Introduction
This is a book which was written by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa in 2011 and published by the University of Chicago. It raised a great debate across the country drawing criticism as well as appreciations in equal measures. The book take a critical look at the higher learning in colleges and university in the united states of America in great depth and it concludes that the degree the current students are getting in colleges and the university is not worth much compared to the time and money invested in teaching the students. The book argues that the current graduates lack critical thinking capacity and cannot solve problems on their own since they lack the capacity to reason rationally in other words they are ‘dump’.
This has not settled when with many students since there are some who have dedicated their life into books and get skills so that they can get the career of their dreams. Many argue that not all the courses which are taught at the higher institution of learning are the same. There courses like engineering and medicine which need the students to take more time in books and doing research since these disciplines touch directly the life of humans and any mistake on doctors or engineering work can results in loss of life. However, courses like music or human resource don’t need much time reading and doing research since they rely on someone talent and they are theoretical in nature. Since I have heard much debate about the book a decided to check chapter 5 since here I was sure to get the research main findings, recommendation and the conclusions of the entire book
The books targets the higher institution of learning since according to the chapter five the research start by suggesting the changes on the curriculum and instructions that are existing the institution of higher learning since the current curriculum content does not produce competent individual who can reason critically or do research on their own. The book not that when these institution give out assignment where students are supposed to do more reading and writing, the institution fails to take their responsibility of monitoring the students. On other hand institutions and schools which take students work seriously, students’ shows level of seriousness in their work and increase in participation in class. Where there are more expectations from the students by the teachers or lecturers Students are willing to get more engaged in studies in general by allocating more time to it than other private issues like entertainment
The research suggests that the institutions should embrace new ways of delivering the services to the students since the old ways does not suit the new generation. The students should minimize teaching and encourage learning on students. Here the teachings will be encourage to do more reading and writing on their and the teachers will be doing supervision and giving guidance to the students. However, this on my perspective may turn students into book worms and stop being children who are supposed to have fun since they are still young with no bills to pay from their own sweat.
The research has use rhetorical questions in text so that the reader can pose and think critically about the old system and the new system which is being proposed by the research. A good example is when the researcher is questioning the active learning and collaboration and the demand for more learnin
The rhetorical strategy used in the research is effective since it forces the reader to pose and think critically while evaluating issues which are being represented. This style is good since the reader is given a chance to rethink and keep tract of the discussion on the research. The reader is able to evaluate the research more. The strategy also helps the book to achieve its purpose of critical thinking not just reading for the sake of reading. The audience is able to keep track of what he or she is reading and the argument being represented.
The recent publication of the books is very relevant. The world is migrating to computer era where everything can be learned by touched of a button. This trend must be checked since getting distracted while reading or typing. There are many sites on the internet which can distract somebody attention easily hence becoming a hindrance to learning. The classroom with a board in front and a teacher explain while writing on the board was an ideal place of learning and exchanging ideas between the students and the teacher. Everything was done practically hence giving students firsthand experience on their course work. But today everything is digital we just feed the computer with raw data and get full results with explanations and analysis.
The short text messages have resulted in the quality of writing good paper full vocabularies to degrade. The copy and paste technology has also given the new generation an easy way to complete their assignment on time but it does not equipment them with the necessary knowledge to help them in the future. This has made this generation to be in the position the research is describing as graduates with no skills of critical thinking and systematic reasoning.
Works Cited
Arum, Richard, and Josipa Roksa. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. Print.
