Saturday, December 29, 2012

Can College Professors Manufacture Student Motivation?

Do your professors motivate you to turn things around?

For 2013, the typical college student New Year's Resolution is to get motivated and study harder in the new semester.  But do colleges and more specifically, professors, acknowledge that they too have a role in providing the seeds of student motivation?  I found an interesting article in The Chronicle of Higher Education on this very topic of motivation, which drew some interesting conclusions:

Motivation is determined by the characteristics of the college environment and the instructor.

In one study:  The largest drop in the ... students' motivation occurred during the first year, though it ticked up slightly during the following three years of their college experience. 


In another study:  Students' levels of motivation varied widely, as reflected by their scores on the test, and their motivation was highly influenced by their perception of the intrinsic value of the material.


The author of "How Colleges Work" suggests:  Department heads and administrators also pay attention to which professors seem to be the best at motivating students, and to assign them to core and introductory courses, where they are more likely to reach a large number of students. Such seemingly minor decisions can have profound consequences on many students' success.


Click here to read: 

Can Colleges Manufacture Motivation?
The Chronicle of Higher Education

Friday, December 21, 2012

The Miracle at Marsh Fork Elementary School


In the wake of the recent tragedy in CT, here's an uplifting elementary school story which has been almost ten years in the making.

I have followed the story of and written about Ed Wiley and his fight to keep his granddaughter and the students of Marsh Fork Elementary (Sundial, West Virginia) out of harm's way.  (The school is situated 400 yards downstream from a 2.8 billion gallon coal waste dam.)  When state assistance was not provided, Mr. Wiley led concerned citizens on a 455-mile walk to Washington D.C. in 2008, got a meeting with then-Senator Byrd, and put the children of Marsh Fork on the map.  

In January 2013, Marsh Fork Elementary School will open its doors to a new, relocated, state-of-the art facility, due to Mr. Wiley's efforts and the efforts of those mentioned in the below article.

Grandpa v. Big Coal
The Huffington Post
by Perry Binder 

This is not an environmental issue. This is about a little human being. -- Ed Wiley (Grandpa) speaking to West Virginia then-Governor Manchin

I came across a story from July 2005 about West Virginia's Marsh Fork Elementary School, which is situated 400 yards below a 2.8 billion gallon coal waste dam. 400 yards? 2.8 billion gallons. With the kids breathing coal dust and chemicals from the coal silo which sits 150 feet away. The only reason this is making any news is that the grandfather of one of the elementary school kids sat on the West Virginia Capitol steps and refused to leave until the governor addressed these rather serious concerns. The guy was just a little curious why the Department of Environmental Protection approved a permit for an additional coal silo adjacent to the school. He was just wondering why in a school of 200 students, three kids and four teachers had died of cancer. And with 240 significant safety violations since 1991, why nothing was being done, like building another school. Away from the madness. 2.8 billion gallons. 2.8 billion. School's not out. School's gone!

In 2008, Mr. Wiley went on a 455-mile hike to Washington, D.C. and actually got a meeting with United States Senator Robert Byrd. He started a web site, Pennies of Promise to raise money for a new school. ... Truth be told, while grandpa was getting publicity for his cause, the money raised was a mere fraction of the $8,000,000 needed to fund a new school. But Mr. Wiley persisted, as attested to by his many supporters.

Continue reading here

Peaceful holidays.

Perry

Friday, December 14, 2012

In Rust Belt, a teenager’s climb from poverty



Excellent article about personal obstacles, perseverance, and driving your destiny by escaping the path which molded you...

In Rust Belt, a teenager’s climb from poverty
The Washington Post, By , Published: December 8

Week after week, the mailman climbed the steep hill of Shenango Street to the house with the busted porch steps. “Dear Miss Rouzzo,” the letters began, or “Dear Tabitha Rouzzo.” The college catalogues barely fit in the mailbox. They stuck out like gift-wrapped presents against white aluminum siding gone dingy from decades of wear. On the porch were three new Linen Breeze decorative candles — a nice try, thought the actual Tabitha Rouzzo, who came walking up the hill every afternoon with her mind on the mailbox....
Tabi shared the rental house with her mother and sometimes her mother’s boyfriend. Her four older siblings were grown. None of them had graduated from high school. They wore headsets and hairnets to jobs that were so futureless that getting pregnant at 20 seemed an enriching diversion. Born too late to witness the blue-collar stability that had once been possible, they occupied the bottom of the U.S. economy.

Continue reading
In Rust Belt, a teenager’s climb from poverty
Read the last paragraph to see where her career path has started.