A Vision of Students Today

[XboxRocks1991]

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Please discuss what message you got out of this video.

[rumfinator]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Most of this is true. I go to class and watch about 5 to 10 students sit on their laptops and play virtual beer pong. I do my fair share of goofing off in class, but at the end of the semester my g.p.a still reads 3.5 -4.0.

I think a big problem in class rooms today is the Professors teaching style does not evolve with the changing student. That may be their fault or may be the fault of government restrictions on education.

During my junior year of UW-Platteville, the university introduced a freshman seminar class that is designed to help students deal with collegiate life. Unfortunately the class just helps to assign more homework and scare students about the stresses of college.

I am in my last year of college (on track to student teach in fall 08) and I feel that the only classes that have taught me anything are English composition, and industrial control systems.

[Herbsinator]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Whose fault is it that students are sitting on facebook during class and not doing assigned readings? Whose fault is it for not showing up to class? Some people may say they skip class because it doesn't engage them or they can't connect with it, but everyone knows what the real reasons are. Students are either too lazy, hungover, drunk, high, or they made the choice to go do something else. Trust me, I'm a student, and I've been there. I've skipped classes before and I'll probably skip classes again, but you'll never see me blame it on a teacher...it's on me. Students, especially in America, need to man the F up. We don't know how good we've got things. Take responsibility for yourself, your actions, and your ideas! This is what really pisses me off about my generation.

I do have mixed feelings on the video. I think the message portrayed within the video misses the point. But I do agree that there is a problem with the educational system at universities and I do agree that professors should ALWAYS be looking for new and innovative ways to teach students. But students shouldn't blame their laziness on the fact that their teachers didn't motivate them enough. At the end of the day, it is up to the student to do the assignment. Furthermore, it is up to the student to take meaning and relevancy away from the assignments. You can process the information and regurgitate it on the test, or you can process the information and apply it to your everyday life. You would be amazed how much more interesting classes seem when you take the second approach. No matter how much universities change the system...it is still up to the students to learn.

And another thing...The whole social injustices thing. "War, inequality, ethnic conflict, pollution"....do you want a social injustice...how about the fact that there are only white faces in that video. Maybe education is still a privilege for certain people?

And then they go on to say:
"I did not create the problems

But they are my problems"

Last time I checked...like it or not...we all are responsible for pollution. And these problems aren't just my generation's problems...these are everyone's problems.

If these problems are such a big deal for these people...then get off your facebook page, drop out of college and do something about it...don't sit here and just complain about it.

But with that said, I think the video is a step in the right direction. It is good to know that there are teachers out there that are trying new and innovative techniques to engage students and this video is evidence of that...even if they did miss the point, imo.

But man...my generation is a bunch of pansies.

Makes me wanna puke

[Cebby]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

It's really unfortunate that our generation is the only one with big classes, kids who skip school, teachers who don't know every name, and kids who are stressed.

Wait a minute, my mother had the exact same problems, and if her parents weren't dead broke, they probably would have had the same problems. All of those problems are 100% attributable to that specific student (the Africa nonsense aside).

Teacher doesn't know your name? Go talk to him/her. You spend too much time online? In Spring of last year, I managed to survive school with 0 hours of the internet outside of waiting between classes.

[CMH]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Students are definitely responsible but some credit should be taken by professors and teachers.

I could count the number of classes I skipped in my four years at Stonehill College in one hand (and that included taking a full course of classes every summer with the exception of one when I did an internship).

So I was there. I was ready to listen. And yet I can recall one class that I didn't care for at all. It was about Microsoft Access and what a pathetic class that was. EVERYONE did nothing but search the internet all day as the man talked. He taught us nothing of value. Homework was as easy as developing something on Access and none of the stuff was complex. Not sure what the purpose of that class was till this day.

I bring it up because bad professors will make students very uninterested. The toughest classes I took, I had the benefit of being taught by amazing professors that made the workload bearable because I saw immediate results and responses.

Students want that. When professors have large classes and several classes in one semester it isn't always possible for them to know who you are unless you basically bother them every minute of the day. I don't think a student should have to do that. But when you go to class and you don't have a personal relationship with a teacher you may feel as if you're wasting your time. You can read the book yourself and skip the class.

I felt that way for a couple of courses I took. When a professor reads straight from a book and just puts up slides for 3 hours that's not a fun class. That's not a class that students want to go to. And it was always those classes that students skipped.

I can't fault students for that when it's clearly the professor that is making the education boring.

I agree that students take the load of the responsibility here but don't take anything away from bad teachers. They have a huge affect on education and a student's interest in it.

[ehh]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Same old BS in this country, pass the blame on to someone/something else for our problems. No one wants to take a pro active approach or take charge to fix something. They sit back with their "woe is me" attitude and make YouTube videos complaining about it.

My upper classmen years I did not buy a single text book. I would either split the cost of the book with a few of my friends or people I knew or I would find one person in the class who's text I could borrow and pay them $5 for each time I would use it. Oh, that or the school library had a copy of every single text book and this book could not be signed out and leave the library. So I would go to the lib, get the text and sit in the corner and study. That probably saved me $2,000 right there.

As for Facebook/laptops and screwing off in class/your free time - that's your decision. If you're not mature enough to show some self-control and not view 1,281 Facebook profiles a semester (or whatever the stat was) then it's your fault, NOT THE SYSTEMS'.

Show some creativity and spend your ambition and free time figuring out ways to better your experience, not make YouTube videos complaining about it.

[jmood88]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

It's really unfortunate that our generation is the only one with big classes, kids who skip school, teachers who don't know every name, and kids who are stressed.

Wait a minute, my mother had the exact same problems, and if her parents weren't dead broke, they probably would have had the same problems. All of those problems are 100% attributable to that specific student (the Africa nonsense aside).

Teacher doesn't know your name? Go talk to him/her. You spend too much time online? In Spring of last year, I managed to survive school with 0 hours of the internet outside of waiting between classes.

How dare you say that problems existed before now.

[jmood88]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

My upper classmen years I did not buy a single text book. I would either split the cost of the book with a few of my friends or people I knew or I would find one person in the class who's text I could borrow and pay them $5 for each time I would use it. Oh, that or the school library had a copy of every single text book and this book could not be signed out and leave the library. So I would go to the lib, get the text and sit in the corner and study. That probably saved me $2,000 right there.

That's not possible at every school.

[PVarck31]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Some great comments here. One thing that bothers me about college is the fact that if you need to take out student loans, by the time you graduate you could be 50, 60 thousand dollars in debt or more. With todays job market it seems like people don't even get a job in their degree field and most make less than 60 grand a year. So I ask myself if college is even worth it from a finacial standpoint.

[jmood88]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

The one thing that I don't understand is why people don't drop classes but only show up two times a quarter. It makes no sense to me.

[MachoMyers]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Every teach book I needed for my Education degree in the US I bought used on Amazon for between $4-$10. If you are savvy enough you can get around spending the ludacris about of money schools charge.

[jmood88]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Every teach book I needed for my Education degree in the US I bought used on Amazon for between $4-$10. If you are savvy enough you can get around spending the ludacris about of money schools charge.

Not really. I've gone all over the place trying to get books and it's still overpriced, not to mention that just about every place takes anywhere from 10 days to a month to send the book. I got a book almost two months after I bought it online.

[Karlos05]

Re: A Vision of Students Today

Makes me want to watch Animal House