In “Message to my Freshman students,” Professor Keith Parsons writes on how he will address his new freshman class. He assumes that the differences between high school and college have never been explained to them before. Professor Parsons suggests “freshman students would be apathetic, incurious, inattentive, unresponsive and frequently absent, and that they would exude an insufferable sense of entitlement”. Parsons tells his current students that most of his previous students have not lived up to his beliefs. Professor Parsons emphasizes to his students that he is their professor and not their teacher. He lets the students know that it is their job to learn, and not his to make you learn. He makes it very clear that he is not held responsible for the student’s failures. Parson talks about how he is an old-fashioned teacher; and that he need to stop being the “sage on the stage”, but should become the “guide on the side,” helping students develop their problem-solving skills. He refers to college as a whole new world for incoming freshman. Parsons says that the students need to adapt to the conventions of university academics.
Parsons may be correct on how some students come to college unprepared for the more independent learning style. Like I mentioned early all schools do not adequately prepare their students for this drastic change. I strongly disagree with the way how Parsons’ is talking down to first-year students, blasting them with these completely unintelligent claims. Parson rudely states “lecture, we are told, is an ineffective strategy for reaching today’s young people,”. He is basically saying that freshman are not intelligent enough to follow a lecture. He also makes claims that freshman believe “that a university is a place to gain credentials, not higher knowledge.” Despite the freshman that are strictly for credentials, there are a some that come for higher knowledge. Another example of Professor Parsons degrading first-year students is when he talks about the attention span of the incoming students by saying that their “attention span measures in nanoseconds.” Maybe all of Parsons students seem to have a short attention span because he is a boring teacher. Claims like this make Professor Parsons sound like an ignorant professor.
I am a first-year college student this year. After reading some of the stereotypes that Parsons expresses in his response, I feel like I am adequately prepared for the workload of college. My high school teachers took the time to explain to me the major differences between the college and high school curriculum. My teachers gave me a realistic idea on how much work we would have over a semester. They also gave me some tips to help manage my time wisely. I honestly don’t know if every school did this for their students, but I am very thankful that my high school did this for me. I personally don’t think that “my attention span is measured in nanoseconds,” if it was I would not be capable of writing this. Even though Professor Parsons is right about some high schools not preparing their graduates for college, he makes an unfair claim against the high schools that do prepare their students. I know that every professor does not believe in the load of crap that Professor Parsons put on this page, and hopefully I won’t have any professors that do believe the hype.
Sometimes the solution to the problem is standing right in front of the mirror. Maybe his freshman students do so poorly because he is so stubbornly outdated that his student do not succeed. Professor Parson says that “you need to learn to listen,” as a student. Perhaps, he should take his own advice and learn to listen to his students. Sometimes change is for the better. In the world now a day everything thing is changing and those that don’t will get left behind. In closing, I would like to ask Professor Parsons if universities are not all about credentials, why is it so important that your students call you Professor and not teacher?
Parsons may be correct on how some students come to college unprepared for the more independent learning style. Like I mentioned early all schools do not adequately prepare their students for this drastic change. I strongly disagree with the way how Parsons’ is talking down to first-year students, blasting them with these completely unintelligent claims. Parson rudely states “lecture, we are told, is an ineffective strategy for reaching today’s young people,”. He is basically saying that freshman are not intelligent enough to follow a lecture. He also makes claims that freshman believe “that a university is a place to gain credentials, not higher knowledge.” Despite the freshman that are strictly for credentials, there are a some that come for higher knowledge. Another example of Professor Parsons degrading first-year students is when he talks about the attention span of the incoming students by saying that their “attention span measures in nanoseconds.” Maybe all of Parsons students seem to have a short attention span because he is a boring teacher. Claims like this make Professor Parsons sound like an ignorant professor.
I am a first-year college student this year. After reading some of the stereotypes that Parsons expresses in his response, I feel like I am adequately prepared for the workload of college. My high school teachers took the time to explain to me the major differences between the college and high school curriculum. My teachers gave me a realistic idea on how much work we would have over a semester. They also gave me some tips to help manage my time wisely. I honestly don’t know if every school did this for their students, but I am very thankful that my high school did this for me. I personally don’t think that “my attention span is measured in nanoseconds,” if it was I would not be capable of writing this. Even though Professor Parsons is right about some high schools not preparing their graduates for college, he makes an unfair claim against the high schools that do prepare their students. I know that every professor does not believe in the load of crap that Professor Parsons put on this page, and hopefully I won’t have any professors that do believe the hype.
Sometimes the solution to the problem is standing right in front of the mirror. Maybe his freshman students do so poorly because he is so stubbornly outdated that his student do not succeed. Professor Parson says that “you need to learn to listen,” as a student. Perhaps, he should take his own advice and learn to listen to his students. Sometimes change is for the better. In the world now a day everything thing is changing and those that don’t will get left behind. In closing, I would like to ask Professor Parsons if universities are not all about credentials, why is it so important that your students call you Professor and not teacher?