> Isn't the practical effect of existing university education
> to goad students into self-learning: finding, comparing,
> analyzing, and mastering relevant materials independently?
Not in my experience. If it matters, I'm talking about UC Berkeley, but I've discussed this issue at leangth with friends of mine from many of the big public and private schools in the US, as well as a number of smaller top-tier private schools. No one seems to have found that as an explicit goal in any of these places, and in a wide variety of disciplines.
> No offense to the profs, but I don't think most actual knowledge
> acquisition at universities occurs in lecture halls. And the
> point of it all (to the extent that it has a point) seems to be to
> encourage independent study and reflection.
If that's what you got from your time at a university, then good for you. I don't think it's common, and I still don't think you got it from being explicitly taught it. Perhaps you worked it out for yourself. What I've found is that the best "students" can/will do well anywhere, and *despite* their education, not *because* of it.
/jordan