<p>The problem as I see it. We have too many young people learning for the wrong reasons: To please their parents, to please their teachers, to do well on tests, to get good grades, to get into a good college, etc. So they miss the whole point of learning.</p>
<p>Many students have failed to learn for themselves - To learn just because it’s fun and good to know things.</p>
<p>If students learn to enjoy learning, then they will put in the hard work to learn more and more and more and more. That’s the key.</p>
<p>Back in college I remember tutoring students in college calculus that got better grades than me in math. They were great at memorizing patterns and got great grades, but they didn’t understand the bigger picture of what calculus was really about. It was the same thing in my undergraduate physics and chemistry classes. I used to think “how the heck did they get excellent grades and not know anything?”. </p>
<p>My brother had a similar experience. He’s a scientist who had top junior/senior undergrads working in a lab where he worked. What he told me behind closed doors is that they really didn’t learn anything from their classes. They couldn’t apply what they supposedly learned to a real lab setting. Many weren’t even able to ask the right questions.</p>
<p>So I think, as parents, we need to quit putting so much pressure on kids. To do so is counterproductive to real learning. We need to let our kids have fun, learn, and just do their best without soooo much emphasis on grades and tests. If we do it right, from the beginning, our kids will do well. It will happen.</p>
<p>Bottom line: It doesn’t surprise me that students that seemed ready for college are not doing so well in college.</p>
<p>“So I think, as parents, we need to quit putting so much pressure on kids. To do so is counterproductive to real learning. We need to let our kids have fun, learn, and just do their best without soooo much emphasis on grades and tests. If we do it right, from the beginning, our kids will do well. It will happen.”</p>
<p>I agree, but as I posted previously on this thread, the way things are in this country, students are blackmarked if they do not play the GPA game. Top colleges, top graduate schools, and also top employees foster this mentality.</p>
<p>One of my professors was saying that now the government to help ex-convicts get rid of the stigma when applying for employment. I think it is time for the government to also help students to get rid of the stigma of the less-than-perfect GPA. Why the government? Because other institutions that receive more applications than openings have no incentive to do this. They can blindly pick the formula memorizing all-As student, thus generating more incentive for the formula-memorizing, busy-work championship runners, ECs-where-I-am-not interested, two-week-trips-to-save-the-world (all paid by my parents) type of students. It also creates this immense pressure for not having rigorous classes, because of course everyone has to have an A. </p>
<p>In the end, the gifted student in Math, or Sciences, or Literature, or Arts has to go to mediocre classes because everyone is supposed to be able to get an A.</p>
<p>I agree, the system is a difficult thing to overcome. </p>
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<p>I think one shouldn’t see classes as being rigorous, mediocre, or not. It should be about what is interesting to YOU or not. College is really the only time in one’s life where one will be exposed to soooo many things. It is the only opportunity to explore new ideas and information from art to zoology in one place and in such a short time. To avoid classes because of grades is throwing that opportunity away. (note: I do agree with you that the system forces many students to take the “easier” classes for the better grades)</p>
<p>Like you, I see the problems with the system. I can only hope to make sure my own kid doesn’t get sucked in…</p>
<p>I think you’re putting too much weight on the importance of the class itself. Any good professor will tell you that the lectures are only an introduction or a supplement. To truly understand the material, you have to go beyond the lectures. This means practice, textbook reading, and research.</p>
<p>The problem is that there is no incentive in many cases for them to do so. Knowing why calculus was invented, or how it’s applied, is not important for a student; solving problems is the important part to them. I think we should overhaul tests to try to test for critical thinking in real-life situations, rather than just being knowledge tests.</p>
<p>@Hanna, I agree with you. Studies do demonstrated a correlation between SAT scores and IQ scores. This does not mean that a kid with a lower score cannot get through college. That is why GPA is important. There is one can show motivation, hard word, compliance with schedule, not only high test grades.</p>
<p>How can Sat Scores reflect intelligence when people can prepare for those tests and increase their scores by hundreds of points by doing so. I get smarter people generally do better, but it is really a rough correlation between say an 1200 and a 1400 ( in CR and math), the difference being, maybe, only the amount of preparation. Now show me a student who has a perfect score (is that still 1600?) and I will show you a student who is brilliant.</p>
<p>I partially agree that SAT scores are not equivalent with intelligence. The CR section can’t be gamed too easily, but the writing section can be easily increased into the 700s just by following a certain formula. I hate the math section on SAT. I did very well on it, but I didn’t think that it correlated with college readiness or intelligence.</p>
<p>A college readiness test should have two parts, a skills/knowledge test (math, science, grammar/vocabulary) and a critical thinking test, where testers read a passage and make some inferences that require strong reasoning skills and situational awareness. This would basically be testing crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence, and would be a much more useful metric for admissions staff to use when reviewing applications.</p>
<p>A good replacement for the written portion would be reading aloud. Being able to accurately and quickly read something is a better demonstration of communication abilities than writing for some silly prompt.</p>