Ah, university notes. By the time we get to university, we&#x27;re usually in good hands and you&#x27;re smart enough to make it regardless of what you think about your education.<p>The issue is more about public education policy and the millions who don&#x27;t make it to higher education, or who waste it. And all the lower level classes that don&#x27;t amount to anything.<p>For someone to amount to something, they need to be productive. If you have a job, you know this by heart. Your production is the amount to measure, just as an artist is measured by their paintings. And to say mathematics or programming is about learning before building is total BS. Most self taught programmers do so building things. Engineering requires understanding, so if you&#x27;ve engineered it, you&#x27;ve acquired the knowledge.<p>If something has no productive value, then it would have no value (beyond academia). So the key is simply this: Make sure to arrive at productive value before the end of each course, and let students experience the production of it.<p>Of course there are better schools, better classes, and better teachers who practice this. There are students who get it, and already do it without being told. It&#x27;s just that the whole paradigm is still backwards.