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Lou Petersack English 1102

Is the Educational System Effective? Introduction A student's education is one of the most important investments in today's world. The quality of their education and what they are learning will either benefit or damage the world of tomorrow. Students at all levels should have enough priority to society takes an interest in what is happening in school classrooms. No one person should have the "right" answer for how and what the students are taught but one person people tend to leave out of the discussion of these matters is the students themselves. It is vital that the student's opinion is considered whenever their education is being criticized. This leaves the question of "what does the student want?" unanswered or even worse, answered by people who feel they have a better opinion than the student of what they want. Other questions that are not usually asked of the students include, "what is interesting to you?", "what do you find boring/unexciting about school?", "what can be done to make schooling better?" and so on. A student's opinion can give the educational leaders more to consider when making important decisions regarding those students' education. In this paper I will discuss the problem of getting a student's focus back on their education. It will include observations of a lecture styled classroom, studies conducted by outside sources and ideas that come from different sorts of books and articles on how the educational system should either operate or be amended. I am not trying to give one, solid, endall-be-all solution to the "broken" system. There is, without a doubt, a countless number of suggestions or so called solutions that could improve a student's education. All I am stating in this paper is bringing a problem to light that needs to be considered a top priority for those whose lives will be affected by the outcome of this style of education.

Lou Petersack English 1102

The Talking Sources The following is a short play that briefly summarizes the information I obtained from secondary sources on the matter of student education and my reactions to what I was reading in these sources. Characters: Myself (the teacher in the classroom and researcher), students: Martin (Patchen:"Making Our Schools More Effective: What Matters and What Works."), Beverly (Suits:"Redirection of Student Attention Using Verbal and Nonverbal Cues"), Jere (Brophy:"Motivating Students to Learn (Third Edition)."), Zoltan (Dornyei:"Creating a Motivating Classroom Environment (Chapter 43).") and Charles (Bonwell: "Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom."). Setting: A classroom in high school. A class of sophomores in homeroom at the beginning of the school day. The teacher is sitting at his desk at the front of the room waiting for the morning announcements to finish. As they do, he decides to start class today with a question.

Myself: Stands up after announcements and centers himself in front of the class. Good morning class, I want to get right into it today. We will be having a class discussion about education and students in the classroom. The question I want you to think about for a few minutes is, "Are students being motivated to learn, or are they losing interest in their education?". He thinks that since grade school is fresh in their heads and they have now experienced high school, that they will be able to give a complex opinion. Take a few minutes to think yourself before we begin the discussion. He waits until it seems the students have formed an opinion and then begins. Ok class, who wants to kick it off?

Lou Petersack English 1102

Martin: First student to raise his hand. The teacher calls on him to give his two cents. I think that it has to do with the stuff you teachers are teaching us. Myself: Good point Martin. Can you elaborate a little bit? Martin: Yeah. It's like some of the stuff is boring so I don't really pay attention but stuff like history seems cool to me so I like learning about that. Beverly: Jumping in on the conversation from across the room. Yeah same here. But not for the history stuff though. I am more of a science person in school. I enjoy doing experiments rather than sitting in a room and hearing how great the Romans were. My attention span seems to be shorter than normal in classes like that. Myself: Ok, I can see where both of you are coming from on this matter. You are saying that either the teachers or curriculum are not capturing your attention so you are less inclined to listen and feel bored. Does that sound correct? Referring back to the students. Martin: Yeah I think that sounds about right. Beverly: Yup, pretty much. Myself: Noticing that others are shaking their heads in agreement with Martin and Beverly, he asks for another opinion. Does anyone else have an idea? How about you, Charles? Charles: Well I think that if learning was a bit more exciting than just sitting and listening, then we might have more motivation to pay attention. Seeing that the teacher is intrigued, he continues. Like if we had something to do other than just listen to a lecture, then I'm pretty sure that we would enjoy the class.

Lou Petersack English 1102

Myself: I see.....you are talking about things like demonstrations and stuff more along the line of visual learning? Charles: Yeah. Stuff like that would be cool. Like drawing a picture or playing jeopardy for review and stuff. That would make learning fun. Myself: Good. I would like to see you guys having fun in class. Zoltan: Yeah and it would probably be easier to motivate us to do something educational. Myself: Now that is the word I was looking for. Zoltan, would you care to elaborate? Zoltan: Sure thing. I think that if my teachers like gave us rewards for learning something or just did something fun or cool every now and then, it would give me some motivation to learn. Jere: Yeah, I agree with that. Myself: Ok Jere, let's hear your opinion on the matter. Jere: Ok. Well I don't know what you think motivates us from your view but I think students need to have something to work for other than a good grade. Myself: Alright, can you go on a bit more? Jere: Yeah well if say we got something for getting an answer right, then that would motivate us a little. I guess what I am trying to say is maybe some type of reward. Myself: Well, say a piece of candy isn't much for motivating you to participate in class every once in a while.

