Inquiry Draft One

Traditional descriptive statistics regarding college graduation rates paint very different pictures of success. Moreover, the traditional model of the four-year college education is changing. More students are choosing to follow different paths and enter the workforce before graduation. Therefore, the use of graduation rate as a marker for the value of an undergraduate education is outdated. There should be a new mode for measurement of the value of undergraduate education that takes into account employment after school, re-enrollment rates after dropout, and alternate educational paths.

The traditional model of post-secondary education typically includes a student’s matriculation after high school into a two-year associate degree or trade-school certificate or four-year bachelor’s program at a college or university. However, this model is more and more commonly not the norm. In many cases, students are leaving their undergraduate universities never to return. Crow and Silver make the argument in their 2008 paper “American Education Systems in a Global Context” that this is due to policy faults on the behalf of the US educational system overall. They cite low incidence of US students earning PhD’s and MS degrees compared to their Chineese and Indian counterparts, and argue that these higher degrees are necessary for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics jobs that constitute the fastest growing segment of the 21^st century economy (Crow and Silver).   The authors implicitly ascribe this as a failure of the United States’ education system. They note that while the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) and other programs have served to offer unprecedented access to higher education to all segments of the American public, this has done little to increase graduation rates. If anything, they argue that the standardization of education in the US serves to hinder creativity necessary in the new global economy. They then propose a more global network integrating educational styles from various nations.

The data on graduation rates is further backed up by Desjardins and associates in their research on the effects of interrupted enrollment (DesJardins, Ahlburg and McCall). Their statistical models paint a bleak picture where students of racial, socioeconomic, and educational groups are more likely to drop out of school and less likely to return. This mirrors the work done by Crow and Silver and seems to lay the blame for this “problem” on the education system through which the university students travel to arrive at their college destination today. But the central assumption that both of these groups make is that the declining 4-year graduation rate is actually a problem. Perhaps it is not. Desjardins and associates, for example, state that their sample includes only data sets were from a single institution, the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities (DesJardins, Ahlburg and McCall). This means that students who leave this university for whatever reason and later choose to attend a different institution are not included in these statistics.

This practice is becoming more and more commonplace as students choose to take their education into their own hands.  Many students may become unhappy with their value of their education for the tuition paid in. Indeed, Webber and Ehrenberg make this argument that students tend to leave universities when a higher portion of the university’s expenditures goes toward faculty resources rather than instruction (Webber and Ehrenberg). This impact on the value to the student of their education can lead to dropout.

So where are the students going if they are leaving traditional four-year colleges? A good place to look might be to the new for-profit school model, such as the University of Phoenix. These schools are mostly entirely online, so the student need not float the bill by means of tuition for expensive new science or engineering buildings or faculty research startup grants. The student is also more able to customize and interact with their instructional process, something that tends to be lacking in many first-year large lecture classes. Another place to look might be industry. Often the most talented and motivated individuals are being recruited out of schools to begin their careers early. Thus less and less value is being placed on the earning of the undergraduate degree itself. Indeed, even current medical schools and pharmacy schools are not requiring students to be undergraduate graduates, only that they have taken the requisite courses and scored appropriately high enough on the standardized admissions tests. The ultimate value of the time and money spent on the student’s education then diminishes if their future professions do not value that time and money either.

 

Currently in popular culture college athletes are portrayed as being in school for the sole purpose of participating in athletics and moving onto the professional leagues. They are not thought of as being students off the field along with athletes on the field. This perspective has led to the misconception that athletes graduate at much lower rates than their non-athletic counterparts. This misconception is reinforced when one takes the statistics of Division I football and men’s basketball program’s graduation rates of 55 and 44 percent respectively at face value. When compared to the average graduation rate of males at the same schools of 57 percent, these numbers can seem extremely low (Matheson). If someone were to take these values and assume that this trend continues into all sports offered at Division I schools for both genders they would be able to make the claim that student athletes are only successful on the field and question whether sports have a place in colleges.

