Within Keith Parsons' blog post "Message to My Freshman" Parsons states that some students in his freshman course are not adequately prepared enough for the rigorous level of college courses. Parsons interprets that this is largely due to the fact that in high school, students are subjected to educators cramming information down their throats in the hopes that they will do well on test. While, professors on the other hand allow a student to take their learning into their own two hands. Parsons goes on further to state that these students lack the necessary attention span required to listen attentively and often zone out into their cell phones or into conversations with other people. Finally, it is communicated through Parsons' blog post, that students care more about getting credits for their classes and less about the knowledge that they will receive from each course.
As someone who just recently graduated from high school, I do acknowledge the fact that high schools should do more than just shove tests in high school students' faces. In addition, to being a high school graduate I am also a first year-student in a university. Personally I strongly agree with Parsons’ belief that we as students, should take more responsibility for our learning and that students should not just be diving into their cell phones during class.
However, I do not agree that students should bear all the responsibility for their education. As a first year student, I have been exposed to professors who truly believe that it is their job to guide students and to take part in nurturing our young minds. On the other hand, I have heard the horror stories from my upperclassmen that some professors fail to captivate their students or inspire awe within their courses. I strongly suggest that Parsons should not just write off students as simply having short attention spans as the problem may lie in the instructor. It could possibly be that Parsons may not be charismatic or enthusiastic enough to hold his audience's attention.
Addressing the topic about students only caring about receiving credentials and not caring enough about a subject to be “enlightened.” It may very well be true that a student only cares about receiving credits, but who are to judge them for wanting to spend their time on something else. Perhaps the student wishes to focus on their major and the classes centered on their major. Personally, I believe that a student should give their best effort no matter what class, but who am I to push that belief on to another. All of us as human beings, have subjects and topics that we find interesting as well as uninteresting. It should not offend Parsons that some students simply wish to move on from his class and towards focusing on their majors and interests which are the entire reason they sought out higher education in the first place. In conclusion, there are some topics that I must acknowledge about Parsons’ blog post and other topics that feel like misconceptions based from a lack of understanding in his students.
As someone who just recently graduated from high school, I do acknowledge the fact that high schools should do more than just shove tests in high school students' faces. In addition, to being a high school graduate I am also a first year-student in a university. Personally I strongly agree with Parsons’ belief that we as students, should take more responsibility for our learning and that students should not just be diving into their cell phones during class.
However, I do not agree that students should bear all the responsibility for their education. As a first year student, I have been exposed to professors who truly believe that it is their job to guide students and to take part in nurturing our young minds. On the other hand, I have heard the horror stories from my upperclassmen that some professors fail to captivate their students or inspire awe within their courses. I strongly suggest that Parsons should not just write off students as simply having short attention spans as the problem may lie in the instructor. It could possibly be that Parsons may not be charismatic or enthusiastic enough to hold his audience's attention.
Addressing the topic about students only caring about receiving credentials and not caring enough about a subject to be “enlightened.” It may very well be true that a student only cares about receiving credits, but who are to judge them for wanting to spend their time on something else. Perhaps the student wishes to focus on their major and the classes centered on their major. Personally, I believe that a student should give their best effort no matter what class, but who am I to push that belief on to another. All of us as human beings, have subjects and topics that we find interesting as well as uninteresting. It should not offend Parsons that some students simply wish to move on from his class and towards focusing on their majors and interests which are the entire reason they sought out higher education in the first place. In conclusion, there are some topics that I must acknowledge about Parsons’ blog post and other topics that feel like misconceptions based from a lack of understanding in his students.