Nov. 16

Ignorant of Their Ignorance

My undergraduate students can’t accurately predict their academic performance or skill levels. Earlier in the semester, a writing assignment on study styles revealed that 14 percent of my undergraduate English composition students considered themselves “overachievers.” Not one of those students was receiving an A in my course by midterm. Fifty percent were receiving a C, another third was receiving B’s and the remainder had earned failing grades by midterm. One student wrote, “overachievers like myself began a long time ago.” She received a 70 percent on her first paper and a low C at midterm.

A solid 40 percent of my undergraduate English composition students described themselves as “overachieving if they liked the subject.” The grades for these students, understandably, were scattered. Twenty-nine percent of my undergraduates described their study styles as “normal.” Of these, 36 percent were working at a C level by midterm; another 18 percent were receiving a B, with another 18 percent receiving a D. The remaining 27 percent were failing. One student who described his study style as “normal” confessed that he rarely started assignments when they were first given out, waited until a few days before work was due to get started, and did a lot of his writing over the weekend. At midterm, he was receiving an F.

A whopping 17 percent of my undergraduates confessed to being “underachievers"-studying at the last minute, not doing the reading, and only spending a few hours on major assignments.

My data — though tremendously limited in scope-seems to be supported by Douglas Hacker’s findings. In “Test Prediction and Performance in a Classroom Context,” an article published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, Hacker and colleagues at the University of Memphis found that to a great degree, overconfidence is prevalent among low-performing students. True, Hacker’s study was with introductory psychology undergraduates rather than English composition students. But it does give me a great deal of insight as to how students predict performance. And although I don’t like the idea of considering my students “low-performers,” I admit that my state does have a weak high school system, and my university doesn’t turn paying students away. Even low-achievers are admitted under a “conditional” admission standard.

I don’t think Hacker’s experience is unique. Dozens of colleagues have told me that their undergraduates simply do not have the tools to criticize and evaluate their own work-much less predict how well they will do on assignments. What’s behind this great drop in ability to assess performance?

A colleague of mine believes that primary and secondary schools, overwhelmed with students who were never well prepared for school, students with learning disabilities, addictions, and even severe discipline problems have found themselves delivering a weakened curriculum. Yet a recent article in American Educator, “Balancing the Educational Agenda,” by Jean Johnson et al, indicates that academic standards for secondary schools are rising-a move supported not only by academics and administrators, but by parents as well. Perhaps this move is recent; those of us in postsecondary positions are, in effect, responding to the academic standards in place a decade ago. Or perhaps regions suffer differences in standards based on student population and demands of the surrounding community. Another possibility, among others, is that the curriculum shifts when administrators attempt to adopt each new trend in education.

Just as an inconsistent curriculum can cause students pain and confusion, the move from high school to college can be a hair-raising leap. High school systems with a weak curriculum (or one that is not consistently applied) can create tremendous problems later in the academic system. At my current university, a large percentage of our undergraduates have brought their high-school experience with them. Some of them are under the impression that if they now come to their college classes every day, they will pass these courses. Many of these students are stunned whey they fail their first major test or receive a D for what they thought was an award-winning essay.

Even when academic advisors warn, “college is not high school,” many of these under-prepared students continue to believe that they will receive A’s for a token effort. Clear class objectives and strongly worded syllabi are often ignored as students continue to overestimate their capabilities based on past performance. After the first major assessment, many of these students clutch at their professors’ arms, lamenting, “But I got A’s in high school.”

Colleagues often commiserate about this particular student response. After all, it’s almost impossible to respond to. Often we can only repeat that our expectations are clearly outlined in the syllabus and course outline, that we would be happy to define these further, and that they may want to drop the course if they cannot afford to dedicate time outside of class for study. One professor friend often tells students that the A’s they received in high school are simply a step toward admittance to the local university-not a guarantee of grades.

Another colleague says that the level of competition has changed from high school to college; until freshman understand that, they will be inaccurately predicting performance. And the vilification of competition has set up many students to believe that they are all doing well — regardless of outcome. As a friend of mine in teacher education says, “It’s the result of the ‘feel good 70’s’ where every child was deemed a winner. Competition was considered demoralizing. The result was a continuing trend in the 90’s which focuses on reward across the board. Today, we have turned out a glut of students who not only can’t assess themselves, but who have received awards for every little thing.” When they enroll in college, students often still have no idea how they fare when compared with other undergraduates.

