Keith Kearney-Pelsey

Professor Rebecca Weaver

Engl 1102

April 18, 2022

Actors: Degree or No Degree

    For those of young students who want to be actors or actresses know that acting doesn’t always come from talent but from skill. There’s more than what people might think. And that is getting a little bit educated on the art of Theatre or Film. Some actors strive to get a degree in those categories in order to get far in their career, but there is one major question that is often asked is whether or not actors really need to have a degree in their craft. The answer often varies when it comes to the actor or actress who want to have a degree. For most people, they will say that acting just comes from experience without needing an education but others take their time to go to college to increase their knowledge in their career. It matters to everyone who wants to become successful after their years in education. Actors are free to have the choice to go to college and make an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in their craft.

The college degree that everyone, including actors, strives for is a Bachelor’s degree or an Associates degree. In an anominously written article on the Best Accredited Colleges website, “Acting Career Information: Becoming an Actor or Actress”, they addressed the educational requirement for being an actor. The author of the article states that, “There are no formal education requirements to become an actor but a bachelor’s degree in theater arts, drama, acting and performing, may be helpful in learning technical skills.” Granted, they only talk about everything that an actor does and needs, the author actually talks about the different skill sets to be an actor. Those skills are memorization, creativity, and literacy. Those skills are often there as a reminder for how young actors should treat their education. Since there is no formal educational requirement, they offer classes in the college field as a bit of extracurricular for other actors. These classes show the students how to be technical in their craft and help them gain full experience. Even if those extra-curricular activities help with experience, it doesn’t truly help with getting a degree in that particular field. The general conclusion of this article lies under the fact that the necessary skill sets and extra-curricular programs in college will help students become actors. Therefore is one of the reasons that actors don’t need a degree to make it far into their careers.

Without having a degree in acting, students who are soon to become actors will find better experience when they are doing real jobs onstage or onset. This is fully explained in the article, “Actor” written by Kathyrn Quinlan. Kathryn Quinlan is a writer who writes on different career pathways that give out training tips in those particular careers. In Chapter 3: Training to Be an Actor, Quinlan states that, “Most actors train on the job, taking lots of small jobs at first, as extras in shows and helpers building sets and props.” (Quinlan)  For actors who are being extras are usually given minor parts with little dialogue. Luckily they get paid for their work and gain tons of experience doing so. Another thing that was mentioned in Chapter 3 was that actors could join unions. Quinlan added, “A union is a group that seeks fair treatment and better pay for workers. Sometimes actors must belong to unions before they can work.” (Quinlan) Say as if an actor wanted to be a lead role in a play or a movie, they would have to be part of a union such as SAG-AFTRA or Actors Unity Association. There are actually different kinds of unions that helps different types of actors ranging from being an extra to being a stunt double. Many beginning actors can gain true experience when they do real work real set or stage. They can even do without having a Bachelors or Associates degree in their craft.

It could be a few actors who actually do decide to get a college degree and use it for their career. They would use that degree for getting a job in theatre, acquire a lot of money in that field or even better they get to experience new things with the degree. This particular idea is a lot more explained in the article, “Dollars and sense’’: Professors and Other Experts Share Advice on Financing Your Theatre Degree.” written by Amy Cuomo. Amy Cuomo is a theatre professor of University of West Georgia who made this article with other theatre professors on their opinions and advice on theatre students who want to have a college degree. “For theatre practitioners, higher education training provides an opportunity to learn new skills and hone your craft, as well as to make discoveries about yourself and your abilities.” (Cuomo 11)  As she said, when most actors gain their degree, particularly in Theatre, the world is always open for multiple opportunities for everyone. With financial aid, FAFSA aid could definitely help with scholarships for college and it could really benefit college professors for their jobs. Granted, colleges will charge students for classes and living expenses, but luckily FAFSA will take care of all of it. It all adds up to how students manage grades and what they got on their test scores. With acquiring money and experience, that all goes into how the student chooses whether or not to use their degree. Experience and money is very important to a degree but the way a degree is financed should be very crucial.

As it would be seem from all of the evidence that whether or not actors should get college degrees to help further careers lies on the hands of the actors themselves. Even if there is no formal education requirement when actors need a degree for their craft, it would still be good for them to go for it. Every actor should be able to find their way into their career with or without a college degree. They could learn by experience, programs, or even by getting real jobs in the field. Others who want to get a college degree will be able to study more and learn new things along the way that they never knew even existed. It’s almost similar to the old saying of “College isn’t for everyone.” Where in this case, actors who would want to go to college to find more opportunities will be great for them, while other actors who aren’t really looking forward to college can still find those opportunities by another source. Degree or no degree, Actors will be able take the stage in their own way and set up new journey for themselves.

Works Cited
“Acting Career Information: Becoming an Actor or Actress.” Bestaccreditedcolleges.org, https://bestaccreditedcolleges.org/articles/acting-career-information-becoming-an-actor-or-actress.html. 

Cuomo, Amy. “DOLLARS AND SENSE: Professors and Other Experts Share Advice on Financing Your Theatre Degree.” Southern Theatre, vol. 62, no. 1, Winter 2021, pp. 24–36. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=ibh&AN=148423046&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Quinlan, Kathyrn. “Chapter 3: Training to Be an Actor.” Actor, Jan. 1998, p. 22. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=ndh&AN=8906123&site=eds-live&scope=site.

