Are college students learning?
latimes.com
latimes.com
We are both perplexed and frightened at just how lazy, unprepared and nonchalant the current generation of college goers are. Some of these kids have no clue that just "showing up" to college isn't going to get them jack in this hyper-competitive world.
I'm 28, BTW -- not much older than most of these students...
UPDATE: I actually think you can't plant all of this blame on the universities--our generation (people that are between 20 and 30 now) has a serious problem with drive, ambition and thinking shit is just suposed to be handed to them. Our peers need to step up just like universities need to step up an adapt--learning is a two-way street.
The article does not mention a "trend". Is something changing?
> We are both perplexed and frightened at just how lazy, unprepared and nonchalant the current generation of college goers are.
Certainly. Yours was the same way. So was mine (I'm a professor whose undergrad years were in the min 1980s).
I've been teaching at the university level for 20+ years, and I have seen some changes. My students today are more likely to have full-time jobs, more likely to have children, and more likely to have on-again-off-again college careers as a result of these and other factors, than my peers were when I was in school. It seems to me that they are also more likely to be stressed out and feel overworked.
There are also cultural changes. Back in '83 when I was a freshman, you could say, "The purpose of a university is to expose people to unfamiliar ideas" in the student newspaper, and not get laughed at.
But as far as drive, intelligence, and motivation, it all looks about the same to me.
NONE of these actually help students, in fact I would argue that they make them lazier.
I have yet to learn anything at college that has helped me with my job (Web and mobile programming) and the CS classes my college offers are woefully outdated, often by about 5-10 years.
I am in school for a piece of paper, I would gladly pay 25% more for tuition if I could just buy my degree. College (In it's current state) is a waste of time. The only advantage college has given me is my Fraternity which has opened the doors to all sort of possibilities whereas my classes has done nothing.
So to answer the question "Are college students learning?" The answer is 2-fold. * Are they learning anything in class? No, just enough to pass the exam. * Are they learning other life lessons? Yes, IF they get involved on campus in other ways (Greek life, student council, student activities board, etc)
Going to college is no longer a ticket to a job, if you want to be successful I would suggest going to college and getting the grades but focus on meeting people, getting involved, expanding your network.
It's not what you know it's who you know, it doesn't matter if you have the "next facebook" idea, if you don't know someone that can help you make it happen it wont.