Yes, most of the things I learned in school were pretty useful. I now wish I had paid a bit more attention, especially in maths. I had to relearn a lot of it because I missed the opportunity in school. I think the most useful aspect are the skills that I learned, like how to find information, critically think about it, and present ideas well in written form.
Yes I think so.
The things I learned in school, GCSE and A-Levels gave me a basic introduction to science, everything I learned in university and after that was based on the science I learned in school. I do physics specifically but the biology and chemistry I learned at school are very helpful in some of my work.
As a physics student, maths is especially important to my work and I was terrible at it in school. However I loved physics enough to do the maths even though I hated it. 😛
We live in an increasingly science and technology driven world so even if you aren’t interested in it as a career I think people should understand the basic working of these things.
Yes, probably most of the topics covered in science classes at school will have come back, either at university or later during my work life.
Mathematics especially is very important in all scientific disciplines. That is because as scientists we measure things, whether that is the distance between stars, the weight of a new aeroplane engine or the size of a grain. Scientists use mathematics as a language to describe these measurements, put them into relation with one another and also describe them to other scientists. This is part of what is called the “scientific method”, which is a way to explore the world around us in a rigourous and reproducible manner.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying much attention at school during math, so had to catch up later 🙁
So if you want to go into science (regardless which discipline), I recommend that you try and pay as much attention in math classes as possible (and take good notes).
It’s not always about using the exact ‘stuff’ you learn in school – some things you learn to improve your ability to reason and think critically. Those generalised skills are what is important.
Comments
Nathan commented on :
It’s not always about using the exact ‘stuff’ you learn in school – some things you learn to improve your ability to reason and think critically. Those generalised skills are what is important.