Bridging the 21st Century Gap in Education: History, Causation, and Solutions

This paper discusses the gaps in the cognitive demands of education as higher levels of education became socially and culturally necessary. These gaps are related to major transitions between education levels, such as the transition from preschool to primary school, from primary to secondary, or from secondary to tertiary education. Gaps reflect deviations between the concepts and skills prescribed for learning by a specific population and the readiness of this population to cope with the demands of the task within the time frame prescribed. The history and the cognitive developmental profile of the gaps is outlined. This paper focuses on the gap between secondary and tertiary education. It is explicated that a major reason of the gap is the vast expansion in the population of youth attending university studies. We outline a program for bridging this gap which extends from primary to university education. We emphasize changes in principle-based and critical thought that are needed by many students if they would be able to grasp science as intended by universities.