College for dummies

New research finds that 45 percent of undergraduate college students show no significant improvement in the areas of critical thinking and complex reasoning by the end of their sophomore year.

The study, conducted by Richard Arum, sociology and education professor at New York University and Jospia Roksa, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, tracked more than 2,300 college students at 24 universities from their freshman year in 2005 through their senior year.

Over the four year period, the students were tested using the Collegiate Learning Assessment, a standardized essay-based test that measures analytic and problem solving skills, reports the New York Times. The test was given both before and throughout the student’s time at college.

News website Inside Higher Ed explains some of the study’s results:

• 45 percent of students “did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning” during the first two years of college.
• 36 percent of students “did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning” over four years of college.
• Those students who do show improvements tend to show only modest improvements. Students improved on average only 0.18 standard deviations over the first two years of college and 0.47 over four years. What this means is that a student who entered college in the 50th percentile of students in his or her cohort would move up to the 68th percentile four years later — but that’s the 68th percentile of a new group of freshmen who haven’t experienced any college learning.

According to the New York Times, the results also showed that many students are not engaging in a challenging curriculum. Half of the students did not take a course requiring 20 pages of writing over a typical semester and 32 percent did not take a course that required at least 40 pages of reading per week.

The results are discussed in a new book based on the study, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.

Keep your mind on the road and your hand upon the wheel

A new study out of Newcastle University in the UK finds that boredom behind the wheel may be associated with an increased risk of car accidents.

The research team, led by Dr. Joan Harvey of the University’s School of Psychology, analyzed 1,563 drivers and placed each participant into one of four groups.

31 percent of drivers fell into the category of “easily bored, nervous and dangerous”, the majority of which were female and younger drivers.  These drivers were more likely to seek excitement by taking risks, making them one and a half times more likely to be involved in a car accident, TIME reports.

Dr. Harvey explains:

“When people who are highly likely to get bored feel understimulated, they do things in response to that, even behind the wheel…Their mind wanders, they daydream, and they lose concentration.”

According to the Daily Mail, 35 percent of the participants fell into the “enthusiastic” category. These group members found driving to be challenging and interesting and ultimately were less likely to be involved in an accident.

21 percent were categorized as “drive slowly and dislike driving”. These participants drive the least and were also the least likely to receive a speeding ticket. The final 13 percent fell into “safe and slow”. Interestingly, the researchers found these drivers had the most positive outlook on life, reports CarAdvice.

What does Dr. Harvey suggest as a solution for those bored drivers?

“Contrary to what you might expect when driving, hazards can actually increase our attention to the road so this may well be the way forward for planners.”