tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post3194471562951159462..comments2023-11-02T09:44:15.693-04:00Comments on The Center for College Affordability and Productivity: Hedonistic College StudentsCenter for College Affordability and Productivityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18041956958538598371noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-11080400993612859282010-03-10T14:59:02.953-05:002010-03-10T14:59:02.953-05:00Actually Andy, the professor is correctly using th...Actually Andy, the professor is correctly using the subjunctive.<br /><br />The "I suspect the average student" sends the rest of the sentence into the subjunctive mood, and it is correct to use "study" here.<br /><br />Keeping in mind though that this use of the subjunctive is becoming archaic which is probably why you didn't recognize it.Kadimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04341840022248976546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-2766226558309652462010-03-10T08:23:06.694-05:002010-03-10T08:23:06.694-05:00Perhaps Richard himself should have spent more tim...Perhaps Richard himself should have spent more time at school . . . elementary school. To quote "I suspect the average student at, say, Yale, study more per week than the average student at, say, my university (Ohio University)."<br /><br />The average student . . . studies, not study. Ouch.Andy Papphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11470044425101516456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-3100141504045366872010-03-10T00:13:33.876-05:002010-03-10T00:13:33.876-05:00I disagree.
"Never let schooling interfere w...I disagree.<br /><br />"Never let schooling interfere with your education." - Mark TwainUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01619130652945638067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-11505928825399780982010-03-09T03:18:00.211-05:002010-03-09T03:18:00.211-05:00I winced when I read
I suspect the average stude...I winced when I read <br /><br /><i>I suspect the average student at, say, Yale, study more per week than the average student at, say, my university (Ohio University).</i><br /><br />What leads you to this conclusion? After all, the prestige of the Yale degree and its networking opportunities are extraordinary. I would be willing to bet that an individuals with a Yale degree and a 2.0 GPA is in a better position than an OU grad with a 4.0 GPA. Based on that, why assume that the average Yale student would be more industrious. If anything, I'd assume the opposite.<br /><br /><i>Some of our best and ablest Americans are under worked at a time when they should be working more hours than older Americans with less physical ability to endure a hard work routine.</i><br /><br />What problem are you suggesting needs to be solved? Is it a problem of fairness/justice? Is it a pedagogical problem? The idea that going to school full time is somehow equivalent to a full time job isn't, in my mind, obvious, necessary or appropriate. (Keeping in mind of course that a significant percentage of full time jobs involve people working far less than 40 hours, that is, the work accomplished in those 40 hours can be done in far less of the time, with the only caveat that the person has to be "present" for 40 hours per week. In that regards, perhaps colleges are indeed mirroring the work world.)<br /><br />Perhaps students are solving the problem of too many college graduates (pointed out many times in this blog) all on their own. The students' hedonism is an entirely reasonable response to the fact that the degrees themselves don't have as much value as they once did, so there is little reason to take the degrees all that seriously. (It is also, possibly, a reasonable reaction to the fact that students themselves are paying significantly more for their degrees than they once were, so perhaps they are naturally demanding the experience to flex to their tastes.)<br /><br />I'm not convinced of the grade inflation argument--simply because grades have been and always will be determined by an arbitrary set of decisions. Naturally, those arbitrary set of decisions move around with time.Kadimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04341840022248976546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-862171687028399462010-03-08T20:44:53.536-05:002010-03-08T20:44:53.536-05:00I hope this article is a joke. It contains the dum...I hope this article is a joke. It contains the dumbest argument I have seen in a while.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-11217887388503831212010-03-08T13:50:25.484-05:002010-03-08T13:50:25.484-05:00I don't think grade deflation is the same as s...I don't think grade deflation is the same as standard deflation. The two have a mutual independence, so there are certain instances where an apparent lack of grade inflation is hiding standard deflation.<br /><br />The University of Texas, where I went to school, does not appear to suffer from grade inflation if you look at the statistics. But that doesn't mean there isn't a problem. I could see systematic standard deflation, especially in the humanities. I constantly produced mediocre papers, because I knew I was going to get an A. Many of the students I tutored, did not have adequate writing skills or suffered from an overall lack of cognitive ability. In essence, I could evaluate the relative performance of my peers, and determine what level of work I needed to put in to succeed. Most of the time, I knew I didn't have to try too hard. <br /><br />Standards vary widely across schools, especially in the humanities, where grading is much more subjective. I'm hesitant to attack elite schools for grade inflation, because they do have many strong students who are capable of mastering subject material.<br /><br />I do acknowledge that grade inflation is a problem as well. But I think standard deflation is a bigger problem.The Asian of Reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07518010845263444471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-5091279683051765412010-03-08T11:15:38.515-05:002010-03-08T11:15:38.515-05:00I agree that there has also been standard deflatio...I agree that there has also been standard deflation. But do you think this is the same phenomenon as grade inflation? Or, do you think that there is causal relationship, a mutual independence, or something else?Daniel L. Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993081658442740459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31670799.post-36198626528465716942010-03-08T10:14:09.167-05:002010-03-08T10:14:09.167-05:00My personal observations have led me to conclude t...My personal observations have led me to conclude that the problem is not grade inflation, but standard deflation, which are related, but the effects of each can make the real picture blurry.The Asian of Reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07518010845263444471noreply@blogger.com