Professor shares secrets for top grades

Washington Times ^ | February 21, 2003 | Lou Marano, UPI

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Students arrive at colleges and universities with hardly any idea of what's expected of them and are shocked to find that they lack the writing and study skills to get top grades, a Canadian professor said.

[judicial meanz]

Its amazing, isnt it!

After I graduated with my brand new Ph.D, I taught as an adjunct for about a year, in lower level classes.

You and the others who teach now are giving me a ton of reasons why I am so glad I resigned and didnt go back. I admire your ability to put up with it, because I couldnt do it.

Another good point to add....the tons of leftist freaks who teach college (because they are so wierd no one else will have them) always have the time to indoctrinate your kids into radical causes under the guise of teaching them.

[FourPeas]

The whole education system is broken. My father was a college professor for 15+ years. He was considered overly strict because he expected students to neatly print their names, the course number and section, and the semester at the top of each paper they turned in. The students found this requirement overly difficult.

At the same time, I took a computer programming class where the professor proclaimed the first class that she didn't know how to write code in this language so we'd be learning together. Great, I was spending hundreds of dollars for this?

Years ago, while looking through my grandmother's fifth grade reader I discovered something quite telling. My grandmother, born in 1901, was reading Shakespeare in fifth grade. Only the senior college-bound students studied Shakespeare in my high school.

The whole education system is broken. One book may help some college students. However, for real success in higher education, we need to completely revamp the entire system.

[dalereed]

"Listen to the lecture and take notes"

I found that taking notes was a real hinderance, just listen and pay attention.

Of course the difference might be that my dad taught me to have a memory from the time I was born. When I was 2 1/2 or 3 he started taking me on construction jobs and when we got home he would quiz me on what different workers were doing and constantly hammered me with "pay attention to what is going on around you, you might need to know it some day".

I don't want to hear something more than once. By the 3rd grade the teachers figured this out and after about an hour in class they would find something else for me to do in the school.

Of course things were a little different when I went to school, I graduated from college in the 1950s.

[Spyder]

In liberal (most of them) American universities all you need to be prepared for is Womyn's studies, African studies, and "Peace" protests.

Our daughter is receiving top scores on her AP exams and scored in the 98th percentile on her PSAT. As such, not a day goes by that we aren't getting "consider our college in your applications" letters and e-mails. What has amazed me is that even the schools that purport to be the best put the emphasis on areas that only a liberal could love.

For example, an e-mail from MIT states something to the effect of "we're not just for geeks." Wesleyan takes the cake though... the photos in their brochure were designed purely to emphasize "diversity." The first photo was a black woman dressed in full African regalia teaching a white woman to dance a tribal dance. Other full-page photos included a woman who looked more lesbian than K. D. Lang. They all emphasize their programs/majors in African-American studies and other ethnic-related educational programs. Don't kids major in anything actually useful or productive any more?

[NMFXSTC]

I've experienced similar situations...especially with Title Four/Welfare to Work cases.

The worse part was, I had a gal who had 45% attendance, turned in one of six assignments (three class sessions late and not typed), and scored 41% on the sole exam I administer. She complained to the Dean and I was told that because she is state funded, we must make "accomodations for her".

I submitted a garde sheet showing attendance, assignments, and exam scores and wrote, "Final Garde: "A"...see Dean for explanation"

Obviously, I'm a loose cannon.

[NMFXSTC]

ADDENDUM: From then on, not only did I take attendnace, I had a sign in sheet each student would sign at each class session!

[Freedom2specul8]

What a great article. Unfortunately, his article will fall upon deaf ears amongst those who have the power to do something. (parents and administrators)

I homeschooled for about 1 1/2 yrs to get out of the horrid district we were in..I had to quit because of health problems. (*we don't get substitutes!*) After watching my kids LEARN..I now know how little "report cards" actually tell. It is SO EXCITING to watch the process of children learning. :)

[Freedom2specul8]

LOL That's pretty funny~!

