My lazy American students
Dom
My lazy American students
By Kara Miller | December 21, 2009
IT WAS the kind of student conference I hate.
“I’ll do better,’’ my student told me, leaning forward in his chair.
“I know I’ve gotten behind this semester, but I’m going to turn things
around. Would it be OK if I finished all my uncompleted work by
Monday?’’
I sat silent for a moment. “Yes. But it’s important that you catch up
completely this weekend, so that you’re not just perpetually behind.’’
A few weeks later, I would conduct a nearly identical conversation
with two other students. And, again, there would be no tangible
result: No make-up papers. No change in effort. No improvement in time
management.
By the time students are in college, habits can be tough to change. If
you’re used to playing video games like “Modern Warfare’’ or “Halo’’
all night, how do you fit in four hours of homework? Or rest up for
class?
Teaching in college, especially one with a large international student
population, has given me a stark - and unwelcome - illustration of how
Americans’ work ethic often pales in comparison with their peers from
overseas.
My “C,’’ “D,’’ and “F’’ students this semester are almost exclusively
American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have
- despite language barriers - generally written solid papers, excelled
on exams, and become valuable class participants.
One girl from Shanghai became a fixture at office hours, embraced our
college writing center, and incessantly e-mailed me questions about
her evolving papers. Her English is still mediocre: she frequently
puts “the’’ everywhere (as in “the leader supported the feminism and
the environmentalism’’) and confuses “his’’ and “her.’’ But that
didn’t stop her from doing rewrite after rewrite, tirelessly trying to
improve both structure and grammar.
Chinese undergraduates have consistently impressed me with their work
ethic, though I have seen similar habits in students from India,
Thailand, Brazil, and Venezuela. Often, they’ve done little English-
language writing in their home countries, and they frequently struggle
to understand my lectures. But their respect for professors - and for
knowledge itself - is palpable. The students listen intently to
everything I say, whether in class or during office hours, and try to
engage in the conversation.
Too many 18-year-old Americans, meanwhile, text one another under
their desks (certain they are sly enough to go unnoticed), check e-
mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged.
Of course, it would be wrong to suggest that all American students are
the same. I’ve taught many who were hardworking, talented, and deeply
impressive. They listened intently, enriched class discussions, and
never shied away from rewrites. At their best, American students marry
knowledge and innovation, resulting in some astoundingly creative
work.
But creativity without knowledge - a common phenomenon - is just not
enough.
Too many American students simply lack the basics. In 2002, a National
Geographic-Roper survey found that most 18- to 24-year-olds could not
find Afghanistan, Iraq, or Japan on a map, ranking them behind
counterparts in Sweden, Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, France,
and Germany. And in 2007 the American Institutes for Research reported
that eighth graders in even our best-performing states - like
Massachusetts - scored below peers in Singapore, South Korea, and
Japan, while students in our worst-performing states - like
Mississippi - were on par with eighth graders in Slovakia, Romania,
and Russia.
We’ve got a knowledge gap, spurred by a work-ethic gap.
Which brings me to another grade-challenged student, who once sprinted
across campus to talk to me.
“I’m really sorry I missed office hours,’’ he said. “Do you have time
to talk?’’
“I have a meeting in a couple of minutes,’’ I said. “But you can walk
with me.’’
“OK,’’ he said. “I really enjoy your class, and I think I can do
better. How can I improve my grade?’’
I looked at him sideways. “Well, you might start with staying awake.’’
“Yeah,’’ he grinned, looking at his shoes. “Sorry about that. There’s
always stuff going on in my dorm late at night. I have to learn to be
better about time management.’’
Of course, he had it exactly right. Success is all about time
management, and in a globalizing economy, Americans’ inability to stay
focused and work hard could prove to be a serious problem.
Nowhere, sadly, is this clearer than in the classroom.
Kara Miller teaches rhetoric and history at Babson College. She wrote
a follow-up to this column in response to the many comments received.
Rowley
Dom.. Do you just read articles like this, or do you also read any of
the books out there that touch on this subject? If you do, what books
have you read? I'm just curious if you're just one of those people who
just read articles....
Currently I'm reading "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the
Coming Dark Age" by Maggie Jackson.
Martin
> http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students/
>
> My lazy American students
>
> By Kara Miller | December 21, 2009
>
> IT WAS the kind of student conference I hate.
>
> �I�ll do better,�� my student told me, leaning forward in his chair.
> �I know I�ve gotten behind this semester, but I�m going to turn things
> around. Would it be OK if I finished all my uncompleted work by
> Monday?��
>
> I sat silent for a moment. �Yes. But it�s important that you catch up
> completely this weekend, so that you�re not just perpetually behind.��
>
> A few weeks later, I would conduct a nearly identical conversation
> with two other students. And, again, there would be no tangible
> result: No make-up papers. No change in effort. No improvement in time
> management.
