Pat Cabe wrote:
> A first question, it seems to me, is whether students >are< apathetic.
Apathy means a complete "lack of interest, unconcern, or indifference" which is not
true of anyone unless they are severely depressed. But one may be uninterested in or
indifferent to a
particular event or activity. There are important aspects of the educational
experience towards which many students are indifferent. Students are NOT indifferent
to their grades, I have
found; but many of them ARE indifferent to learning much of the material being taught
in any particular course.Thus, perhaps we should not be examining "study apathy," in
general, but
"student indifference to learning."
> With respect to campus activities, they might be seen as apathetic. With
> respect to their own priorities, they are deeply concerned and involved.
It definitely is true, I believe, that learning course material is low on the
"priority pole" of many students whereas getting good grades and attaining a degree
tend to be very high. It must
mean that they see the degree as having important benefits. For the majority of
students, these benefits have to do with their aspirations concerning a future
occupation. Their major goal is
to get the degree that they believe is the gateway to a desired career (and good
grades may be an important secondary goal). In addition, many other aspects of their
lives tend to have higher
priorities (much higher for a large proportion of students) than learning course
material. Thus, learning is not the primary goal of many students, getting a degree
is. I have found that many
of them become frustrated in courses not directly tied to what they want to do in the
future. (The misleading advertising on the part of universities and colleges--i.e.,
the heavy emphasis on
career preparation and de-emphasis of liberal education--is probably one thing that
exacerbates this frustration.)
What are some general causes of this indifference to learning? In general, I think,
students don't believe that most course material has important benefits with regard to
their major goal (in
my mind, this is due to a strong anti-intellectualism in American culture, but that is
another rant). But even those who desire to learn the course material may experience
or perceive other
obstacles. Some candidates: inadequate preparatrion at the lower levels, uninspired
teaching (especially not helping students to see the relevance of material to their
goals or lives, in
general), outside employment, inadequate financial aid, role transitions as students
enter adulthood, development of new relationships (especially a strong focus on
romantic relationships),
confusion about one's desires and motivations (especially regarding future
occupation), byzantine school bureacracies, . . . . Well, these are some of the
things that occur to me off the
top of my head. One thing I did not include was "laziness" because I do not believe
that most people have such a personality trait. Instead, I believe that most people
will exert effort to
accomplish goals that they perceive as having important benefits for them if they feel
that they have the relevant skills and if they perceive that there are not too many
obstacles to
achieving the goal.
In fact, to me, Bandura's work on self-efficacy seems central to the problem of
overcoming student indifference to learning. I'll have to think more about this; but I
need to go now.
Jeff
Eric Reittinger wrote:
>
> > I have been asked to chair a campus committee exploring student apathy.
> > I would like to ask if anyone has experience with such a committee, but especially,
> if anyone has knowledge of research exploring factors affecting student apathy on
> university campuses.... I am hoping that I may be able to capitalize on others'
>experience.
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths"
Karl Popper
