010.7 704.065955056 144% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.9 1.59117977528 119% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 8.0 6.24550561798 128% => OK
Article: 5.0 4.99550561798 100% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 3.10617977528 97% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.77640449438 0% => OK
Preposition: 6.0 4.38483146067 137% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 25.0 20.2370786517 124% => OK
Sentence length: 21.0 23.0359550562 91% => OK
Sentence length SD: 53.2492103228 60.3974514979 88% => OK
Chars per sentence: 129.64 118.986275619 109% => OK
Words per sentence: 21.68 23.4991977007 92% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.52 5.21951772744 67% => OK
Paragraphs: 6.0 4.97078651685 121% => OK
Language errors: 6.0 7.80617977528 77% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 13.0 10.2758426966 127% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 7.0 5.13820224719 136% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.83258426966 103% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.143704292527 0.243740707755 59% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0426209902233 0.0831039109588 51% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0905184994712 0.0758088955206 119% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0934525093259 0.150359130593 62% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0947436933341 0.0667264976115 142% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 17.6 14.1392134831 124% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 24.78 48.8420337079 51% => Flesch_reading_ease is low.
smog_index: 11.2 7.92365168539 141% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 15.0 12.1743820225 123% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 17.4 12.1639044944 143% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 10.16 8.38706741573 121% => OK
difficult_words: 188.0 100.480337079 187% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 12.5 11.8971910112 105% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.4 11.2143820225 93% => OK
text_standard: 18.0 11.7820224719 153% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 83.33 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 5.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.