The points raised by Fernanda bring to mind the notion of the Zone of
Proximal Development as put forth by Vygotsky. Students cannot
accomplish as much by themselves compared to what they can accomplish
through the facilitation of a competent instructor.
tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html
This is kind of the standard argument for role of the teacher, but it
doesn't sound like the professors at Fernanda's school have heard of
Lev.
Being of a more recent vintage, I can assure you all that there are
still hard working students out there. I definitely fell into the
category that Rick mentioned, with keys to the building and at times
wondered why I bothered renting an apartment. Through all of that, I
was still able to receive assistance from my professor when I truly
needed it. This certainly differs from my experiences now as a high
school teacher, where students show up asking for help without having
first put pen to paper themselves.
I would encourage Fernanda to seek out assistance from classmates. I
don't know how I would have survived certain courses without support and
criticism from classmates. Also, the University that I was at offered
help groups lead by 3rd and 4th year students who had taken most of the
course offerings. The faculty chose students for those "helper"
positions that weren't likely to just do the work for the students in
need. Surely these are reasonable things to expect from the ever
increasing amounts of money spent on higher education.
Scary thought of the week, my grandmother, mother and I all attended the
same small private college for part of our undergrad work. Grandma paid
$50 per semester, mom paid $500 per semester and I paid $5,000 per
semester. Extrapolating that curve is the best birth control I'm aware
of...
Cheers,
Matt
"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a
very narrow field."