Pointing Fingers

I have heard some variations of this theme in my time through higher education, and it's one that has perplexed me quite a bit.

There seems to be a pointing fingers game within student success between student and professors. Students blame the profs for being bad teachers, and the profs blame the students for being lazy and unwilling to learn. So where is the line?

Many of the professors that I know are unwilling/unable to change their teaching style. To many, "changing teaching style" is equated with "dumbing down the class", which obviously they are unwilling (rightfully so) to do. However, as many in education know, there are many ways to teach the same material without "dumbing down" the class or making it easier. Making the material easier to learn does not mean making the material easier overall.

I guess I come down on the side of the student: if the material is being taught unsuccessfully then the style of teaching needs to change. I think the way to tell this is the continued success rates in a classroom. If semester after semester large numbers of students are failing the same class taught by the same professor, then maybe that professor should take a look at the teaching methods (not material...) being used in the classroom.

Maybe it's that I have a hard time thinking entire classes of students would not turn in homework in class after class... again, if that is happening where is the information getting lost?

However, this isn't to say that there aren't lazy or bad or poor students out there (I've been one too at times!), but when it's consistent then I think it's a problem.

On the other side, if there is a student failing similar classes over and over and over again at what point is there an intervention to understand how the student learns best and find where s/he is struggling? I know this takes time and manpower on the side of the school, but isn't the retention of a student worth it? Again, this isn't to say to put together a specialized plan for the student, but simply to help him/her understand how best to approach school work.

I was 23 before I realized I was an auditory learner. If I take notes I am far less likely to remember information than if I simply listen to it- at which point I can replay it in my head like a tape recorder. I recall a class in which I was yelled at in front of the class because I was not taking notes- and when I tried to explain that I learn better by listening and processing the information rather than mindlessly writing down the words being spoken it just resulted in being forced to write down the notes that he insisted people took to remember things- he even stopped to check that I was writing at points that day. It's a good thing that was only a one day for work kind of class, because I would have never gone back had it been a regular college class! (Yes, I'm stubborn like that.)But it would have been much better had it simply been accepted that I knew what kind of a learner I am and moved on from there. I think also had I known this earlier in my college career some classes would have been easier and I would have learned more, rather than trying to fit into what I "should" be doing to retain information.

The latest place where this has come up is with online vs. traditional vs. blended education. Obviously the some of the three formats work for some students and professors better than others. But they seem to all be pointing fingers accusing the other style (whichever one that is) of holding them back. A study came out showing blended education to be bringing in a lot of good results with students as well as high retention rates, but naturally there is outcry against having to change a teaching style or a learning style.

Again... we get profs blaming students for not knowing how to use the software (Blackboard, Angel, etc.) properly and students blaming the profs for not structuring/designing the class to be online user friendly. (A lovely quote from a comment on the subject: When it works, it's not an online utopia--it's just another space for meaningful learning. )

So at what point must the student or professor or admin at a school step back, stop pointing fingers at everyone else and say "Maybe it's not "them"... maybe it's me?"

Sadly, that's a very, very hard statement for many people to make.

Bizarre quizzes

There are some of those quizzes that are supposedly supposed to help you determine what you're supposed to be when you grow up, or whatever else (not one of those "Which Superhero Are You" kind of ones). I just tried to take one from an affiliate site here and I got totally confused. Here's the survey if you'd like to give it a shot.

The questions were laid out in an either/or kind of fashion, but often the two choices were completely unrelated. It was like answering "Are you more interested in riding an elephant or creating a calendar?" Most of the time I kept thinking "Well, neither of these". And when the questions kept clearly being centered around the medical or tourism industries (neither of which I personally am too interested in) I ended up making a fairly false impression of myself. Truth be told I only made it halfway through the survey.

Does anyone know how these are supposed to work? If I have to continually indicate that I'd be more interested in the tourism industry than the medical industry (but never get to indicate that I'm not very interested in either and never get to compare those two to anything else...) then I wondered if I would get a response of "You should go into tourism and be a travel agent!"

Riiiiight.

So, I remain a little confused, and still don't want to be a travel agent when I grow up.

Need Some Lovin'

Actually, make that, "Need Some Likin' "

These videos need some love, er, like... from YOU!

http://www.anycollege.com/video_library/index.cfm?cid=3622798

Or... there's this one:

http://www.anycollege.com/video_library/index.cfm?cid=1563445#now_playing

Or, be the first one to like THIS video:

http://www.anycollege.com/video_library/index.cfm?cid=1594688#now_playing

What about this video?

http://www.anycollege.com/video_library/index.cfm?cid=1565417#now_playing

Still no love? Try this:

http://www.anycollege.com/video_library/index.cfm?cid=1592197#now_playing

Were you the first liker on any of these? Did the videos get you interested in any of these schools?