A good friend on staff at a university library says that helicopter parenting also contributes to the problem. When he escorts tour groups of grade school students through his facility for a hands-on learning tour, he often sees parents and grandparents hovering so much that instead of helping young students stay focused on assignments, the children end up being spectators instead of participants in what should be their chance to “try out” a college experience. The urge to spare children from the ego blows of failure, too, often results in parents actually doing homework for children — not only in primary and secondary grades, but in college, as well. Some parents, perhaps perfectionists, have rationalized that if they “assist” their child, the task will be done in a much shorter time. Unfortunately for these children, their formative years do not allow for effort, failure, increased effort, failure, and another attempt which results in success. This set up may produce college students who can only do the most superficial work before becoming discouraged.

Another academic friend says that an inability to focus and an overwhelming desire to multi-task make it almost impossible for students to succeed academically. Staff who manage study rooms and carrels often report that students seem to work “in dribs and drabs” while in the library. Backpacks in hand, they often loiter at computers and chat at tables instead of actually working. Dependent on high-tech gadgets, these same students often feel compelled to answer phones while in study groups, and constantly check e-mail or view sites such as Facebook or MySpace during hours they had dedicated to working on assignments or doing research.

One reference desk librarian reported that she would see students “studying for four minutes, goofing off for a half an hour, and then studying for another four minutes.” Of course, these students often report to faculty that they’ve been studying for hours — which in some ways must seem like an accurate appraisal. After all, they were in the library; therefore, they must have been studying. In the end, a diminished attention span combined with the feeling that doing one thing at a time is a waste of time almost guarantees that they will not be turning in top A-level work to their professors.

This narrative is very incomplete as a study. I’m sure that sociologists, education specialists and other experts have outlined a long history and a number of interrelated causes that explain this drop out in students’ knowledge.

As an instructor of undergraduate core classes, however, I realize that my responsibility does not stop at content. I cannot simply list assessment as a course objective and then feign ignorance when my students show me again and again that they cannot predict their own performance. Strategies — not only for instruction, but also for exercises and assessment — are integral in setting my students on the right path for the remainder of their college careers. To accomplish this, I realize that I will need to work much, much harder to help my undergraduates understand assignments and expectations, rubrics and
assessments, in-class grades and the prediction of success.

Some is already in place. Like many English composition instructors, I do instill a peer-editing component to my writing courses — not only to help students view writing as a process — but to give them some tools and much-needed experience in evaluating student work. I provide instruction in how to apply rubrics to student work and often use past student work as “models.” Some students are glad for the transparency of my courses; with a detailed 16-week course outline given out at the first class, they can start relating course objectives to specific assignments throughout the semester. Lessons scaffold one on another; assessment follows thorough instruction. Still, there is much to be done. It’s clear that I need to develop more tools to help my students learn to assess their own work and predict academic performance more accurately.

Shari Wilson, who writes Nomad Scholar under a pseudonym, explores life off the tenure track.

Comments

first impressions ?

Ms. Wilson,

Some students are unable to guess what will make a good first impression. With other professors, talking about being an “overachiever” unlocks the key to a “close relationship” and higher grades. There are likely some students in your classes that are able to obtain higher grades, by, perhaps, appearing more humble, and asking you for “help.” (This is usually considered the “trick” with English professors.”)

Students need to understand that by college, a good first impression requires a “nuanced” approach. They need to study their professors more, to figure out what keywords will result in the professors not lumping them in with all of the other graduates of substandard high schools that they see.

Without exception, college professors (such as yourself) will declare themselves in various ways to be “overachievers.” But they know how to do so without appearing like arrogant high school students.

Larry, at 7:10 am EST on November 16, 2006

Back to basics

How much simpler does assessment have to be? Must employers, be the final assessors (or rejectors) of graduates?

First, assess upon entrance. If remediation required — return student to sender(s).

Second, upon entrance — establish firm requirements. Examples: show up on time; pay attention; and be prepared.

Third, assess just prior to graduation. If minimal standards not met — return student to class.

More action, less talk, please. There has already been enough talk.

B.D., at 8:10 am EST on November 16, 2006

Shorter Larry:

1. Ms. Wilson, the students who call themselves “overachievers” are trying to kiss your *ss.

2. Why are you making it so hard for them to reach?

Maurice Meilleur, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, at 8:10 am EST on November 16, 2006

Hacker’s study combines in an interesting way with this traditional litany of how unprepared today’s students are. I am unclear which generation of students was as prepared as their professors wanted them to be, since I’ve been reading variations on this article for twenty years. The implication is usually that it’s the professor’s generation. Two interesting possibilities: 1)Hacker is right, and the author’s professors were saying the same thing about his generation. 2) Future professors are not typical students.In either case I think as educators we should be cheerful about working with the students we have.

