...Running head: WHY DO STUDENTS 1 Why do Students take so long to Complete College? Student Name Class Name University Name Instructor Name WHY DO STUDENTS 2 Why do students take so long to complete college? It is baffling how a five year degree can take so long complete! When the writer was going to school, many extenuating circumstances caused a five year degree to take almost eight years. Much of this was balancing work, school, and a family. However, there were other circumstances that made completing college a problem. Two of the most common ones that plagued this writer’s school completion and still seem to be a problem with students today are motivation and procrastination. Motivation is complex as it entails both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is how one values and takes pride in learning while extrinsic motivation is solely based upon the external reward such as a grade, graduation, and eventual employment. A good example of extrinsic motivation is in a study by Dunwoody and Frank (1995) who found that students dropped courses for reasons such as not being happy with their grade, not liking the professor, or the subject was not of interest. These reasons for not continuing a course are all based on the extrinsic motivation of grade completion that shows a lack of intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation begins at a very young age with the parents teaching children to take pride in their own work. As children grow older and begin...
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...Running head: WHY DO STUDENTS 1 Why do Students Take so Long to Complete College? Student Name Class Name University Name Instructor Name WHY DO STUDENTS Why do Students Take so Long to Complete College? 2 It is baffling how a five-year degree can take so long to complete. When going to school, many extenuating circumstances caused a five year degree to take almost eight years. Much of this was balancing work, school, and a family. However, there were other circumstances that made completing college a problem. Two of the most common challenges that plagued my progress, and still seem to be a problem for students today, are motivation and procrastination. Motivation is complex, as it entails both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is how one values and takes pride in learning while extrinsic motivation is solely based upon the external reward such as grade, graduation, and eventual employment (Brownlow & Reasinger, 2000). A good example of extrinsic motivation is in a study by Dunwoody and Frank (1995) who found that students dropped courses for reasons such as not being happy with their grade, not liking the professor, or not finding the subject of interest. These reasons for not continuing a course are all based on the extrinsic motivation of grade completion that shows a lack of intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation begins at a very young age with parents teaching children to take pride in their own work. As children grow older and...
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...especially while going to college. In order to be a successful student, personal responsibility is essential. It is accepting accountability for one's actions and is vital when pursuing an education. Personal responsibility and college success are dependent upon one another. Personal responsibility is accepting accountability for one’s actions. As personal accountability expert Linda Galindo defines it as, “When you’re personally accountable, you stop assigning blame, “should-ing” on people, and making excuses. Instead, you take the fall when your choices cause problems,” (Galindo, 2010). Personal responsibility is not about blaming others for what has gone wrong. For example, if a student received a bad grade on a project, the student can not blame the teacher for giving the bad grade. The teacher did not do the project, the student did; it was the student’s work. The student would need to accept personal responsibility and accountability for the work, and take it as feed back to work harder to get a better grade. Accepting failure is a part of accepting personal responsibility for what has taken place academically. Referring to data collected, 85 percent of an individual’s success is from steps the individual takes for themselves, rather than 15 percent being from other people (Galindo, 2010). Personal responsibility is important when pursuing an education. There is a strong relationship between personal responsibility and college success. Studying, doing...
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...how detrimental it may be to one’s health. With that said, the illegal consumption of cognitive enhancers might be able to produce successful results in a limited amount of time, but only with the consequences of negative outcomes. Adderall is not a safe drug for anyone to consume without a doctors prescription. When used as an off label drug, it doesn’t have the approval of either the drug manufacturer or the Food Drug Administration. Therefore, it is not safe for the public to use an off label drug. It is the Food and Drug Administration’s job to approve drugs such as Adderall for the public’s safety and to inform every one of the drug’s ingredients. All of the students who consume Adderall, saying it’s fine and un-harmful to the human body are ignorant on the topic. These students are not informed on the side effects or harm that it could cause to a humans body. For example adderall causes an “inability of sleep for approximately eight to ten...
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...pro athlete. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (2013), only 2% of college athletes are talented enough to play at the professional level. Logically thinking, this means that 98% of student athletes should be preparing themselves in college with a back-up plan for life after collegiate sports, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. In fact, some people actually support the idea that student athletes should be able to major in the sport they play, and not study for a major that would be more beneficial to them in life. Student athletes that enter college directly after high school lack life experience, and they need guidance when making such decisions that will impact their life so dramatically. It is in these times when we should push students to their limits in order to make them grow to be the best they can be, not let them take the path of least resistance and settle for mediocrity. Allowing student athletes to choose their sport as a major may be the obvious choice for some, but doing so would actually hurt them instead of benefitting them. If we truly care about the futures of student athletes we will encourage them to prepare for life after sports, whenever that may be, and not enable them to take the easy way out. Two excellent examples of college’s incompetence involving the education of student athletes were given in the article “Educating College Athletes” by David Petina. Petina talks about the quality of education received by two former...
