As of today United States faces a lot of socio-economic problems. One of the most critical is the alarming rise of college tuition. Universities are operating more like businesses than actually higher learning institutions, student population not being ready to take college level classes (remedial), numbers College graduates are in a constant plummet, and students demonstrate no improvement in skills ranging from critical thinking to writing. In the book Academically Adrift, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa discuss these issues and also propose us how we can solve these problems that require imminent action. This book is an extensive research by these authors to demonstrate what is wrong with American University systems, to support their research…
Due to my uncanny similarity with the group of college students William Zinsser described in his essay “College Pressures,” his words induced within me feelings of guilt and regret. Throughout my years of schooling, there have been many occasions in which I have labored to a maximum which resulted in an almost unbearable amount of stress and panic. Oftentimes, I credited this anxiety to my teachers who assigned many projects and tests; or to the School Board that made continuous changes to the learning curriculum and expectations for “success.” At the beginning of his essay while he elaborated on his thesis, William Zinsser, master of Branford College, countered this thinking, “It is easy to look around for villains -- to blame colleges… the…
Over the years, college has shifted from a place of learning where individuals go to voluntarily learn more about a field of study that they want to pursue, to a place that young people feel like they are forced to go to land a job or impress their parents. Known author, Caroline Bird, argues that our generation is only attending college for reasons that are “entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized.” Bird concludes that the new generation of college students only enrolls to impress their parents or have a good time away from home. I have come to the conclusion that Bird is correct in assuming that our generation is attending college for all the wrong reasons based on an overwhelming amount of…
It is a well-known fact in today’s world that a large percentage of students in college are failing their classes due to the fact that many of them are not worried about making good grades. In Amy Widner’s essay “The Pursuit of Just Getting by,” she shared her opinion about students that think it is cool to not try. “We are not fooling anybody but ourselves.” –Amy Widner. She addresses this issue as well as the ramifications for “practicing” bad habits in college. She goes on explaining the importance of a hard work ethic, skills, and most importantly knowledge. She believes that every student should make the most out of their education by doing all of the work they are assigned, and doing everything to the best of their abilities. Amy later explains since students are paying so much for a college education they should be pursuing…
One goes to college to learn, it seems, not to think.” Every student is quick to graduate college and earn a diploma that he or she does not realize the true value of education. It does not matter what one learns in college, as long as he or she applies what he or she learns and question ideas with intellectual approaches. Gerald Graff emphasizes in “Hidden Intellectualism” that "one of the major reasons why school and colleges overlook the intellectual potential of street smarts: the fact that we associate those street smarts with anti-intellectual concerns" (264). People relate education with how much the student excelled academically, rather than by how the student processes the information and applies it to his or her…
As the years went by more and more students began to disengage and not work as hard in school. In John Leo’s article “No Books, please; we’re students” a study was done by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, stating students are becoming more and more disengaged from the “academic experience.” Meaning students in 1987 compared to students in 1995 and even today show a decline in studying, working on homework, and researching for their papers, this shows that students have become lazy and less willing to work for grades, they have the attitude of the teacher owes me this grade whether I do the work or not. Leo also mentions in his article that students are developing into this “easily bored” and less motivated to work society and that about “thirty-five” percent of students spent at least six hours of studying or doing the homework that was assigned, which is about forty-four percent less than it was in 1987. Furthermore in an interview with Henry Bauer, a chemistry professor at Virginia Tech says students have taken a turn for the worse and taken for granted the opportunity they have to go to school.…
What is College for? Nowadays, many people would argue that going to college is not worth investing in and spending your time on unless you want to get a well-paid job afterward. Parents are willing to ensure a good position for their child after four years of dedication and hard work. Although I agree that education is getting more expensive every year, and for some folks it might be a difficult decision to make, I cannot accept the claim that college is solely for getting an employment.…
William Zinsser is the author of “College Pressures”, and Caroline Bird is the author of “College is a Waste of Time and Money”. William Zinsser and Caroline Bird both introduce essays that tell the life of everyday college students and the problems they face while being a student in today’s College University. No matter what we view the hardest problem to deal with college.…
Today, many students like myself all over the America have walked down the hectic aisles of high school and have sat in some of the largest lecture halls in college. As kids, we were somewhat taught that going to school and getting an education would be the key to our success and thought that if we didn’t fulfill these expectations, we would end up homeless and live a terrible life. For so many years during my educational career this was the mentality that I believed in. Although this may be over exaggerated, I believe that this may hold some truth to the many college students all over the world. It is almost like we volunteer to go into debt and deal with all the stress that a college education brings us because we feel like it will get us…
