August 20, 2007

Students Should Shop for Clothes, Not Courses, Researchers Say

It’s back-to-school shopping season, and college students aren’t just trying on True Religion jeans for size. They’re testing the fit of classes, too, by signing up for courses, attending a few classes, then dropping those they don’t like.

Course-shopping is common among college students, and the practice may be costing both colleges and students, according to a study published in the July/August edition of The Journal of Higher Education by researchers at the University of Florida.

The Florida researchers studied transcripts and other data for 5,000 students in the Los Angeles Community College District and found that 38 percent of the students shopped for courses, often repeatedly dropping and adding courses. The indecision of those students blocked others from enrolling in classes, caused needless work for administrators, and generally wreaked havoc on the scheduling process, the study’s authors found. Frequent course-shopping also correlated with lower grade-point averages.

So, students may be shopping for A’s, but it doesn’t look like they’re getting them. —Elyse Ashburn

Comments

1. Of course we know that correlation does not prove causality. It is quite likely that the lower GPA students are shopping courses for the ones that are easier. Unfortunately, there are some students that want the easiest means to an end. They shop to find it.

   — Patrick    Aug 21, 09:50 AM    #

2. They are not necessarily shopping for As — some students cannot decide which course they want from the title alone. A few hours with a prof helps them make up their minds. They may have lower grades because they are doing double work for the first few weeks of the term.

   — David Zetland    Aug 21, 12:12 PM    #

3. Institutions of higher education actually encourage the “consumer approach” to learning. A recent article in the New York Times, “Certain Degrees Now Cost More At Universities”, shows that universities consider some degrees more “valuable” than others. It isn’t hard to imagine that some day, this shopping mentality will trickle down to the course level so that individual courses will be charged at different rates. But for now, course sampling will allow the average student to evaluate a course and to make better consumer choices as he/she tries to decide which career path will give them the biggest bang for their buck.

   This consumer approach to education is just one more indicator that our institutions of higher learning are being corrupted.

   — Herbert Morgan    Aug 21, 12:47 PM    #

4. I see nothing “corrupting” about this situation. Students have always shopped courses, and in many cases they’re doing it because they’re not sure what the class will cover – or they go to the first class and find out the teacher stinks. I dropped a couple of courses as an undergraduate because it was clear the prof was a lousy teacher. Of course, most faculty members are good teachers, but the student may decide they don’t want that specific course.

   Students ARE consumers. Institutions need to do a better job then six-word catalog descriptions telling them what the topic is. And they shouldn’t be surprised when students vote with their feet, regardless of the reason.

   — Al    Aug 21, 03:40 PM    #

5. I shopped courses when I was back in graduate school 2 years ago, after having been a teacher for 20 years. My school had a ‘shopping period’ that worked fairly well for this purpose. This allowed students one week for hearing presentations by faculty as well as for asking faculty questions about their courses. I think this opportunity helped us understand better the choices we were making. At the same time taking advantage of this preview didn’t incur the administrative costs of adding and dropping.

   — eytan fichman    Aug 21, 04:54 PM    #

6. I’m curious to know what is wrong with shopping for a course that will perhaps provide a better grade? Moreover, what does the grade really matter? Getting something lower than an A does not mean the student didn’t do well in the course, it could just mean they tried their best and the course was difficult. I hate this mentality that we must have A’s.

   Also, teachers do make a large difference in the outcome of a course. I wish that course grades could be solely about what we learn and how we attain that information and reproduce it – but so often teachers are very biased and produce grades based on their own mentality and personality.

   Let’s not forget that everyone has a different learning style. If a teacher has all lectures and no hands on work, some people can not handle that. I for one, prefer classes with written work (essays, research papers) as opposed to just tests. It fits my major (English Writing) and fits my goals in life.

   It is a Dog Eat Dog world and usually there is some kind of way for a student to find their placement into a needed class. If someone drops, usually a hardworking student is aware that they can keep waiting for an open space in that course and add it. Sometimes there are over tallies. I plan my schedule two weeks ahead of registration just for the purpose of making sure I’m most likely to get the courses I need.

   Perhaps schools should stop complaining and instead look into why students are so frequently dropping and adding courses. How can they improve this system? Above comments seem to have great ideas.

   I’m sorry but I much rather have a course that actually provides the education of a subject that I need and receive a lower grade, than to stay with a course regardless. Perhaps some students are doing it for an easy A, but how could you guarantee such an assumption towards a course anyway?

   — Crystal    Aug 22, 12:50 PM    #

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