Posted on 01/19/2011 6:00:01 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A large number of US university students fail to develop critical thinking, reasoning and writing skills because of easy classes and too little time spent studying, a study found Wednesday.
The study of 3,000 students at 29 four-year universities found that 45 percent "did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning" during their first two years in college as measured by a standardized test.
After the full four years, 36 percent had shown no development in critical thinking, reasoning and writing, according to the study, which forms the basis of the new book "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses."
"Growing numbers of students are sent to college at increasingly higher costs, but for a large proportion of them the gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication are either exceedingly small or empirically nonexistent," according to an excerpt of the book published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"These findings are sobering and should be a cause for concern."
The study, carried out by New York University sociologist and education expert Richard Arum and University of Virginia sociologist Josipa Roksa, attributed much of the problem to easy courses and lax study habits.
US students today "define and understand their college experiences as being focused more on social than on academic development," they wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
‘core skills’
Ya want fries with that?
Of coarse not, these are strictly indoctrination centers
a four-year loaf on your old man’s dough
A four year loaf sounds like very stale bread, at least for Dad.
I think we need more trade schools, apprenticeships and that sort of thing. Our kids better learn to build things and think big or we’ll look like afghanistan in about two generations.
This is because schools no longer teach students HOW to think, they teach them WHAT to think. And most of the time when they are educated, everything they think is wrong.
They all learn the critical skills of voting liberal Democrat.
And that’s all we really need. :)
Yet another reason china is eating our lunch.
Except for how to do jello shots and wet t-shirt contests.
Critical thinking, hell they don’t have basic thinking skills.
A good foundation for life is learned at home and colleges and universities should inspire or build upon that foundation....
Yes, our educational systems are failing our kids but so are parents.....
Having said this I don’t claim parent of the year but my offspring are contributing to society and I have many FReepers children are doing the same.....
Sounds like most kids in any grade, elementary , jr. high, high school and college. Kids don’t study. Wow. What a shock.
You gotta have dough to loaf.
Providing additional confirmation that leftist brainwashing in government schools of vulnerabble children at an early age destroys minds.
Political stances aside, no professors I know want to graduate students who cannot write a decent paper. The problem lies with the central role of money and expansion of institutions to take in more money. Professors who challenge students to do better are pushed aside in favor of easier professors who will draw in more students. To be considered as tough or exacting is a kiss of death in many departments as the students will seek out the easier professors and leave you twisting in the wind. These days the only thing that matters is getting a diploma; necessary skills are an afterthought.
What do you mean? LGBT studies is definitely more than just a way to meet other homosexuals.
its serious stuff!!!
/sarc
Sounds good except there are no manufacturing jobs out there anymore.
Hey, you stole my fire....if you look at the number of
universities, it is staggering...so everyone gets a “college
education” but tremendous amounts of folk haven’t learned
anything much...
I hate to say it but I’ve had doctoral students, who need
a calculator to figure out what 76 divided by 4 is....
When they come up with something they never heard about,
instead of looking it up (now that’s pretty easy) they have
to ask instead...I give em a brief answer but tell them I
cannot remember all of it, but I know where a current
review of the subject is....the new students have reached pathetic
levels of ignorance, and skill in acquiring knowledge...
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