There are some college experiences that don't fit this mold. Many seminars and advanced courses are based on hands-on projects and small-scale discussions with professors. Those are undoubtedly valuable. But core classes tend not to be taught that way. The very classes that should establish a student's base understanding of a subject are taught like assembly lines—lecture, problem set, exam—with no quality control. Sure, the product's quality is graded, but nothing is done about defective understanding as the student is pushed down the line.