Kindle A Flame

In her recent column, (“Is Our Students Learning”, Globe, June 16, 2011) Margaret Wente cites a robust American study by Arum & Roksa that confirms what many of us have been suspecting for some time.  Taking a closer look at the core of their findings, one will find the underlying intuition and explanations not all that surprising.

In sum, the study claims that almost half of the students show no gains in learning after two years in university, which leads Ms. Wente to believe that "for many students, higher ed. is a waste of time". Dig deeper and the reasons become almost obvious.

First, the study reveals that full-time students are spending about 15 percent of their week on academic work, or, In other words, precious little time in learning. Obviously, learning does not occur by osmosis, nor by mere willpower. Without time on task, students who show deep learning gains will be astonishing exceptions.

Second, students admitted that, in the course of earning their degrees, half of them had never selected a course that required them to write more than 20 pages. One out three said they had not taken a course requiring more than 40 pages of reading.  In other words, expectations for many students are at an all-time low.

If students are not being challenged, if there feel little motivation to apply themselves to tasks and learning, should anyone be surprised when little is gained academically? Add to this sad state larger class sizes, less attention, and professors who demonize students as the problem, and we have a perfect storm.

But blaming students is as silly as blaming teachers. It is fruitless to rail against the students, or the faculty, just as it is fruitless for a chemist to rail against atoms and molecules for not behaving the way he thinks they should. Complaining about the nature of the students or the faculty does not address the universal challenge of creating learning opportunities. Instead we are better off identifying conditions that can radically engage students for the betterment of society.

Yes, there are some students who are "drifting dreamers". Is there anything wrong with that? Maybe the world would be better with more dreamers who can envision a better world and then work to realize that dream. Deep down, teachers are in a position to help students find their voice so that they can realize their vision. When we get past the idea that university is a place to fill students with content to the realization that university should be teaching our students to dream big and realize those dreams, then engaging students reaches another level.

Imagine a university where students are graded on the quality of their contribution to society upon graduation, rather than in how much content they have managed to temporarily memorize in that same time period. Imagine a world in which the paradigm of education has changed to one of serving society as one serves oneself, guided by experienced mentors rather than simply receiving information from sages on the stage. Imagine a world in which students at all levels and in all countries are mobilized to solve the global issues that confront us.

Over a decade ago, Barnett wrote about realizing the university in an age of supercomplexity. But one does not have to read Barnett to get a sense of the global issues our students inherit. You could have picked up any newspaper to get a growing sense of panic from social and military conflict, indebtedness, inequity, inter-generational stress, multiculturalism, public/private sector tension, scarce resources, the need for sustainability, ethical citizenship, transparency and accountability. Are these not better problems to focus on then the "blame game" that gets us no further?

Students have many competing priorities and they always will. Are students nowadays any different than when you were a student? Are children any different, fundamentally, than they were when you were a child? We don’t think so. Curiosity is a fundamental human characteristic and will always be. For teachers this is a gift. It is a gift because teachers can be trained to find the right hooks that enable students to engage at full tilt. It is only the hook that changes with each student and over time; that is our fundamental challenge as teachers.

As for research, which is falsely separated from teaching, maybe that is another hook on which teachers might focus. Maybe we need to see research as a part of the teaching continuum and engage students earlier in doing and discovery, rather than in sitting and listening. Maybe we need to have students build their answers from spare parts and a very brief manual, rather than have them slavishly follow a recipe that has them deliver the same, expected answer as everyone else since the beginning of time.

We feel privileged to be able to teach university students. Learning is "not filling a bucket....but lighting a fire,” as Yeats said in 1893. Wonderful learning outcomes result when teachers kindle the flames.  When that ignition takes place, it is impossible to prevent students from achieving deeper and more meaningful learning.

Arshad Ahmad                                                     Glen Loppnow

President, Society for Teaching                           Vargo Teaching Chair

& Learning in Higher Education                           Professor of Chemistry &

& 3M National Teaching Fellow                            3M National Teaching Fellow

Concordia University                                            University of Alberta

Tel: 514 947 2095