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Study finds a fair number of slackers on campus

While college costs continue to rise, a new study calls into question whether students are learning enough - or much of anything in certain areas.

Temple University student Liz DeJesus (left), 20, says she studies 27 hours a week. Student Dana Ridell, 18, says she puts in 5 hours a week and 'does fine.' (Mohana Ravindranath/Staff)
Temple University student Liz DeJesus (left), 20, says she studies 27 hours a week. Student Dana Ridell, 18, says she puts in 5 hours a week and 'does fine.' (Mohana Ravindranath/Staff)Read more

While college costs continue to rise, a new study calls into question whether students are learning enough - or much of anything in certain areas.

The study by two university professors says 45 percent of students showed no significant gains in critical thinking, reasoning, or writing on a standardized test after the first two years of college.

Even more daunting, 36 percent did not improve after four years. Students in majors including communications and education performed worse, as did those who studied with peers - rather than alone - and took part in Greek life.

The study's authors largely blame a lack of rigor at colleges and universities. Half the students took no classes in spring of their sophomore year that required at least 20 pages of writing, and about a third had no classes that required at least 40 pages of reading a week. More than a third reported studying five or fewer hours a week out of class, while still achieving a grade point average of more than 3.0.

"Very little is being asked of these kids, and they're not applying themselves," said Richard Arum, a sociology and education professor at New York University.

The findings come amid intensifying discussion about rising college costs and the need to compete globally and educate first-generation, minority, and low-income students.

While not totally panning the findings, university educators around the region said the study relied on one test and did not take into account other critical areas of learning, such as subject knowledge and creativity - or learning styles.

"This kind of study always generates more methodological heat than light – meaning that the issues are complex, not easily given to causal statements, and unfortunately easily manipulated by constituencies . . . and ideologues," said Hanna W. Stewart-Gambino, dean of Lafayette College.

Arum and his colleague Josipa Roksa, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, studied 2,300 students at 24 four-year colleges from 2005 through 2009. Colleges were asked to recruit a random representative sample of freshmen volunteers. Arum declined to identify the colleges, but said they included elite privates, public flagship, and historically black schools.

Students took the Collegiate Learning Assessment, an essay test that measures critical thinking, reasoning, and writing skills, in fall 2005, spring 2007, and spring 2009. Arum and Roksa detailed findings in their recently released book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. They also surveyed students and reviewed their transcripts.

Some area students were surprised at the findings.

"It's kind of sad actually," said Vinny Vella, a junior communications major at La Salle who also tutors and serves as editor of the student newspaper. "A lot of kids in my generation are apathetic. They put a lot of things before college."

He said he studies about 10 hours a week outside of class.

Dana Ridell, 18, a Temple University freshman, puts in five hours and does fine.

"I'm one of those people who doesn't really need to study," said Ridell, a secondary education and Spanish major.

In contrast, Liz DeJesus, 20, a biology major, studies 27 hours a week and feels it is not enough.

"I never feel like I'm doing enough. You never get that hundred," she said.

Colleges should beef up requirements, some say. Too few require a foreign language and core subjects such as economics, said Michael Poliakoff, policy director at American Council of Trustees and Alumni in Washington.

Many colleges limit class schedules on Fridays to accommodate professors, in effect creating a four-day school week and encouraging more slack time, he added.

John Cavanaugh, chancellor of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, said some concern should be shifted to high schools, which often send students to colleges unprepared. Only 38 percent of high school seniors scored at or above proficient in reading on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress test.

"Fixing that problem in a year or year and a half is a big hill to climb," he said.

The study says that students who come in less prepared show less growth on the test.

William Madges, dean of St. Joseph's University's College of Arts and Sciences, questioned whether the test, which is anonymous and does not count toward their grades, was taken seriously by the students.

More elite liberal-arts colleges fared better in the study. Stephen Emerson, president of Haverford College, said all students there take social science courses and a foreign language and are required to write "Oxford master's level theses."

The school provides more help to students who struggle. "In the '70s, no one paid much attention to that. Either you made it or you didn't," he said.