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College should require real intellectual investment

By Roscoe Elliott

Nov. 16, 2009 10:13 p.m.

I have an earnest and heartfelt question I’ve wanted to ask for a while: Does anyone actually do reading assignments for discussion sections?

For three years, I’ve gone to section and watched students rephrase TAs’ statements to sound like thoughtful discussion, sit quietly in the corner and stare blindly into space, or expound on some philosophical babble that only marginally relates to the subject matter.

I’m sorry: This type of learning is not worth my time.

Yesterday, I looked at whether college was worth the time and money as a financial investment. Today, I want to ask a question that I think is substantially more important: Is your education worth the time and money?

There is a lot of truth to the saying that your education is what you make of it. In the end, if students put in the effort, this campus has the resources to provide an amazing education.

But having resources doesn’t mean they are being used well. Colleges are supposed to ensure that they are promoting an environment that engages and challenges students.

In his book, “Lost in the Meritocracy,” Walter Kirn describes his difficulties with life at Princeton. He describes his disillusionment and descent into “a gradual neurological withdrawal from a place that no longer seemed to want (him) once it decided, by some fluke, to have (him).”

I think there are a lot of people who can relate with Kirn. I’ll give you a personal example.

I’m taking a seminar that, for better or worse, isn’t graded based on participation. I haven’t done all the readings and I rarely talk. I read Newsweek during class. (I’m also praying my professor doesn’t read the Viewpoint section of the newspaper.)

I’m definitely at fault for not paying attention or learning the material. I choose whether or not I learn regardless of the structure of the class.

At the same time, I don’t have any motivation to be engaged and I know most of the people in the class don’t either. They focus on their computer screens most of the time and then talk about personal experiences instead of arguments in the reading.

We appear to be learning, but in reality we are perpetuating a collective lie.

Kirn characterizes college as the end of the line for an educational system built on accumulating points that don’t actually reflect real knowledge. Growing up, learning takes a backseat to grades and students are taught to strive for college as their ultimate goal. It’s no wonder that when they get to college, they feel completely lost and without purpose.

My mom, a teacher, had her own way of putting it: School is a game; learn the rules and strategies ““ then win.

Learn what your teachers want and mimic it. Learn what books you don’t have to read. Learn how to ace a test without studying. In essence, learn how not to learn, and then be rewarded.

Seemingly, playing the game has paid off. I know how to do well in a class without ever opening a book. So why do I feel so defeated and tired? I don’t want to play this game anymore. I want to learn.

Reforming our education system is a controversial and demoralizing topic. There are special interests and large bureaucracies that hinder any worthwhile changes in the university structure.

As a starting point, I think political columnist David Frum has the right idea. College should not be a necessity for employment. I know numerous students whose only motivation for attending college is to get a higher-paying salary. It’s reflected in their work ethic. Making a degree a prerequisite for a job only increases demand for a college education and forces students to pay higher tuition costs.

“Maybe tough high school exit exams would serve the needs of employers who currently insist on a B.A. not for its own sake but as proof that a student was not too lazy or aimless to get one. Indeed, it could be that when the job market attaches less value to a piece of parchment, universities will … rediscover their true mission: the pursuit of knowledge as a good in itself,” said Frum in a column for The Week.

That change may already be occurring. I spoke to Robert Legate, a senior recruiter for the technical staffing company Insight Global, about what he looked for in prospective employees.

“To be honest with you, I never look at (GPA). I don’t look at where the degrees come from either,” Legate said.

He added that things like GPA and university prestige could be a bonus, but prior work experience and tangible skills were his main selling points to managers.

However, putting less importance on a college degree is a change that takes place outside the university. Making improvements within it are significantly more difficult.

The most immediate change can be made at the instructional level. If colleges can unburden themselves from the stress of students who are just looking to improve their employment opportunities, they can focus on those who are here to improve themselves.

Most of all, college needs to be a place that challenges its students. I can count the number of times I’ve been challenged, really pushed to defend my perspective, during my tenure here. Once by a TA, once by an ex-girlfriend and a handful of times by various friends and professors. For a four-year six-figure education, that’s unacceptable.

None of us want to work harder, but if they are confronted with a challenge students are more likely to respond. If they choose to drop out of the section or not go to class, that’s fine ““ at least then the full burden of education falls on the students.

Yell at people when they fall asleep in lecture, don’t allow them to have laptops in section and take the Newsweek out of my hand ““ then force me to defend why I think it is more relevant than the material for class.

That’s an education I’m willing to pay for.

E-mail Elliott at

[email protected].

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