Sunday, May 15, 2011

"Your So-Called Education"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/opinion/15arum.html?hp

In a typical semester, for instance, 32 percent of the students did
not take a single course with more than 40 pages of reading per week,
and 50 percent did not take any course requiring more than 20 pages of
writing over the semester. The average student spent only about 12 to
13 hours per week studying — about half the time a full-time college
student in 1960 spent studying, according to the labor economists
Philip S. Babcock and Mindy S. Marks.

[...]

The situation reflects a larger cultural change in the relationship
between students and colleges. The authority of educators has
diminished, and students are increasingly thought of, by themselves
and their colleges, as “clients” or “consumers.” When 18-year-olds are
emboldened to see themselves in this manner, many look for ways to
attain an educational credential effortlessly and comfortably. And
they are catered to accordingly. The customer is always right.

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