Incidentally, your questions in the Tech Related forum indicate you're considering studying abroad. Yes?
eerrrr : In moral studies, we have to answer structured and essay questions based on 16 "Moral Values" + 64 "Sub Values" and their definitions like FFTactic_Boy said
ficedula : Like I said earlier i'm doing a Matriculation in IT currently. I enquired my college about what U's they twin with and unfortunately the only ones available for direct transfer in Computer Sc. are University of Birmingham and University of Melbourne(Aus) but they said if I get really good results in my first year diploma, I can apply for a transfer to any U!
This line really saddens me. I have no idea what kind of lectures this is, but I'm pretty sure that you can't 'define' moral.
Moral is a subjective thing. In nazi-germany it was moral to slaughter jews. Nowadays killing is completely immoral, though some hundred years ago it was a part of life.
So, trying to define "16 moral values" is just stupid. What if I happen to have 17 moral values? Who are you to stop me? This kind of thinking really offends me.
Moral classes should have been discussions that we can learn from ourselves. Shovelling pre-made definitions down our throats aren't going to learn us anything. Any form of "memorizing" isn't going to learn us anything, because the important parts lies in the understanding of a subject. For instance, a person who have a deep enough knowledge about moral would be able to reason him/herself to those definitions about moral without having any knowledge about them. Like the person who made those definitions you had to learn probably did.
I don't like the way my own school is teaching either but at least it's not this bad.
About grades...I try not to think about them too much. If I get low grades in something it is because I'm not interested in it, and in that case getting good grades in it would not be all that moral, since I would show interest in something I'm not interested in. I think it is fun to have an understanding of something, but if I have to memorize something I don't see the point in memorizing then what is really the point?
History is a good example. You can remember all the dates you want to but it doesn't matter as long as you can't see the broad picture and see how history repeats itself, even today. We aren't very different from other culures previously in time. Still, remembering those dates will in a badly designed course give you high grades. People who only try to remember dates and don't care about understanding should get the lowest possible grades possible...we don't need people like that, it's just to open a lexicon. On the other hand, a lexicon can't tell us where the world is heading and why.
Sorry for going off like that, not sure what happened ;-)
As for history: Also true. The A-Level history course I took was a good one though; you could only get a grade E (v.low) by quoting facts; anything above that had to be earned by analysing the situation and trying to come to a reasoned conclusion of your own. That's what subjects *should* be like; unfortunately, GCSE's are mostly just rote learning.
You won't believe how stupid the education system is in my country! Even for history, only facts from the book are to be written, no self-opinionated facts may be included. I mean that's still fine with me except the fact that the History subject is completely based on MEMORIZING and not on UNDERSTANDING. History can be an interesting subject if it's taught in the right way.
I'm not too sure about the A-Levels history cause I'm not taking A-Levels! A lot of my classmates are, so I do have a rough idea how it's like. It's more understanding oriented but nevertheless the government still holds the reins in history subject so it still has the memorizing element in it. Although I'm taking Matriculation in IT course, I'm still forced to at least pass 2 subjects, Moral Studies(Again) and Malaysian Studies which is my country's equivalent to History for college level. In fact, there is no escaping these 2 subjects if anyone decides to study in Malaysia.
There is one exception though, if one is a muslim or decides to be a muslim he/she does not have to take Moral Studies but must instead take Islamic Studies which is far easier to study for. Mind you though, Islamic studies is not like Bible Studies, it's much easier. When student's in my country strive hard to attain and 'A' in Moral, the muslim's get marks like 99% for Islamic Studies. And is so happens that the Muslim's in my country make the majority and they are the one's in control of the goverment. You get the idea? Sorry if I can't make my point any clearer but if I do, I'll probably be imprisoned.