[gueroloco]

And the kicker is that this alleged university demands the autonomy to give "international" (read, "Juarez") students in-state tuition rates. Nothing like subsidizing a foreign student's education to warm the taxpayer's heart. Meanwhile, the American student from Oklahoma pays through the nose to attend what is known to many here as the University of North Chihuahua.

[Moonman62]

Have you checked out any of the threads on FreeRepublic recommending conservative colleges?

[FITZ]

And the irony is that many of those "international" students come from far bigger money than anyone in Oklahoma is likely to have. We wouldn't want them to give up a Lexus or one of their family trips to Europe to pay their own way.

[visagoth]

Have you had much experience with home-schooled students at the college level ?

Yes I have, and on balance they are a pure joy to have in class. The homeschooled students get their work done, contribute to class discussions at a level much higher than their peers, and turn in papers that are not painful to read. Which reminds me, I have to order another 55-gal drum of red ink for the assignments I need to correct later today...

College is a little more structured than what the typical homeschooled student is used to but they rapidly adapt - I think they want even MORE structure than less.

[Spyder]

Yes, I have actually. Our kids' private school entertains a few of the recruiters from the most conservative schools (Bob Jones, etc.). Our own church has several Christian universities. Nonetheless, our daughter's goal is to be an architect and she wants a degree from a school that gives her the best chance of returning to Hawaii for a job. UH is our best bet financially, costing less than the private school she's at in high school currently. I don't like the liberal mindset of the schools she's intereted in, but she'll be able to get out of some of the humanities courses with her high AP scores. She's also an extremely outspoken conservative, pretty strong in her convictions - more infuriated by liberals than influenced by them. I'm not at all worried she'll turn into one (grin).

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

But the "loose federal money" bogus proficiency tests results say every student is brilliant.The teachers prep for them before with online sample tests. Kids need back to basics, the curriculem is set way too high over grade levels. They are jumping to Algebra and Trig in younger grades (to compete to pass the proficiency tests) while basic times tables and division are skipped through.

Leftist new age crap is is tought and higher learning crap is promoted. Our kids are the ones suffering and no one will change this and the nazi teachers unions protecting bad teachers.

[twyn1]

Thanks ! My son does tell me that he is usually one of the first kids to answer questions or add to discussions (we did a lot of "read and discuss" work together at home), he has also taken "outcasts" under his wing in Chemistry--the kids who no one else wants to work with because they're "a bit slow" -- and they're now doing very well on lab assignments

I had to LOL at this -- I have to order another 55-gal drum of red ink for the assignments I need to correct later today...

[WarrenC]

The curriculum teaches for the test.

I've never understood this complaint. Every test I ever took was "taught for". If the idea is that the test is badly designed, then say so, but no one ever does. There's just this assumption that it's bad to "teach for the test."

And the notion that we need to "blame the parents" misses the mark. Many parents are either unable or unwilling to serve as tutors for their kids. Blaming them is simply a way to deflect the problem. The one decision that nearly all parents would be happy to make is the one regarding which school their children attend. That decision, given to parents by means of a voucher plan, would solve most of the their kids' educational problems.

[LiteKeeper]

personal bump

[twyn1]

It depends on what is meant by teaching to the test -- I worked as a teacher's aide and I watched a teacher put an example on the board and then tell the kids which "bubble" to fill in when they saw this on the test (*standardized testing) -- the reasoning behind her doing this was, "the class hadn't gone through the math book quickly enough, so they didn't learn this yet" -- she did NOT explain how to get the answer, even what math proces was involved, she just gave them the answer.

Teaching basic skills, and giving students a chance to practice problems like those they will see on a test is fine, but if curriculums simply give the kids examples along with the answers, without explanation -- the kids who have a good memory will just check off the right boxes without thinking or practicing the process you must go through to get the correct answer -- and, esp. with the "new, new" math (guess and check, group-think work, "feelings" math) most school kids never learn the critical thinking skills that are needed for a higher level of learning

[gueroloco]

You nailed it!

[SarahW]

My understanding was that homeschooling was legal in all fifty states...

What state are you in?