Chris Strauber, Wofford College, at 9:07 am EST on November 16, 2006

Grading practices

Shari,How do you know that your grading practices are appropriate? Perhaps the low grades are caused by your excessive expectations.

Jeremy, at 9:07 am EST on November 16, 2006

Standardization Squashes Studying

The rise of standardized testing in the era of NCLB has squashed the ability of students to learn how to properly study. The notion that standardized tests have helped schools improve is only applicable if you believe that the purpose of education is to supply information in rote form to be spewed back on some mandatory measuring stick. As the targets rise each year so do the expectations of those holding the purse strings and any sense of balance between ‘learning how to learn’ and ‘teaching to the test’ is thrown out of whack in favor of the latter.

The situations described in the essay are only going to get worse until we reach a point where all students know is what they are spoon fed and the ability to think critically (or even absentmindedly) about any topic will be unimaginable. Students coming up through the quagmire of NCLB testing “think” they are good students because they meet basic proficiency levels nd get passed on to the next grade. There has been so much pressure placed upon educators and administrators to reach testing targets that less and less time is devoted to teaching students how to thnk for themselves instead of what they will be asked on the next round of standardized tests (which, ironically, claim to be measures of students critical thinking skills!).

bostondann, at 9:07 am EST on November 16, 2006

Our Culture of Aspiration

I always wondered about this: when asked, all students said they wanted to get A’s. Yet, few did. But no one said they wanted to get a B !!! After reading this, I wonder if the “culture of aspiration” that fuels America’s rampant credentialism doesn’t overwhelm critical self-appraisal. The fact that high grades are attainable (by some) is reflexively attributed to oneself, without any sense of obstacles. I always asked about obstacles next, and some had significant issues preventing high grade attainment, yet these constraints did not affect their predicted levels of attainment. Merely a critical thinking issue? The other piece is the sense of entitlement that incoming freshmen had. As discussed in the article, they performed well in high school, and did not expect this to change. They had no personal experience to help them interpret the phrase, “college is not high school.” They had no context for making that statement meaningful, because to them, school is all the same. (They might be right: did you see the movie “Accepted” ?) My thanks for such a thought provoking piece.

Glen McGhee, FHEAP, at 9:31 am EST on November 16, 2006

Ignorant of their Ignorance

By the time students get to college, most have had teachers from 3rd grade on teach them 5-10 different ways to approach writing—none building on past knowledge. They have listened to years of teachers telling them that they need to be prepared for the next year because its so demanding, only to find that it isn’t particularly demanding. And they have had teachers over predict how much time they will need to complete work, and/ or a curriculum where large projects are parceled out in pieces so that they have never learned to manage their time.

I think it is no surprise that students come in with no study skills, an inability to self assess, and a tendancy to ignore the stated expectations for your class.

Your students are really fortunate that you are taking the time to build these skills. You might consider adding to what you are already doing, some guidelines for how students should be spending their time out of class. It doesn’t mean much to tell students that they need to spend 3 hours studying for every hour of class. They need to know what they should be doing with that time.

L.S., at 9:31 am EST on November 16, 2006

Ms. Wilson is right. These students are the same kids who, as children, get trophies for attending and/or losing their athletic games. They are not punished nor receive any consequences to their bad grades or slacking in high school. When they get to college, they think they should be rewarded for just making it out of bed by 9 a.m. How do I know? I work with them when they get out of college! They are the same way at 22 or 24 years old. I believe Jeremy is wrong when he says “Perhaps the low grades are caused by your [Ms. Wilson’s] excessive expectations."The expectations on today’s youth are not excessive, they are almost non-existent!

kw, at 10:30 am EST on November 16, 2006

Ignorance

I see this in the class I’m teaching. I teach philosophy (as an adjunct) for the local community college. If philosophy were not required for degrees in health professions, I think no one would take the course. As far as I can tell, a couple of students look over the text right before class while the majority completely ignores it. Perhaps they’re hoping my lecture will tell them everything they need to know.

I struggle with knowing what to expect of them. From the side of the discipline of philosophy, I have very high expectations. From the side of looking at their lives — usually at least one full time job and a family (with many single mothers) in addition to any other courses they’re taking — I can see they’ve clearly bitten off more than they can chew.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing for me — and this relates to what you say about their lack of self-knowledge — is that no one ever comes to me for help. They very rarely ask any questions. Instead of seeing themselves as beyond ignorance, however, I think many of them have simply despaired of ever understanding and just want to get through this hoop and get on to what they “really” need to know to be a nurse, dental hygienist, etc.

