Are they not teaching the simple concept of "track it the way you want it to sound"?
Try doing a faders and pan only mix of your project, and after that, play that mix on a lot of different systems. You will probably find that you won't need to eq much if the sounds recorded are in the ballpark. If the sound are not in the ball park, no amount of eq is going to save them really. But different strokes for different folks I suppose.
How I use eq on tracks really depends on what I NEED to change. This can change depending upon the type of instruements used in the recording, the QUALITY of those instruments sound, and the genre of music I am doing. "Starting points" are far too numerous to list. It really comes down to what NEEDS to be done to get the results you desire, and if it is even possible using eq, or if maybe some compression might serve you better (indeed, compression can really change the relative balance of frequencies on a track...) Whether you choose to eq before or after compression will change the approach of both eq and compression! How I might eq a track before compression is quite different than I might eq that track AFTER compression.
You can use those "this generally does this, and that generally does that" charts that people list off all the time, but I find myself getting better results by forgetting about what would "normally" be done, and using my ol' ears and changing what my ears tell me to change. Trust me, there is a difference in many cases. The "charts" seldom hold up. What I did on one project might not work so well on the next project. etc. etc. etc.
If you understand what the eq does, and can at least reconize frequencies when you hear them (or at least guess a frequency within an half octave...), your ears will tell you what "eq technique' would be suitable to create the sound that you need in a mix. It is that simple, AND complex.
Good luck.
Ed
