Do American Students Bring Down the Curve?
"My Lazy American Students," an op-ed in The Boston Globe, is attracting considerable online debate. The piece – by Kara Miller, who teaches history and rhetoric at Babson College – compares her American and foreign students. "My 'C,' 'D,' and 'F' students this semester are almost exclusively American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have – despite language barriers – generally written solid papers, excelled on exams, and become valuable class participants," writes Miller. She compares the way her foreign students listen to everything she says, while "[t]oo many 18-year-old Americans, meanwhile, text one another under their desks (certain they are sly enough to go unnoticed), check e-mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged." ….
3 comments:
I would say that half or more of my best students are foreign. Almost all of my worst students are natives.
This is consistent with the economic literature on incentive effects of unequal costs among economic agents. (This includes my dissertation, which I rarely find useful nowadays.) So before anyone jumps to conclusions we need to see relative performance of American students in foreign settings.
Plus, of course, the selection bias. People who migrate tend to work harder than those who don't, which explains a lot about how a country with large amounts of immigrant labor can be so wealthy.
I'm avoiding Blue Books right now; can you tell?
Alannah: I get the point about sample bias. Still, I routinely encounter "foreign" students who work hard to overcome disadvantages (in language, common knowledge). And I have observed a decline in preparedness among "native" students over the years. E.g., when I tell them they write badly, often, they seem incredulous. This did not occur in the past. Also, quite often now, native students seem to think that attending class entitles them to at least a B. I don't recall students thinking that 20 years ago. Do you?
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