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Freshmen classes need to be restructured

By on February 22, 2010 2:00 am in Letters / 10 comments

 
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Some classes at Central Michigan University are fit for the village idiot.

Students should not pay upwards of $20,000 in an academic year to take dumbed-down classes. I’ve been very discouraged by the content of introductory and 100-level courses, as well as the attitudes toward them from both students and faculty.

Although freshman semester is a transitional period, the idea that introductory and competency courses need to be overly simplified for student success is absurd. It is creating issues for students such as myself who truly value an education.

CMU should provide students with the academic resources they need to succeed, but not decrease expectations. It is an insult to our intelligence.

Consider an introductory course you’ve taken and the difference in attendance between a typical class period and an exam day.

If grade distribution reports weren’t nixed, you could see for yourself that in virtually all introductory courses, a majority of students pass — even those who don’t regularly attend class.

I do not want to pay for a course that doesn’t even require my attendance in order to pass.

I came here to learn and to demonstrate how much I have learned to my professors. How can I do that when one of my multiple choice selections is “Big Mac,” and exams are designed for students who don’t excel?

An understanding of the material doesn’t do me any good when the exam is aiming to allow time for those students who take just 15 minutes to bluff some ideas, but not enough for those of us who possess a thorough knowledge of the information and are left writing frantically until time is up.

CMU should work with faculty to improve the content and rigor of courses while keeping the excelling student in mind, and should remove professors who do not take seriously the educational and fiscal value of a challenging introductory or lower-level course.

First-year education is not a joke — don’t treat it that way.

Colleen McNeely
Brighton freshman

 

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  • mossdale

    There’s a simple solution to your problem. Don’t take 100-level classes if you do not find them challenging (or take only those that are required of you). There’s also the Honors program: if you feel like courses in the general curriculum are “dumbed down” then maybe you should look into Honors. My point is that there are resources on campus for students who don’t feel as though they are being challenged in the classroom. It is your responsibility to search them out and to get involved with them.

    The challenge to teaching at CMU is that the students possess a broad level of skills and abilities — especially freshmen. In introductory classes (and beyond, I might add), professors are often required to deal with students who lack writing and analytical skills as well as those who really excel in those areas. What is your suggestion on dealing with this in the classroom? Professors have to try and meet these very diverse needs, and it is very difficult to do so. What to you may seem like “dumbing down” may be an effort on the part of the professor to make courses accessible to all students.

  • Rob Hayes

    I think her point was that the information provided in lectures should be valuable, and someone who does not attend class (with the exception of exam days), should not pass the class with ease. This is not the popular opinion, but I agree with Colleen on this one.

    As for classes being “dumbed down,” I agree with you–to an extent. I am not particularly strong in math and science. I do need professors to speak slower when going over the material. However, life should not be made easier for the student or professor just because it is a 100-level course.

  • Dawson

    mossdale,

    It’s not just 100 level classes that are dumbed down. I’ve had several 400 and 500 level classes that were still dumbed down for the village idiot. Poorly formatted fill-in-the-blank powerpoints probably made overseas, summarized only on small chunks of sections from a textbook they “suggest” we buy.

    The honors program is only different in that the number of students in the class is a little smaller. Shortly summarized powerpoints are still used.

  • Colleen McNeely

    Mossdale, you say that the solution to this problem is to not take 100-level courses or to take honors courses instead, but the overlying issue here is that all students deserve the $20,000 per year education they pay for. Whether or not a student qualifies for the honors program should not determine the value of education they will be provided – in fact, that is an unfair and bias notion. Furthermore, as you suggested, 100-level courses are required. 100-level courses should provide fundamental knowledge of the subjects they cover and thus should be stressed as important, not as insignificant courses taken only as a necessity, as is the common attitude. This is college – students should not have to seek a challenge; they should be presented with a challenge and seek resources to overcome it, if necessary.
    My suggestion for professors who face the issue of varied skills and abilities in the classroom is, again, to refer those students who struggle to some of the many existing resources on campus. Tutors, supplemental instruction, the writing center, and the math assistance center are resources available already to students, invalidating any excuses for the lowering of student expectations. The course should not demote itself to the level of the lowest student; this is unfair to the students who are capable of the course expectations as delineated by the curriculum.