>
> By the time students are in college, habits can be tough to change. If
> you�re used to playing video games like �Modern Warfare�� or �Halo��
> all night, how do you fit in four hours of homework? Or rest up for
> class?
>
> Teaching in college, especially one with a large international student
> population, has given me a stark - and unwelcome - illustration of how
> Americans� work ethic often pales in comparison with their peers from
> overseas.
>
> My �C,�� �D,�� and �F�� students this semester are almost exclusively
> American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have
> - despite language barriers - generally written solid papers, excelled
> on exams, and become valuable class participants.
>
> One girl from Shanghai became a fixture at office hours, embraced our
> college writing center, and incessantly e-mailed me questions about
> her evolving papers. Her English is still mediocre: she frequently
> puts �the�� everywhere (as in �the leader supported the feminism and
> the environmentalism��) and confuses �his�� and �her.�� But that
> didn�t stop her from doing rewrite after rewrite, tirelessly trying to
> improve both structure and grammar.
>
> Chinese undergraduates have consistently impressed me with their work
> ethic, though I have seen similar habits in students from India,
> Thailand, Brazil, and Venezuela. Often, they�ve done little English-
> language writing in their home countries, and they frequently struggle
> to understand my lectures. But their respect for professors - and for
> knowledge itself - is palpable. The students listen intently to
> everything I say, whether in class or during office hours, and try to
> engage in the conversation.
>
> Too many 18-year-old Americans, meanwhile, text one another under
> their desks (certain they are sly enough to go unnoticed), check e-
> mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged.
>
> Of course, it would be wrong to suggest that all American students are
> the same. I�ve taught many who were hardworking, talented, and deeply
> impressive. They listened intently, enriched class discussions, and
> never shied away from rewrites. At their best, American students marry
> knowledge and innovation, resulting in some astoundingly creative
> work.
>
> But creativity without knowledge - a common phenomenon - is just not
> enough.
>
> Too many American students simply lack the basics. In 2002, a National
> Geographic-Roper survey found that most 18- to 24-year-olds could not
> find Afghanistan, Iraq, or Japan on a map, ranking them behind
> counterparts in Sweden, Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, France,
> and Germany. And in 2007 the American Institutes for Research reported
> that eighth graders in even our best-performing states - like
> Massachusetts - scored below peers in Singapore, South Korea, and
> Japan, while students in our worst-performing states - like
> Mississippi - were on par with eighth graders in Slovakia, Romania,
> and Russia.
>
> We�ve got a knowledge gap, spurred by a work-ethic gap.
>
> Which brings me to another grade-challenged student, who once sprinted
> across campus to talk to me.
>
> �I�m really sorry I missed office hours,�� he said. �Do you have time
> to talk?��
>
> �I have a meeting in a couple of minutes,�� I said. �But you can walk
> with me.��
>
> �OK,�� he said. �I really enjoy your class, and I think I can do
> better. How can I improve my grade?��
>
> I looked at him sideways. �Well, you might start with staying awake.��
>
> �Yeah,�� he grinned, looking at his shoes. �Sorry about that. There�s
> always stuff going on in my dorm late at night. I have to learn to be
> better about time management.��
>
> Of course, he had it exactly right. Success is all about time
> management, and in a globalizing economy, Americans� inability to stay
Dom
look into it. The continuing pseudo-education of American students is
a national disgrace, and it is important that people speak up. I have
been collecting items on this subject for many years, especially since
I read Andrei Toom's landmark article, "A Russian Teacher in
America," a scanned copy of which is available at:
http://www.de.ufpe.br/~toom/articles/engeduc/ARUSSIAN.PDF
Toom's article, "Wars in American mathematical education," is
available at:
http://michel.delord.free.fr/toomwars.pdf
Dom
On Dec 29 2009, 7:28 pm, Rowley <industry3dREM...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Dom wrote:
>
> Dom.. Do you just read articles like this, or do you also read any of
> the books out there that touch on this subject? If you do, what books
> have you read? I'm just curious if you're just one of those people who
> just read articles....
>
> Currently I'm reading "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the
> Coming Dark Age" by Maggie Jackson.
>
> Martin
>
> >http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/200...
>
> > My lazy American students
>
> > By Kara Miller | December 21, 2009
[snip]
Rowley
this week and that will give me something to read on it.
I really don't see this article as being something along the lines of
"The continuing pseudo-education of American students..", IMO it's more
a problem with how students choose to spend their time vs. how we think
they should... not that it's a new problem - just that there are more
students making bad choices...
Martin