On January 18, 2011 the University of Chicago Press released Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. The book resulted in national headlines, discussing the shortcomings of the American college system. Arum and Roksa’s thesis focuses on college students in an academic system that, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education (David Glenn, “New Book Lays Failure to Learn on Colleges’ Doorsteps,” January 18, 2010), demands very little of college students. While poor standards and requirements reflect reading and writing, the realities of classroom instruction may help to explain the book’s conclusions.
Reading and Writing Requirements in College Courses
Particularly damning are the findings that many students enroll in courses that are not writing or reading intensive. According to Glenn’s review, this is defined as classes requiring more than twenty pages of writing during the entire semester and forty or more pages of reading per week. Although the book does not analyze specific causes, the bleak assessments may have much to do with the tone of classroom instruction.
In many public universities and Community Colleges, budget restraints have resulted in larger class sizes, expanded teaching assignments (in some Community Colleges it is not uncommon for a full time instructor to teach more classes than the six mandated by contract), and a greater reliance on adjunct instructors that are less inclined to promote academic rigor given their temporary status.
In some institutions, administrators fill vacant teaching schedules in order to save on instructional costs. Full time staff and faculty that teach courses above their contractual requirements are generally paid the same rate for additional teaching assignment as part-time instructors, lowering the incentive to require greater rigor.
Standardization Impacts Course Requirements in Colleges
The expansion of distance learning and hybrid courses is altering traditional assessment methods as well as reading and writing requirements. Because institutions standardize these courses, instructors enjoy limited freedom to introduce supplemental readings. Additionally, standardization de-emphasizes certain written assessments.
In 2008, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, for example, discontinued traditional, face-to-face classes offered through the I-School (formerly “Fast Forward”) that were taught on high school campuses by university adjuncts. Turning exclusively to a plethora of distance learning models, the university was able to serve more students, albeit through standardized courses.
In the final scenes of the 1973 film The Paper Chase, Harvard law professor Charles Kingsfield is seen carrying stacks of blue-book final examination essays to his office for grading. Such a picture would be rare on the campus of the 21st Century where professors either despise grading papers and essays or simply lack the time to do so.
English professor Jay Parini begins his commentary on grading with the observation that, “I doubt I can even count the number of times professors have said to me that the only part of our profession they truly dislike is grading papers.” (Chronicle, Commentary, February 15, 2008, Vol. 54, Issue 23, p A38) Professor Jason Jones states in his Chronicle blog (November 30, 2009), “…come crunch time, many people seek out shortcuts to get through the pile of self-created work that accumulates…”
Assigning Fewer Written Assessments and Giving Up on Reading
Professors with heavy class loads often find ways to streamline the writing component of a given course. One long-term Community College professor stopped assigning a semester research paper, a staple in history courses and all the more so in survey classes, turning the semester paper into extra credit work.
There is also the observation that most college freshmen graduate high school with only the barest knowledge of reading, writing, and current or global affairs. The Sam Cooke song “Wonderful World” which begins with the line, “Don’t know much about history…” was popularized in the 1978 film Animal House but can easily apply in this decade to American high schools.
Internet use and the culture of youth texting have also altered how students read. In a fascinating essay, Nicholas Carr argues that the expanding use of the internet is changing how people read and think (“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, July/August 2008). Carr quotes a University of Michigan Medical School pathologist who confessed, “I can’t read War and Peace anymoreI’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb.” Savvy internet information sites already know this and obtain the best reader statistics when limiting articles to 1,000 words or less.
Colleges and Professors Give Up on Fighting the System
In most survey classes, instructors do not have the time to re-teach four years of high school. Students should know how to formulate a strong thesis when writing, how to use MLA or Chicago-style citations, or know the basic fact that Paris is the capital of France. But in many cases they do not. Even assiduous grading with good margin comments will not rehabilitate poor writing habits. A comment like “don’t split infinitives” has no meaning because most students do not know what a split infinitive is.
Even the brightest high school students “…sail through K-12 education – where they find the demands of homework relatively light and where they are worshiped by teachers…” (David D. Perlmutter, “Yes, You’re Brilliant, Now Shut Up,” The Chronicle Review, August 8, 2003, Vol. 49, Issue 49, p B12). These over-achievers fill their high school resumes and transcripts with activities and upper-level courses like Advanced Placement classes, yet enter college knowing relatively little.
Finding a Solution in American Education that Includes Colleges and High Schools
Academically Adrift may be an “indictment of the American higher-education system…” (Chronicle, January 18, 2011), but must serve as a catalyst toward real academic reform that begins in the nation’s high schools. This should include expanded curricular goals that reassess core competencies in order to incorporate meaningful reading and writing assessments.
For additional information, fine out what college freshmen don't know when entering college.
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