In his editorial on the sorry state of education in the state of Israel, David Hazony does not spare the universities. In his opinion, and in mine as well, standards for courses have been greatly reduced, to the point that any addition to the task burden in courses leads to a student outcry. There are various reasons for this state of affairs, such as the fact that most undergraduate students have to finish their degree at the breakneck speed of three years - in addition to holding down a job or other responsibilities. The students thus legitimately complain that they simply have no time to invest more than the minimum required for each course they take (often 8 or more a semester).
There are of course various ways to solve this problem. Standards can and should be raised. Students should have the option of 'spreading' their responsibilities over 4-5 years, thus enabling them to gain more from their studies (de facto, this is what happens, since many students invariably spend another year or two making up missing courses, often being penalized for doing so by the universities). Such suggestions, however, are only part of the solution, since they recommend more enforcement, but ignore the lack of motivation on the part of the student to excel in their studies.
Indeed, why should they? Mima Nafshach, if the student is aiming for an M.A. or a PhD, they will likely give short shrift to investing in 'mere' undergraduate studies - the scholarships and the fame are almost exclusively limited to M.A. earners and above. If, on the other hand, the student simply wants the degree for a pay increase or because of societal demands, why should s/he bother excelling? Excellence can not be increased by enforcement alone - it must also be encouraged and rewarded. Your prospective student should know that there is something to be gained by spending more time on their studies, other than the private satisfaction of having done a good job.
I think that one way to do so would be to set up an undergraduate online journal for each faculty. Students should be encouraged to write their papers with an eye towards having their material published in the journal. Also, online debating forum and the writing of "blogs" should be encouraged as a way for students and teachers to share information outside of the confines of the classroom.
If any of you have other suggestions, feel free to 'drop' them in the comments box. AIWAC
1 comment:
I was just invited to a meeting with the CEO of the college I attend. He's been meeting with randomly selected students. I told him outright that I chose the college over a university (I would have gotten in to a Univ if I wanted to) specifically because they were flexible and allowed me to spread a 3-3.5 year program over 4-5 years from the get-go. The universities won't allow this. The universities also don't have evening classes.
In the field I study, over 70% of graduating undergrads are now coming out of the colleges and not the Universities.
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