"Current college students are more easily bored and considerably less willing to work hard," states John Leo. However, Leo give the students the benefit of the doubt, saying, two factors that cause students to become disengaged in their study are jobs and family responsibilities Nevertheless, Leo believes that current students are becoming more disengaged from the academic experience. Leo supports his opinion by using the latest survey put out by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute; a paper written by a chemistry professor, Henry Bauer of Virginia Tech; and a book called Generation X Goes to College, written by "Peter Sacks."…
Stop. Please. Stop. You have changed. I am at a loss for words. I thought that you – you wonderful university – would forever be the all-important, unchanging, institution of learning that would make me amount to something. Wait, what was that? You have not changed? Oh, that’s right. You haven’t changed, and therein lies the problem – according to Gideon Burton. “Dear Students: Don’t Let College Unplug Your Future” talks about how the Internet is becoming an essential tool for our lives, and that colleges and universities are not adapting in sync with the web. Using repetitive and colloquial diction, real-life examples, and a sarcastic voice, Burton effectively convinces college students that the internet is essential for a successful life, and to not be afraid – if anything, to be motivated – to use the internet to help them progress in life. Burton makes great use of repetitive diction to persuade his audience. Through his article, Burton makes the reader feel as though the reader is being spoken to directly by using the word “you”. Though a seemingly ordinary word, its use emits a great deal of emotional power at the reader. The article begins with Burton stating that he cares about students and that he is willing to go against code for them – implying that college professors normally try to keep students ignorant (Burton 88). With this introduction, “you” and “your” becomes a personal and meaningful word in the rest of the article, in both positive and negative ways. In the first four pages, “you” is used 101 times. This makes the reader feel that Burton is talking to them individually and that they are gaining more knowledge than their peers. This is manipulating students to think that Burton actually cares for them and believes that they are…
this paper is to provide insight on a few factors and expectations that college students should…
In “College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening?” David Daniels points out how lecture system affects a large number of college students, making students lack basic skills, general knowledge, and creativity as well. According to Daniels, lecture system, this traditional aspect of education has several inadequacies. But the solution- having smaller class demands “energy, imagination, and commitment from professors,” Daniels indicates. However, they force students to “share responsibility for their own intellectual growth,” even though they can be tiring. Finally, Daniels declares that lectures will never fade out from university because they are “economically necessary,” so “students must learn to listen before they listen to learn.” I found Daniels’ points are exactly what I feel about present educational system.…
Education is perhaps the most important endeavor a person can attempt in their life. Studies show those who have a post high school degree of some kind will earn considerably more during their working years than those who don’t. Though many classes may seem inapplicable to the work force or a future career, the skills developed such as group work, critical thinking, and exposure to disciplines that one would not otherwise study offers the potential for personal growth not found in everyday life and experience. In the last ten years, and with the advent and success of the Internet, online classes, and shorter eight-week classes have gained popularity among students and universities alike. I intend to argue that these shortcuts to education are a bastardization of a pure (and better) academic system, and is more detrimental to students than helpful. Though most administrators will be quick to promote these shorter classes by saying the same amount of material is covered as in a 16 week class, it is obvious this is simply good public relations to achieve student retention. Further, online classes will also be analyzed and deconstructed. This portion of the paper will focus mainly on face-to-face interaction as well as the dialectic method of teaching. The premise of this essay will be that students are being pushed through an ever more basic (simplified, dumbed down) education system that breeds only mediocrity; and the use of eight-week classes and online classes seek only to perpetuate this mediocrity with the students’ education and our nations brain trust suffering. For research: professors of varying ages will be asked via a simple questionnaire their feelings about the alternative classroom methods, an online education source and at least three books (articles) on pedagological…
What do you think your professor thinks of the new generation of students? Well in the Article College Students Today: overconfident or just assured? Regardless, they are our future. By Corwin P. King was surprisingly both inaccurate and accurate about college life. In this article the Corwin King was explaining about how different the new generation of college students are now compared to the past college students are. In Corwin King article he explains who students now dot have the grit and respect like they used to. So he starts to make accusations about the new generation college students. So in this paper I will be seeing how accurate his accusations are in a survey for college students that I posted, and my own personal experience of…