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Hi all-
I would add to Michael's comments the following observation:
I observed Community college students arriving at school an hour, or so,
before class and sitting down to do their homework, often with earphones
attached to their heads. Often, I was told, they had worked at night
jobs
the night before and were tryng to do homework in the only time available
to them. To the extent that they are "working their way through
college".
often claimed as a commendable enterprise, they are guaranteed to be
getting minimum benefit from the college experience. Perhaps there are
steps we can take to help such people.
Regards,
Jack
"Trust me. I have a lot of experience at this."
General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley
On Tue, 11 May 2010, Michael Edmiston wrote:
There is a lot of gray area between elite schools and diploma mills.There
are many small colleges in Ohio and I wouldn't describe any of them asapply
"diploma mills." Indeed, the state universities are "open enrollment"
(anyone can get in) and small colleges are not (many are considered
"selective" schools, as is Bluffton). Thus, in general, the students we
matriculate at Bluffton are capable of being good students if they would
choose to do so... and many do. But many students do not choose to
themselves, and many of them don't graduate. Please note that by sayingreferring
"capable students" and by saying we are a "selective school," I am
to a student's HS GPA, HS class rank, and ACT scores. It has certainlyand we're
become questionable whether the HS GPA and class rank mean anything,
not sure about the ACT scores either.are
But... let's assume our students are capable, and let's assume that when
they aren't succeeding it's because they aren't working. I think these
reasonable assumptions even though it is clear some students are not asgood
at math, science, and writing as their HS records would indicate. Thatjust
means they will have to work harder in college. That's the problem.They
aren't used to working.find
Small colleges are tuition driven We need to keep students if we can.
Bluffton faculty most definitely are not told to falsify grades, or give
extra credit, or water down courses, etc. But we are indeed prodded to
ways to get students to work at their ability. That's not easy. I amready
to declare we need to make it clear that if students don't meet ourthat
expectations then they will flunk out. I think this is the only thing
has a chance of working. Unfortunately this is difficult because: (1)we'll
students don't think we mean it, (2) students aren't used to it, (3)
probably have to prove it to them by reversing the grade inflation thathas
already crept in, and indeed by following through and flunking somelegitimate
students... and... (4) some faculty find this very difficult to do.
I am hopeful that if we make it clear to students that 2 hours of
work outside of class for every hour in class is the amount of time ittakes
"an average student to earn an average grade of C" in the course, thenwe
might begin to reverse the trend. I put part of that phrase inquotations
because I lifted it out of the Ohio Revised Code. It's written intolaw in
Ohio (and many other states). The problem is that many teachers aren'tD and
holding students to it.
I just turned in grades. In a class of 11 sophomores I had one E, one
3 D+. That means 5 of 11 students in this class have to take the classover
again, or change their majors. All 5 could have been B students. The Ehas
student had multiple cases of flagrant plagiarism on lab reports, and
been suspended from college. The D student had milder cases ofplagiarism
and received a zero on two lab reports, but otherwise had C grades.The D+
students handed in all or most lab reports late (and got grade penaltiesgot C
because of that) and they admit they did not work problems, and they
and D grades on exams.wouldn't
I worked with all these students all semester trying to get them to do
problems, get reports turned in on time, and trying to get them to write
reports in their own words rather than cutting/pasting. They just
do it. The most frequent question asked of me was... "can you give mesome
extra-credit assignments to bring up my grade." They all said that intheir
HS experiences extra-credit assignments were freely given, and theyears)
extra-credit assignments were significantly easier than the regular
assignments, and that's how they got through. I have never (in 32
given any "extra credit assignments" to anyone.next
Because only 6 of 11 students got high enough grades to go on to the
course, the next course will have an enrollment of 6 students ratherthan
the 11 it could have had. The course will be taught with this lowweekend, and
enrollment, but the administration is not happy.
I'll end on a happier note. This past weekend was commencement
we have a "homecoming" event associated with graduation weekend. A 1980the
graduate was back for her 30-year reunion. She asked if I remembered
day I called her into my office and said, "You are lazy and not workingup
to your potential. You should either get your butt in gear or changeyour
major or drop out of school because you are just wasting your time, mytime,
and your parents' money." Yes, I remember it well. I wasn't surewhether I
pushed her over the edge or not. She decided to show me she could doit,
and she graduated with honors. She told me she went on to earn a PhD inworld as
soil science, and for the past 23 years she has been all around the
an agricultural soil consultant in developing countries, especiallyAfrica
and also Cambodia. She then said, "Thank you for turning me around."best
Being tough might not always work, but it often does. I think it's our
shot._______________________________________________
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
419.358.3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l