Staying With the Times: Profs, Admin and Technology

I admit, I get a bit of a kick reading about the latest technology that has come out and then reading the comments on the article to see how many prophets of doom that have a PhD attached to their name like to come out and say that whatever the new gadget is will completely ruin education, etc etc etc.

I heard one about the Kindle, which I admit I don't know much about but if it's true that a student could just buy one of these then pay a lot less to download books onto it... well, from a students perspective that's pretty cool. (Yes I know there's the whole textbook industry to think about but at what point is it ridiculous that you can't buy a used book because the professor is using the newest edition that has 2 pages changed in it?)

Then I heard about the person who came up with (as a joke, I will add) the corrupted email attachment that students can pay $5.00 to download and send to their professors to buy a little extra time to write the paper. Again, I admit I giggled a little bit when I read that. Yes, I know it's ethically wrong to do, but if you were to ask a random sampling of students if they ever wished they had something like that I bet 75% would say that at some point in their life they wished they had thought of that. (It's that whole reality thing again!)

But that's not the point of this blog.

The point was the outrage (and rightly so, but still) of various professors and instructors in the comments section of this article. Many, many, many of them said "I never use email for anything in my class and after reading this I never ever will!" But here's where I get confused. Most of us in the business world use email on a daily basis for a lot of important communication. So why can't education hop on the same bandwagon? What is causing this horrible horrible fear that many academics have in both secondary school and post secondary education about using technology in the classroom? It's got to be more than the occasional corrupt file that a student sends to buy another day to write a paper. Why is there a seeming stubborn contingent that wants us to stay permanently in 1975? (Or earlier...) But yet we can't imagine a 16 year old driving a car now without a cell phone...

I do think that these things (email, Kindles, Blackboard and other online learning software, even social networking) are there to improve our lives and improve learning... if first we learn not to be afraid of them. (The ironic thing is as I'm writing this I'm looking at my cell phone which only calls people and can do text messages- nothing else... I intentionally bought a phone that doesn't have anything else on it, mainly because I don't need it. I'm not against it being out there and available, it's just not necessary for me at this time.) Plus, a LOT of the online software that is being used in higher education has options that prevent cheating. But if that's where kids are- on the computer and online... why not go to them instead of forcing them to conform to something out of date? Maybe we could look at adapting to them, since the 16-22 year old demographic tends to be on the cutting edge of the newest technology, and encourage them to take the technology and run with it. (Aren't we complaining about the lack of innovation and creativity in kids? I hear it quite a bit...) Who knows what might happen!

Moral of the story... adapt. Things won't ever, ever stay the same no matter how much we'd sometimes like them to, especially with the speed at which technology is evolving now. But it's not going to do anyone any good to dig your heels in and say you're not playing... so might as well join 'em if you can't beat em.

Anyway- read the article-- the issue it's about is one thing, but the response of the academics is what scares me.

Students? What do you think?
Teachers/professors? What do you think?

Games + College Admission

Not gonna lie, when we started talking about that I got the fun little chills that come with hearing a REALLY good idea come up.

What about this: Almost all teens and even their parents now are playing some kind of video game, be that on the Xbox, on their mobile phone or on the internet. (I watched one of the high school kids I work with outside of Anycollege play Bejeweled obsessively on her phone for almost an hour the other night.)

So what about a casual type of game to help with college admissions? I'm not sure yet what this would be... but it sounds kind of cool. Think about the games on Facebook and Myspace that people use: the Mafia Wars and similar games, even the Lil' Green Patch, etc. My guess is that you can think of someone who is crazy addicted to one of these games. So what if it was something like that but centered around a college? Hmmm...

Lots of possibility...

"Like" Your Favorite Video!!

New feature on the website!

Like, now you can, like, totally, like, like your favorite, like, video on our, like, college video website!

www.anycollege.tv

Do you have a school you really like or a video you really like? Tell your friends about it and have them like it too!

And I have a challenge for you: post a comment using the word "like" more than I did in once sentence!

PS- check out our home page too. New stuff... see the most liked video, most watched video, most searched schools and majors!

Your College Advisor

Without a doubt, this is one of the most important, influential people in your college career. He/she will help you figure out your classes, help you figure out some direction for your overall education or other general academic matters.

I've gone through a few of these over the years and have seen what good and bad ones can do for your academics- and have a few thoughts on working with them.