Lou Petersack English 1102

Jere: Sorry, I meant something different. I was thinking like bonus points for turning in an assignment early or if we turn in every assignment. I meant something school related as some kind of motivation to keep us interested and focused. Myself: Oh, ok. I see what you meant by reward. Seeing that he has the class' attention now, he decides to conclude the conversation for the day. So after listening to all of your opinions, let me see if I got everything. You want something interesting to you but if it's not, then do something a little extra to make it exciting. Also, you want some sort of incentive to do well in the class other than just a grade. He sees that the class seems to be in agreement with that statement. Well I will take that as a yes and do what I can to make those things happen. Have a good day. Class dismissed. Observing the Students After reading books and online sources, I thought it would also be beneficial to do some observing myself. The group to be studied was a large classroom of freshman in a business class. The professor's method of teaching that day seemed to be standing in front of the class and lecturing while also showing a PowerPoint. Looking around, there were some empty seats which lead me to believe that some students were not attending class. I also observed 17 people texting, 3 sleeping, 23 using their computer (not for class), 13 on their phone (games, etc.), and 16 talking to their neighbors. The professor did not seem to care about any of those students, just the ones that answered the questions that they rarely asked. It was very disappointing to see something like that happening on campus. These observations have leaded me to believe that professors are becoming less connected to their students. This can cause more problems in the future for students, especially now with more and more online classes. If there is not a teacher or

Lou Petersack English 1102

professor there to help guide the student and assist them in their studies, then the student will not be able to fully grasp the concept of what is being taught. Conclusion Researching through books, online articles and my own observations, my opinion remains unchanged. It is hard to argue that the education system is doing its job properly when there is so much proof that it is not helping anyone. My suggestions are derived from my research and in no way the only solution to fixing the system. I am merely saying that it would benefit the students if the professors were more interactive, the classes were smaller, students had more freedom in picking classes and if there was a form of motivation for doing well besides just a high grade. These are not the only options that the educational system has but from the standpoint of a student researcher/observer, these are the most important parts of education that need to be fixed. It may not all happen at once but gradual steps can be taken to make it work. In summary, the main point of this paper is that if something is not done in the near future, then students will see education as a job rather than an opportunity.

Lou Petersack English 1102

Works Cited Patchen, Martin. "Making Our Schools More Effective: What Matters and What Works." Springfield, Illinois: Thomas, Charles C., 2004. Print. This book discusses how effective the classroom environment is and what is working to help students learn. The author talks about what is most important and what works to improve student learning and how it can be made better. This book also asks about what the curriculum should contain, how students should be assessed and how to keep students' attention in the classroom. This will help me know what to look for while observing a classroom. It can give me a better understanding of what teachers are trying to do with their different methods and what the students are taking in through the lesson.

Suits, Beverly Kay J., "Redirection of Student Attention Using Verbal and Nonverbal Cues" (1983). UNF Theses and Dissertations. Paper 31. Web. 18 March 2013. This is a study that focused on both verbal and non-verbal communication in the classroom and what was more effective. Student distractions were also observed and tallied for three different teachers. It looks at how the students reacted to the different forms of communication and what it takes to keep the students focused on learning in the classroom. This will help me in arguing my point for getting students' attention back on learning. It also contains additional observation data that I can use to further back up some of my statements when writing

Lou Petersack English 1102

the paper. It will also be more information to call on when it comes time to state my findings in my observation of a classroom.

Brophy, Jere. "Motivating Students to Learn (Third Edition)." New York, New York: Routledge, 2010. Web. 22 March 2013. This book focuses on how to keep students motivated to learn. It talks about methods of promoting learning in the classroom and the best ways to keep students involved in the curriculum. This can give me a little insight as to how some teachers are keeping the students focused on learning while also motivating them to do well.

Dornyei, Zoltan. "Creating a Motivating Classroom Environment (Chapter 43)." Nottingham, UK: Springer US, 2007. Web. 22 March 2013. This chapter addresses the complex question of what makes a classroom environment motivating. Concepts that are discussed are how teachers are conducting their classes and what types of exercises are best for motivating the students to do well in school. This can give me another perspective on what is going on in some classrooms to promote students to enjoy their education and want to take their learning further than what is required of them.

Bonwell, Charles C. - Eison, James A. "Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom." Washington, D.C., 1991. Web. 24 March 2013.

Lou Petersack English 1102

This paper discusses how teachers can keep students focused and involved in their learning process. It talks about strategies for comparing notes, giving ungraded assignments in class time and having demonstrations to appeal to different kinds of learning. This will be very helpful in explaining what can be done in education to help the students keep focused.

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