Richard H, at 11:05 am EST on November 16, 2006

I read the comments to the various article in Inside Higher Ed with a certain amount of amusement. I am, of course, amused by the number oF typos,, wrong language usage, and mispelins in the responses from the higher education community. I am also amused by the number of respondents who use pseudonyms to hide behind.

In response to the article on Ignorance, I think the one thing so many professors forget is that they, just like the counter people at McDonald’s, are part of a service organization. I am not here to flunk students or weed them out; I am here to teach them. My father used to say that ignorance was curable, but you are stuck with stupidity. Like Chris Strauber I enjoy my students very much, and I like to think I am part of the cure.

Richard Baker, Associate Professor at Kansas State University, at 11:15 am EST on November 16, 2006

A Complex Issue

I think this issue is more complex than the article makes it seem.

For starters, as far as I can tell the survey Wilson conducted did not ask students to predict their success in the class. It asked them to compare their study habits with those of their peers. In my experience, it most certainly IS “Normal” for students to “rarely [start] assignments when they [are] first given out, [wait] until a few days before work [is] due to get started,” and do a lot of the work over the weekend. It may not be what will lead to good marks, but it’s the standard modus operandi of a significant number of college students, including myself as an undergraduate. I’m only amazed that so many of Wilson’s students claimed to have better study habits than that.

Second, I agree with Wilson that self-assessment needs to be taught. It’s not something any of us were born knowing how to do, so why do we expect our students to know how to assess their work when no one has ever taught them? High school certainly isn’t going to teach them; it’s too great a risk to the authority of high school teachers, whose sole basis of authority (it often seems to me) is the right to judge student work.

Third, there has been some discussion at my institution recently about students’ perceptions of grades, and it may or may not surprise you to learn that many students feel that grades are almost completely subjective and depend a great deal on the instructor-student relationship. Students don’t connect grades with their work.

A possible reason that students don’t connect grades with their work is that grades often do not reflect student learning. Regardless of whether placement testing occurs, our students come into our classes with varying strengths, weaknesses and levels of ability. A student who comes in with one of the lowest levels of ability in the class may work his/her tail off, and actually make a lot of progress, but still not earn a good grade in the course because he/she was not able to perform at a level the instructor deems satisfactory during a summative assessment.

To summarize, I agree with Wilson that students do need clear statements of instructors’ expectations (i.e. learning outcomes) and they do need to be taught how to assess their own work. Students also need to understand what the performance level indicators are for course learning outcomes (what does achievement look like?), how each assignment relates back to learning outcomes for the course (why are we doing this?), and how their grades for assignments are based on the performance levels of those outcomes (why did I receive this grade?).

Sione Aeschliman, Assessment Specialist at Central Oregon Community College, at 2:10 pm EST on November 16, 2006

We are all overconfident

Being ingnorant of one’s own ignorance is not peculiar to students but is a well-studied phenomenon (overconfidence) that is familiar to psychologists. Most people overestimate the accuracy of their knowledge and judgments. Overconfidence is related to a host of other thinking errors, such as the false consensus effect in which we overestimate others’ agreement with us.

Patrick Mattimore, Psychology Teacher, at 3:40 pm EST on November 16, 2006

Patrick is of course right that this kind of overconfidence isn’t unique to students, let alone this generation of students.

But I do this that there’s something specific about writing courses that intensifies overconfidence: the fact that the ability to write well is very closely bound up with the ability to recognize good writing.

Students who can’t write an arguable thesis statement themselves couldn’t find the thesis in someone else’s essay, so how could they know it was missing from theirs? Students who don’t provide evidence for their claims can’t distinguish between rhetoric and argument from other authors.

This is different from a course that requires recall of facts, where students tend to be more aware that they’re drawing a blank, or can at least recognize, when shown a better exam, that it included a lot more facts than they did. It’s also different from problem solving courses, where students who aren’t doing well are often just plain stumped — and know it.

Good writing and good reading are two sides of the same coin, and students who can’t write well (yet!) can’t yet be good critical readers of their own work. It’s not (usually) a moral failing, and it can be addressed in the classroom.

Laura, teaching assistant at interdiscplinary writing program, at 7:30 pm EST on November 16, 2006

Aargh

For any number of reasons, I detest the argument put forward above by Richard Baker that professors, “just like the counter people at McDonald’s, are part of a service organization.” But for the sake of argument let’s accept the premise for a moment: Yes, we’re here to teach students, but we’re also here to certify on behalf of future employers that students have mastered certain skills and/or bodies of knowledge. If students do not exhibit that mastery, whatever the reason, it is our obligation to fail them. Very few of us take any pleasure in doing so, but refusing to do so because we “enjoy [our] students very much” (as one would enjoy a Big Mac?) does an enormous disservice to students, employers, the university, and the entire educational enterprise.

