Michael Kane (message below) offered a few alternative ways of looking
at our frustrations regarding today's students' abilities (or lack
thereof). Very helpful. Michael, at your invitation, allow me to
comment:
Yes, I'm sure that some of our expectations and strategies regarding
college teaching are influenced by (1) our graduate school experiences
and (2) our perceptions of our own abilities and motivations ...because
all of us are above average, right?? ;) Personally, having earned my
Doctorate quite awhile ago, I feel confident in saying that I've "gotten
over" those influences.
But to return to the more general issue here: I also believe (or hope?)
that professors' expectations are influenced at least as much, or more
so, by their colleges' and departments' missions. For those of us
teaching in departments that offer fairly traditional psychology majors,
we are committed first to preparing students for graduate study. We
know what graduate schools admit and what they do not. We don't do our
students any favors by "tailoring" or "modifying" our courses if those
modifications are unacceptable to grad schools. Either my statistics
students have a basic understanding of one-way ANOVA, or they don't.
There's not much about the importance of one-way ANOVA that I can
"modify."
In the cases of those students who do not have the interest, ability,
and/or motivation to pursue graduate study, we are committed to
providing a high-quality liberal arts education, the outcomes of which
include competence in communicating, judging, analyzing, and computing.
Again, I do not believe that we are helping our students seek and obtain
meaningful employment if we "modify" our courses, lower our standards,
or inflate our grades.
I suspect that you (Michael) and I really don't disagree much on the
importance of standards and expectations. But where we disagree,
perhaps, is on the sources of those expectations: Yes, we're influenced
a little bit by our own experiences and abilities, but I believe that we
are influenced more by our colleges' missions, our departments' goals,
and by the needs of the potential employers of our graduates.
Dr. Barbara Watters
Mercyhurst College
Erie, PA 16546
Michael J. Kane wrote:
>
> I'd like to interject a slightly different perspective here, if I may.
> I have found that one of my biggest challenges in making the
> transition from student to teacher is in managing my
> expectations in student work and my "pitch" of information
> during class. Anyone who is teaching at the university level
> was never an "average" college student. The perspective
> we all have about how much work and mastery is ideal
> (or acceptable) is likely affected dramatically by our own
> experience, work ethic, and our memory for our own efforts as
> students. Cognitive psychologists have shown over and over
> again that our memories for the past (and for our own personal
> experiences, attitudes, knowledge etc.) are STRONGLY
> influenced by our present perspective and context. Thus, I
> would suggest that many if not all of us have a slightly inflated
> view of our own college work ethic and our own state of
> knowledge and skill at that level.
>
> That said, I think there's a fine line between "dumbing down"
> a course and appropriately pitching a course given the
> audience. I've changed my courses since I started teaching;
> and yes, they're slightly "easier" now. However, I truly think
> that right out of grad school my expectations for undergraduates
> were a bit too high. Make no mistake, I still push students
> to work hard and excel, and not everyone does well in my
> courses, but I think the adjustments I made have made the
> class experiences better for everyone involved.
>
> Comments?
>
> -Mike
>
> *****************************************************
> Michael J. Kane
> Psychology Department
> Georgia State University
