<p>January 18, 2011</p>
<p>Are Undergraduates Actually Learning Anything?
By Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa</p>
<p>Drawing on survey responses, transcript data, and results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment (a standardized test taken by students in their first semester and at the end of their second year), Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa concluded that a significant percentage of undergraduates are failing to develop the broad-based skills and knowledge they should be expected to master. Here is an excerpt from Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (University of Chicago Press), their new book based on those findings.</p>
<p>Continued: [Are</a> Undergraduates Actually Learning Anything? - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Are-Undergraduates-Actually/125979/]Are”>http://chronicle.com/article/Are-Undergraduates-Actually/125979/)</p>
<p>No. Because colleges are teaching stuff that really is not important to students on a daily basis. It’s a way for them to make money by forcing the students to stay there longer.</p>
<p>In a local library, I saw a book [The</a> Five Year Party](<a href=“http://www.thefiveyearparty.com/][i]The”>http://www.thefiveyearparty.com/) that basically said the same thing occurs at many lower tier four year residential colleges and universities, which the author (who was a faculty member at such a school) calls “party schools”.</p>
<p>I saw this article and thought it was very interesting. My own college time 25 years ago was quite hit-and-miss in terms of whether I learned specific skills/gained knowledge in given classes. I went to a top university, and know that I could have (and sometimes did) take classes that did not really advance my knowledge in any productive way. Sometimes I wondered why I was there… </p>
<p>I have come to think of a college education as more than just an academic skill building exercise, though. Here are some of the things I think it is for:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>To some extent, it is a safe “parking place” for kids while they grow up a little more before going out into the world. It is an intermediate step between living at home and being entirely on their own with responsibiity to provide for themselves and fulfill adult obligations.</p></li>
<li><p>It is a place for kids to gain experience with people who are not like themselves and their families and their hometown friends. This was HUGE for me. I can still remember some completely eye-opening conversations and friendships I developed in my dorm, classes, and extra-curricular actvities.</p></li>
<li><p>It can be a place for exploration. I discovered some things I was good at (Anthropology, Computer Science, Marketing), and some that I wasn’t good at (Chemistry, German, and Finance… ick). And I gained confidence (licked that college Calculus course that my dad said I was going to fail - hah!)</p></li>
<li><p>It is, rightly or wrongly, proof to an employer that you can stick with something to completion. That you are organized enough to complete degree requirements, and can succeed in a variety of different subjects (if you college requires them).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>That said, if students are coming into college without basic communications (including writing) skills and math skills, it is sad that they can leave without having acquired them, and not a good reflection on the colleges they attend.</p>