University administration and faculty have lost sight of the purpose of college.
College is not supposed to simply be a culmination of points from different assignments, but a way for students to learn and test their newfound knowledge. If they know enough of what they were supposed to gain in a class, they should pass.
Instead, college requires students to jump through hoops and perform ridiculous amounts of required work that doesn’t test their knowledge. The easiest way to help students and actually test their knowledge is to give students the option to use the final exam as their final course grade. Finals usually test cumulative knowledge anyway.
If a student performs poorly in the class throughout the semester but manages to ace the final, shouldn’t they deserve an A in the class? They demonstrated that they understand the accumulation of knowledge. Not all classes have cumulative finals, or have finals at all. Those that do should implement this rule. It is a fair way to give students an option instead of curving or handing out bonus points.
Busywork is all too common, and while irrelevant homework assignments can help a student’s grade, they can also hurt it. No student is going to complete 100 percent of the homework assignments if a class gives them out on a daily basis.
Homework and quizzes are helpful tools to prepare for exams, but too many college professors don’t bother to actually teach the material before giving out assignments. Why do they grade homework if it is supposed to be practice for exams?
I rarely get homework completely right on the first try.
Sometimes, the time required to complete the homework is even more ridiculous than the homework itself. Students shouldn’t have to do graded busywork that takes an extra 20 hours per a week.
College has turned from a place where enlightened people gather to educate themselves into a twisted place where the only way to succeed is to waste time, money and sanity in order to perform ridiculous tasks that, for the most part, have no use outside college.
As a petroleum engineer, I doubt I will ever need to solve for the elasticity or deflection of a beam given an axial load. I have talked to several engineers, and it turns out college is mostly just for the degree.
Today, college is just a place where administrators and universities line their pockets with money, and students have to deal with the fall out. With the amount of stress and hypocrisy induced by the University, it is no wonder students feel obligated to get intoxicated as frequently as possible.
Garrett Marcel is a 22-year-old petroleum engineering senior from Houma, Louisiana.