VOICE in the classroom

IU students will cast their ballots to elect next year’s IU Student Association executive government April 2-3.

The contenders for this year’s election include Hoosiers 4 Solutions, YOUniversity and SPARC for IU.

In justifying their platforms, all three tickets mentioned the results of the 2013 Vision of the Ideal College Environment Report.

At 130 pages, the VOICE Report outlines the results of a recent survey aimed at measuring IU student needs in areas such as student collaboration, technology, intellectual curiosity, campus safety and facilities.

Accompanying these results, the report also offers action recommendations for addressing the most pertinent concerns.

In the section on student intellectual curiosity, one finding is particularly disconcerting.
 
The report has found that IU students actually experience a decrease in their overall level of peer-driven in-class engagement as they move through their college years.

How could this be so?

How is it possible that students feel a greater sense of classroom engagement and intellectual challenge when they come to IU than when they leave? After all, many freshman classes are conducted in large lecture halls, and most upper-level classes are smaller seminars.

As freshmen, students report feeling challenged in the classroom at an above-average rate, while as seniors they report a below-average classroom experience. 

Does the definition of a challenging academic environment change as a student moves from freshman to senior year?

If so, what will it take to make students feel engaged as they transition through their college careers?

The report recommends that faculty “do away with in-class restrictions on the use of personal technology devices including laptops, tablets and phones” while at the same time “improving in-class learning environments through collaborative discussion.”

I believe these two goals are contradictory.

I can say from personal experience that while lax technology rules in the classroom may be more accommodating to diverse learning styles, they certainly don’t promote an engaged classroom.

Only when students are forced to tune out the outside distractions can they truly engage in classroom discussion.

The last thing our University should want is for our students to have already mentally checked out by the time they graduate.

In fact, this undermines the entire goal of IU as an institution of higher education, namely for students to graduate with a willingness to engage in important issues relevant to society.

If they aren’t being challenged by their own peers in the classroom, how will this translate into life in the real world?

In addressing this concern, I encourage whichever IUSA ticket wins the election to further investigate these findings. 

Our own student body, not solely the University administration, should be the ones to spark the conversation on this issue.

­— bridgela@indiana.edu