I think this gets at the discussion of whether education should provide you with a broad base of knowledge to appreciate a subject as well as use it or whether it should just, in a sense, add to your toolbox the minimum required methods to go into the workforce or move onto more advanced classes.

IMO, I really enjoyed learning about differential equations (DEs) and found that solving them analytically, besides being a nice intellectual challenge, also helped me with advanced courses later on. All of AC circuit analysis and the signals theory classes you take as an electrical engineer, for example, are firmly rooted in the language of DEs and just being able to plug some equations into a computer misses out on all of the real understanding you need to have in those fields to use them in practice.

One of the big red flags a junior electrical engineer can show, in fact, is too much reliance on simulation tools without having a good background understanding of what to expect from them.