Articles and Archives
Most recent posting below. See other articles in the column to the right.
3 comments - Last on 06/04/2010
Beach Books: What Do Colleges Want Students to Read Outside Class?
In the last decade, the number of colleges that assign summer reading to incoming freshmen has soared. The National Association of Scholars has tracked and analyzed 290 such programs—the most comprehensive study of “common reading” programs to date. The study reveals national patterns in book selection. Major findings include a widespread assignment of books that promote liberal political views; a preponderance of contemporary writing; and a surprisingly low level of intellectual difficulty. The NAS recommends seven steps colleges can take to improve their book choices.
Add a Comment
RSS Feed 
del.icio.us 
Digg this 
Share on Facebook
And people wonder why students cheat, plagarize, and lift entire term papers off the web...
The thing that a lot of folk forget is that the absolute best way to make sure that an 18-year-old won't do something is to tell him that he must. That it is "manditory." And I really do wonder how many of these books will be read this summer -- purchaed, yes, but read???
We are destroying the concept of education, one mandate at a time...
by Ed Posted on 06/03/2010
Ed, there is nothing "manditory" about these voluntary summer reading programs, and your claim that this is causing cheating, plagiarism, and the destruction of higher education is pure idiocy.
I write about the flaws in the NAS Report on my blog, and I certainly encourage the NAS to respond to it:
http://collegefreedom.blogspot.com/2010/06/scholars-on-beach.html
by JohnKWilson Posted on 06/04/2010
Thanks John. We always appreciate hearing from you. I responded here: http://www.nas.org/polArticles.cfm?Doc_Id=1348.
by Ashley Thorne Posted on 06/04/2010