One of those thread topics that I know we don't want to be the stereotype here, but nevertheless it probably fits better here than anywhere else.

It's been said plenty of times that experience is the best way to learn. You won't learn anything quicker than being thrown in at the deep end and left to fend for yourself.

If that's truly the case, do you believe that education should be more experience-based? Rather than spending 5 odd years with your nose in a book at university, for instance, would it be better to begin as an apprentice with little prior knowledge (comparatively speaking, obviously some would be required) and learning it as you go, or is the system as it is for a reason?

The way I see it, education is experience in a course, and experience is education in the hands-on world. For certain things, one is better than the other, but I tend to see them as equal.

A basic education is necessary for everything.

I think above that it varies depending on waht you want to achieve. To fix cars, you need practical experience. To perform calculus, you need education. But each needs a bit of the other as well.

Experience is very important, but when you think about almost any real situation it comes after education. No one at a financial firm cares how long you've worked at Burger King if you never took an accounting class.

quote Galacticdramon

To perform calculus, you need education

quote Global Services CEO

No one at a financial firm cares how long you've worked at Burger King if you never took an accounting class

quote Praetorian_Lord

quote Galacticdramon

To perform calculus, you need education

I don't think that this is necessarily a fair comparison.

If experience is one of the option to learn on a subject than it is the one you should choose.

quote Tru Believer

"Love is the greatest power man can ever have.
Love is Jesus."

If you want to boil it down experience will get you the job while education will get you better pay. Of course, it's much more complicated than that but it's a general trend.

For example, let's say you're getting interviewed for a good job. You can have a high education but if you don't have much experience it's possible for some with less education to get the job if they have more experience. If you both had same experience, odds are that your pay would increase faster than the guy with less education.

It all depends on where you work though; from what I can tell they really don't care much about experience or education when it comes to flipping burgers.

Education is what you need to qualify for the job, while experience is what you need to efficiently do the job.

I think experience is generally more important. The idea behind how its better to know the background before doing something seems reasonable enough. But a lot of the things you learn are irrevalent to what you do, which is a waste of time. I think education should be more experienced-based. I have labs in chemistry in addition to the lectures. I find that I learn better in a lab setting because I have a better understanding of how the reactions occur, since i can see it myself.

I guess it depends on the person really. If I get a new device, I usually play with it and figure out how it works on my own, referring to the menu only when it is necessary. Therefore, I would prefer the learning-as-you-go way, simply because i only have to focus on what I need to do, and that I know what i learn would be useful to what Im doing.

In some circumstances who you know might influence your chances of achieving something, but most people do need education and experience to achieve things.

quote Agua

It's not what you know, it's who you know.

quote Agua

It's not what you know, it's who you know.

I go to a select entry school (nerdville) and I'm learning a lot, but still it can't compare to my old school. It taught me to see both sides of the story and not to judge someone before you get to know them. It also gave me great counselling skills.

I agree with Deathsythe. In a sense, having a book in front of your eyes, reading and memorizing the content is a form of experience in itself. I would think that being more involved in a lesson makes a lot more sense, and helps to establish that experiencey type of learning.