A insider's guide to the frightening reality of higher education
Here is the link to the survey Life in College Matters for Life After College.
There is also an article in the Wall Street Journal. I added a comment, partially because I was concerned that the focus of the article was a little too much on “support”. Here is my comment.
Here is a list of my posts that I believe are most essential for understanding the problems with higher education. I suggest reading the page with quotes from David Riesman and Clark Kerr, first, though. Then, hopefully, some of my posts give examples and explanations of how their general observations work out in practice. The best place on this blog for seeing and understanding just how outrageous things have become – and how much some academics think they can get away with – see A Tale Out of School – A Case Study in Higher Education. Finally, keep in mind that if what follows is what just one individual has observed, how much else is there?
EDUCATION AT MAJOR UNIVERSITIES
How Competition Leads to “Content Deflation” in One Anecdote
America: A flagging model | The Economist
How to Make Calculus Students Believe They Know Calculus When They Don’t
EDUCATION AT STATE REGIONAL SCHOOLS
Professor Alfred Doesn’t Know What is Wrong with the Homework
Prof. Teaches Stats But Doesn’t Seem to Have a Clue About the Most Fundamental Notion
Statistics Prof. Kevin Doesn’t Understand Basic Math, or Statistics
Regional State School Stories – Some Brief Thoughts About How Did This Happen
MAJOR UNIVERSITIES EFFECT ON REGIONAL SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER EDUCATION
No Jobs for Ph.D’s? Depends on what you mean by Ph.D.
An Example of College Benefitting From the Dumbing Down of High School
Important Paper on Value of Good Teacher May Be a Game Changer
“They Just Don’t Get It” part 2
A Suggestion for Holding Colleges Accountable for Teacher Performance
RESEARCH ETHICS
Scientists “Forced” to Cheat Says Medical School Professor
GENERAL
Arum and Roksa’s Important New Book “Aspiring Adults Adrift”
Professors DON’T become professors to teach! Better get over that idea fast.
Median Starting Salaries for College Graduates $27,000 or $40,735?
Columbia University – Another 3-2 Program Like Wash. U.’s?
When Is It Ok For a Non-Profit To Misrpresent Its Fees to the Public?
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“…Feeling supported and having deep learning experiences means everything when it comes to long-term outcomes for college graduates…” (From page 6 of the report)
Where I taught, there was considerable focus on “…emotional support…”, yet some approaches to emotional support were diametrically opposed to “deep learning experiences”. For example, there was pressure, though usually subtle, to make sure the grades were high and the work not stressful; and, by not stressful, I really mean that. I was personally highly pressured to change a critical engineering math course from a “deep learning experience” to what my chair called a “cookbook” course. He told me that if he wanted to impart more mathematical understanding he wouldn’t start here. Heapparently wanted a course where students could feel good about making an A while hardly being able to work any of the MIT problems that my students were working regularly. (That is actuallly what a student who had taken the “usual” cookbook course boasted: that he got an A and could rarely do any of the MIT problems. Engineering had assigned him to “help” my students.) And all of this was at a highly selective school – Washington University in St. Louis.
I am writing this because I know how good universities can be at catering to student wants, while neglecting their needs. It will be easy for universities to offer the “support” part of “support” AND “deep learning”, while continuing to fool students and parents that they really are delivering a superior education.
I also have a blog www.inside-higher-ed.com where you can read about my experiences (in documented detail aobut the course I write about above) and more.I think it is important for the publicto understand how things really work in universiities. I thank the WSJ for their excellent regular coverage of higher education”