Posted on 09/19/2007 5:48:59 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin-Madison did relatively well in a 50-college test of how much students learned about history and economics during four years of college, but students in Wisconsin and nationally knew little when they came in and not much more when they left. No college did better than a D-plus on the Civic Literacy Test released Tuesday by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a nonpartisan conservative educational organization that stresses the values of a free society.
The national average was F.
The test of 14,000 randomly selected students revealed that some of the most expensive Ivy League universities, with the highest-paid presidents and largest government subsidies, were the worst-performing, the institute found.
Overall, the nation's freshmen and seniors scored slightly more than 50 percent on the 60-question exam. The institute said that a kindergartner would have scored about 20 percent correct just by guessing.
The study tested freshmen and seniors at the colleges and universities, in order to determine how much history they learned there. The researchers did not test the same students in freshmen and senior years, but those who were freshmen and seniors in the same year.
Eastern Connecticut State University ranked first, by adding 9.65 percentage points to the score from freshman to senior year. Marian College, a private school in Fond du Lac, was second, with a 9.44 percentage point gain, while the University of Wisconsin-Madison ranked 15th, gaining 6.3 percentage points.
UW-Madison and Marian College were the only Wisconsin schools tested.
Living in the present
Asked about the exercise, David McDonald, chairman of the History Department at UW-Madison, termed the test interesting but questioned the institute's conclusions.
Students generally learn basic history in high school, he said, adding that they often study historical details in order to pass college entry exams, but then go on to pursue other knowledge at the college level.
"Colleges reflect general attitudes and patterns in society. This is not a historically oriented society. We look at quarterly reports instead of long trends. There is a lot of emphasis on living in the present, and not a great deal of understanding of larger historical patterns," said McDonald, who grew up in Canada but got just three wrong on the American history exam.
"There is a mythical past in which everyone knew this material. If you are from a well-to-do household with well-educated parents, you will do well on this and other academic areas. Students should probably know the sequence of events in the Civil War. But is it more important for Americans to know that John Locke was a major influence on the Declaration of Independence or that they have a strong understanding of their rights and be willing to act on them?"
Students at several expensive universities, including Yale, Cornell, Princeton and Duke, actually lost ground during four years of college education.
But the median score of students at those prestigious universities was higher than most colleges where students gained more knowledge during their college career.
For instance, freshman at Yale got 68.94 percent of the answers right and those at Cornell got 61.9 percent correct, though seniors did worse in both cases.
UW-Madison freshmen scored 51.57 percent correct and seniors got 57.87 percent. At Marian College, freshmen scored just 33.66 percent and seniors 43.10 percent.
Gorbachev who?
The test consisted of 60 multiple-choice questions about America's history, government, international relations and economics. The test, the answers and the results at the various colleges can be found online at http://www.americancivicliteracy.org
Typical questions included: "The Constitution of the United States established what form of government?" and "Which wall was President Reagan referring to when he said, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall'?" The test also included some questions on the U.S. economy and political philosophy.
"The evidence from our ongoing research shows that colleges, especially the most expensive and elite schools, are failing to advance students' knowledge of America's history, government and free market economics and consequently not preparing their students to be informed and engaged citizens," said Josiah Bunting III, chairman of ISI's National Civic Literacy Board.
"The time has come for higher education's key decision-makers -- state legislators, trustees, donors, alumni, faculty, students' parents -- to hold the nation's colleges and their presidents accountable for teaching their students America's history and institutions."
McDonald said nationwide, students who took the test did well on questions regarding Abraham Lincoln, the New Deal and Brown vs. Board of Education, and did worst on the Revolutionary War, Plato and the requirement for a just war, a question that he said was strangely phrased.
Students who study history in college learn that events are the results of several levels of cause, and that people are products of their times, McDonald said.
"They learn that evidence must be scrutinized and viewed with skepticism," he said. "Our job is to produce people who can do critical thinking, who are aware that they hold certain views and understand why."
That is an excellent score and should give you confidence that you understand the Government well. :^)
I would consider you to be self-educated, which is by no means disparaging. You have the desire to learn and to understand, which I would argue is the most important trait of anyone undergoing an education. I’ve said for years that you get out of an education what you put into it. Unfortunately many kids attend school merely because the law requires it; they have no desire to be there, no desire to learn anything, and after 12 grades of doing the bare minimum they are only fit for ringing up your purchases at the local mall. Letting them vote is pure insanity.
Statistics nerd going night-night
Happy hunting freepers
“Hillsdale has been brought up twice during this discussion.
Which represents Hillsdale?”
Having NOT looked for the other post, I can simply tell you:
1. I am not affiliated with Hillsdale in any way, shape or form
2. The closest I’ve ever been to the Hillsdale campus is probably when
my parents drove me over that mile-high bridge from Michigan into
Windsor, Ont. when I was six years old. Scared the h-ll out of me.
3. What I do know about Hillsdale is
a. A good, conservative and independent school
b. A place that hasn’t abandoned traditional education, i.e.,
Western Civ and The Great Books haven’t been replaced by GLBT Studies,
Wymens Studies or Chicano/LaRaza studies,
c. Yes, they had one mell of a hess when there was a scandal involving
the leadership maybe 10 years ago
d. IIRC, the school takes NO federal aid; run on private endowment
(or something radical in that manner)
e. Now under the guiding hand of Larry Arnt (sp?), Hillsdale is
BACK and running smoothly (at least that’s the talk on “the conservative street”)
and oh, yeah,
f. Probably one of the few institutions that I’ll recommend to my
brother when his daughter is getting ready for “where to go for college”.
If you’d like to investigate the good, bad and neutral of Hillsdale, check
the Keyword archive at the URL below. IIRC, The National Review has
an article detailing Hillsdale’s come-back.
KEYWORD: HILLSDALE
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hillsdale
78%
Take time to catch up with the current technology. It is too easy to become complacent in your specialization, then suddenly unemployable when that special focus is eclipsed by something better in the marketplace. Marshall Rose often referred to the phenomenon as "overcome by events". In the software development business, the reward for a job well done is often unemployment.
91.67 percent....4 of them on economics questions that I thought were rather subjective, but I’m probably wrong about that.
56 put of 60, 93.33%
The book “The Pragmatic Programmer” talked about developing a “Knowledge Portfolio,” which is like a stock portfolio.
You have certain “blue chip” skills, like Java or Dot Net, they don’t necessarily pay a premium but they are constantly in demand.
In addition, you identify certain areas, that while they may never take off, can wind up being lucrative if they do.
Invest the time to become the expert on them.
If you can develop a balanced knowledge portfolio, that puts you in a better position to make it through the ups and downs that happen in the IT world.
“Which list is in the correct chronological sequence:”
#4 - but it depends on which Defenestration of Prague you mean ;)
“Those who fail history are doomed to repeat it.”
55/60 — I’m not sure I would have gotten that John Locke question since I saw the thread already. Missed the bond question, wasn’t sure about the Puritans, the just war question, and now that I scan through the test again, I can’t figure out the other one.
marking
I actually don’t know about Hillsdale other than the good remarks given. ;^) Thanks
Did well enough on the areas of my interest.
Still wonder about the effects of the government buying bonds. Seems to me that affords businesses a way to raise money at lower interest rates, thus relieving them of having to water down their stock. Somebody care to help me with this? Are the commercial banks the middle men for supplying the government with such bonds?
I should have thought a little more about Puritans being Catholic.
I've heard the name Weber but know nothing of him.
I am lucky enough to be in Design Engineering and should be able to create much more for the emerging market needs. (I Hope) :^)
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