A few weeks ago I gave an exam in animal behavior and asked a question about "Kamikaze sperm." One student asked what species a Kamikaze was. I then asked the next 4 students entering my office if they'd ever heard the word , "kamikaze." The first three had never heard the word. I'm convinced that the problem is that most students no longer read for pleasure. This has been problematic for years but is getting worse. Try asking your student if, as children, they ever read books (not magazines) "just for fun." It's no wonder their general knowledge is so pathetic. And there's a BIG difference between looking up the definitive of a specific word on line and learning words incidentally while reading a book. Even looking words up in a dictionary is better because you naturally do a little browsing of other words when you look it up. That's not as easy/common when looking up a definition on line. The Kindly Old Curmudgeon Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Department of Psychology West Chester University of Pennsylvania Office Hours: Mondays noon-2 and 3-4 p.m.; Tuesdays & Thursdays 8-9:00 a.m. & 12:30-1:30 p.m. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/epollak/home.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, bluegrass fiddler and herpetoculturist...... in approximate order of importance.
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