Study: College Students Not Learning Much

[cowcommander]

(CBS/AP) Kids are often told that to make it life, they must go to college. They work hard to get there. Parents and kids drain savings or take out huge loans to pay for it all.

And what do kids end up learning? The answer: not much.

A study of more than 2,300 undergraduates found 45 percent of students show no significant improvement in the key measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years.

Not much is asked of students, either. Half did not take a single course requiring 20 pages of writing during their prior semester, and one-third did not take a single course requiring even 40 pages of reading per week.

The findings are in a new book, "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses," by sociologists Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia. An accompanying report argues against federal mandates holding schools accountable, a prospect long feared in American higher education.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504744_162-20028739-10391703.html

[Indydem]

1. Pretty simple why:

If they required 20+ pages of writing, most of these idiots going to college couldn't finish the assignment.

[hfojvt]

5. there's a much simpler reason why

If they required 20+ pages of writing, then THEY would be required to read about 30 of those 20+ page themes and grade them for every class they taught. I learned that the hard way when I assigned my students a 5+ page paper. After that I decided to cut back and only assigned them for extra credit as it were.

[SoCalDem]

2. A large part of college used to be from the co-mingling of students

and so many people these days have little time for the activities that "made" college worthwhile.

I wonder how many kids these days have the time to spend all night at a coffeehouse arguing & discussing philosophy, art, literature, politics.

Many of today's students don't even get to live on-campus, and rush from job to job instead of lingering over coffee at the student union.

The relaxed tempo of college is no more.. It's evolved into a ratrace business where the end game is bazillions owed, and a sketchy job market.

The old model of bright 18 yr olds (eager to mingle), away from home for the first time, all converging at one place in time, is no more.

[hfojvt]

3. that's why I went to the five minute university

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4

[Swamp Rat]

4. "The book is based on information from 24 schools, meant to be a representative sample,"

N=24

:eyes:

[provis99]

6. heh. sounds familiar.

"Don't know much about history,
don't know much biology.
Don't know much about a science book,
don't know much about the french I took."

-Wonderful World by Sam Cooke

[Maine_Nurse]

7. The students choose their courses

If they want to learn, they should be taking challenging courses/degrees instead of fluff crap. The knowledge and opportunities are there if they want to take them.

[Johonny]

8. I agree

I found college was more about how much you wanted to get out of the course.

[mercuryblues]

9. Kids are often told that to make it life,

That is where I stopped reading.

to make it IN life.

[alp227]

10. discussion of this on Countdown with Keith

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/#41164219

In college it's the students choosing how and what to learn, so it may reflect just as much on the students as on the professors. Also usually colleges expect students to have good writing skills already (hence the essay, SAT requirements, etc.)

[Stevenmarc]

11. That's what happens when the first 12 years of education was all about training to take tests

not developing critical thinking skills or complex reasoning.

[KamaAina]

12. Damn! Seven years of college down the drain!