“Editorial, Business & Work” by Scott Graham licensed under Unsplash.

Writing challenges such as grammar, word choice, organization and flow of ideas, critical thinking, and plagiarism are the problems in international students’ academic writing. In a generation where sharing ideas is a resource, not being able to share them is a killer of a revolution. To solve the struggle in the academic struggle of international students, there are five best strategies to improve international students’ academic writing: Reading effectively, translating, practicing, being open to feedback, and knowing international students are not alone in their academic writing struggle. 

Reading habits can be a new skill to build; however, it is the backbone for improving academic writing or writing in general. Dr. Katherine Firth, a lecturer from LA TROBE’s research University, asserts the value of reading about writing. She said reading habits help international students be familiar with sentence structure, word choice, and common use of English metaphors(Firth). The more international students incorporate reading habits into their life, the more they will understand English. Understanding English is a helpful skill that improves the writing skills of international students. However, there are international students who are avid readers but find academic writing difficult, this is because they are using an ineffective reading strategy.

According to Mai-Linh Bui, a U.S. News publisher, ”[International students] will probably need to read a number of research papers and dissertations throughout the academic year.  [ They shouldn’t] skim them for information”(Bui). Glimpsing the information over does not help international students improve their writing much; However, they should read a dissertation or research paper and look at how the author structure the paper in a way that convinces the reader. These will help international students know different sentence structure forms, which they can embody in their academic writings. 

In addition to reading research papers or dissertations, Bui said if international students translate English text into their native language, it will enforce them to know the different structures of writing (Bui). When international students translate English into their native language, they will force themselves to read deeply or analyze the text. Analyzing a text will help them visualize the structure of the paper.

However, while reading and translating are helpful in writing, if international students do not practice writing regularly, they will not show much improvement. Firth asserts that taking every opportunity to increase international students’ English writing skills such as: taking notes, writing emails, and sending text messages- are better means to help international students improve their writing skills(Firth). In every writing international students write and make a mistake, they are learning. But, if the mistakes were not corrected, will they be illiterate their whole life about writing?

In their study, Carol Dweck(author of Mindset) and her team do research at the University of Hong Kong and asked students who are not fluent in English if they were willing to take courses to improve their English skills if provided. The fixed mindsets, a mindset that skills cannot be developed, were not very interested; however, the growth mindsets were happy to take the course(Dweck, 25). Those who were not interested risk their college career by hiding their deficiency in English. However, the growth mindsets open doors for improvement. They welcome feedback.

For international students to learn from their writing, they should be open to feedback. But, From whom should international students ask for feedback? Swathi Ravichandran et al., who published an article in the Journal of International Students about how to improve the academic writing of international graduate students, stated that feedback from faculty, writing center, peer mentors, or friends plays a good role in improving international students’ academic writing (Ravichandran et al., 775-777). Many academic writings were written with professors and peers as an author in mind. As a result, getting feedback from these people will increase the chance of triumph in international students’ academic writing. However, if international students do not correct the error, the feedback will be just feedback. Feedback will be effective when international students learn from it and make a change.

As much as the usefulness of applying these strategies, it can be daunting at the same time. However, what international students have to know is that they are not alone in the process of struggling with academic writing. Firth, a lecturer from LA TROBE’s research University, said, ”international students pass [their writing assignment] at the same rate as local students and often complete more swiftly”(Firth). Most international students learn through struggle. The struggles shaped their writing to be better, which helped them pass at the same rate as local students.

All the five best strategies help international students become better writers. By becoming better writers, international students can open doors for lots of career opportunities. Most employers want employees that can communicate effectively. If international students can communicate effectively through writing, they will create a better lifestyle in the future.

Becoming a better writer is also useful for the good health of international students. University can be a stressful place, so writing thoughts on paper can clear the mind, which reduces the stress of international students. If their stress is reduced, they can use that energy on productive tasks, which will broaden their knowledge.

If international students can increase their knowledge, they will become successful in their college life and become satisfied with their life. Their success is also a way to create a better society. The more literate person an environment contains, the more a better society will be built.

In conclusion, even if English Composition courses are given on college campuses,  international students must incorporate the habit of writing into their life even after completing the course. If international students form a community where writing is a culture, they will thrive even after leaving their English Composition course.

                            Works Cited

Dweck, Carol .” Mindset Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential”. Robinson, 2017.

Ravichandran, Swathi, et al. “Strategies to Address English Language Writing Challenges Faced by International Graduate Students in the US.” Journal of International Students, vol. 7, no. 3, 2018, pp. 764–785., https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v7i3.298. 

Bui, Mai-Linh“3 Ways International Students Can Improve Academic Writing.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, https://news.yahoo.com/3-ways-international-students-improve-academic-writing-130000828.html. 

“6 Strategies for Better Writing When English Is Your Second Language.” Nest, 15 May 2018, https://www.latrobe.edu.au/nest/6-strategies-better-writing-english-second-language/. 

