CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Report: First two years of college show small gains

USATODAY.com: "Nearly half of the nation's undergraduates show almost no gains in learning in their first two years of college, in large part because colleges don't make academics a priority, a new report shows.

2 comments:

Sonia said...

This article in conjuction with the '45% Of Students Don't Learn Much in College' brings up a very important issue. That as a generation we are learning less and less, which is undoubtedly going to negatively affect our future. Though we are not in the exact same situation as being able to take an easy load the first year or two, this situtation plagues us all. Of course this is different for every person, you can study at your own pace or however much you choose to push yourself. What bothers me is how much both articles made mention of the fact that the teachers are too interested in their research to teach. Once again I know that we dont have giant lecture classes but I think that that is an awful habit to develop. I would imagine that people get into teaching because they want to make a differnce in students lives or the future or something. It is really sad that it has come to this. Im not saying that the students are faultless however, it doesnt help that the teachers are teaching as well. I hope that between teachers teaching better and students trying harder that a solution can be found.

Robert said...

This is very interesting it made me wonder if this tour is for students that are not Carnegie Mellon school of Drama students. I know of friends that are in other schools for other things and they don't quite understand how busy we are, all of the time. Barely having enough time for sleep and everyday things. Then I ask them if they like there class or if they are learning anything in their class and they say that they are not liking the class and that they are not learning much. I love my class and the work that I am doing even if it gets over whelming at times, conservatory style consumes your time but you benefit a lot as a student. I would rather be busy and learning a lot, and then have the other alternative. This study is probably total right in the information that they are reporting.