Beth McMurtry
👤 PersonAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
No, I think you would, if you went into a college classroom today or you looked at a college syllabus, you would probably be surprised at how little reading is assigned. I mean, professors understand that they have to kind of meet students where they are. They understand that if students are not doing the reading, they have to change things up.
Otherwise, they will have a really bad class session and they will have students who simply aren't doing the work. So what I've been hearing from professors is, you know, maybe 15 years ago they assigned five novels and today they're assigning one.
Otherwise, they will have a really bad class session and they will have students who simply aren't doing the work. So what I've been hearing from professors is, you know, maybe 15 years ago they assigned five novels and today they're assigning one.
Otherwise, they will have a really bad class session and they will have students who simply aren't doing the work. So what I've been hearing from professors is, you know, maybe 15 years ago they assigned five novels and today they're assigning one.
Or they may be eliminating academic articles altogether, those really dense academic articles that we all struggled with and students simply can't read them.
Or they may be eliminating academic articles altogether, those really dense academic articles that we all struggled with and students simply can't read them.
Or they may be eliminating academic articles altogether, those really dense academic articles that we all struggled with and students simply can't read them.
They're substituting in news articles or essays. More professors are introducing videos.
They're substituting in news articles or essays. More professors are introducing videos.
They're substituting in news articles or essays. More professors are introducing videos.
It's Today Explained.
It's Today Explained.
It's Today Explained.
And other sort of original content as a way to kind of get students engaged in the course without saying, I need you to read a book a week to get through this class.
And other sort of original content as a way to kind of get students engaged in the course without saying, I need you to read a book a week to get through this class.
And other sort of original content as a way to kind of get students engaged in the course without saying, I need you to read a book a week to get through this class.
No, it didn't, because what we're talking about here are kind of structural or systemic societal and educational challenges. So let's start with the one that everybody knows about, which is the introduction of smartphones and the rise of social media. That has affected all of us. We are losing our ability to concentrate. We are getting distracted more easily.