 -Christopher Catbagan (Unsplash) Depressed Student

Chloe Richey  

April 16, 2022 

English Composition 1152  

Professor Weaver  

Academic Pressure affecting College Students Mental Health 

Introduction: 

The history of academic pressure started in the 17th century when grading systems were developed. As the schools started to develop more, requirements to be successful in life like having A’s started to pressure the students. Effects from academic pressure started to be visible in college scholars. Some adults started to pay close attention to their students and decided to make different options to reach out to the students like creating videos. Relating to Dr. Chew’s video, “I Blew the Exam, Now What?” (Dr. Chews) he distinguishes do’s and don’ts to help students whose mental health is in the state of giving up and not wanting to continue. The importance of understanding academics affecting higher ed students is that the grading system is the “quiet” cause of academic pressure, pressure from grades influences the daily life of college students, and the social support helps decrease academic stress from hurting scholars’ mental state of mind.  

Discussion:  

Grades themselves are not the main cause of the bad mental health of college students, grading systems are the main factor discouraging college students today. A grading system is the evaluation of a student’s performance on daily activities or exams. The first-ever college grading system was invented in 1785 by Yale University. During the 1780s, grades were not viewed as competition and a fair system for other students, but later in the years that all changed. When letter grades A-F were introduced in the 1940s, women, and men were competing to meet the “perfect” spot leading students to have academic pressure. According to J Randall, & Engelhard, “Taking the Stress out of Grading”, he states “Over half of our grading scale is an F, and if we assume a C grade signifies minimum attainment of course standards, then over two-thirds of our grading scale describes the insufficient performance, and only one-fifth of the scale describes academic success (A or B)” (Randall and Engelhard, 2). The indication of his article, there is so much weight on a letter grade of F and the view of a C being the bare minimum, it causes students to feel more challenged to not receive anything below A and B. This unbalance weight of the grading system would cause a higher chance of students failing more than passing.  

An example Randall and Engelhard used was “A single missed assignment caused a 22 percent decrease and a two-grade-level drop”, (Randall and Engelhard, 2). If a student started to have a grade of 95, which is an A and misses one assignment it would now cause them to have a C. This imbalance puts more pressure on students and makes it harder for that type of student to go back to an A. The message from this has students’ mental health is a part of anxiety and “seek security with learning as the casualty,” stated Mark Espinola’s article “History of College Grading System,” (Espinola, 1). Because of being cautious of the grading system, college students who continue to work in their major start to look for teachers who do not give a hard A. According to Espinola “History of College Grading System,” he states “Ideally, students searching through Rate My Professor would be looking for signals of good teaching, but many of the student comments focus on the course grading scale.” (Espinola, 1). This means that higher ed scholars focus more on the easiness of the grading scale in the next class they take. College scholars’ mental health starts to develop in way of finding an easier way out and develop persistent changes in mental health and life.  

College students’ mental health has its response to academics. One of them is ending their own life, which is suicide. In the article “Grades Are at the Center of the Student Mental Health Crisis” the author Joshua Eyler, states “Rates of anxiety, depression and even suicidal ideation have spiked dramatically, and academic stress tied to grades is a leading cause of this escalation” (Eyler, 1). He suggests that stress from grades is the cause of bad mental health effects like suicide and depression. Academic stress does not only influence students’ mental health but also forces universities and college staff to be more involved in their student life. Campus leaders from Worcester Polytechnic Institute guided students who were in need. Academic stress on students also impacted WPI to introduce programs that helped students to give their own teachers advice on revising their grading scale.  

Additionally, some frequent situations that have occurred with students who experience soaring academic stress that links to depression are “procrastination, falling behind in classes and withdrawing socially” as stated by Hayley Kraft “Mental Health and Academic Success in College” (Kraft, 1). Kraft indicates that academic stress can create different consequences for a college scholar. With the non-treatment of anxiety, college students could find it hard to focus on test-taking and remembering important things. This could lead to poor grades in school. Because of academic stress, college scholars’ crisis of mental health has increased drastically.  

College students need the availability of programs for coping with academic stress around them and people need to listen to them. With this, adults could help them feel that grades do not define who they are as a person. In the article “Coping with Academic Stress: Ambiguity and uncertainty tolerance in college students” Journal of American College Health, Urvi Paralkar and Douglas Knutson suggests that “One explanation for this positive relationship could be that when people experience negative emotions, they are more likely to seek out for social support to deal with the discomfort”, (Paralkar and Knutson, 1). Paralkar and Knutson indicate that college students who experience heavy academic stress would need help from social support. An example would be a student who failed a test would probably feel like giving up, but in their mind, they try to seek out help. Social support comes with having friends or family to talk to or even looking up videos to help you move on from it like Dr. Chew’s videos.  

Dr. Stephen L. Chew is a professor in psychology that creates videos that help scholars who are feeling the pressure from academic stress to assist students not to give up. One video he created was “How to Get the Most Out of Studying: Part 5 of 5, I Blew the Exam, Now What?”, and Dr. Chew goes on to deep details about students that failed an exam and steps to move on from there. He connects academic stress formally tests stress to college scholars on what not to do and what to do. This could be a type of social support that students may need or watch to help them feel that it’s ok to experience failure.  

In addition, in the article, “Resilience amid Academic Stress: The Moderating Impact of Social Support among Social Work Students”, Advance In Social Work (2008),  Hubbard, P., Muhlenkamp, A. F., & Brown, N and Martinelli suggest that “Student perceptions of social support have also been positively associated with health-promoting behaviors such as exercise, good nutrition, and avoidance of substance abuse”  (Hubbard and Brown, 109) indicating with social support from communities or even families have brought positive reactions to academic stress from college scholars. Some of those reactions are being able to handle stress, staying away from substance abuse, and having more self-esteem within the college scholars. Social support has a positive relationship with students’ mental health and that’s why the community should listen to help their mental health.  

