Ruth Schwertscharf

February 3, 2004

Community Psychology

Professor Art Warmoth

Greater Expectations argues that people are flocking to universities in greater numbers then ever. College degrees are becoming as important as high school diplomas were 100 years ago. While Greater Expectations asserts that there is more diversity and larger amounts of people attending universities, it also claims that the people that are there are less goal oriented. Students spend lots of time wandering about different fields of academia with no clear educational path. There are also many part-time students and commuters.

Greater Expectations states that there are many obstacles that can get in the way of student achievement. Many students at universities are enrolled in remedial courses since they are inadequately prepared for college in their earlier education. Greater Expectation also sites general education type courses as a problem because no clear connection is made between the different departments on campuses. Therefore, students’ educations are made up of fragments of knowledge. Research is valued more from professors then teaching. Students often have multiple responsibilities, including increased finance responsibilities and therefore spend less time studying then are expected from their professors.

Greater Expectations says that education has become more about the economic gain that usually results from higher education, rather then expanding ones mind and ones view of the world. The Greater Expectations National Panel Report calls for reforms in undergraduate education. They wish to see more collaboration amongst universities and high schools to make the transition to higher education a smooth one. They believe that the goals of students should be a shared responsibility with universities. While students would still specialize in different fields, they would also be “intentional learners”. This idea of “intentional learners” would breed adaptive students with the ability to interweave different types of information. Students would be “empowered”, “informed” and “responsible”.

This type of student would be a benefit to the community as they would have a sense of the greater good and could see things on a larger scale. They would be open-minded and have the ability to think critically about what is going on around them.

Technology and the Postmodern University asserts that as our society becomes more advanced technologically, information will become more accessible and more concentrated. With this shift in technology, knowledge can be accumulated outside a university setting, in “coffee house” colleges. This style of “coffee house” colleges would be more accessible to a wider range of people. Professors would no longer be sources of information, but rather facilitators of information that would access, interpret and show student how to apply it. Greater Expectations and Technology in the Postmodern Era both place the responsibility of education on the individual, but also on the university system and the community as a whole.

Both Greater Expectations and Technology and the Postmodern University paint a very hopeful picture for the future. They both place a lot of faith in how much people value education and that people are motivated to seek knowledge. I’m not sure that people are motivated enough to seek education without some form of structure guiding them. There is a social aspect to college that teaches people as much if not more then what they learn in the classroom at times. Students learn how to relate to others and the

world from their interactions with fellow students, professors and involvement in things like student government. I think that this is just as important that getting a formal education. Why is there so much pressure to be driven and goal oriented? As a student it is hard to determine what you want to study when you have very little real life experience to base your decisions on. I understand why many students wander around (seemingly aimless) the different fields of academia; they are in search of their passion.