Four Year College Student Analysis

Over the years, the value of a college degree has decreased due to multiple reasons including, grade inflation, open admissions, negative student attitudes, and the ill-conceived perception that college is only for economic advancement. Today, four-year colleges seem to operate as a business rather than an institution meant for intellectual enrichment. Although there are many theories on how to restore the valued reputation of a four-year college degree, a major solution would include hiring motivated and open-minded professors to assist students reach their full potential. Employing professors that are available and relatable to students would present an appealing outlook towards college. According to Howard Johnson, Ph.D., Professor of Education
Edgar Dale, an American educationist, developed a chart known as “The Cone of Experience,” which discusses the percentage of information students retain from different teaching styles. Edgar states that the average student only retains five percent of a lecture. However, when students present or stimulate the real experience 90 percent of the information they encountered memorized. Having a particular learning styles influences students to specific thinking styles. Because of this, teachers should create assignments that touch on every teaching style such as visual, verbal, and action, in order to increase grade expectations and outcomes. According to W.J. Reeves, an English professor at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, another problem in education consist of terrible student attitudes. In “College Isn’t for Everybody,” Reeves states that the student attitude consist of unacceptable attendance, cheating, and a sense of entitlement to outstanding grades for non-deserving work. However, if professors took the time to strategize their lessons around their student’s interest, the kids would become engaged and their attitudes would improve due to the fact that they would be learning in an enjoyable and relatable way. Hiring effective professors would also improve the reputation of a four-year college degree by enhancing grade performance in students. An additional issue with
John F. Check, Chairman of the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Wisconsin, took a survey discussing the negative and positive character traits of effective and non-effective teachers. A few of the negative traits of a non-effective teacher include, “inability to communicate; repetitive and monotonous; insensitivity; and unenthusiastic.” All of these negative character descriptions describe a teacher who has no concern for their students, and a large number of students will not pursue their fullest potential with a teacher who does not have high expectations for them. The fact that there are teachers all over the world who consist of these characteristics is an enormous issue. If extra effective teachers were recruited the students would be more responsive and their educational performance would improve. Many people have forgotten that college is for intellectual enrichment, but there are still a few who have not forgotten the true purpose for attending a four-year university. One of these people is Rebecca Mead. Rebecca Mead, a staff writer for The New Yorker, wrote the article “Learning by Degrees” to express her opinion that college should be utilized for intellectual growth to advance oneself. Well, if students were eager to listen to their educators teach, it would present them the opportunity to retain and value