Conclusions  

In conclusion, college scholars’ mental health is in a negative relationship with academic stress, mainly grades. Grades seem to have a toll on students that cause them to make them feel that anything less than an A is a failure or not good enough. The imbalanced grading system is the main reason for grades dictating students’ minds. The scholars have different ways of responding to the discouraging grades they receive leading to their deaths. There are ways we, the community, can stop letting this happen, which is having social support available. Some ways to be part of social support are help volunteering or being part of a fitness group College scholars’ mental health and academic stress need to be addressed and stopped. 

Citations  

Chew, Stephen L. “How to Get the Most out of Studying: Part 5 of 5 … – Youtube.” Youtube, Sanford University, 16 Aug. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QVRiMkdRsU. 

Randall, J., & Engelhard, G. (2010). Examining the grading practices of teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(7), 1372–1380. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/taking-the-stress-out-of-grading 

Espinola, Mark. “History of the College Grading Scale.” GradeHub, 19 June 2018, https://gradehub.com/blog/college-grading-scale/. 

Eyler, Joshua. “Grades Are at the Center of the Student Mental Health Crisis: Inside Higher Ed.” Just Visiting, 7 Mar. 2022, http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/grades-are-center-student-mental-health-crisis. 

Kraft, Hayley. “Mental Health and Academic Success in College.” BetterYou, www.betteryou.ai/mental-health-and-academic-success-in-college/. 

Paralkar U, Knutson D. Coping with academic stress: Ambiguity and uncertainty tolerance in college students. J Am Coll Health. 2021 Sep 8:1-9. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2021.1965148. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34494940.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07448481.2021.1965148 

Hubbard, P., Muhlenkamp, A. F., & Brown, N. (1984). The relationship between social support and self-care practices. Nursing Research, 33, 266-270. https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/article/view/51/195 

Martinelli, A. M. (1999). An explanatory model of variables influencing health promotion behaviors in smoking and nonsmoking college students. Public Health Nursing, 16(4), 263-269. https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advanc

Keith Slettedahl 

Professor Weaver 

English 1102-322 

25 April 2022 

Early on in her higher ed teaching career, Jessamyn Neuhaus – author and professor of Pop Culture and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at SUNY Plattsburgh – was faced with an unsettling pedagogical realization: sheer love of a subject did not make of her an effective teacher. As a self-proclaimed “introverted geek,” Neuhaus found that the foundational principles of effective pedagogy, namely the ability to communicate and connect with her students, did not come naturally to her. However, in discovering that her seeming personal deficiencies could be used as pedagogical strengths, Neuhaus has developed a unique teaching and learning philosophy deeply rooted in authenticity, self-reflection, and compassion, and is a distinctive and much-needed voice for both students and teachers in higher learning today. 

In her 2019 article, “My Big Teaching Mistake: Losing Sight of Pedagogical Success,” Jessamyn Neuhaus asserts, “the classroom is a social space and effective teaching requires positive interactions” (103), and studies performed on how students learn support this assertion. James M. Lang – author, professor of English, and Director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption College – in his 2021 book, Small Teaching, states: “Connections to the human beings around them [students] are just as important as the connections that we [teachers] foster for them in the cognitive realm” (159). For Neuhaus and other introverted scholars like her, establishing positive connections with students is much easier said than done, and it was out of this realization that much of Neuhaus’s pedagogical philosophy was born.   

One of Neuhaus’s cornerstone principles of effective pedagogy is the need for authenticity as a teacher. This contention is supported by the director of the Think Forward Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of Mississippi, Joshua R. Eyler. In his 2018 book, How Humans Learn, Eyler acknowledges that authenticity is key in implementing any pedagogical strategy and asserts that educators “need to find a strategy that meshes with our personalities in order for these benefits to be fully realized” (129). Understanding the impossibility of becoming an idealized version of the “perfect teacher” (what she refers to as the “Super Teacher” myth), Neuhaus had no choice but to “be herself,” and eventually found that her apparent personality limitations could be used as pedagogical positives (Neuhaus “Four Ways”).  

For one, Neuhaus believes that learning how to become a more effective teacher is an intellectual endeavor, therefore, perfectly suited to “egg head” scholars who love to “problematize, hypothesize, research, and reflect” (Neuhaus, “Geeky Pedagogy” 12). In addition, Neuhaus maintains that a professor’s authentic, “geeky” enthusiasm for a subject is, far from being a negative trait, an absolute essential component in effectively presenting material to students, and thus, must be celebrated rather than repressed (“Geeky Pedagogy” 12). In How Humans Learn, Eyler concurs: “enthusiasm is one of the most underestimated teaching tools at our disposal” (128). Through embracing her authentic self, Neuhaus finds that she feels more confident in implementing connection engendering strategies such as making eye-contact with students, engaging in small talk before class, and asking questions that don’t pertain to classwork, all of which build personal rapport and approachability- two key components of effective teaching (“My Big” 103).  

