The Rigidness of the Higher Educational System

Graff underestimates the students ability of understanding and reaching out for help. Student can ask question during TA’s or professor's office hour to ensure they understand the material. As an illustration, John Merrow’s Declining by Degree: Higher Education at Risk shows a young student, Brittany Schmidt, being an assertive and independent adult. She initially has an “identity crisis” with the lectures having hundred-fifty people in it and the class wasn’t challenging her enough. Nevertheless, Schmidt turn to Dr. Robert Brown whom she asked questions and spent time with. She found guidances and encouragement from Dr. Brown which resulted in Schmidt success and choice of career, Planetary Sciences. I believe communication is the key for education and success, between students and professors. Most colleges provide tutoring for students, so they can get additional help from the resources they have at their disposal. Many student like Brittany Schmidt can take initiative to look at their syllabus and decide whether reading or skimming ahead of lectures, so they can at least have an idea what the lesson will be about. It starts with students taking initiative because at the end of the day it's their

The first two chapters of “What the Best College Students Do” cover several topics. Throughout the chapters, the lives and experiences of different college students are explored. A reoccurring theme in the book is the concept of learning styles. Essentially, the three learning styles are memorization, comprehension, and strategy. According to the author, comprehension is the most effective style of learning. While everyone will possess one of these three learning styles, it is not impossible for someone to adjust to another style. Additionally, the author elaborates on academic ideas such as independence, grades, and outside influences.

They have found that the teachers only go over what they really want to go over and leave out a lot of the important details. “Gradually they end up going through the motions, staying ahead of their students in the textbooks, covering only material that will appear on the next text.”(pg.12) College professors want the students to know most of the material; or of at least heard of most of it before they get to college. “History professors in college routinely put down high school history courses. A colleague of mine calls his survey of American history “Iconoclasm I and II,” because he sees his job as disabusing his charges of what they learned in high school. In no other field does this happen. Mathematics professors, for instance, know that non-Euclidean geometry is rarely taught in high school, but they assume that Euclidean geometry was mistaught. Professors of english literature don’t presume that Romeo and Juliet was misunderstood in high school.”(pg.12)

The high cost of education might force students to overwork themselves trying to cover the cost of attending universities plus the living cost too which is already high and this might affect students negatively when it comes to students progress in school.

The second problem to address is retention of the information we are given. I have observed that my classmates find it hard to retain the knowledge we receive from these courses. A large part of this is actually the student’s fault for not studying the information. They do not study, however, because they find the courses to be boring. I noticed this mostly in our Fine Arts

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

Edmundson agrees with Gutting’s belief that students are misunderstanding the purpose of college level classes. Gutting states how the quality of college education has declined mostly because of universities’ curriculum. He believes the students have become disengaged from classes that are not interesting or enjoyable. They only apply their full attention to classes that apply to their “future employment” or if their professors have a “pleasing way” of presenting the material that and can keep

Learning is a hard thing to do in some cases. It is never just an instructor teaching you that particular topic and learning it automatically. Over time I realize there are quirks to think about when learning specific subjects. For example in The Mind at Work, instead of finding research the

Students are often told that the path to success tends to be a lonely one because only they can get themselves there. For the most part that is true, they must be self-motivated and passionate about their future, but along the way they get to meet special people that want to see them to accomplish their goals. From an early age the relationship built between students and teachers has molded and impacted the student’s life. The relationship they have with a teacher can define the attitude that student has with the subject being taught. A lot of emphasis is put on students when they fail a course and they question their effort. Although, the root of the problem is not always the student, but the method the instructor is using to teach the student.

The United States, beholds a unique and diverse population of academic students. However, our nation still ranks 17th in educational performance amongst other nations in the world. In my eyes this underachievement is due to the gap of knowledge towards the factors that affects teaching and learning. Teaching is a complex work because it requires a wide range of knowledge and skills( Ed Psych p.4). Educators are accountable for making sure a diverse population attains information that they are required to teach. However, with the immense structured educational system that we have in this country today there are many different approaches that instructors have to take in order to teach their students. Instructors also have to take into consideration the different learning styles students possess. Many academic instructors base their teachings methods on attempts to see high grade performances and standardized

Our teacher viewed the textbook and his specific way of thinking as the only valid source of information which in order to get a good grade, we, the students had to simply accept. Due to the fact that the class heavily favored a specific way of thinking, and types of information which were viewed as important it dampened the need to find novel ways of learning that suited individual students better, and limited the need to critically think about the subject which would have deepened comprehension. This system also gave students a disillusion that they understood the subject since they had a high grade in the class. My personal disillusion broke after I took my first collage bio assignment. The assignment was on a subject we covered in bio 2, and I vividly remember scoring well on that test, but to my surprise I struggled on the assignment. I came to the realization that I just “knew” facts about the subject, rather then actually understanding what was happening. The assignments asked questions which required a deep understanding of the actually processes in contrast to knowing where specific items were or what the definition of a term was. Unlike high school, in college I was given the freedom to learn any way which I saw fit so I decided to experiment with different ways of studying. I found that

As life, changes we also have the ability to adapt to it like chameleons. The way one person perceives an idea can be very different from another person so we have to communicate with one another and interpret what said. The first day of my chemistry class in high school going in there at first, I believed I was not going to have no chance at surviving. I knew I had to give at least some kind of effort to try before subjecting to hate the class. The class was huge with black tables that would be cold as snow. The first few weeks were difficult to me I completely did not understand anything at all, so I initiated to at least read more in depth than what my teacher had discussed to make more sense of what I was doing. Like Mr. Fierre states, “instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which I the students patiently receive, memorize and repeat.” Regarding his statement, he does not realize instructors engage and provide the students the necessary information, but it is up to the student to collect the information and seek assistance if they are having any

In "Confuse Students to Help Them Learn", Steve Kolowich explores the theory that confusion is the key to education. Today some instructors believe straight forward teaching methods with zero room for confusion is easier for the student, while other's believe confusing teaching methods pushes the student out of their comfort zone and promotes deeper levels of learning and understanding.

So what does society really expect from students? It is clear to all who work in Higher Education that student expectations have changed over the years. These expectations are now of greater complexity. In the 1980’s what was expected from students in highest educational institutes? To obtain a degree, support by government funding, and few expectations of teaching quality. What about in 2005? Flexibility and choice in the delivery of education, a two way communication process between themselves and with the University, and honesty with respect to whether his or her needs can be met or not.

Throughout the majority of my education, including college, I have felt like a passive member of the classroom. Teachers saw me as a clear slate that needed to be filled with information. I consumed countless facts, and memorized numerous processes, most of them not being my own. This approach to teaching has proven to be unsuccessful to the goals of education. Students are diverse, with their own learning styles and their own knowledge that they bring to the table, and these should be supported and expanded on in the classroom. The goal of education is to support learners and thinkers, and not to condition minds to all think the same ways.