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...through personal responsibility the student must take charge of his actions, have discipline, good time management skills, and take care of himself. Keeping these in mind, they will be successful in anything they do, including a successful college student. Research has shown that the most successful students are those who have a propensity to control their own effort to learn. They take personal responsibility for regulating the way in which they approach their studies (Schapiro & Livingston, 2000). Some ways to gain success is good time management, setting realistic goal, and taking care of oneself. Personal responsibility is taking responsibility for their actions, accepting the consequences that come from those actions, and understanding what they do affects those around them. Personal responsibility is important to be successful in college. Students have to learn to take responsibility for their education. Meaning they need to be responsible, have good time management, study, and complete assignments on time. Without responsibility students will not succeed. Time management is essential to be successful in college, student must learn to manage his time. Time management is “a process in which a person applies such management functions as planning, organizing, and controlling into his own activities to attain his goals effectively and productively in his both private life and career” (Erdem, 1999, p. 27). There are many tools that can help a student manage his time such as planners...
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...Personal Responsibility and College Success Angela A. Guzman University of Phoenix Personal Responsibility and College Success Being a mother of two while going to school can be overwhelming. Daily tasks such as taking care of my two girls, house chores, and balancing school work is hard to squeeze into a day unless you learn to manage your time wisely. In order to manage your time wisely you must take charge of your actions by practicing self-discipline. Making the right choices can lead to many rewards, but holding yourself accountable for failures will help you make better decisions in the future (Haskins, 2009). Time management, self-discipline, and accountability all comes down to personal responsibility. In my opinion, personal responsibility is setting an attainable goal, taking the actions needed to reach your goal, and holding yourself accountable for those actions. In short, personal responsibility is the key to college success. Self-discipline Planning to go to college is a big step that requires a lot of self-discipline. Self-discipline is about setting attainable goals and being able to follow through until reaching said goals. Setting attainable goals will help you succeed. Attempting goals that are unattainable not only sets you up for failure, but will discourage you from setting new goals in the future. Using a planning strategy of taking a long-term goal and breaking it up into short-term goals will keep you on track (Ellis, 2010). Most people...
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...believe that in order to be successful you must have a college degree. While a college education has affected our great American culture and economy, the idea that college is the “right” and “responsible” decision for those who are pursuing the American dream is outdated and borderline dangerous. Today, many opportunities are given to everyone to receive higher educations. But this does not mean that everyone should attend a four year college. Everyone was not created equally in their educational abilities, everyone should not be pressured to attend a four year college but should be encouraged to go to a community college, vocational school, or job experience instead of being looked down upon in...
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...to help best achieve receiving a degree. Students can earn the same valuable degree from an online school as a traditional college or university. It depends on if the students are comfortable with a structured outline and the level of commitment it will take to complete online courses. Online students must also have good study habits as well as being self motivated if the student plans on graduating from an online college. If a student needs guidance to complete assignments then it is highly not recommended that that student attend an online campus. As for some students the pros may outweigh the cons, as for others the cons may outweigh the pros. For those students who have trouble learning without a physical presence of a teacher should know that nearly all online teachers or professors have a limited role in the way their classes are taught. Usually the students guide is pre-written or prerecorded course material. Some students may see this as a problem. The most interaction a online student will receive will be in the form a weekly discussion question, and feedback on graded assignments. There are students that will work better with one-on-one interaction with their teacher, in this case the student may have trouble with adapting to the new school environment. Students that are not self motivated to do their school work will not benefit from an online school. Students never have the same type of learning experiences. Some Student need to interact with their Teacher or Professor...
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...Joseph Lawson Dr. Murphy English 123:Composition 07/08/13 What is College for? What is College for? There are many answers to this question. I feel college is for people that want to succeed in life. You can be in any wage bracket, depending on what you’re majoring in. For example, you can go to school to be a doctor or a registered nurse. We all know doctors make more than a RN, so a doctor is in a higher wage bracket than a RN. As a student, you have the choice to be whatever you want to be. You might be in a major you like and end up changing majors because you found a major you like better. The first school I enrolled in was Central Carolina Tech in 1995. My major was Machine Tool Technology. My job paid 80% of my tuition, as long as it dealt with the job. I applied for a job in the Tool Room, but they didn’t want to hire me. I looked at getting employment elsewhere, but needed at least 2 years experience. So, after receiving my Associates Degree in Machine Tool Technology, I enrolled a second time in an Industrial Maintenance program. After getting my Associates Degree in Industrial Maintenance, I applied for a Maintenance helper position which I received soon after. I held the position for a year and tried to get a regular Maintenance position, but they did not want to hire me. I then signed up for a Die Bench Tech position, which I held for a year. I then decided to enlist into the US Army as a...