Another foundational pedagogical strategy of Neuhaus’s is the practice of self-reflection and introspection. Educator and researcher Dr. Harriet Schwartz, in her 2019 book Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education, proposes “that knowing ourselves is as important as understanding the content of our disciplines” (xiii). Because Neuhaus asserts that “learning is not a static process” and effective pedagogy is an exercise in “learning and re-learning,” she believes a continued practice of self-reflection is essential in maintaining authenticity and measuring the state of one’s pedagogical efficacy within shifting teaching contexts (“My Big” 100).  

One of Neuhaus’s reflective practice strategies is making sure to not just focus on her pedagogical mistakes, but to also acknowledge what she is doing well. She contends that because many educators (scholars who are highly trained at critique) are better at finding problems than seeing positives, intentionally recognizing pedagogical “victories” is a crucial component in maintaining happiness and confidence in the classroom (“My Big” 101). Another reflective method that Neuhaus promotes is the practice of consistent engagement with an energetic community of one’s peers (“Four Ways”). Neuhaus believes that connecting with other academics is essential to recognizing one’s own strengths and weaknesses and emphasizes the importance of educators honestly sharing their pedagogical failures with one another, thus creating a welcoming peer environment where teachers can make mistakes, get feedback, and receive support for improvement (Neuhaus “Super Teacher”). In addition, Neuhaus views the cultivation of gratitude (“an inner attitude that leads to an expression of thanks”) as a vital part of an educator’s reflective practice (“Geeky Pedagogy” 114). Citing psychological and educational studies that demonstrate its positive impact on one’s quality of life, Neuhaus views the incorporation of gratitude into a reflective pedagogy as an indispensable component for improving teaching efficacy and student learning, while “decreasing student related stress and burnout” (“Geeky Pedagogy” 114). 

One more pedagogical theme that underlies all Neuhaus’s writings is the need for greater compassion in higher learning, both for students and fellow teachers. A phrase Neuhaus consistently urges educators and students to remember is: “learning is hard” (“Geeky Pedagogy” 28). Thus, she stresses the importance of treating each other with respect and kindness while empathetically considering the varying challenges that students and teachers might be facing. (“Geeky Pedagogy” 27). 

In How Humans Learn, Joshua R. Eyler states, “the single most important strategy we can use to help our students to succeed in our courses is to care about them as learners and as human beings” (129). For Neuhaus, this means that educators must first make the effort to “know who their students are,” thereby acknowledging that students are dynamic human beings with varying degrees of academic experience, motivation, and ways of learning (“Geeky Pedagogy” 35). Because of this, Neuhaus contends that there is no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” approach to teaching, and she encourages teachers to maintain an evolving pedagogy to meet changing student needs (“Nerds Assemble”). Moreover, Neuhaus acknowledges that even though students have disparate personal histories, all students in higher ed “are under tremendous pressure,” financial or otherwise (“Geeky Pedagogy” 36), and the compassionate consideration of this fact on the part of educators is essential in conveying to students that they are cared for, which Neuhaus contends is “the most necessary component of a teacher’s pedagogy” (“Nerds Assemble”). 

In addition to the pedagogical care she extends to students, Neuhaus provides a much-needed voice of compassion for her fellow teachers, particularly those historically underrepresented in higher education. Dr. Harriet Schwartz, in her 2019 book, Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education, states: “faculty who hold marginalized identities may not be granted the legitimate power of their positions” (91). Because she realizes that these “disparate teaching realities” have an enormous impact on a teacher’s efficacy, Neuhaus repeatedly addresses these systemic inequities based on gender, race, disability, or tenure that still exist in higher ed, and in her article, “Four Ways to Fight the Super Teacher Myth,” she asserts that “pursuing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion should be on the top of everyone’s teaching to do list” (website). 

What makes Jessamyn Neuhaus an important figure in higher education can be summed up in two words: she cares. She cares about student learning. She cares about the challenges that teachers face. She cares enough to be authentic and vulnerable in order to teach more effectively, and thus inspires her academic peers to do the same. In a scholarly community full of “experts,” Neuhaus provides a shot of much-needed humility by continually reminding her peers that “teachers will always be students,” and that effective pedagogy begins with the principles of care and connection. But even more impressive is the fact that her work is not just applicable across pedagogical disciplines, but also speaks to universal truths about the challenges of what it means to be human. Because wherever one finds his or herself, in higher ed or elsewhere, it’s important to remember: “learning is hard.” 

To Learn more about Jessamyn Neuhaus, follow her on Twitter: @GeekyPedagogy 

Or visit her website: https://geekypedagogy.com 

Works Cited 

• Eyler, Joshua R. How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching.    WVU Press, 2018.
• Lang, James M. Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint, 2021.
• Neuhaus, Jessamyn. “Four Ways to Fight the Super Teacher Myth.” Website.https://onehe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OneHE_-Jessamyn-Neuhaus_transcript.pdf
• Neuhaus, Jessamyn. Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerd Who Want to be Effective Teachers. West Virginia Press, 2019.
• Neuhaus, Jessamyn. “My Big Teaching Mistake: Losing Sight of Pedagogical Success.” Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy, 2019, Vol. 29  Issue 1, p99-105
• Neuhaus, Jessamyn. “Nerds Assemble Presentation.” YouTube, uploaded by Jessamyn Neuhaus, 31 May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDZP3CMpdaU
• Neuhaus, Jessamyn. “Talk Amongst Yourselves: A SoTL Manifesto.” The Common Good: A SUNY Plattsburgh Journal on Teaching and Learning. Vol 3. 2015. https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/handle/1951/69775

PrzybylskiMajorProject4

Displayed via PowerPoint. Illustrating the topic with pictures.

