Letter: Is IU improving?

As I approach the end of my 26-year teaching career on IU’s two core campuses, I am frequently asked whether the students have improved or not. I cannot honestly trust my own recall to make such a judgment because the students and courses varied so much. Of course, students have less general cultural and historical knowledge, although they handle their electronic gear much better than I do, so they compose their papers faster.

But here is what we do know. Nationwide, students in almost all fields report spending about half the time studying than my cohort did. Between 1961 and 2003, average study time at 156 colleges and doctoral universities fell from 24 hours to a mere 14 — normally less than one hour per class, rather than the two hours often recommended.  

Yet grades and self-reported “excellence” have gone up. More students are choosing innovative majors and courses — such as cultural studies and sports marketing — rather than mathematics, physical sciences and other demanding fields. Selective grade inflation in easy majors is an open secret, though indignantly denied by previous administrations. Accordingly, employers pay less attention to the GPA. What counts is the selectivity of the university’s entry standards. All this makes me think the typical results achieved while in college have not improved.

To my knowledge IU has not made a major effort to counter the likely deterioration, aside from seeking more out-of-state, high-paying students. Pressure from Hoosier legislators to accelerate degree completion for more youngsters has been in the background, of course, as well as budget cuts to increase class size and use adjunct and graduate student teachers.

To attract and keep them, star researchers teach less, and if students don’t bother them, research for publication is facilitated. Student writing assignments, which require arduous grading, have fallen off. “Extra credit” — to compensate for prior unsatisfactory performance — is a common practice. Teaching evaluations, which began in the 1960s and 1970s, give “easier” instructors better marks. These evaluations count for promotion, tenure and merit raises, so the determined professor has reason to ease up. Too many low grades invites attention from administrators; too many high ones, rarely does. General examinations or even serious surveys of graduating seniors’ time use and competence are a long-lost memory. Alas, Hoosier students seem to want to pay more for less education.

All this makes me pessimistic about the teaching and learning at our fine university and others like it. If someone can counter my doubts with hard and convincing evidence, I’d like to hear it. But if the president, trustees and deans want to confront and then rectify the situation, I’d like to hear more from them, too, in their usually up-beat messages.

—Martin C. Spechler, professor of economics