  • Jim O’Bryan

    Although I’ve never heard of it, I thought the term was “dumb down” — maybe that’s why I’m not the journalism major.

    The information is important in all classes, and the need for the information to be tested adequately is also a necessity. The way in which the material is presented is very sub-par and boring. Today, students need to be involved to feel it is important to them, and this also helps with retention of material (you remember more of what you teach, over just hearing it or writing it down or reading it). Imagine a class where the students spent half the time learning and the other half teaching… You’ll prepare the students for and/or help them with public interactions, (fear of) public speaking, articulation of speech, knowing the material, and the ability to be properly tested.
    We do not need 200 students, sitting in lecture halls, listening to the teacher spit off power point slides, while they take even shorter notes. It is a reduction of overall reading and interacting with the material, which is (even for 100 level classes) bad.

  • mossdale

    What people seem to be complaining about is not what I would call “dumbing down” a course. Most seem to object to the use of powerpoints, or, in other words, they are objecting to the way the material is presented — not the material that is presented in and of itself.

    I use powerpoints in my classroom, but the material I present is not “dumbed down.” And I hate to say it, but those who complain about the use of powerpoints (or being able to have access to them, for example, over blackboard) are far in the minority if my evaluations are anything to go by. Most students tell me that the best thing about my class is the fact that my notes (on my powerpoints) being available to them is a good thing.

    I teach my honors courses differently than my gen ed courses. They are far more interactive, involve group activities and participation etc. If you are taking honors courses that are simply lecture format, you should complain about the professor to the honors program. In fact, the faculty handbook that they give to all honors faculty clearly stresses that these courses are not lecture courses.

    Sure, we don’t need courses with 200 students in them, but we have them here at CMU. Most universities do. What is a professor supposed to do in that situation? What is the format of the class supposed to be? You cannot run a 200 person course as a seminar.

    Also, it is the student’s responsibility to, at least in part, become engaged with the material at hand. Professors are not comedians or entertainers. If the class is boring, or you hate lecture, ASK QUESTIONS! There is nothing I like better than to have that happen in my classes. I tell students that from day one, and I ask students if they have questions or comments in every single class I teach. I rarely get any response.

    People seem to think that it is the professor’s responsibility to make classes “fun.” You know, it really is both the professor’s and the student’s responsibility to do this. I see a lot of complaining about professors here, and very little of anyone taking responsibility for their own learning and engagement in learning. I can only do so much!!

  • Dawson

    “Sure, we don’t need courses with 200 students in them, but we have them here at CMU. Most universities do. What is a professor supposed to do in that situation?”

    I don’t know, ask a professor who taught before powerpoint was invented.

    People communicate by talking to each other. I just don’t understand why a 2nd medium, on top of a textbook, is needed. Why buy a textbook AND use powerpoint? Then on top of that, you have overhead notes. So now we have the textbook, powerpoints, and overhead notes.

    Why can’t professors just use one?

  • Glenn

    Some 100 level course can be “opted out” of by high AP/IB scores and competency exams (for example, ENG 101 or MTH 132). As people have mentioned, another route may be taking honors classes or independent studies. If you still don’t feel like you’re being challenged, maybe the school isn’t the best fit for you and you should go to someplace more “rigorous.” *shrug*

    Another issue then becomes what the actual subject is–some courses (such as FYE 101, if I understand it correctly) are meant to simply get students acclimated to college, not to discuss post-structural theory, existentialism, and Derrida.

    This may also be a thing where you can communicate with your professor about your learning goals–I’m sure if you wanted to be held to a higher level of accountability, a professor may be game to do so.

  • Jim O’Bryan

    Students don’t complain about powerpoint notes because it is easier on them to have it presented like that. When you make class easier, you make the merit of the class diminish, and then students don’t take it seriously. This accounts for students paying less attention, retaining less information, attending class less and involving themselves less. Ask the students how they want to be taught.

  • Jill

    Teachers don’t have much of a choice and have to keep it simple since many students go into college with little skills. If it is so easy I suggest that you start college in high school. Students do have an option to test out and I know many that do this. It is the experience not just taking a test and if you want to go beyond to gain further knowledge it is possible. As Bradbury would say the library is also a wonderful place to learn and free.