A significant chunk of students who seek higher education are just spending a bunch of money to spin their wheels, according to new research that finds many are hardly learning anything.
ABC News reports findings in the book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses that say 45 percent of 2,300 students surveyed showed no significant development in reading, writing or critical thinking by the end of their sophomore years. The authors are professors at NYU and Virginia.
The coursework seems to be on the light side as well. The study found half of students didn’t take a course that required 20 pages of writing in the previous semester, and a third didn’t take a class that required 40 pages of reading a week.
If you went to college, what knowledge and other benefits did it provide you?
Student Tracking Finds Limited Learning in College [ABC News]
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I learned that whatever your major is in, you will enjoy classes that aren’t in it more.
I was a computer science major, but I took some psychology and creative writing classes along with it, since those are both things I am very interested in. The biggest benefit I got was from the sheer act of going to college and having to live by myself. By the end of it, I was paying my own room and board at a student co-op and working hard at a student job in desktop tech support for U housing.
I’m not sure if college made me smarter or not. I’d like to think I am smarter now in general, because I am always seeking out more knowledge, and I spent five years in college so I probably learned something along the way.
When I was a senior (5 years ago) the professors in our department asked a few of us to participate in a meeting that covered this issue. They had noticed that the Juniors, sophomores and Freshman weren’t as academically prepared as we were to enter college and move toward graduation. They had chosen to dumb down classes and change learning styles. Long story short their changes seem to line up with the issues in this story.
“The study found half of students didn’t take a course that required 20 pages of writing in the previous semester, and a third didn’t take a class that required 40 pages of reading a week.”
Sounds like “Half of students are science majors” to me.
I learned how to program in seven different languages.
I learned how to create CGI, databases, and algorithms.
I learned how to calculate the mechanics of the atmosphere’s heat retention and the mechanics of black holes.
I learned number theory, data sets, advanced calculus, and physics.
I learned how to optimize search engines, how to program a cross-platform application, and how to calculate the processing capacity needed by a program.
I learned how to model fluid dynamics, how to automatically generate a topographical map from surveyor data, and how to solve Sodoku in Haskel.
And I also learned that there will also be those teachers who think all of that doesn’t mean shit because I didn’t write a 10 page paper about how any of the dozen books I read in a month made me -feel-, or what their inner symbolism might be.
The best things I learned in grad school were a) how to discipline myself, b) how to work hard and persist through tough times, c) how to maintain focus/avoid distractions and d) to have confidence in my abilities.
Not one of those were in the curriculum!
In other news, the sky is blue, grass is green, and the capital of France is Paris.
First of all many jobs now require a Bachelor’s Degree which doesn’t always seem right. Some 2 year colleges and some trade schools offer very good programs where you take most of your major’s courses. I am a 47 yo. majoring in Graphic Design at a 2 yr. college (Have a BS in Social Work that I went for right out of high school). I really love taking classes now and find that I care a lot more about my major’s courses than the other ones, except Art History….loved taking that! Also, I did find that local BOCES programs in NYS offered trade programs for a lot less than other schools. Sometimes spending less doesn’t mean getting less.
Having gotten laid off at 50, I’m so glad I spent my college years doing drugs instead of working hard at an engineering degree or something that would have left me in the same position without even any good memories.
I went to a top ranked public school in the midwest for my undergraduate degree and received a degree in English. I was reading 3-4 novels a week and writing lengthy papers, and I rarely missed class.
I am now in law school at a fairly reputable school and fortunately for me, my liberal arts degree has really come in handy. Law was something I was always interested in and wished to pursue, so I am not upset that I am not exclusively using my undergraduate degree. Unfortunately, the undergraduate students who attend the institution where my law school is located appear to do little work. I am roommates with some undergrads who spend most of their time on Facebook/Youtube/insert random blog here. Their “projects” for school are a joke. Although I graduated from undergrad just a few years ago in 2008, I rarely skipped a class, and rarely was class cancelled. I spent hours doing homework. I am proud to be a Wolverine, and the degree I received made me work hard for it, even if it was a liberal arts degree.
I truly believe a lot of the blame lies with many colleges having open door policies now and operating as businesses. The top ranked universities and colleges still appear to have rigorous curriculum no matter what you study. But there are countless, less competitive schools where a student can skate on by without ever purchasing the book for the class (trust me, not only does this happen, but the students actually brag about it). So study hard in high school, get into a good college, and you will profit from the competition that surrounds you. And if you decide that you weren’t challenged enough in college, try med school/law school (plenty of work, little sleep).