Paul, your source?
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier
http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/
Department of History
http://www.newforums.com/Auth_L_Schmier.asp
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\____/\ \/\
/ \ \__ \/ /
\ /\/
\ \ /\
//\/\/ /\ \_ /
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/\"If you want to climb
mountains \ /\
_/ \ don't practice on mole
hills" -/
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-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Okami [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:46 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: Re: [tips] Am I expecting too much?
This reflects an obvious reality that for some reason people are turning
summersaults attempting to deny: College students of today are
approximately at the base knowledge level of junior high-high school
students of just a few decades ago. It's happening as fast as global
warming.
Paul Okami
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:11 PM
Subject: [tips] Am I expecting too much?
> Perhaps times are changing and my students know different vocabulary than
> mine, but I have had some laughers on the last two tests, except it has me
> concerned that I may be getting so old that I am losing touch; or the
> students are truly ill-prepared for life in general. I would except
> students to be knowledgeable about life in general just from reading.
> Maybe these students, whose *average* GPA in high school (these are
> incoming freshmen in intro psych and I have all of their admissions data)
> EXCEEDED 3.8 because of honors and AP classes are getting short-changed?
>
> I used a standard item on the learning test and asked for the schedule of
> reinforcement for various behaviors. I used fly fishing as one item. I got
> the most outrageous answers: the fish will learn to fly to get fed; you
> can catch more flying fish; fish will go faster if they fly than if they
> swim, etc. And then there were at least a dozen students who gave simply
> incorrect answers without embarassing themselves (probably didn't
> understand schedules of rf anyway) and another dozen who flat out came up
> and asked me what 'fly fishing' is.
>
> Ok, I let that slide. So now we have another exam, now over the
> developmental chapter: M A N Y students came up to ask me the meaning of
> the words "innate" and "longevity" and many more missed an item on Head
> Start. We talked about Head Start in class, but I didn't go into
> explaining what it is all about. I guess I'm teaching kids whose families
> would never have qualified and they never heard of it because the exam
> item required them to go a bit beyond what we talked about and very many
> of my students couldn't because they had no context for what they had
> memorized by rote. One of the foils on the multiple choice item referred
> to "middle-class" and was clearly incorrect because middle-class children
> wouldn't qualify for Head Start. Many selected that foil as correct, and
> wrote in the margin their explanation (I allow this on items the student
> wants to challenge) and I got all kinds of answers about middle this and
> middle that.
>
> Wow, what's up with all this? I'm feeling either very very old or
> exceptionally well educated in a broad way.
>
> Annette
>
>
> Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D.
> Professor of Psychology
> University of San Diego
> 5998 Alcala Park
> San Diego, CA 92110
> 619-260-4006
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> ---
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