This could not be farther from the truth. To begin with the statistics for the basketball and football programs are skewed by the disproportionate representation of races compared to the general student body. In football 48.8 percent of the players are African American which is much more than the 8.7 percent of the student body that is African American (Matheson). In addition to this, the graduation rate within the football team of African Americans is 48 percent, 13 points above their non-athletic peers. This trend can be seen again with the basketball teams where 54.3 percent of the players are African American and the graduation rate is 42 percent, both of these numbers are again much higher than the college average (Matheson). Matheson claims that if the races of male athletes were of the same proportion as that of non-athlete students but the graduation rates remained constant then the graduation rates would be nearly identical.

            The NCAA has taken many steps in order over the years to ensure that student-athletes are succeeding in the classroom and not just on the field. These measures include minimum academic requirements and holding colleges accountable for any differences between student athlete graduation rates and the graduation rate of the general student body (LaForge). The NCAA has also introduced the Academic Progress Rate which is a statistic that must be reported by member schools that indicates the progress their student athletes are making toward their chosen majors. Since 1990 the NCAA has also required member schools report the graduation rates of their athletes.       Along with the NCAA rules individual schools have their own policies toward student-athletes. Some schools require athletes to attend group study sessions or sit in the front of their classes.

            It is easy to see between Matheson’s findings and current NCAA regulations that academic achievement is not taken lightly. It is the primary focus of today’s athletes and athletics does not get in the way of their drive for achievement. Once the statistics are broken down into their components it can be seen that the graduation rate of athletes is higher than that of non-athletes. The graduation rate statistic alone is too broad to account for the discrepancies between athletes and non-athletes. When examined, these statistics point towards athletics helping students graduate.

Athletic Departments are under too much pressure to graduate more and more students to match the graduation rate of the university. This is produced by misleading figures and the uninformed public. Athletic Departments should be applauded for their efforts and recognized for their achievements. These statistics of graduation rates need to be interpreted cautiously and analyzed closely before any conclusion can be made.

Along with the statistics of athletic graduation rates, the graduation rates of the general student body must also be reviewed. While these numbers indicate that college students are graduating less they do not show why. These statistics are not showing where these students go after leaving school and in a society where a college degree is having less of an influence on the hiring process this can skew the results. If a student leaves school early to take up a position at a company they will be counted as a dropout which the public automatically assumes is a bad thing.

Statistically, the amount of college students getting their diplomas is declining. The question is, is this a bad thing? Do people need an undergraduate degree to be successful? In a New York Times article, Laszlo Bock, the hiring manager for Google, stated that many people working for Google do not have higher education. He also frankly said GPA’s are not a defining factor when looking for employees, in his terms they are “worthless”. The question concerning the importance of undergraduate degrees is still in the equation, but a nonconventional answer might be a fair candidate.

            Good grades will still impress a hiring manager, however, they look at more than just academia. Bock created five categories that he would look at if, for example, Google were hiring. The first being cognitive abilities, one’s ability to process things quickly. This skill is pivotal because a situation may arise concerning technical skills or customer service, and one must be in the proper position to make decisions promptly. The second is leadership, not traditional leadership, but emerging leadership. It is important that an individual knows how to lead and manage a group, but it is equally as valuable if they know how to step down from the role and let someone else do the leading. After all, the goal is to work together as a team to produce the most effective end result. Another meaningful character trait to have is humility. One must always be in the position to learn something knew in any situation. Without humility, no one will learn from their mistakes, or be capable of handling failure when the time comes. That doesn’t mean a person is always submissive. They must still be opinionated and a go-getter, but when something arises and the direction changes, the individual must adapt.

            The last thing Bock looks for is expertise. Take an individual that is hired because they possess the attributes mentioned above, but they don’t necessarily have the knowledge of the task they are asked to do. Also take an individual who is an expert that could do this specific task blindfolded. The first individual would be more desirable because not only will they learn how to do the task quickly, but also they could potentially offer insight, a bright idea, or a fresh perspective whereas the second individual will simply only get the job done. The second individual will perform the task perfectly without error, but Bock suggests that is not as valuable as a new, or bright contribution that the first individual could provide.

