Braxton had entered college with hopes of breaking the poverty cycle that had plagued his family for generations. He qualified for some attractive scholarships, but these didn’t meet his financial obligations. He needed student loans to support the mandate to live in an expensive freshman dorm. For Braxton, the amenities of the dorm were nice but he couldn’t get over the debt obligations that they were exposing him to.
His first day of classes were surprising. When the faculty reviewed the course grading system, he became worried that the grades would be generally determined by only two exams and a paper. He was confident of his abilities but with a lot riding on just a few evaluations, he became anxious.
When each professor began to teach the subject matter, Braxton was again disappointed. Every class was a PowerPoint lecture, which the professor literally read to the students. He began to wonder whether there was any value in going to class because he was learning very little. He could spend the time instead learning from his textbooks. He downloaded the PowerPoints and used them as a study guide, but did not go to class.
When the first tests were given, Braxton went to the test center where the test would be given electronically. The tests were multiple choice, true/false, and matching questions. As Braxton was taking the tests, he was surprised that many of the questions were not covered on the PowerPoints. It was only later that he learned that the tests were purchased from the textbook publisher.
At the conclusion of the test, he received his grade immediately. That was comforting, but he was given no feedback on which questions he missed or the correct answer.
When his classes assigned homework, grades were not returned. He found himself going into final exams not knowing anything about his grade other than one test result.
While Baxton did well in his first semester, he began to rethink what he was getting from his education. Could he honestly say he was learning very much? There was no value in going to class. In fact, most of his professors canceled at least 25% of their classes. He didn’t know what skills he was acquiring other than memorizing factual material which he had already forgotten. But even more disturbing to him was the jaundiced view that he was developing about the learning process. He was basically teaching himself. Could he be better off finding a mentor who could help him develop the skills he would need for a career? He suspected that finding such a mentor would also provide him with a role model of how learning should guide your life and not simply be a quest for getting an expensive piece of paper.
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“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” – Albert Einstein