Advisor #1 was a very well respected professor in her field (she liked very much to talk about the various people she had trained with and trained herself). This was cool, except for the fact that she had her favorites in the department and I was not one of them. This meant my advising meetings were about half the time of some of the other students- I would ask quite a few questions (after reading this blog I'm sure you can imagine how many questions I will ask in an actual conversation) because I was very interested in doing much of the same kind of work that she had done. But I hardly got the time of day with her. To be honest, while I was thrilled to have her as an advisor I was very happy when I switched to...

Advisor #2 who is still to this day my favorite advisor. After one conversation with me he suggested a completely different track within the field that I was studying, and immediately figured out where my actual interests were. While he was not as well known in the field, he taught some of the most interesting classes I've ever taken and always had advice on whatever I wanted to ask him about- from extracurricular activities to other classes he didn't teach. He kept in touch with me as well as many other students after we left the college for some years and was still even then a great person to approach for questions.

Advisor #3 was at a different college and we simply did not see eye to eye. Ever. He wanted me to follow the track that he taught (never mind that it was a complete 180 from my interests and prior education that advisor #2 laid the foundation for). It's frustrating as a student to have the person who is supposed to be helping you never really listen to where you're trying to go with your education and career. However, there was another professor who taught the classes that I really liked who was much more helpful in assisting me at this time.

Advisor #4 was at yet another university, this one of over 50,000 students. I met him only once in the course of two or so years. He signed the papers needed for graduation, asked how my last class was going and flipped out when I said "Fine...". He kept asking "Just, fine?" Well... yes! I was fairly indifferent to it at that point and I didn't see the use of getting all excited over the last week of classes. I told him I was passing it with a good grade and there was nothing to worry about. I really couldn't get out of the office fast enough.

Advisor #5 in grad school was pretty good. He really had some good suggestions for my classes and helped me get an independent study so I could live 200 miles from the campus and finish the last class. Again, it made a big difference that he listened to what I wanted to do and based on my employment history (in higher education) and prior education (in fine arts) he was able to really help me get my thoughts in order for after my graduation.

Advisor #6 is my current advisor, for my final thesis/capstone project that will finish my graduate degree. Granted I am living about 200 miles from campus so in person meetings are more than a little hard, but the beauty of email is I can instantly send her everything that I'm working on, and typically she gets it back quickly. That is, when she's not busy. It's been a little frustrating trying to finish the degree and having to wait and wait and wait for her schedule to allow her the time to take a look at my work when I'm trying to wrap everything up quite quickly at this point. Granted yes, I know she's busy at the school, but it's frustrating being in the position of having to wait for your adviser's approval and spin your wheels in place until that happens.

So I've run the spectrum from very involved to barely knowing my advisor. I recommend highly trying to get to know him/her and open yourself up to that person enough that you can get good advice from him/her. You won't always get along. That's frustrating, but it happens. When it does I would recommend either trying to switch to someone else once you've gotten to know a few professors or just do what I did and have an informal advisor. Either way, having someone at the school who knows you as more than just a name on a paper or a seat in class will be beneficial when you run into the inevitable roadblocks that will come up.

Program size at college...

Lately I've been working on a project outside of Anycollege that is involving several high school students who are going to be seniors next year and are starting to narrow down their search for colleges. While talking to them (as many of them are considering going to college for the same undergraduate degree I have) an interesting topic has come up: the size of the department that you're going to.

Most college search and fit characteristics tend to revolve around location of the campus (city/rural), overall size of the campus, extracurricular opportunities, class size etc.... but very rarely do I ever hear come up "how big is the department?"

This might seem like it directly relates to class size but I don't believe this is the case.

Reason being, you can have a tiny department, but this could mean they only offer some classes every other year, thus forcing two years worth of classes to take it all at once and doubling the amount of people in the class.

Also, there is access to opportunity. Again, the key is to find the happy medium. If it's super small you may be guaranteed the chance to get involved in everything your academic department or school does, thus giving you a lot of opportunity but not much competition. On the other hand, you can have a larger department where students have to compete to get a shot to be involved, but can't always be in everything thus decreasing involvement. (Or, the department can be huge and competition can be crazy and you can only be involved occasionally... ) So what's the best route?

I think it depends on your personality, what you are comfortable with, what your career goals are and how you feel about the campus. Again, a small department you'll get to know everyone very well (some will say too well) but a larger department you'll have more opportunity to meet more people but maybe not get to know everyone quite as well.

However, I do think you should also seriously consider the size of your academic department when looking for a college, in addition to all of those other things. Sure it's one more thing to look at, but if you make the right choice the first time you'll be much more successful and happier down the road. [Insert my theme of transferring is a pain here].

What do you think? Is department size something to consider?