Essay On Limiting Factor In College

We have experienced it at some point in our school years it comes to learning. We have some classes that grab our attention. Some classes just bored us to death. What makes a class dull and bland? Is it how the professors present the material or the students' lack of interests? What Is College For? By Gary Gutting and My Year as a Freshman: Connections to the Path Ahead by Cathy Small both discussed the issues of "lack of academic engagement" and "limiting factors" that occurs in universities. In these two texts, they both ask the same question to their readers. What causes the lack of academic engagement between students and professors? Who is responsible to improve the academic engagement; students or professors?

We all have experienced a class that doesn't grab our attention or interest. However, as students, we intend to do the minimum work to pass the course. "Professors have ceased to expect genuine engagement from students and often give good grades (B or better) to work that is at minimally adequate." (Gutting 454). Although students are doing the minimum work, are students truly engaging what they learning? Last semester, when I took Math 124, knowing that math was the most frustrating subject for the most students, I would do the minimum work to pass the class. However, the

"This lack of academic engagement is real, even among schools with the best students and the best teachers, and it increases dramatically as the quality of the school decreases."(Gutting 454-455). When I read this section, I was surprised. I thought having the best teachers and students would increase the quality of the school. However, the article mentions of the lack dedication of professors. "Teachers need to see themselves as, first of all, intellectuals, dedicated to understanding poetry, history,..., biology-or whatever is the focus of their discipline." (Gutting