I interviewed Gil Hickman, a leadership studies professor, for the Digital Story project. She invited the Jepson Editor, Tammy Tripp, to sit in on our conversation. It was a really great conversation and I have a lot of substance to write about in my script. I was really struck by our chat about students and their focus on getting a good grade and pleasing the professor rather than learning how to write. Both Dr. Hickman and Tammy agreed that what students don't realize is that it is far more important to know be a good writer than to have a high GPA when it comes to getting a job and moving up the ladder. Neither of them have ever been asked to supply a college transcript when they applied for a job. What got them their interviews and ultimately their jobs was their ability to write and good recommendations.
How can we get this message through to students? Maybe the Writing Center should come out with a publication that have professors quoted on the importance of being able to write well. I think this might be something that will entice students to not only come to the Writing Center, but to also really take interest in learning the skill of writing.
It is interesting to hear how professors feel about this topic; a glimpse into the other side of the student-teacher relationship. In the long-run I would agree that being able to write well, is much more important than a high GPA. To me it is about finding that middle ground, while each professor has their own style, an extremely well written paper will almost earn a high grade, as it should.
ReplyDeleteAllie- I know we talked about this at home, but again, how interesting is it that GPA doesn't even seem to matter in the real world. We spend so much time worrying about our grades and stressing out about getting all A's when really, we should be focusing on more broad real world skills like writing. I guess it doesn't really matter if you get a B in a finite math class that youre only taking to pass the gen-ed's, but we just can't help but stress out anyway! I really like the idea of a publication by the writing center! It would help show students how important writing really is! While finite math may never even come up again in my life after college, i am absolutely positive that I will be writing and communicating for a REALLY long time
ReplyDeleteBecause students are so wrapped up in getting the best grade in the moment, it is difficult to think about what they are actually achieving by doing work. I know that is very true for me at least. The comment that your teacher made evokes a different perspective about what college is actually about. Writing a paper to please the teacher won't be beneficial to someone in the long run because he or she is not learning how to write in a way that appeals to a universal audience.
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