             There’s something to learn from Bock’s approach on hiring. “Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to do any job. The world only cares about — and pays off on — what you can do with what you know (and it doesn’t care how you learned it)” (Friedman).  In conclusion, GPA’s are not the most important factor in the hiring process, if at all. What is more valuable in a future employee is one’s ability to think on their feet, to lead while knowing when to let others lead, to be humble and learn from mistakes, to have a voice and strong opinions, but to also be adaptable to change. These character traits, according to Bock, rank higher in terms of applicability than a high GPA or even a college degree. The question remains if the declining amount of college degrees is a bad thing. Bock suggests it is not. After all, possessing the proper skills will land you a job with Google over having a high degree with no experience.

The amount of PhD’s and Master degrees received is statistically lower in the US than in China and India. Crow and Silver believe it is the default of the education system in place. Many initiatives have been made to provide better access to higher education but the graduation rates have not increased substantially. It is questioned whether graduation rates need to be higher. In many cases, having a degree is not crucial. There are more and more instances where individuals who haven’t received their degrees are getting involved in the industry early. Having a degree is no longer a defining factor for employment. 

            It is hard to determine whether graduation rates are correctly construed. It is understood that there is a lower graduation rate for college athletes than for non-athletes. This is not completely accurate. When dividing the graduation rate by race, African American’s in both football and basketball Division 1 schools rank higher than African American non-athletes. It is fair to say that statistics aren’t being understood properly. However, the real issue at hand is whether declining graduation rates is negative. 

            Corporations such as Google do not look solely at college credentials when hiring employees, specifically GPA’s. They have many employees who don’t even have college degrees. Regardless of how one becomes employed, it is true that the process of becoming successful is changing. Getting a degree in this day and age with not guarantee a job, therefore it is questionable if a degree is necessary. There needs to be new measurements of weighing the value of an undergraduate degree to the field of employment.

 

           

 

Crow, Michael M., and Mariko Silver. “American Education Systems in a Global Context.” Technology in Society 30.3-4 (2008): 279-91. Print.

DesJardins, Stephen L., Dennis A. Ahlburg, and Brian P. McCall. “The Effects of Interrupted Enrollment on Graduation from College: Racial, Income, and Ability Differences.” Economics of Education Review 25.6 (2006): 575-90. Print.

Friedman, Thomas. “How to Get a Job at Google.” The New York Times 2014, February 23, 2014 ed.: 1. Print.

LaForge, Larry Hodge Janie. “Ncaa Academic Performance Metrics: Implications for Institutional Policy and Practice.” Journal of Higher Education 82.2 (2011): 217-35. Print.

Matheson, Victor A. “Research Note: Athletic Graduation Rates and Simpson’s Paradox.” Economics of Education Review 26.4 (2007). Print.

Webber, Douglas A., and Ronald G. Ehrenberg. “Do Expenditures Other Than Instructional Expenditures Affect Graduation and Persistence Rates in American Higher Education?” Economics of Education Review 29.6 (2010): 947-58. Print.

 

 

2/24 Class Notes

1. What is the discourse community the speaker is a part of?

2. What is the problem they have identified?

3. What is their contribution, thing they are adding, their argument?

4. Who is their audience and how do their discourse practices appeal to their audience?

 

TED Talk

• Physicians
• Medical Field
• Culture of denial
• Everyone wants to be perfect and does not want to admit their mistakes
• Wants to encourage talk about mistakes

 

 

Annotations

Matheson, Victor A. “Athletic Graduation Rates and Simpson’s Paradox.” Science Direct. Science Direct, Aug. 2007. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

