tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post33284201142379744..comments2024-03-22T01:06:23.845-07:00Comments on Confessions of a College Professor: Continuing to look at the community college scamDoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04528555392898760692noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-72118098443779981482013-11-25T14:48:11.269-08:002013-11-25T14:48:11.269-08:00Oh yeah, there are plenty of those. Most (all?) ar...Oh yeah, there are plenty of those. Most (all?) are terrible, and at the root is the "Federal loan money only goes to degree seeking students" law. It would be more fair to call those types of degrees, "certifications", but that law won't spew out tons of sweet checks for certifications, so there we are.Doomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04528555392898760692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-34071804587152432712013-11-25T09:20:02.784-08:002013-11-25T09:20:02.784-08:00Here in Northern Florida I am barraged with TV ads...Here in Northern Florida I am barraged with TV ads for "colleges"<br />that will get you a "degree for a health care job" in 9 months!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15066879978588303153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-67566669034280684042013-11-17T11:49:14.561-08:002013-11-17T11:49:14.561-08:00I too, thought that perhaps it was just the "...I too, thought that perhaps it was just the "good" high school students that were taking the good high school classes...but it's not. I took the trouble to look carefully at what goes on in many college courses, and to use any verb at all in describing that activity is misleading.<br /><br />By this I mean, "nothing" goes on. The instructor talks...the students sit and text...and A grades are issued after 3 months. This is what administrators *want* and reward instructors that give courses in this manner.<br /><br />In a similar vein, "attempting to educate the ineducable" isn't quite the issue. The ineducable come due to the myths of college, but they're paid for by the insane student loan scheme. There is in most cases no attempt to educate them, however.<br /><br />Now granted, sometimes there is an attempt, and often these efforts are hysterical. On one campus, the students were *forced* to log into computers and study at the computer for 3 hours a week, in a room proctored by faculty (in addition to standard class time). Some students would come, log in...and sit there and stare enragedly at the screen for three hours. Then leave (and, most likely, give the teacher of the course massive negative reviews). They'd fail, but still get their share of the check.Doomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04528555392898760692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-73575904370605203042013-11-16T19:01:34.688-08:002013-11-16T19:01:34.688-08:00"I taught 12th grade government and economics..."I taught 12th grade government and economics for years, and when my high school courses were more difficult than the college credit classes being offered, I knew we were in trouble."<br /><br />I suspect your class is for the better students. In the same manner as high school AP calculus classes are likely to have better students, more rigor, and a faster pace than the weak CC calculus classes that Professor Doom describes. We should compare like with like.<br /><br />The root of the problem, in my exceedingly humble opinion, is attempting to educate the ineducable. No matter how hard you try you're not going to succeed in explaining integration by parts or the chain rule to a majority of the student population -- maybe 25% of the population can pick these things up. The tragedy lies in insisting that everyone else pick it up as well as a route to the few (or no) jobs out there. The good thing about countries like Germany is that there exist separate vocational tracks -- they don't try to make everyone "college ready" os assume everyone can with enough effort.AAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13242448989166177843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-1773960004842045162013-11-16T13:41:40.035-08:002013-11-16T13:41:40.035-08:00@Steve: We do have technical schools here, too (al...@Steve: We do have technical schools here, too (although sometimes the CC and the technical schools merge or are otherwise 2 schools in one). I don't mind super-expensive training for a job...it might be expensive but at least there's an actual product being sold.<br /><br />CCs that offer 4 year degrees are starting to pop up...much like the 2 year CCs, they're mostly fraudulent, too.<br /><br />Either way, I'm mostly talking about "public" institutions, most of the "technical schools" are private, though.<br /><br />@Govteach: That's the thing, if any educator looked at what's going on, or had any power, much of the fraud going on would not be possible. The "real" faculty know who the bogus faculty are, as do the administrators. Unfortunately, the bogus faculty get better retention, and so those are the only faculty administration likes.Doomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04528555392898760692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-50307717053609720842013-11-16T10:06:49.939-08:002013-11-16T10:06:49.939-08:00I taught 12th grade government and economics for y...I taught 12th grade government and economics for years, and when my high school courses were more difficult than the college credit classes being offered, I knew we were in trouble. The Govteachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07705560819973282422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491174673971804494.post-6419096944085424202013-11-16T05:43:25.269-08:002013-11-16T05:43:25.269-08:00It's interesting to learn how the community co...It's interesting to learn how the community college system works in the United States.<br /><br />Here in Canada, we have community colleges too. Most of them offer two-year programmes of study, but there are quite a few that offer three-year programmes, and an increasing number are actually offering BA degrees as well.<br /><br />Most students who attend community college do so because they don't have the marks (i.e. grades) to get into university or the intellectual capacity to handle university-level courses. Or they want to get into the trades or some other vocational field where some sort of higher learning after high school is required as a pre-requisite for entry into their chosen field.<br /><br />Virtually all of the community colleges in Canada offer very practical courses (i.e. nursing, chemical engineering technology, etc.) that generally translate into employment after graduation.<br /><br />The softer, basket-weaving type of courses are also offered, but usually as night courses to adults already in the work force who want to learn new skills. The same holds true of the short certificate courses that act as 'bolt-ons' to a working adult's existing professional qualifications.<br /><br />The colleges in Canada are funded by provincial governments, which also have a considerable degree of oversight - in effect they are public, not private, institutions that operate on a non-profit basis. <br /><br />One of the really interesting things about the educational system in Canada is that university students often find themselves going to community college after graduation in order to pick up the hard, marketable skills they didn't get while in university.<br /><br />Depending on the field of study, community college grads can make as much, or more than university grads do. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403502906465371807noreply@blogger.com