University. Daily Kansan / Friday, February 2, 1990
Lifestyle
9
Don't know much about... anything
by Bryce J. Tache
Is Gloria Steinem a women's rights activist or the new girl on MTV's "Remote Control?"
Was "The Scarlet Letter" written by Nathaniel Hawthorne or Stephen King?
Was it Descartes or Donald Trump who said, "I think, therefore I am?"
Although the answers to the above questions may seem obvious, recent studies indicate an alarming amount of college students cannot correctly answer history, literature and geography questions.
A poll sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities raised some eyebrows in October when it revealed that one in four college seniors could not place the pilgrims' landing at Plymouth Rock in the correct 50-year period. Nearly 60 percent didn't know who was president when the Korean War started.
A National Geographic survey found similar discouraging results among U.S. citizens. Only a third could find Vietnam on a map, and 23 percent didn't know where the Pacific Ocean was.
John Augelli, professor of geography, said most college freshman had little or no geography knowledge.
"The vast majority of the students come in with an incredibly poor geographical background." he said. "Forty years ago when I started out teaching, there was probably a better grasp of geography by incoming freshmen. Then it went all hell on wheels, as far as I'm concerned."
Augelli said primary and secondary schools had not stressed geography, partly because qualified geography teachers were hard to find. However, a campaign in education was launched recently to teach geography to students before they arrived at college.
Augelli said he tried to teach freshmen what he called "second grade geography," or simple locations on maps.
"I if were to give a test on the first day of class, half wouldn't know the difference between India and Asia."
He said that students in upper-level classes had gained the most knowledge he expected of them, and he estimated that about half of his introductory-class students better on a geography lest than the national average.
Jay Alexander, professor of history and Soviet and East European studies, said incoming students' knowledge
"It varies from person to person," Alexander said. "But often, general knowledge is not very good. I don't know how to explain it."
students were necessarily less informed than those of the past. But during his 20 years of teaching he had attempted to design his introductory-level classes for beginners in history.
Alexander said he wasn't sure whether today's
"I certainly try to make them at an accessible level," he said. "I try to be quite basic, explain words, explain terms and that type of thing. You can't reach everybody, but at that level, I do try to stick to the
In the realm of literature, Mary Klayder, graduate teaching assistant in English, agreed that students' knowledge varied.
"I've had students who could quote mythology, but then again, I've had students who could only quote 'Fantasy Island.'" she said.
Klayder said it was hard to determine who was to blame for the lack of knowledge.
"Sometimes what's asked for in high school is a much more superficial understanding of a work," she said
She said part of this was because of different levels of interest and ability in high school. In-depth analyses of literary works are not always possible, she said.
If someone in college finds that he is lacking in basic knowledge, Klayder said, it is his responsibility to catch up, get ahead and learn.
"I wish as a society we could care more about understanding than we do." she said.
Klayder said that knowledge was more than knowing who wrote what when; what was inside literature was the most important.
Anjum Akhtar, Topeka sophomore, said that in some ways high school did not prepare her for college classes. But she said in other cases some college classes simply rehashed what was taught in high
For example, she said, a KU political science class she was in this semester was using the same textbook used in a government class in high school.
Akhtar said learning was up to the student but some subjects, such as geography and history, needed to be stressed more.
"I made an effort to take harder classes in high school but most people shy away from those because they are hard, and they regret it later," Akhtar said.
Diane Farley, Wellington senior, said high school did not prepare her for college. She said her school didn't have a foreign language requirement, and students only took one year each of history and geography.
Farley said not taking more history and geography courses in high school made her college classes more challenging.
"I guess I went to an easy high school." she said. "I really have to apply myself to do well."
Six sticklers that stumped students
1. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was chained to a rock as punishment for . . .
a.stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals.
b.killing a sacred animal in defiance of religious laws.
c.marrying a mortal woman and boasting about her great beauty.
d. deceiving humanity and bringing about widespread destruction.
2. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 was led by . a Lenin.
b. Stalin.
3. The purpose of the authors of the "Federalist" papers was to .
d. Czar Nicholas II.
a.win foreign approval for the Revolutionary War.
b.establish a strong, free press in the colonies.
c.gain ratification of the United States Constitution.
d.confirm George Washington's election as the first President.
4. The Missouri Compromise was the act that . . .
a.granted statehood to Missouri but denied the admission of any other new states.
b. settled the boundary dispute between Missouri and Kansas.
c. admitted Maine into the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state.
d. financed the Lewis and Clark expedition on the upper Missouri River.
5. In "Brown v. Board of Education," 1964, the Supreme Court decided to ..
b. declare racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
supreme our school so that we
a require the hiring of more minority teachers
c. forbid the practice of discrimination in hotels and motels.
d. mandate busing of students to achieve racial balance in public schools.
a. investigations of individuals suspected of Communist activities
6. The controversy surrounding Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy focused on ..
b.agitation to secure civil rights for Irish immigrants.
c.leadership of the movement protesting the war in
d. leadership of the movement to improve veterans' benefits.
(1) a,(2)a,(3)c,(4)c,(5)b,(6)a
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