Question for professors and educators.

[Anonymous]

Are students better prepared for college now than 10-15 years ago?

[Anonymous]

Not for writing.

They also seem to want more hand holding/ material presented to them in a very handy/dandy, formulaic way.

[Anonymous]

No, they aren't. I've seen a big change in the writing ability of college freshmen over the past ten years.

Students today are weaker writers. I believe this is the result of increasing grade inflation in high schools, readily available technology "aids", and less critical feedback by high school teachers (probably because parents today are more likely to blame the teacher if the student does not receive As). Many students today have unrealistic impressions of their own ability levels and preparation. Independent endeavor and grit seem to be lacking, at least compared to college freshmen ten years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not for writing.

They also seem to want more hand holding/ material presented to them in a very handy/dandy, formulaic way.

Exactly what my niece and cousin, who are college professors, say. They also complain a lot about how students now, more than ever, don't get their work done and expect to get unlimited extensions and expect to pass classes and/or get higher grades when they don't earn them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are students better prepared for college now than 10-15 years ago?

Well, now they carry powerful little computers in their pockets, so they have immediate access to information, and don't need to go to the library. This tends to make today's students somewhat lazy.

And today's students can't write very well. Truth be told, students who can't write well tend not to be able to think very well.

So, no, I'd say today's students are not better prepared than those of 15 years ago; but neither were those of 15 years ago as well-prepared or able as students heading off to college 30 years ago.

Actually, student quality and the quality of higher education in general has been on a declining trajectory for the past 50 or 60 years.

Makes you wonder what the justification might be for the rapid escalation of college tuition over that period.

[Anonymous]

No, they're really ill prepared academically and emotionally. I've been teaching college for 20 years and in the last 4 years students have gotten much more demanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they're really ill prepared academically and emotionally. I've been teaching college for 20 years and in the last 4 years students have gotten much more demanding.

All this AP class is not helping ?

[Anonymous]

They probably are better in math and science with all the emphasis on these subjects?

[Anonymous]

I used to teach at a prestigious university in this area. Most students cared only about grades and there was a huge sense of entitlement. After every exam there would be a litany of students who would argue like lawyers before the Supreme Court about why the grade was unfair, why the exam was flawed, why the grading scheme was inappropriate, etc. There was not a shred of willingness to accept feedback for improvement that could be applied on future assignments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they're really ill prepared academically and emotionally. I've been teaching college for 20 years and in the last 4 years students have gotten much more demanding.

+1 The emotional aspect is what I find most surprising. Over the last 20 years, the students have become increasingly demanding and need more handholding. My colleagues and I joke that we are teaching the 13th grade. I teach history and have noted a decline in writing and critical thinking skills over the last 20 years. My STEM colleagues also agree that critical thinking skills are declining and tell me many students seem to be formulaic and/or rote thinkers and lack problem-solving skills.

[Anonymous]

One thing I find puzzling as I am a millennial (in my 30s, so I also grew up with the internet) and an assistant professor is the generation younger than mine doesn't seem to know how to look up information. Whether it is on the textbook, or even using google/wikipedia searches effectively. I too have noticed this desire to be spoon fed formulaic material. You would think that with smart phones in their pockets, the one thing students would be good at would be finding information at their fingertips, but I haven't found that to be the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are students better prepared for college now than 10-15 years ago?

Well, now they carry powerful little computers in their pockets, so they have immediate access to information, and don't need to go to the library. This tends to make today's students somewhat lazy.

And today's students can't write very well. Truth be told, students who can't write well tend not to be able to think very well.

So, no, I'd say today's students are not better prepared than those of 15 years ago; but neither were those of 15 years ago as well-prepared or able as students heading off to college 30 years ago.

Actually, student quality and the quality of higher education in general has been on a declining trajectory for the past 50 or 60 years.

Makes you wonder what the justification might be for the rapid escalation of college tuition over that period.

In the 70s about 12% of the population had a college degree. Now over 1/3 do. So it's really not reasonable to compare those two cohorts.
Are the kids at Harvard today different than the kids at Harvard 50 years ago? My guess is they aren't (except there are more women and minorities now, rather than exclusively rich white guys.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not for writing.

They also seem to want more hand holding/ material presented to them in a very handy/dandy, formulaic way.

Exactly what my niece and cousin, who are college professors, say. They also complain a lot about how students now, more than ever, don't get their work done and expect to get unlimited extensions and expect to pass classes and/or get higher grades when they don't earn them.

I thought this was only a problem with MCPS students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are students better prepared for college now than 10-15 years ago?

Well, now they carry powerful little computers in their pockets, so they have immediate access to information, and don't need to go to the library. This tends to make today's students somewhat lazy.

And today's students can't write very well. Truth be told, students who can't write well tend not to be able to think very well.

So, no, I'd say today's students are not better prepared than those of 15 years ago; but neither were those of 15 years ago as well-prepared or able as students heading off to college 30 years ago.

Actually, student quality and the quality of higher education in general has been on a declining trajectory for the past 50 or 60 years.

Makes you wonder what the justification might be for the rapid escalation of college tuition over that period.

In the 70s about 12% of the population had a college degree. Now over 1/3 do. So it's really not reasonable to compare those two cohorts.
Are the kids at Harvard today different than the kids at Harvard 50 years ago? My guess is they aren't (except there are more women and minorities now, rather than exclusively rich white guys.)

+1. The education I got at an HYP in the late 90s was certainly more rigorous than the education my mom got there in the mid 60s. I know, because I have all of her old books, including syllabi and graded papers. I had far more reading, for example. I don't know if it's possible to extrapolate the trend out, but controlling for the expansion of the student population, there's no reason to think that today's students are any less capable (though they may whine more) than students 50 or 60 years ago. 60 years ago Math 55 didn't even exist!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are students better prepared for college now than 10-15 years ago?

Well, now they carry powerful little computers in their pockets, so they have immediate access to information, and don't need to go to the library. This tends to make today's students somewhat lazy.

And today's students can't write very well. Truth be told, students who can't write well tend not to be able to think very well.

So, no, I'd say today's students are not better prepared than those of 15 years ago; but neither were those of 15 years ago as well-prepared or able as students heading off to college 30 years ago.

Actually, student quality and the quality of higher education in general has been on a declining trajectory for the past 50 or 60 years.

Makes you wonder what the justification might be for the rapid escalation of college tuition over that period.

In the 70s about 12% of the population had a college degree. Now over 1/3 do. So it's really not reasonable to compare those two cohorts.
Are the kids at Harvard today different than the kids at Harvard 50 years ago? My guess is they aren't (except there are more women and minorities now, rather than exclusively rich white guys.)

+1. The education I got at an HYP in the late 90s was certainly more rigorous than the education my mom got there in the mid 60s. I know, because I have all of her old books, including syllabi and graded papers. I had far more reading, for example. I don't know if it's possible to extrapolate the trend out, but controlling for the expansion of the student population, there's no reason to think that today's students are any less capable (though they may whine more) than students 50 or 60 years ago. 60 years ago Math 55 didn't even exist!

Hate to break it to you, kid, but your mommy has been deceiving you for many moons. You see, HYP were not coed in the mid-60s.