A money quote: "'Colleges are increasing their attention to the social aspects on campus to keep students happy; there is not enough rigorous academic instruction,' he said."
TOPICS: Education
SUMMARY: Four in 10 U.S. college students graduate without the complex reasoning skills to manage white-collar work, according to the results of a test of nearly 32,000 students.
CLASSROOM APPLICATION: If complex reasoning skills is a form of human capital, then instructors can present the improvements in complex reasoning skills during the four years of college as improvements in human capital. One issue for students to investigate is the relationship between improvements in human capital during the college years and the initial position at the beginning of the freshman year.
QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) Why is the ability of managers to reason through complex problems important to businesses?
2. (Advanced) Are students who begin college with poor complex reasoning skills more likely than students who begin college with good complex reasoning skills more likely to improve these skills during their college years?
3. (Advanced) The article notes the possibility of "selection bias" in estimating the scores of college freshmen and seniors. What is selection bias? Why is it important to statistically correct for selection bias when comparing the test scores of freshmen and seniors?
SUMMARY: Four in 10 U.S. college students graduate without the complex reasoning skills to manage white-collar work, according to the results of a test of nearly 32,000 students.
CLASSROOM APPLICATION: If complex reasoning skills is a form of human capital, then instructors can present the improvements in complex reasoning skills during the four years of college as improvements in human capital. One issue for students to investigate is the relationship between improvements in human capital during the college years and the initial position at the beginning of the freshman year.
QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) Why is the ability of managers to reason through complex problems important to businesses?
2. (Advanced) Are students who begin college with poor complex reasoning skills more likely than students who begin college with good complex reasoning skills more likely to improve these skills during their college years?
3. (Advanced) The article notes the possibility of "selection bias" in estimating the scores of college freshmen and seniors. What is selection bias? Why is it important to statistically correct for selection bias when comparing the test scores of freshmen and seniors?
Reviewed By: James Dearden, Lehigh University
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