University of South Carolina Spartanburg - Carolana Yearbook (Spartanburg, SC)

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they as well prepared as they used to be? Personally ln my area, the students that want to be biology majors have been well prepared as they've come through high school. Carolona-Do you think the concern on the part of the students with the tangible payoff that he can take with him past USCS, usually in the form of a good grade on a transcript, has gone too far? Davisson:-Weli grades are the standard of measure we use to evaluate scholarship in all education settings. Grades are more important during the first job interview if the stu- dent hasn 't had any previous work experience, l do think once a person gets a job the grades are less important and the type of work exper- ience and job recommenda- tions become more impor- tant. Grades are competitive but l don't think we are over ly competitive since we are educating young people to be able to secure a job and perform the skills DSCSSSGIY to hold the job. Employers need some tangible evalua- to determine applicant does, in fact, possess the knowl- edge and skills to perform the job. tive scale whether fhe Jillingz-Well, there is some thing to be said for good grades. Every student would rather have an A over a B over a C. How far one should push grade consciousness is difHcult to determine. All stu- dents face time constraints to My definition is H101 idecll GCIUCOHOD is CI DGIGDCG of for- ITICI Gnd iI'1fOflT1CIl SGUCGHOD CS O life-IODQ leCfDiI 1Q GXDSI- ience. D -Davrsson say nothing of ability and mo tivation differences. I can see students who want to go to graduate school try to make higher grades, and l can un- derstand their grade con- sciousness because GPR is certainly a factor when it comes to admissions. You have to have a minimum when scholarships are allocat- ed. However, there is a cost associated with grade point maximization. An economist would say that the student should consider the opportuni ty cost of an additional hour devoted to a given subject. For married students or for stu- dents with regular jobs, the opportunity cost is often high. Certainly a broken marriage is too high a price to pay for a four-point average. Turner: The concern for grades in any student body, in any school, is about the same. l don't think USCS is any exception or ever will be. This is just part of the game that they played or that must be played in Univer sities. They'll be competing for jobs. Grades are an indi cation of how well they have learned what we think is im- portant. Carolana: ln your contact with students, have you found them, for the most part, to be doing the work because they really love learning or be- cause they are worried about the grade payoff Davisson: l think this ques- tion is basically whether there is really something called love for learning. l would answer the question by say- ing yes for some people. l can think of many people who read and study because they are interested in many subjects, topics, and general information. However, this isn't true of everyone. Some stu- dents prefer playing the game of Hguring out what the We have students who are in love with learning. They are not pretending: they are not trying to impress their instruc- tors. -Jilling professor wants them to learn and only learning that infor- mation. l do think that good teaching creates a desire to learn. l can remember cer tain professors who really challenged and inspired me to work hard. l think I worked harder in order to actually learn something because l admired the professor and

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Words from the Wise The following interview was compiled from three separate interviews with Dr. Jane Davis- son, Dr. Michael Jilling, and Dr. Jack Turner. Jane Davisson, a professor ln the English Department, is Director of Developmental Studies. She is an 8 year vet- eran of USCS and received her Ph.D. from USC. Dr. Michael Jilling, a profes- sor in the Business Depart- ment, specializes in Interna- tlonal Finance. Dr. Jilling has been with the university for 6 years having received his Ph.D. from USC. Dr. Jack Turner is a protes- sor in the Science, Math, and Computer Science division. Dr. Turner is a 6 year veteran of USCS. He received his Ph.D from the University of Oklaho ma. Carolana: How have USCS students changed since you began teaching here? Are they as well prepared as they used to be? Davisson: The students at USCS have changed in the number at the University, their age, and the type of majors they are pursuing. I remem- ber reading last year's aver age age was 24 years and 9 months which is somewhat older than a traditional col lege age. We also have nine available majors at USCS and this is a definite increase. Whether a student is ade- quately prepared for college depends upon the student but I know that over 601 of all four- year colleges and uni versities in the United States have a department similar to the Department of Develop mental Studies at USCS. This means that many students need some preparation courses in order to be able to handle college level read Ing, English, and math Until students get away from academics, they don't realize the importance of any subject. -Turner courses. l'll let you draw your own conclusions. Jillingz I don't think they have changed noticably one way or the other. It seems to run in cycles. Sometimes you have one that is not quite as good. At least in my classes I did not notice an ongoing im- provement nor a deteriora- tion in student ability or prep aration. l've had very good classes years ago and I have good classes today. At USCS the type of student has not changed. As you know many of our students are not new high school graduates: they graduated years ago. If with this question you are raising the nationally declining SAT scores, please keep in mind that the decrease from year to year is a small decrease in the average score. It does not rule out any increase in the scores. In any case, I have not noticed a decrease In student ability and prepara l 40 E' 5 Dr. Davisson fion. Turner: Ipersonally don't think that students change. I have not noticed any change in the six years I have been here. Each group of students are different. Are

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probably wanted to be more like that person. When we only talk about grades, l must say that grades serve as a motivator for some students and a frustrator for others. As a professor, i'd like to think that everyone learns for the love of learning but l know that my hope isn't realistic. Jilling: l think we have both examples. We have students who are in love with learning. they are not pretending,' they are not trying to impress their instructors. They are really in terested in learning and an al most automatic payoff for such individuals is an A, expecially if they are tallented. Others work hard but for them it is a pain. They would rather watch television, or they would rather have a date, or rather lie in the sun. But they have the discipline to apply themselves and ob fain essentially the same re suits. The only difference in my eyes is that the first group has more fun. The second group just works. But work well done can also be re- warding. Turner: Freshman and soph omore students typically in every institution are con- cerned about their grades. When they become more in- volved with departments, with faculty, when they mature into realizing exactly what they want out of an educa- tion, it's my experience that most of them are doing the work because they really love learning, enjoy learn- ing is a better word for that,' they enjoy learning. They wor- ry about grades, the payoff at the end of the tunnel. Whether you're 18 years old or 58 years old, it doesn't make any difference, every- body worries about grades. l think when they get involved, they really approach a course from the learning ex- perience rather than worrying about the grades. This games- manship maximizes the grade, minimizing the effort is usually found more in fresh- man and sophomore students and less in juniors and seniors. Juniors and seniors I enjoy teaching through an individual approach which allows students to work on skills and materials according to what they need. -DGViSSOI'1 can see the light at the end of the tunnel. They have goals in mind, with goals, they look more towards learn ing the information. My exper- ience has been if they're looking at learning as a voca- tion that the grades come naturally. Carolana: Students who are not working for the sheer love of the subject frequently re sort to gamesmanship in or der to halp maximize the grade and minimize the effort needed to procure the grade. Such students take a course because they have the professor figured out, more than because they like the course. Do you perceive this as a concern at USCS? Davisson: No l don't I think life is full of all types of grades. Everything we do is evaluated in some way and grades simply serve as a sys- tem of evaluation. l'm sure that students take courses from certain professors, but l believe that they choose the ones that are good lecturers, fair, or because someone else told them to take a pro fessor. realistically, I 'm sure that some students take a professor because they feel that the grading system is easier but l don 't think that is the rule of thumb. Jilling: Well, l'm sure it hap pens but I don 't want to de plore it. A college degree may well be just the means to a desired end i.e. prep arations for a highly paid pro fession. A high GPR may be perceived by some people as a ticket to get them there faster. So if a high GPR is im portant, if A's are very impor tant, either psychologically or for other reasons, l suppose l can understand why some- body may want to take a chance on the easy route and achieve that objective. lt happens on this campus and I would say it happens on any other campus. This is something that we as educa-