Engineering Learning for Efficiency

In Chemistry there is the term "elegant" which describes the process of reducing the number of steps needed to synthesize a protein to the minimum. Education should propose the same desire. Hours spent on a topic should never be a substitute for actual knowledge. Currently, the education system is skewed towards hours and not towards knowledge which is why the inflation rate on tuition continues to rise. To change this I propose a National Assessment Administration. It would require each profession to develope and administer an assessment that would allow individuals the opportunity to test into that profession. This would provide an incentive for learners and educators to develope ways that would actually improve the efficiency of the educational process and not just reward the acquisition of hours in a classroom.

To summarize:

• Today an education means putting in hours whether you learn or not.
• This rewards inefficiencies and reduces productivity.
• National Assessments for professions would reward efficient learning and end the monopoly of the hours system.
• This would reduces costs and increase productivity.
• Cost of assessment should reflect the cost of administration and developement.