Name: The Thuy Trang Nguyen

Professor: Rebecca Weaver

Course: ENGL1102

Date: 4/21/2022

INTRODUCTION

The dream of college is more often than not too big for the low-income population due to the overall cost of college. However, as in society, higher education increases the chances for success by allowing one access to better job opportunities; the middle and low-income population strive to go to college and to afford it acquire loans, scholarships, and taking up part or full-time jobs to ensure they can raise enough for their upkeep and college fees. The financial toll that college takes on individuals has stirred up the discussion on the need to make college education accessible or reduce college fees to be affordable to low and middle-income individuals.

DISCUSSION

A free college education would reduce college’s financial toll on students and their families. Students’ financial lives are characterized by acquiring student loans while in college, which raises whether college is worth the effort. As highlighted by Jeff Grabeier, “When asked how they paid for their tuition, students were most likely to say either loans or scholarships and grants” (Grabeier). The government should address the difficulty people face paying for college and ensure that the opportunity for college is accessible for everyone despite their income and social class. Thanks to social stratification, the rich have more access to the most exemplary education programs. In contrast, the poor can only access the bare minimum, thus ensuring that the rich remain rich by acquiring the best jobs after the best education. In contrast, the poor maintain a cycle of missing opportunities for the cost. Making college accessible would provide a sense of equality as all one would need to acquire a college education is the academic achievement that qualifies them for college and will. This would ease the financial stress on students, that is Grabeier highlights in the statement, “Financial problems lead some students to make difficult choices, the survey found. Nearly three out of 10 students said they reduced their class load because of the money they owed, while 16 percent took a break from their college or university and 13 percent transferred to another institution” (Grabeier). Sara Goldrick mentions that the economics of college display a rise in college tuition, which is contrary to what society needs, as college tuition was already too expensive for the majority of the population. She highlights that one in ten students endure homelessness during college. A free college education would solve many of these problems students face as the little money they can raise would be directed to their upkeep and personal needs that would ensure the students can acquire a college education without the financial stress.

A free college education would ensure that young people can attain their dreams despite their socioeconomic backgrounds. Dreams are shattered too by the inability of young people to afford college tuition. To build a society that can motivate young people to be ambitious and chase their dreams, the government should ensure that college education is free. This is not to mean that free college would solve every financial problem students face, as small expenses such as housing and food can threaten students’ college careers. Financial stress presents itself in worry about general personal finances, catering for monthly payments, and debts from student loans and credit cards (Lim et al.)

Karen Weese highlights that “To a middle-income kid from a neighborhood with two cars in every garage, it may be incomprehensible that something costing less than a few burritos at Chipotle could derail a person’s college education. But for many young people across the country — growing up in homes where there’s little left after paying rent and utilities — the challenge is painfully familiar” The number one reason that low-income students drop out is financial. And often it’s a little thing, that a middle- or higher-income family wouldn’t even think twice about.” (Weese). These facts depict that raising the college tuition is a meager first step in attaining a college education as the other expenses are not as affordable for the low-income students. This is especially noted by Chris Metzler, who identifies that “A lot of people think if you give a kid a scholarship, now the kid’s set, they’ve got everything they need,” (Weese), which is an erroneous assumption as students require more than just paid tuition fee to survive in college.

Listening to the stories of low-income college students, one gathers that financial anxiety is predominant among them. With the tuition rates rising faster than inflation, financial stress and anxiety are not new to students. The money that low-income students save up to use while in college is rarely enough, and they end up depleting the capital before the semester’s completion. As students cannot increase their income or reduce expenses, they end up acquiring debt here and there. Financial anxiety causes the development of poor mental health in students and poor physical health as the amount of pressure they put on their bodies juggling academic work. Their part-time jobs take a toll on the students’ health. “schools cannot simply showcase smiling black and brown faces in their glossy brochures and students wearing shirts blaring “First Gen and Proud” in curated videos and then abdicate responsibility for the problems from home that a more diverse class may bring with them to campus. Does this entail going beyond providing tuition, room, and board? Yes. It requires colleges and universities to question what they take for granted, their students, and the institutions themselves.” (Jack) Schools should understand that when an individual comes from a low-income background, financial aid is not enough for them to succeed. This is especially highlighted by Anthony Jack in his description of his college struggles, like in the statement, “During one rough patch, I stayed home from school for a few days when we couldn’t afford all the supplies needed to carry out my science-fair experiment on bulb voltage and battery life. I developed my hypotheses, outlined my proposed methods without the materials, and had everything ready to go when we could afford the supplies” (Jack). Low-income college students should be provided with adequate access to all resources essential to their academic achievement. The primary factors such as housing and food are catered for as affording this is quite cumbersome for them to do independently.

Ultimately, a free college education would partially solve the problem of high college funds, as students would still have so much more to pay to ensure their smooth learning.  

