Are First Year University Students Prepared For University Success?
Listen to most university professors in the United States and Canada, and you’ll hear the complaint about poorly prepared first-year students.
In Canada, University of Western Ontario Professors James Cote and Anton Allahar show that students today get higher marks for unworthy performance.
“Today’s college freshmen continue to be academically disengaged…students spend less time studying and doing homework, with only 34.9 per cent of entering students reporting studying or working on assignments for six or more hours per week. This marks the lowest figure since this question was first asked in 1987. Although students are spending less time studying, their high school grades continue to soar with 44.1 per cent of freshmen report earning A averages in high school…This combination of academic disengagement and record grade inflation poses a real challenge to our higher education system, since students are entering college with less inclination to study but with higher academic expectations than ever.”
Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis. James E. Cote, Anton L. Allahar, University of Toronto Press.
Post generously provided by John Storm, of Oxford Learning St. Catharines, Ont., Canada.
Do you think first-year university students are adequately prepared? Let us know your thoughts.
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