This day I decided to listen to students instead of giving them a lecture. Students felt comfortable talking in an atmosphere that is more friendly than formal--the cafeteria. One of the remarks that one student made which made me think. She said: ' some of our teachers here ask us to express what we think--thinking requires that we have ideas---how can we get ideas if we were not taught to think. Where do we get ideas from if we were educated by memorization throughout our previous 12 years of education?. The whole system of education is wrong from year one.
September, 22, 2007
Advanced writing class is the time where arguments over many issues take place. A heated discussion over the grading system at KSU took place this week. A sweeping agreement went over the way students are graded for their academic performance. Objections over the present grading went like this: if 40% is given to work throughout the semester and we usually take two midterm exams each lasting one hour, why is it that the final is out of 60 % when it is only for 2 hours? Ohers saw that all the universities abroad put the value of 25-30 % only on the final. When I asked students to write to the 'University Newsletter' to suggest their views, I was surprised that they will not do that simply because they were sure --nothing ever happens!!!!