This article takes a critical look at the way graduation rates among student-athletes is perceived. Matheson states that in society it is generally understood that student-athletes have a lower graduation rate than that of non-student-athletes. He also states that if we were to break down the numbers and look at the graduation rates based on race instead of total numbers there would be a very different story. Matheson focuses on Male Division I athletes and specifically those in the money making sports of football and basketball. He found that overall 48 percent of African American student-athletes graduate as opposed to only 35 percent of non-student-athletes. This trend continues in both football (48 percent graduation rate) and basketball (42 percent). Matheson also points out that the races of student-athletes are disproportionate to that of the general student body. For example only 8.7 percent of students at the schools in the study were African American but that same number was 26.8 percent if only athletes were considered. This disproportionality can be seen among all races. Matheson suggests that if the percentages were the same but the graduation rates did not change then athletes would have a graduation rate of 60 percent which is just over the 57 percent graduation rate seen by non-athletes. This article takes an interesting look into the graduation rates of student-athletes and how they can be misunderstood if not broken down into their components. This article shows that although graduation rates among student-athletes as a whole is less than that of non-athletes among their own races student athletes are better off than non-athletes. It presents a new paradigm for college graduation rates which shows that graduation rates cannot be taken at face value and need to be broken down to be understood.

 

Zhang, Liang. “Does State Funding Affect Graduation Rates at Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities?” Sage Journals. Sage, 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Liangs’ “Does State Funding Affect Graduation Rates at Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities?” makes the interesting inquiry into how graduation rates are affected by the funding they receive. It goes on to make the distinction between the effects of state funding and other contributors to graduation rates like SAT scores and race. This article explains that it was found that for every 10 percent of funding per full time student that was added to higher education there was a 0.64 percent increase in graduation rates. It goes on to explain that this works both ways, meaning that for every 10 percent of funding per full time student that was taken away resulted in a 0.64 percent decrease in the graduation rate. The article explains that these numbers hold true for all types of higher educational institutions. Liang goes on to the topic of how educational institutions have had increased funding from the government. He talks about how this funding has not grown proportionately to the size of the government’s budget as a whole. Funding has dropped from 44 percent of the budget of states in the 1980s to only 32 percent in the early 2000s. This article explains that this reduction is a result of the lack of evidence of any negative effects of this reduction of funding. It states that until any evidence of any negative effects are found funding will not only not increase but funding to higher education institutions may decrease.

 

 

 

 

 

Friedl, John, David J. Pittenger, and Michael Sherman. “GRADING STANDARDS AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY COURSES.” College Student Journal 46.3 (2012): 526-33. College Student Journal, Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

This article examines how a group of students perform in college math courses at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Part of the group is made up of students who took high school level math courses at a two year community college and the rest is made of students who took the equivalent course at a four year institution. The study was designed to determine how prepared students are when coming from different schools types. The study found that in higher level math courses those students that went to a two year college did significantly worse than those who had been in the four year university. This is determined to be a problem because states are beginning to encourage more and more students to go to a less expensive two year college before a four year program. In the higher level courses 77 percent of those with a four year background passed as opposed to 55 percent of community college students. In one course that was included in the study the difference was as great as 45 percent. This article claims that this will lead to delayed graduation or reduced graduation rates. This in turn may lead to less funding from the state for the university. If the universities were to lower their standards and help more students pass employers would find employees from that particular university inadequate and may look elsewhere for future employees. The article admits that this is a small scale study but it also states that it provides enough evidence to warrant reconsideration of legislation encouraging students to go to community colleges. This article shows that there is a large difference among academic standards and that it has a real effect on students trying to progress towards a degree and a career.

 

Photography in the Modern Age

            In High School I got into photography. My dad lent me his camera one day and I just took off. Since then I have begun to focus primarily on athletic photography. This includes any sports you can come up with; basketball, baseball, football, and just about any other sport popular here in America, chances are I have shot it. I currently work with NinerMedia and Intramural Sports taking photos of various sporting events here on campus. From my experience I thought it took a lot of time, effort, and money to become a good photographer. It did for me at least.

            However, I have found that it does not take much time, effort, or money to become a photographer and take decent pictures. It is not often that you can find someone without at least one camera on them. Many people have cameras on their phones which allows them to upload photos seconds after taking them. This has revolutionized the way society looks at photography. Before it was only professionals who had the equipment and knowledge to take photos for events like weddings. Now it is more common to see a teenager with a DSLR than it is to see a professional photographer.

