Todays educational standards

[venetodavid]

And now more people attained a better level of education and are able to question government policies. That will never do will it? Better get rid of them.

 

What gets me is that, from the logic of the government, about students being a burden, you could say that my parents and grandparents paid for all these MP's to go to university but now it's their son and grandchild who want to go, we have to find the money ourselves.

[venetodavid]

A lot of the kids who have good/very good skills on a computer are self-taught in the main - interesting that they are quite willing to learn if it is interesting to them. And without being forced to.

 

Yes, that's my story. Rubbish at school but picked things up over the years. One thing about the eCommunications Degree I'm doing is that you realise some of the things you've picked up can be used in ways you didn't realise. In other cases, just learning a little bit more from someone else can top up what you've learnt on your own but open up new possibilities. Finally, I never had a reason to blog or use Facebook or make videos or whatever so the course gave an excuse to have a go.

 

At least when I say I don't like Facebook but I can see that it's very, very useful to other people or firms, etc, I've done it having had the experience of using it. Before the eComms course, I would have just dismissed it as rubbish.

[Cavegirl]

I went to a good university to do my degree between 2000-03 and a few years ago I returned as a postgraduate. As a postgrad you can earn extra cash by marking work done by first year undergrads. I was really shocked by the, what can only be termed, 'dumbing down' that had occurred over the 10 years or so that intervened.

 

As an undergrad I was expected to write a proper 2000 word academic essay, based upon wide reading, every week or two during term time. The undergrads whose work I marked were expected to participate in forum-style 'chat' of at least 150 words and did not need to reference academic literature, just give an indication that they'd read some of it. I couldn't believe it!

 

Whilst this new(ish) format had not completely replaced traditional essay writing (though getting undergrads to reference, structure and debate in essays properly after just 2-3 essays a term instead of 9-10 was an almost impossible task) I think this is probably the way it is heading in the future and I really don't believe that it's worth the £9000+ debt that Universities will soon be charging (unless you're studying to be a doctor, lawyer or other highly paid professional).

 

All I can hope is that more students wake up to this and use the leverage that their £9000 a year fees gives them to force the universities to provide the highest standards of education possible.

[venetodavid]

Whilst this new(ish) format had not completely replaced traditional essay writing (though getting undergrads to reference, structure and debate in essays properly after just 2-3 essays a term instead of 9-10 was an almost impossible task) I think this is probably the way it is heading in the future

 

Doesn't that just reflect that in the workplace you rarely have to write traditional essays but you do have to exchange a lot of short messages? I'm not saying it's better but that perhaps it is more appropriate to a society where a degree is all about getting a good job whilst education for the sake of education is just a luxury for the wealthy.

[shortcrust]

As an undergrad I was expected to write a proper 2000 word academic essay, based upon wide reading, every week or two during term time.....

 

This is what we're expected to do on my current course at Sheffield Uni, and it's what every other current student I know is expected to do.

[Cavegirl]

Doesn't that just reflect that in the workplace you rarely have to write traditional essays but you do have to exchange a lot of short messages? I'm not saying it's better but that perhaps it is more appropriate to a society where a degree is all about getting a good job whilst education for the sake of education is just a luxury for the wealthy.

 

You don't think that young people are already well trained in writing each other short messages before they come to university? Call me old fashioned, that's fine, but I thought that a degree was supposed to teach a person how to employ critical and lateral thinking, how to research and how to debate, understand and gain knowledge of the facts. There's far too much emphasis already, in my opinion, on the workplace in universities.

 

I do know that certain corporate managers like to come out every year and say that the students that they're employing are essentially useless to them blah blah blah, but they just want students to be trained for them by universities for free. Something I'm guessing they learned from the private health sector which just loves to take on NHS trained staff.

 

There are very few jobs out there that I can think of that require 3 years full time training in how to communicate through short messages before a person can begin to be a useful addition to the workplace. However, you'll never have the time or opportunity whilst at work to learn the research and debating skills that traditional essay writing offers.

[Cavegirl]

This is what we're expected to do on my current course at Sheffield Uni, and it's what every other current student I know is expected to do.

 

I know that Sheffield University, amongst others, uses WebCT as a 'chatty' learning tool. This is essentially what I'm referring to. If you don't use WebCT then you're definately in one of the better departments, but if you do then you should consider insisting upon a better level of education.

 

If you don't know what it is this is an overview:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebCT

[sues_budgie]

their £9000 a year fees gives them to force the universities to provide the highest standards of education possible.

 

 

 

 

The only thing that will be forced out will be the poorer students

[Kaimani]

This is what we're expected to do on my current course at Sheffield Uni, and it's what every other current student I know is expected to do.

 

true. same everywhere with every course i know of.

[Kaimani]

You don't think that young people are already well trained in writing each other short messages before they come to university? Call me old fashioned, that's fine, but I thought that a degree was supposed to teach a person how to employ critical and lateral thinking, how to research and how to debate, understand and gain knowledge of the facts. There's far too much emphasis already, in my opinion, on the workplace in universities.

 

I do know that certain corporate managers like to come out every year and say that the students that they're employing are essentially useless to them blah blah blah, but they just want students to be trained for them by universities for free. Something I'm guessing they learned from the private health sector which just loves to take on NHS trained staff.

 

There are very few jobs out there that I can think of that require 3 years full time training in how to communicate through short messages before a person can begin to be a useful addition to the workplace. However, you'll never have the time or opportunity whilst at work to learn the research and debating skills that traditional essay writing offers.

 

There's far too much emphasis already, in my opinion, on the workplace in universities.

 

could be argued that, unless you're looking to go into academia, then this is what universities are for. as well as all the other stuff about lateral thinking etc, which you can, and should, learn in day to day life.