tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post5747257221531976994..comments2023-10-15T05:04:21.811-04:00Comments on The Mind of Dr. Pion: CC StudentsDoctor Pionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post-78286087708652997262010-06-24T16:45:42.062-04:002010-06-24T16:45:42.062-04:00Update from 2010:
I had a student this summer wh...Update from 2010: <br /><br />I had a student this summer who could not write a coherent multi-paragraph essay. He was straight out of our "prep" classes and had not had our Comp 1 course. So I still haven't seen a case like "Prof X" describes, but I do have more respect for what our Comp 1 instructors have to deal with!Doctor Pionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post-53401130904168435332008-07-02T10:20:00.000-04:002008-07-02T10:20:00.000-04:00I wonder about the difference between R1 students,...I wonder about the difference between R1 students, CC students, and my students.<BR/><BR/>Electrical and Computer Engineering at my school used to be highly selective; I'm told that around 2000 it was even hotter than med school (!) among students at my CEGEP(*). It is still selective (mid-80s high school marks, whatever that means), but much less so---everywhere else, CS/EE programmes have had shrinking enrollments, and I think we avoided that here by no longer being ultra-selective; and still I don't think we're less selective than other schools, so we shouldn't complain too much.<BR/><BR/>In principle I think that a school tends to lose out by being ultra-selective, because the best students are not necessarily those with the 95% averages.<BR/><BR/>But the consequence of being less selective is a higher failure rate; our first-year engineering failure rate has gone from 0% to 30%, which causes some consternation among faculty.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately I don't have anything interesting to say from personal experience, since I've only taught one elective class for fourth-year students so far. I suspect that these days, the students are like the ones at your R1s. They might have used to be more motivated.<BR/><BR/>(*) - I'm from Quebec, where high school ends at grade 11; pre-university students study at a CEGEP (junior college) for two years before doing a 3-year B.*. The rest of Canada has a system like the US system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3493437990574291998.post-41313889449079308172008-07-01T23:54:00.000-04:002008-07-01T23:54:00.000-04:00Well said, Dr. Pion. I agree with many of your po...Well said, Dr. Pion. I agree with many of your points. In particular, I also find vocabulary to be a weak point for my CC students. It seems to be less of an issue that the large state R1 institution I used to teach at. However, I found that overall class performance was the same or better at the community college. (The courses taught at both were astronomy and physics courses.)<BR/><BR/>For anyone who loves to teach, the CC environment is a great one, because all the effort you put into your teaching will be appreciated by staff and students alike.Dr. Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11736304410226354515noreply@blogger.com