In response to my summary of student answers to the question, "what is the
purpose of a college education, Miguel Roig writes:
>In any event, I assume that the credentialling view is the predominant view
>with the average college student....
>The question for me is: What should we be doing to change this view?
My answer: Don't try to change it. Why waste the time? You would have a better
chance of stopping a glacier. Instead, try to expand their view of education:
try to draw them in to include your view about what an education is for. For
me, those responses expressing both orientations were the most interesting.
There is nothing wrong with having a job orientation when entering college; the
most important aspect of my job is not to let it end there. So, if you accept
my argument, the question becomes, how can we expand their view of what a
college education is for?
I ask my students questions such as the one I gave them so I can understand
better how they are looking at their worlds. By understanding what they find
most interesting, I can develop lectures and discussions that might "grab" them
more. By building lectures around such topics, I hope to better show how
satisfying and meaningful it can be to learn about themselves and the universe.
The goal of trying to understand as much as we can about ourselves and the
world is one that probably comes naturally to many (most, all) the people on
this list (I imagine that most of us have a high "need for cognition," to use
Murray's term). But this is not an approach to learning that comes naturally
to most people. Why, I don't know (we humans are funny creatures, aren't we?).
I spend a lot of my time as a teacher trying to figure out what is motivating
my students and then use this to push my agenda (which is simple, "know
thyself" and the world). So, if their job orientation has brought them into my
class, instead of condemning it, I can use it to draw them just a bit closer to
my orientation (but not too close: I would never be that mean).
Just thinking out loud,
Jeff Ricker
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale AZ
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is why I often ask questions of my students on the first day of class
(before they get to know me and give me what they think I want): I want to see
how they are looking at education and at their worlds in general. I then use
these answers to construct my course.
