In Defence of General Studies

but surely the idea is that people arent 'all rounders' - it is natural that some people have scientific brains, some think in words, some in numbers etc. And fair enough it is a 'good thing' to be an all rounder, but the idea of a career is focussing on something that you are good and or enjoy - being an all round good egg will get you so far, but then what are you left with? being mediochre at everything and no aspirations.

i am forced to gen stud by school but cant say i really care that much - it is what, 4 and a half hours of my life that results in an A level which may or may not help me in the future.

however, everyone needs basic skills in things like numeracy, communication, scientific literacy etc. Even scientists need to be able to communicate well, pick out the points of an argument etc, and murder mystery authors still need to have a basic understanding of maths and science!

however my feeling is that you really should know this by the time you have done GCSEs, and if you didn't do well enough in your GCSEs to demonstrate things like basic literacy, you shouldn't really be doing any A-levels, including G.studies.

Scientists can communicate well, science and maths are the most difficult subjects there are. So naturally they would find communication very easy.

I agree though it is unfair since we have done your gcse so why should we be forced to take a subject which we will not use and is only harmful to your futures.

you obviously have not read some poorly written science textbooks?!

doing maths & sciences (particualrly say duoble maths and chemistry) really does not help you be good at communication particularly. when was the last time you had to write an essay for chemsitry? or maths? I never have, and i do 3 alevel sciences & maths.. synoptic papers are slightly that way...but not by far the majority of the course

how on earth does general studies "harm our futures"?!?

In chemistry there are essay questions but anyway essays are easy as providing you have got the facts all it is linking them together. General studies I have been told looks bad at on university applications.

PS: My text books are concise and well written.

well that's great. Believe it or not, your textbooks are not the only ones in the world!!

The "essay questions" in chemistry for my syllabus at any rate are nowhere near being real essays. I think you will find writing a REALLY GOOD essay is not really JUST stringing facts together. Wtf are you on about general studies looking bad on uni applications??

In Law the essay question are only a collection and joining of facts and surely you would consider it an eassy style subject.

General studies looks bad it shows that you don't have the motivation to tackle a difficult subject.

Why exactly is General Studies so cruelly attacked by all and sundry? I can't understand why a subject which tests genuine 'pick it up as you go along' all-round knowledge, without revision, is shunned almost universally. Good revision isn't a sign of intelligence or ability; its a skill, like being double-jointed, and surely a good grade in General Studies shows just generally 'knowing about stuff' that you pick up on newsnight or in the Guardian or whatever, and that is most important in the end.

So, join me, in the quest for the introduction of a General Studies degree!

(p.s. Can you spell polemic?)

At my school it is an absolute pile of poo. Neither the teachers or the pupils take it seriously. I can see the point of something if you do it properly, but I didn't have the foggiest about the french in that exam despite so called "french lessons" throughout the year, plus I have no desire to know how a mobile phone works, or to write an essay about works of art which used to be risque. In AS general studies they expected us to know about the carbon dating of trees. General studies is, in my opinion, an absolute waste of time. It's the government's way of saying "look! We're broadening students' education!" without having to lift a finger. Bah.

you can write essays that are just collections of facts but it doesnt make them GOOD essays

I don't study Law so I wouldn't know about it especially, but what about history/english/economics/sociology and all the other subjects that require essays?

and the vast majority of people take general studies as an additional AS/A2 as well as their other ones, so I don't really know what you're on about in the last sentence.

rosie

At my school it is an absolute pile of poo. Neither the teachers or the pupils take it seriously. I can see the point of something if you do it properly, but I didn't have the foggiest about the french in that exam despite so called "french lessons" throughout the year, plus I have no desire to know how a mobile phone works, or to write an essay about works of art which used to be risque. In AS general studies they expected us to know about the carbon dating of trees. General studies is, in my opinion, an absolute waste of time. It's the government's way of saying "look! We're broadening students' education!" without having to lift a finger. Bah.

What on earth would you do with a degree in general studies?

moo

Good revision isn't a sign of intelligence or ability; its a skill, like being double-jointed, and surely a good grade in General Studies shows just generally 'knowing about stuff' that you pick up on newsnight or in the Guardian or whatever, and that is most important in the end.