I want to inquire about just how much of an effect this epidemic of personal cameras is having on professional photographers. More specifically I would like to focus on journalists and event photographers because I believe these two fields are being affected the most. I want to find out if photojournalists are losing their jobs because the kid at the scene gets the photo first or if the popularization of photography is causing more competition among photographers trying to go pro. I want to inquire into whether someone planning an event would rather a dedicated pro photographer or a hobbyist friend.

Some of the effects of digital photography can already be seen all around. Many people do not even own a camera that is just a camera, all they need is the one that comes on their phones. Remember getting a Kodak disposable camera for vacations and birthdays? They went bankrupt and had to reinvent themselves as a printer company and they still aren’t making a profit. CNN has a whole section dedicated to regular people who witness events to contribute photos called iReport. Contributions to this section lead to larger articles and can even become headline news.

The future of photography is changing rapidly as the world seems to shift away from professionals and more towards amateurs. I want to see just how much of a shift this technological revolution is causing as more improved cameras become available at lower and lower prices.

2/10 Class Notes

Using I in college writing

• Do not use “I think” or “I believe”, reader understands this without being told
• Can act as evidence, present personal evidence
• Not a bad thing

Inquiry Proposal

• Ask something that will lead to a conversation
• In a topic familiar to you
• Must be an on going conversation
• Be a specific topic that can be refined down into a more specific question

Pitch

• Two minute presentation to convince the audience
• Must display knowledge of the topic

 

Nothing New

This excerpt from Harris’ writing makes sense to me. In today’s world people are more prone to following what has already been done rather than becoming unique and stand out. Individuals do not want to take the risk of being different and being shunned by the masses for having a differing opinion or one that is seen as wrong. This causes people to think extremely narrowly and do not form their own opinions on a topic. People today seem to ask fewer questions about the things around them and just take them for their face value. Students of a class may not be able to add to a conversation on a topic because they do not know what the topic is about or how it affects them. They do not go off on their own to learn more so they can talk about the topic next time it is brought up, they just accept what they have heard and move on. It is events like this that reduce people’s curiosity and their desire to know more. This causes no free thinking, no new thoughts, nothing that hasn’t been done before.

Swales and Inquiry

Inquiry is used in many aspects of Swales’ six characteristics of discourse. If someone were wanting to join a discourse they would need to inquire about the discourse itself and the language used in order to become a part of it. They would have to be able to understand the topics covered in the discourse and the other aspects of it including how members communicate and how they talk to one another. This person may be able to learn a good amount of the information on a discourse from a current member but  they would also need to participate in discussion with the group about the topic of the discourse in order to become fluent in the discourse.

Inquiry and Inquiry Based Learning

Inquiry is defined as an act of asking for information. It is the desire to know more about a certain topic. It can include research, experiments, posing questions, problems, and cenarios. Inquiry is the studying of an unknown topic to better understand it. There are many different types of inquiry: confirmation, structured, guided, and open inquiry. Open inquiry is the inquiry into any topic at all, it is not structured or guided. Structured inquiry there is a specific question that is to be answered and there is a given test or way to find the answer. In guided inquiry there is a question to be answered but there is no given method to find the answer. Confirmation inquiries are those that are looking for a specific answer to a specific question to confirm an already exsisting theory.

Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) involves investigating a topic in order to learn more about it. It involves research, experiments, and other hands on processes that lead to a better understanding of the topic. An old adage says “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” Inquiry Based Learning is the last part of that quote, the involvment creates understanding.

IBL is used by all types of people in any type of environment. Scientist will use IBL frequently to answer questions that have never been answered before by using experiments and research. IBL is used by anyone who uses hands on methods in order to find answers. People who only learn in the classroom and not in the field with real world experience do not use IBL. A person who googles for a math answer instead of solving the problem themselves do not use IBL.

Everyone seems to agree on the definitions of Inquiry and IBL but not on what fits those definitions. Reacurring themes within IBL and Inquiry involve research, hands on experience, experiments, and the agreement that it is a better tool for learning than those typically used in the classroom.