By snoadmin
Much like high schools, colleges may soon be responsible for proving that they are effectively teaching students the things they need to learn. Certain colleges are starting to implement tests that will tell them if college seniors are leaving the university with more knowledge than they entered with.
At the University of Texas, incoming freshman are given a test called the College Learning Assessment which tests their knowledge of general education requirements. College seniors are given the same test, and the results are compared. According to information that has been released recently, only 36 percent of students show significant increases in learning over their four college years.
What this means is that most students are going through college specifically for the degree instead of to learn. College has become something that students just sit through instead of using it as a tool to better themselves.
A possible solution would be to implement this test at all public schools as a requirement for graduation. Students would have to show improvement over the past four years of school before they are allowed to graduate.
Unfortunately this raises a lot of questions about how this could be used. Unlike public high schools, public colleges cost a lot of money. Implementing a college exit exam could force students who paid thousands for their education to stay in school longer, which would not make sense.
Most likely this test could only be used as information for the school to use to make sure their professors are doing their job.
If students continue to show that they are not improving in math over the years, the school would know to re-examine the math department to see what’s going wrong.
There is also the question of which students will be given this test. Students choose all different kinds of classes to fulfill their general education requirements, and it would be difficult to make sure the test covers things that an average student should be learning. The test would have to be very basic to make sure that students who chose to take marine biology instead of regular biology class aren’t penalized for their decision.
Even though this test could potentially cause problems, it is worth thinking about. One of the main goals of college is to get a degree so you have a chance at a better job. However, there are a lot of general education classes that can students can pass simply by showing up.
If students aren’t actually learning anything from these classes they should either not be required to take them or the classes should be changed so that more students take something away from them.
Such a low percentage of students learning from their classes is a troubling statistic, especially compared to how much money it costs an average student these days. A test like the College Learning Assessment should not be made a requirement at all colleges, but it would be an interesting bit of information for our school to have.
It would be nice to know how effective the education that we pay so much for every year really is, and maybe the school could use the information to make our experience better.
