Why We Burn Out in School (Theory)

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I had my fair share of stories from frustrated, burnt out students in both high school and college. I can attest as a computer science major that information and techniques grows rapidly.

My professors proudly proclaim to the class that during their undergraduate years they often took over three classes in computer science at a time. Yet I looked at a course catalog from 20 years ago (when one of my professors graduated).

I immediately noticed that the classes went over a lot less info then our classes today. In other words, they were easier and more manageable.

So my generation has to sit upon a mountain of knowledge produced by the past, but we are expected to learn all this knowledge in only four years just like our predecessors.

Physics is a better example. When Albert Einstein was a student, Newtonian mechanics were what largely made up his undergraduate studies. Now, the current undergraduate student has to learn Newtonian mechanics, theory of relativity, photo-electric effect, and quantum mechanics. Newtonian mechanics is expected to be learnt by the end of the first quarter at my university.

Would Einstein be able to shine as bright as he did with such a heavy course load such as today's students go through?

Does this explain why students feel like they are "cramming" while past students never had heard of such a thing?

Is it fair to expect students to finish a degree in four years like their predecessors when the information in the degree field has grown so much?

I don't think it holds. Plenty of famous suspected Aspies had burnouts in previous eras (they called it a "nervous breakdown" back in the day.) Burnout seems to be the result of stress from the social, bureaucratic, and executive function demands of higher education rather than from actual studying in most cases.

Although the subject areas held a smaller quantity of information in the past, universities had different requirements then that were just as rigorous. I'm guessing you're not studying Greek and Latin as part of your education today. And Einstein and others had to do all their calculations without the help of computers (not even graphing calculators!)

I thought about this when watching an episode of Star Trek: TNG. A kid was complaining to his father about having to take calculus, and he looked about 12! And I thought you would have to learn stuff that quickly considering how much more there is to learn. It takes plenty of time to learn all the physics we know today, would we manage also earning temporal physics or subspace physics. I guess we'll be lucky if it does turn out that time travel or faster than light travel is impossible and we can take that off the menu.

Wasn't Einstein supposed to have been an awful student? (or is that just urban myth?)

It is kind of an urban myth. Einstein was a great student in the things that interested him (science/mathematics) but failed in subjects that he wasn't (language arts/reading/some humanities class).



I am expected to do the same. We are not allowed to use calculators for even multivariable calculus so that does not hold true for most universities. But I do agree that we have some valuable tools (internet being a prime example) that they lacked.

I do think kids today are requested a lot more than their predecessors. I look at my daughter and she is getting so much information and seeing more subjects than me and her age. I think its because everything is moving so fast now. At least college you have the chance to attend only the subjects you can handle. You cam always lower down the load and attend less classes - it will take you longer to get your degree, but you avoid a breakdown.

Back in the day it was called a "nervous breakdown"? I've always been telling people about my nervous breakdowns. Anyhow, I agree, but it's definitely possible to do that. It's just not fair to expect people to learn all this material if it's not presented properly.

I think the problem is more with the individual. The professor can only do so much but if the individual doesn't know how to cope, he or she is responsible for figuring out a way to get the information down. If necessary, it may involve a smaller work load, it may involve not having a job even if it's expected of you, but ultimately the individual is capable of doing what is asked. It just means that the individual has to manage his or her time better.

There are cases where too much information can cause burn-out or a nervous breakdown. That means you're pushing yourself too hard or you're not doing something right. Try a different approach, read up on some study strategies. If you need to, cut back on the load you're taking.

Overall, it's unfair, but it's still do-able. Now, the professors can present their material in a better way, but the classroom can't be targeted at Aspergians when the world is still run on non-spectrum people.

The problem is more with the individual, but it's still not fair to expect everyone to live up to the expectations of every day society. There. I rest my case.

P.S. I'm burned out on information.

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Oh, wait, I forgot to take normal school into consideration. Well, I can't say much about that because my education hasn't been "traditional."