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... Rising cost of college education People who possess a degree have a better chance of finding successful careers. However, a college education has been getting increasingly more difficult by the sky-rocketing costs of college tuition. The authors of “Administrative costs in higher education: how fast are they really growing?” state that: “The College Board says the average tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased by 27 percent beyond the rate of inflation over the five years from the 2008-09 academic year to 2013-14. After adjusting for inflation, the cost of tuition more than tripled between 1973 and 2013” (Hedrick et al 124). The tuition cost now becomes a cause of considerable public concern because it is very high compared to how the economy has been and how wages and financial aid have not risen with the cost of tuition. With the cost of college rising, many have asked a question: Is a college education worth the cost? Anyway, it cannot be denied that a college education always remains an important investment for the future. Tuition is usually the first thing that comes to mind when planning for higher education. It is the largest portion of the bill when attending a college or university. Tuition is a term that refers to tuition, fees, and room and board charges per student. According to Robert Martin, the author of “Why tuition costs are rising so quickly?”, for the 2006–2007 school year...
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...ONLINE EDUCATION FOR NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS Student Name English Composition II July 31, 2014 Unlike the typical college freshman attending the university of their dreams immediately after high school, the college experience for the non-traditional student is quite different. Most non-traditional students are not attending college immediately after high school, they are returning students who have not finished their college education, or they may be full-time working adults or parents who are trying to obtain their education around their already busy schedules. Students of this type need to have alternate paths to choose from which will allow them to meet their other obligations and needs first. These types of students need to be able to balance their personal lives while also being able to successfully reach their ultimate goal, obtaining a college degree. These types of students will likely take a different approach than attending a brick and mortar school. While some students require the more traditional university experience, research shows that an online education is often better suited for the non-traditional student because it is more flexible and convenient, affordable, and can offer a high quality education. An online education is a more flexible and convenient learning format to choose from when compared to the traditional university experience. This benefits non-traditional students because many of them are working adults who need the convenience and...
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...turning in assignments on time and working successfully with team members on team assignments. Personal responsibility and college success go hand in hand because it’s up to us as students to do what is necessary to succeed in school. Practicing self-discipline For anyone that has ever served in the military, you would know from personal experience that you are taught self-discipline from day one. One main thing that you learn is that you should always do what’s right legally and morally regardless if someone is watching or not. That’s what self-discipline truly is. When you have self-discipline, you know how to make a plan to succeed at whatever you plan on doing. If you have a plan, there’s usually no way that something could go wrong. Setting short and long term goals give you something to look forward to and push you to do your absolute best to achieve them. Time Management Skills Time management skills are extremely important in college as well as in life. In college, we use time management to get meet deadlines and complete tasks on time. That’s why it’s always good to set aside a time frame to do the things that you have to do. Take college assignments for instance, setting aside a time frame gives you the opportunity to do your assignments without being disturbed. Always try to set goals for yourself for completing your assignments. When you do all of these things, time management isn’t that hard. One thing that can throw you off is procrastination. Procrastination...
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...JIU student? Amanda Hayes Jones International University May 22nd, 2010After reading this article about time management tips for students. I learned that you have five tips to manage your time wisely and get your paper in before the due schedule. Time management is one of the most important factors in colleges students class work. As I read this article it shows why most students don’t have the time to complete their assignments on time due to their classes, work, activities out side of school and just their social activities. It describes in the paper that I need to learn how to manage my time and use it toward my assignments. Five tips that I have describe in the paragraph above are Keep a Detailed Calendar. If I make a weekly planner for my busy schedule I will not fall behind in my classes. This article teaches me that it is best to keep attract of all my daily and weekly schedule. Such as assignments due, work and home things that will keep me on top of my studies and school work. If I manage my time wisely and keep a planner and I look at it each and every day it will help me succeed in the long run and to manage my time accurately. The second tip is to plan out your time. If I am having a busy day and I don’t think I can finish that assignment that was due on that day. It always best that I could do it the day before or two days in advance I will have my work complete on time. If I know that I am busy on that day when the assignment is due I can always do it the...
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...The Dream Act Promotes Illegal Immigration Today, there are about 80,000 undocumented students who will graduate from high school in the United States. Nearly 65,000 of these students will not only be graduating, but have been living in the country for five years or more. Undocumented students face various challenges as they move along the academic pipeline. Yet, a growing number of them are graduating from U.S. high schools each year prepared to enter our nation’s colleges and universities. These students are most likely in favor of the Dream Act, Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The dream act was a proposed legislation in the United States that was introduced to the Senate on August 1, 2001, and was re-introduced on March 26, 2009 (Miranda). This proposed bill will grant amnesty to illegal aliens who entered the country as children illegally but now meet the requirements and reverses current law to allow states to provide taxpayer subsidize in-state tuition to illegal aliens. Also, qualifying undocumented youths will be eligible for a 6 year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service (Miranda). Undoubtedly, in order to qualify for The Dream Act, if it is passed, the person must meet five requirements. One requirement includes that the person who is applying must have entered the United States before the age of sixteen (Miranda). This condition should logically disqualify the chances...
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