College Seniors No More Knowledgeable Than 1950s High School Grads

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 12/19/02 | Scott Hogenson

[MrNeutron1962]

Really, those must have been some talented High School Students in the 50's. How were their computer and bio-tech skills?

By picking the right metrics I can make todays college grads look dumber that 1900's seventh graders. So just how many ounces should one feed his plow horse?

[RLK]

I have a flash for you. Ph. D.s in the liberal arts won't do much better.

[RLK]

Really, those must have been some talented High School Students in the 50's. How were their computer and bio-tech skills?

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Mine were rather good.

[SamAdams76]

So just how many ounces should one feed his plow horse?

Yeah, but can a 1950s high school grad create an Excel spreadsheet to show population trends in Asia or determine how much additional RAM is required in a given computer to run Windows XP?

Comparing education now to the 1950s is meaningless. There were far fewer distractions for a student in the 1950s so it should come as no surprise that a student from that era has more "book knowledge." On the other hand, students of today tend to be more worldly. My sons regularly communicate with kids from around the world on computer and when they are doing homework, they literally have the world at their fingertips (via the Internet). A Google search will turn up far more information on an obscure subject than a textbook of the 1950s.

And what did the students of the 1950s end up doing with their lives? Smoking dope, protesting the war and listening to acid rock. Well, many of them did, anyway.

[Bluntpoint]

The 1950's were alot diffent than today. We had just won the Revolutionary war against Poland. The great crash of 1959 had not occurred. President Adams, one the best Asian American Presidents we ever had, had placed a priority on education in his adminstration. Computers were all that DOS stuff.

This study is apples and pineapples.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Congressman Billybob]

The link to the questions doesn't work. Can you put up a good link? Once I read the questions, I'll know whether this is the subject I want to attack in my next UPI column. I've already got in hand a copy of McGuffy's Reader to show how much general knowledge standards have fallen since 1900.

Please keep me posted.

Congressman Billybob

Click for latest column on UPI, "Junk Science - Harvard and Beyond" (Not yet on UPI wire, nor FR.)

Click for latest book, "to Restore Trust in America"

[Hank Kerchief]

Really, those must have been some talented High School Students in the 50's. How were their computer and bio-tech skills?
By picking the right metrics I can make todays college grads look dumber that 1900's seventh graders. So just how many ounces should one feed his plow horse?

Are you a recent college graduate? Did you read the questions? Good grief, anyone who cannot answer all these questions is an ignoramous. When I tell people the main problem with this country is that most people stupid, they do no believe me. It is apparently worse than I thought.

1-Which is the largest lake in North America?
2-What is the national language of Brazil?
3-In what country was the Battle of Waterloo fought?
4-Who made the first non-stop transatlantic solo flight?
5-What professions do you associate with Florence Nightingale?
6-What is the capital city of Spain?
7-What composer wrote The Messiah?
8-Who wrote a play entitled. A Midsummer Night's Dream?
9-Which planet is nearest the sun?
10-What is the name of the decoration given to those in the armed forces who are wounded in action against an enemy?
11-What great scientist do you associate with the Theory of Relativity?
12-Which of the following states border on Canada?
Montana
Michigan
Minnesota
Maine
All
Not sure

Hank

[kattracks]

General Knowledge Questions

[RLK]

And what did the students of the 1950s end up doing with their lives? Smoking dope, protesting the war and listening to acid rock.

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In the mid '50s none of that existed. By the mid 60s the high school graduates of the mid '50s were too old to be hippies.

[Hank Kerchief]

Here are the lnks:

General Knowledge Questions

Answers to General Knowledge Questions (if you really need them).

These links open a new window. The questions are also in my previous post.

Hank

[Bahbah]

One small correction to the question at #7. It's Handel's "Messiah", not The Messiah.

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you for the link. Just read the questions and took a crack at them. Missed one. (I didn't recall that Waterloo was fought in Belgium.) In 15 minutes I've planned next week's column, unless events overwhelm me and I have to go with something else.

Thanks for both posts.

Billybob

[Miss Marple]

The study is not comparing computer skills with agrarian knowledge. It is a test of basic knowledge of geographical and historical facts that educated people should know in order to function responsibly in our nation.

Consider:

If you do not know which states border Canada, how can one correctly assess immigration problems along the border?

If you do not know that Einstein is reponsible for the theory of relativity, when someone says "Way to go, Einstein!" how will you understand what is meant?

If you do not understand the significance of the Purple Heart, how can you appreciate the sacrifices of those in our military?

Increasingly we are turning out students who are totally divorced from the history of our culture. They make decisions based on contemporary trends, without understanding the historical background on many issues. This is dangerous, because it means a significant portion of the population can be manipulated by celebrities who purport to be "experts."

[Landru]

Do ya think??

Of course, never before in history has a crop of youngsters thought they knew more either though, too.

...oh the irony. :o)

[RLK]

The study posted here two weeks ago indicated only 29% of American people between the ages of 18 and 24 could find New Jersey on a map. We have college students who don't know where India or Australia are.

[chilepepper]

This is hogwash. Todays college seniors know how opressive the whiteman is, all about african history, marxist gramscian dialetic, not to mention gay and lesbian philosophy and how evil corporations caused global warming. An of course, they are well versed in how to be good citizens of the United Nations...

[RLK]

What they are learning is conversation at liberal coctail parties. As far as content or analytical ability, you get zot.

[toddst]

And what did the students of the 1950s end up doing with their lives? Smoking dope, protesting the war and listening to acid rock.

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In the mid '50s none of that existed. By the mid 60s the high school graduates of the mid '50s were too old to be hippies.

Many high school grads from the 50's and 60's served in Vietnam.