It has been a couple of years since I've taught an undergraduate research
methods class. I've just finished grading the first drafts of some
proposals. Either I was blind before, or there has been a sea change in
undergraduate writing.
We've had threads before about 'students getting worse' and those discussion have sometimes led me to question the accuracy of faculty impressions of the academic readiness of students. However, annual 'report cards' of our nation's schools have not been favorable for years and verify our perceptions. In fact, a just-published report by the Manhattan Institute (http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ewp_03.pdf) paints a pretty grim picture of public high school education. For example, consider the following statistic revealed by the Manhattan report: "Only 70% of all students in public high schools graduate, and only 32% of all students leave high school qualified to attend four-year colleges." I don't know what the exact figures are, but I imagine that the 32% probably translates to hundreds of thousands of students. One also wonders how much better some private high schools really are.
I am sure the internet contributes to the situation, but I strongly suspect that the real problem lies with a general anti-intellectual attitude in our society: We do not genuinely value learning, but we certainly value financial success. The fact that so many colleges and universities promote themselves primarily as providers of marketable skills reflects this value system. What I don't understand is why students don't recognize that part of the key to financial success is the acquisition of solid reading and writing skills. I wonder whether one reason for this failure is that many folks succeed in life without these basic skills. Can that be right?
Miguel
Miguel Roig, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Notre Dame Division of St. John's College
St. John's University
300 Howard Avenue
Staten Island, New York 10301
Voice: (718) 390-4513
Fax: (718) 390-4347
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm
--Visit my instructional resource on plagiarism and ethical writing: http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/plagiarism/
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