Comment by jsiarto | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jsiarto | Hacker News Reader

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My wife and I are both adjunct profs at a major Big Ten university and I actually see this trend first hand. I typically have about 30 students per semester teaching a 300-level server management course and of that group I'd say 10% tops are exceptional and the rest are really average or below average.

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.

> ... I actually see this trend first hand.

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.

It wasn't necessarily better 40 years ago. It was a hell of a lot less expensive, so the kid graduating with a major in basket weaving had a decent chance of paying off his loans (if he had to take any on) with a lot less trouble.

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