Shane in Utah, at 6:40 am EST on November 17, 2006

Learning to be accountable

Children learn what they live! Over the past thirty years one major factor attributes to the out comes of educational ignorance, the squashing of personal accountability. Who is responsible for turning-out/launching these over-privilaged-do-as-you-please kids-without the learning experience of consequences.....Mummy and Dado...who if their child fails a grade or is misplaced in society will go to lengths to blame others, cover-up their child’s mistakes by putting-off the learning experience of consequence. They teach their children to brush-off their personal responsibilities by poorly rearing their children. Moreover, teaching their children to manipulate the learning out- comes with the attitude of some-type of bail-out. Most usually by making threats to their instructors (poor student rating and or complaining to administration and lets not forget the gossip they spread). The proof of good parenting is for parents to teach personal responsiblity along with accountability by giving their children consequences. Unless more parents embrace their own personal accountability it becomes more our responsibility to demonstrate educational empathy by failing these student’s and not passing-them-on because we are afraid of the backlash that comes when we remain true to the truth ” your child is not academically functioning at optimum because they do not take responsibility for the course work."Alex deJesus

Alex deJesus

Alexa dejesus, at 9:50 am EST on November 17, 2006

Comments from a Floridian

I was very struck by Shari Wilson’s article; it seemed to encapsulate many of the issues my students and I had struggled with this semester at one of Florida’s community colleges. I’ve asked my students to read and comment on the article on this board, and I am hoping they will.

If I might make one comment (in the knowledge that Glen McGhee of FHEAP may be reading this): My students and I agreed that part of the problem resulted from the study technique they had been taught in their high schools. The students refer to it as “speed reading.” They have been taught to underline two or three “main ideas” in a sentence, then select, from a group of multiple choice answers, the one that contains the most underlined words. Using this method, they may be able to guess the correct answer even if they do not know the meanings of the underlined words. This “speed-reading” may prepare them for the high-stakes test we know as the FCAT, but it does nothing to prepare them for college-level reading.

Interestingly, this method teaches them to disregard any negation words in a sentence, so that “X is not Y” is read as “X is Y.” It also teaches them to disregard sentence structure. When my students were first trying to paraphrase sentences, some would reverse the subject and object of a sentence containing a transitive verb, without noticing that they had completely changed the meaning of the sentence.

It was heartbreaking to me to watch bright, motivated young people struggle with basic sentence structure class after class, but a small group finally won through at the end. I’m very proud of them, and hope the others will try another day.

Anonymous for now, at 4:00 pm EST on November 17, 2006

Concerns of a “substandard” high-schooler

I read your article and comments with interest, being a college-bound senior myself. I know that, reading this, you will probably exclaim in some sort of bemusement about how a “kid” is commenting on your essay. I realize that I know nothing of the subject. I understand that I am substandard and that my schooling isn’t doing any of the right things to help me succeed. However, this knowledge does nothing to help me. What we (the “overachievers”) need is the guidance to help us understand what you did to get things right. Don’t just lord your superior knowledge and age over us; help us to become like you, and to learn what we need to do in order to overcome the handicap of our faulty education.

I can’t possibly believe that this has been a problem facing our generation only. Obviously something’s gone right, since you’ve all turned out well enough to tell us how badly we’re doing. Was it your teachers? Did you all have a collective moment of epiphany? If so, just tell us how, why, when… Take the time to pass on some of that wisdom, please. We do have the ability to understand, even if we don’t have the right “tools” (yet!) to complete what you expect of us.

Anonymous, at 9:35 pm EST on November 18, 2006

Studying in Dribs and Drabs

Cognitive psychology also shows that spaced study is better for learning than massed study. That means that studying in dribs and drabs will lead to better retention than studying in longer blocks of time. Studies recommend 20 min. The reason is that memory consolidation takes place overnight and over a period of days. If you want to build on what’s been previously learned, study sessions need to be shorter and with breaks in between them.

I don’t believe students know that, nor that they are deliberately studying in drabs when they take their breaks, but neither is it as harmful as claimed, as long as they return to their studying and aren’t completely wasting their time. The bad habit that most needs to be broken is cramming.

Nancy, at 12:30 pm EST on November 19, 2006

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