Paul, your source? Make it a good day.
--Louis-- Louis Schmier http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/ Department of History http://www.newforums.com/Auth_L_Schmier.asp Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ (229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\____/\ \/\ / \ \__ \/ / \ /\/ \ \ /\ //\/\/ /\ \_ / /___\/\ \ \ \/ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains \ /\ _/ \ don't practice on mole hills" -/ \ -----Original Message----- From: Paul Okami [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:46 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Am I expecting too much? This reflects an obvious reality that for some reason people are turning summersaults attempting to deny: College students of today are approximately at the base knowledge level of junior high-high school students of just a few decades ago. It's happening as fast as global warming. Paul Okami ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:11 PM Subject: [tips] Am I expecting too much? > Perhaps times are changing and my students know different vocabulary than > mine, but I have had some laughers on the last two tests, except it has me > concerned that I may be getting so old that I am losing touch; or the > students are truly ill-prepared for life in general. I would except > students to be knowledgeable about life in general just from reading. > Maybe these students, whose *average* GPA in high school (these are > incoming freshmen in intro psych and I have all of their admissions data) > EXCEEDED 3.8 because of honors and AP classes are getting short-changed? > > I used a standard item on the learning test and asked for the schedule of > reinforcement for various behaviors. I used fly fishing as one item. I got > the most outrageous answers: the fish will learn to fly to get fed; you > can catch more flying fish; fish will go faster if they fly than if they > swim, etc. And then there were at least a dozen students who gave simply > incorrect answers without embarassing themselves (probably didn't > understand schedules of rf anyway) and another dozen who flat out came up > and asked me what 'fly fishing' is. > > Ok, I let that slide. So now we have another exam, now over the > developmental chapter: M A N Y students came up to ask me the meaning of > the words "innate" and "longevity" and many more missed an item on Head > Start. We talked about Head Start in class, but I didn't go into > explaining what it is all about. I guess I'm teaching kids whose families > would never have qualified and they never heard of it because the exam > item required them to go a bit beyond what we talked about and very many > of my students couldn't because they had no context for what they had > memorized by rote. One of the foils on the multiple choice item referred > to "middle-class" and was clearly incorrect because middle-class children > wouldn't qualify for Head Start. Many selected that foil as correct, and > wrote in the margin their explanation (I allow this on items the student > wants to challenge) and I got all kinds of answers about middle this and > middle that. > > Wow, what's up with all this? I'm feeling either very very old or > exceptionally well educated in a broad way. > > Annette > > > Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology > University of San Diego > 5998 Alcala Park > San Diego, CA 92110 > 619-260-4006 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- > > __________ NOD32 2665 (20071117) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > > --- ---