As we head into a new semester this week, I thought it would be pertinent to link to this article summarizing results of the American Freshman Survey, done annually on U.S. college campuses.
Pyschologist Jean Twenge and her colleagues compiled the data and found that over the last four decades there’s been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being ‘above average’ in the areas of academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability, and self-confidence.
Are we living in Lake Woebegone now, where everyone is above average? Not according to these researchers:
While students are much more likely to call themselves gifted in writing abilities, objective test scores actually show that their writing abilities are far less than those of their 1960s counterparts.
Also on the decline is the amount of time spent studying, with little more than a third of students saying they study for six or more hours a week compared to almost half of all students claiming the same in the late 1980s.
Say a prayer for the students who need a dose of reality, and for the professors now girding up their loins to teach them.
By the way, I think the Daily Mail‘s choices of illustrations for this article are hilarious.
Seems self control is more important than self esteem http://www.openmarket.org/2013/01/10/teaching-self-esteem-undermines-students-academic-achievement/