These Kids Today

These Kids TodayDr. Kevin KnudsonDirector, University Honors ProgramProfessor of MathematicsUniversity of FloridaJanuary 25, 2013Things we all know about students todayTheyre lazy

Theyre uninterested in school

They are digital natives

They do not understand professional communication

Theyve been told they are special their whole lives

They want everything handed to them with no effort on their part

The second type drives me to distraction. These are students who have already earned an A, yet they obsessively contest every single point and become little syllabus lawyers.8They are better prepared than students in the pastLets see some data.

From David Bressoud, past president of the MAA.10It is all too common for caterpillars to become butterflies and then maintain that in their youth they had been little butterflies. --George VaillantLets try againTheyre lazy?

Theyre uninterested in school?

Theyre digital natives?

They do not understand professional communication?This one is true.

They are college students.Theyve been told they are special their whole lives?

They want everything handed to them with no effort on their part?

They are better prepared than other students in the past?Yes and no.Its true that they have taken more AP courses than ever before, but I assert this does not make them better prepared.Example: heres a simple algebra problem.If it takes 16 men 15 days to do a piece of work, how long will it take 12 men to do the same job?Can the average first-year college student solve this?Maturation makes liars of us all. --George Vaillant