Work Cited

Abraham Jack, Anthony. “I Was A Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’T The Hard Part.”. The New York Times, 2019, I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part. – The New York Times (nytimes.com) .  Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Goldrick-Rab, Sara, “College is creating poverty” uploaded by TED, May 2019, https://www.ted.com/talks/sara_goldrick_rab_college_is_creating_poverty . Accessed 17 April 2022.

Grabeier, Jeff. “70 Percent Of College Students Stressed About Finances”. 70 Percent Of College Students Stressed About Finances, 2022, https://news.osu.edu/70-percent-of-college-students-stressed-about-finances/. Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Lim, HanNa et al. “Financial Stress, Self-Efficacy, And Financial Help-Seeking Behavior Of College Students”. Journal Of Financial Counseling And Planning, vol 25, no. 2, 2014, pp. 148-160., Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Weese, Karen. “When A Sudden, Small Expense Threatens An Entire College Career”. The Washington Post, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/01/30/college-poverty-expense-cost-dropout/ . Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

Podcast Link

Laila A. Thurman

Professor Weaver

English 1102

21 April 2022

The Impact On-Campus and Off-Campus Living Arrangements Have on Student Success

When students are accepted into the college of their dreams and are preparing to confirm their acceptance, there’s a certain process they go through. They cancel their other applications, call their parents to celebrate, check their financial aid package and begin to excitedly complete their next steps process.

Eventually, they’ll get to a screen that asks a simple, straightforward question, “Will you be living on campus; select yes or no.”

It’s an easy question to answer for some. But, for others, a bit more thought must be put into it before they can decide.

Some common questions run through their mind, such as:

How do the dorms look? Are they modern enough?

If they live off-campus, will their home be a reasonable distance away?

If they live on campus, will RAs be as big of an issue as they’re made out to be?

So many questions, so many outcomes, all hinging on one ‘yes or no’ question.

For being such an important consideration for college students, housing is rarely thought about outside of the aesthetics of Greek Life or the dread of a communal bathroom. But why is that? How can something so important be handled with such a blasé attitude? Don’t students know just how deeply housing can affect their college experience? How deeply it can affect their success?

The answer is they don’t.

At least, they don’t have a deep level of understanding. Most students will choose their housing option based on surface-level information. They don’t consider how the environment they live in will affect the environment school will become.

Currently, there are plenty of housing offices that help on-campus (i.e., residential) students make the best of their college experience.

Here are some examples of this:

They’re provided with Residential Assistants, also known as RAs, whose jobs are to optimize their living experience. Solving issues that pop up between roommates and checking the living spaces of students to make sure they’re being responsible and staying safe.

They’re also placed in prime locations that are near school amenities and services such as dining halls, school buildings, faculty offices, and recreation centers.

Residential students are cared for in a way off-campus (i.e., commuter) students have not seen since the 1970s.

After the 1913 Gott v. Berea College case. Which opened the door for colleges to stand in loco parentis” or in the place of a parent.  Colleges experienced a shift in responsibility. They were given the power to involve themselves with student welfare outside of the classroom, and as this responsibility evolved, most colleges became institutions that strived to literally “be a better parent.”

Off-campus housing offices were created, and housing staff worked with students, city and state officials, and locals to find the best places for off-campus students to live. According to Kate Rousmaniere, author of the article, “What Happened to Your College Town: The Changing Relationship Between Higher Education and College Towns,” the goal of these offices was to “designate and maintain appropriate housing lists which would indicate to students that the listed property had passed health and safety inspections and university provisions.”

This level of care and involvement from universities in the goings-on of commuter students has not been seen in the decades since off-campus housing offices lost power. Currently, on-campus housing has become the most popular living arrangement, and in the eyes of students and universities alike, on-campus living is the only way to receive a fulfilling college education.

America has become enamored with the idea of the dorm.

America has become bewitched by the thought of Greek Living.

America has become addicted to the idea that the only way for students to take advantage of their education is for them to live on-campus.

Students who live off-campus are often accused of being less serious about their studies and less willing to pursue higher education. They are also seen as less valuable members of their college communities, and oftentimes, they face ridicule from the very institutions that make their college experience as unengaging as it is.

While it is true that most of the issues that arise with students who live off-campus result in lower grades, less engagement with their universities, less dedication to their classes, and lower retention rates, these results are not solely the fault of commuter students. The lack of attention being placed on off-campus housing has damaged the way these students receive their education.

College is not just about going to classes and getting a passing grade, though that is a major part of it, college is about the experience it can give to students. Study abroad programs, movie nights, concerts, playing bingo, all of these different socialization opportunities are very important ways colleges help their students succeed.

After all, when a feeling of community is present, students are more likely to remain at a university to pursue higher education.

To really understand the role housing has on students’ college success, we must begin by focusing on ‘good housing, ‘i.e., On-campus living arrangements.

At most universities, living on-campus looks a little something like this.

Let’s assume that our hypothetical student is taking the standard 12 credit hours per semester.

Two classes each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Between classes, they give themself several hours to return to their dorm and relax while completing homework. If they run into an issue, it’s no problem. They can just drop by the tutoring center or ask a classmate who happens to live down the hall.

Once they complete their work, they could nap or go to the recreation center and work out.

A few hours later, before they go to their next class, they head to the dining hall, which just so happens to be less than five minutes away from where they live.

They eat a full meal, prepared by the staff, of course, before heading to their second class.

