Money Well Spent?

Some things in this world NEVER seem to amaze me.

WARNING: THIS IS A RANT! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT THEN GO AWAY!

It seems that every month or two I come across an article where someone has received a grant to do a "study" on something. The results are always so painfully obvious to me. Why do we need to spend millions of dollars on things that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out???

The following article is a great example:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060703/ap_on_sc/zoning_out

It seems that "zoning out while reading may impact learning." ??? Hello??? How many times did I study for a test in college and not remember what I just read??? It wasn't because I couldn't read it. It was because I wasn't interested in it or it was difficult to understand, and as a result, I "zoned out." Did it impact my learning?? Well, yeah!!! I couldn't answer that question on the test so obviously I "zoned out." So, I didn't LEARN anything from studying because I couldn't concentrate on the subject either from lack of understanding or from boredom.

A whole lotta computers, software, classroom supplies, equipment, etc., could have been purchased with the money it took to do this study. How many more are out there that are just like it? I'm sure these folks mean well enough and feel that their findings are necessary, but I just get upset about stuff like this at times. It just seems like it's too obvious to me. I'm all for research into the cure of diseases as well as educational research projects such as whether or not Accelerated Reader is working to improve reading in your school.

Oh well...I got that off my chest.