Re: [xmca] decline in students' studying habits

[mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>]

Odd timing, Mary.
Here at UCSD everyone is fussing over "quality of student life" and whether
or not to initiate a football team, and student stress. In a muggywug
meeting I pointed out that the skyrocketing cost of education is forcing
many students to work waaaay to many hours to allow time for serious study.
This, combined with widespread use of computerized multiple choice exams, a
sometimes explicity understanding that "you do not have to remember the
material before the mid-term on the final" as well as the currently popular
suspects make the story unsurprising to me.

There ARE ways to get students more involved with ideas and the material we
teach, but they require time of the faculty. And since faculty either work
in institutions where they cannot be promoted for teaching or in
institutions where they are swamped with crushing work loads, ..... well,
what's surprising?
mike

On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 12:09 AM, Mary van der Riet
<vanderriet@ukzn.ac.za>wrote:

> Interesting article on how studying habits have changed.
>
>
> http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/04/what_happened_to_studying/?page=full
>
>
>
>
>
> Mary van der Riet; School of Psychology; University of KwaZulu-Natal
> Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209
>
> email: vanderriet@ukzn.ac.za
> tel: 033 260 6163;  fax: 033 2605809
>
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