By the time their day completes, they’ll have taken advantage of several different amenities and services provided by the university. All of which are easy to use and locate as a residential student.

According to Ryan Bronkema and Nicolas Bowman, authors of A Residential Paradox?: Residence Hall Attributes and College Student Outcomes, living on campus is one of the most important college experiences. Living in a dorm or suite or even a university apartment can contribute to a wide range of learning, cognitive, attitudinal, educational, and psychosocial attainment outcomes.

In layman’s terms, living on-campus results in a more well-rounded student. There’s a sense of belonging and integration that has been thought to lead to greater educational attainment. However, this doesn’t mean that residential students get higher grades than commuter students. Instead, greater educational attainment refers to residential students having a larger percentage of their population who attend a majority of their classes, make connections with their professors and other faculty members, and complete the courses they enroll in while continuing to pursue higher education.

Now, it’s time to explore what off-campus living looks like.

Once again, let’s assume that during the school year, our hypothetical student takes the standard 12 credit hours a semester.

They have to take two classes a day, but the way these classes must be organized is a bit less forgiving.

Instead of these classes being spread out over the morning and the afternoon, our hypothetical student has to put the classes closer together in order to avoid traffic and make time to study while at school.

Before leaving, they must consider the time it takes to get to school in the morning on top of the time it will take them to walk to their class. If they drive, they must consider how heavy traffic is. If they use public transport, they have to run on a very tight schedule to make sure they catch their bus or train at the exact right time. And, if they use rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, they’ll have to hope that 1.) they have enough money to pay for the driving costs and 2.) that the estimated time on the app is actually the amount of time it will take for that driver to arrive.

Once they arrive, they’ll head to their first class of the day, and once that class ends, they’ll give themselves around 30 minutes to find a place to sit and relax and try to do some homework before leaving for their second class.

By the time this student finishes their classes, they’ll head to the dining hall to microwave their lunch or buy something from the vending machine. 

After they finish lunch, they’ll head to the library or another quiet area and begin to study and try to complete their homework. If they think the work is hard, they’ll go to the tutoring center after they’re completely finished with the work they can complete on their own. They don’t want to lose their good spot.

Once they finish, they walk all the way to the tutor, only to find a long line of students already there. And once they check the time, they realize they have to leave in the next few minutes before traffic gets too overwhelming and leaves them stuck on the highway for an hour or two.

By the time their day completes, they’ll have taken advantage of very few amenities and services offered at the university, but not for lack of trying. Amenities like libraries or dining halls are easy to enjoy and locate as a commuter student, but it can be hard to fit your school schedule around your life schedule when you have to factor in the extra time actually commuting to and from campus will take up.

As you can see from the average day of a commuter student, it is harder to reach greater educational attainment.

Unlike residential students, commuters don’t have their entire life stationed on campus. There is no bed to nap in when they’re waiting for their next class; for some, there is no dining hall to look forward to. There is no classmate down the hall to rely on. But most importantly, there is no time to truly relax while on-campus.

Unlike residential students, commuters see their school as just that, a school.

It’s not home.

It’s not a comfy place to nap.

It’s not the place to shower and change into their favorite pajamas.

It’s just a place to learn, and sometimes, it’s a place where random events take place.

Through no fault of their own, and for better or worse, these students lack the ability to take advantage of certain college benefits. Living off-campus makes it difficult to wait things out and to be there when important activities pop up. There’s a level of planning that goes into every interaction commuter students have with their campus, and that can make it difficult to go beyond the bare minimum, especially when that bare minimum is already so difficult for some to commit to.

The experiences that college students have depends on them and their school. There is no one size fits all experience that describes all types of students, and what has been described is only meant to create an idea of what these two types of housing options could offer the students who experience them.

In the end, living either on or off-campus contributes to student success in more ways than just getting eight hours of sleep vs. none at all. Full range meal plans, access to schools’ resources, quick commutes from home to class, along with several other benefits, are offered almost exclusively to students in on-campus housing. And even when commuters get the option to use these resources, their involvement is almost always an afterthought.

Having access to all of these things with little fanfare means that students who live on campus have an already obvious advantage over students who don’t. And, despite going to the same universities and paying for the same level courses, it’s no secret that these institutions are more focused on residential students than they are on commuters. Sure, the resulting difference is less likely to present itself in Grade Point Averages, but GPAs are only one part of why students are labeled as successful. The advantage of residential students is more than just grades; it’s the access they have to the full college experience.

Works Cited 

Rousmaniere, Kate. “What Happened to Your College Town: The Changing Relationship of Higher Education and College Towns, 1940-2000.” History of Education Quarterly, 2021, pp. 320–340., https://doi.org/10.1017/heq.2021.31.

Henning, Gavin. “Is in Consortio Cum Parentibus the New in Loco Parentis?” NASPA Journal, vol. 44, no. 3, 2007, pp. 538–560., https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1835.

Alfano, Halley J., and Nina B. Eduljee. “Differences in Work, Levels of Involvement, and Academic Performance between Residential and Commuter Students.” College Student Journal, 3 Nov. 2014.

Bronkema, Ryan, and Nicholas A. Bowman. “A Residential Paradox?: Residence Hall Attributes and College Student Outcomes.” Journal of College Student Development, vol. 58, no. 4, May 2017, pp. 624–630., https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0047.