🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4elr2f$k9f@peabody.colorado.edu>,
Robert Tarrall <tarrall@plutus.Colorado.EDU> wrote:
>ALPERT ETHAN (alpert@alumni.cs.colorado.edu) wrote:
>: [...]
>: At this point I'm wondering why no one from CU has responded to this thread.
>: It makes me wonder if they even give a $%#@. They proabably sit arround and
>: point their fingers at the high schools that failed to teach adaquately or
>: more likely they'd rather ignore the problem because they know they need to
>: spend more time working with students and less time in their ivory towers. 
>

  Actually, from where I sit, this is the one thing that makes sense.
The math mods are supposed to be nothing more than a refresher course
for materials learned before. It is not designed, or intended, to make
up for deficiencies that are pre-existing.

>You can't force knowledge into someone's head.  If they don't want to
>learn the material, they're not going to.  It might be better to approach
>a discussion of the CU math modules from a different perspective:
>   Can a student who *wants* to learn the material acquire the
>   necessary skills from the CU math modules?
>This seems to me to be a more important question.
>
>I realize that we do have students receiving passing grades in courses
>when they don't have a good understanding of the material, and to some
>extent this might be considered to dilute the value of a CU diploma.
>However, I think a better strategy would be to (first) ensure that motivated
>students will receive whatever help it takes for them to learn the
>material, and (second) try to come up with ways to motivate those students
>who aren't applying themselves.
>

  Once, long ago, I used to work at the Engineering library. Starting
a couple days before the end of the semster, a huge line would form in the 
hallway outside of people trying to cram in their mods just before
the cut-off date. Many were just seeing the materials for the first
time. I expect that most of those would get as much out of the program
as they put in.. ie nothing.

Charles Buckley