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The article doesn't say foreign students found Ms. Miller's history/rhetoric class stimulating. It says they work harder and take the class more seriously. Th

The article doesn't say foreign students found Ms. Miller's history/rhetoric class stimulating. It says they work harder and take the class more seriously. That certainly matches what I've observed regarding foreign students. Could it be that foreign students (correctly) believe they have more to gain from doing well in Ms. Millers history and rhetoric classes at Babson college? When considering qualifications for jobs or further study, I think that grades are relatively weightier for foreign born students than for American born students. I also think that performance in Ms. Miller's class probably isn't of much long term importance for students not interested in rhetoric or history. If there is a problem with our educational system, it is the fact that these students are wasting their time and money in a class they don't care about and won't use.

IgorPartola 17y ago
I don't believe that most college classes are a waste. Some are, but most will teach you something. The least they will do is to teach you to communicate to people that study the particular discipline. If we were to only learn what was "useful" to our professions, we would not be (1) very happy or (2) very good at what we do. There is a reason why cross discipline education is still around and while some people do a poor job of delivering such education, we should not condemn the whole paradigm. What I find is that the biggest indicator of someone's success is not how well they know the subject matter of any given class, but how hard they try to do something. So doing well in Ms. Miller's class will not give you wads of useful knowledge but it will teach you how to tackle an unfamiliar problem. Doing well in her class will then demonstrate to others that you are willing to do more than your peers to overcome professional challenges, which ultimately translates into being a better professional.

IgorPartola 17y ago

I don't believe that most college classes are a waste. Some are, but most will teach you something. The least they will do is to teach you to communicate to people that study the particular discipline. If we were to only learn what was "useful" to our professions, we would not be (1) very happy or (2) very good at what we do. There is a reason why cross discipline education is still around and while some people do a poor job of delivering such education, we should not condemn the whole paradigm. What I find is that the biggest indicator of someone's success is not how well they know the subject matter of any given class, but how hard they try to do something. So doing well in Ms. Miller's class will not give you wads of useful knowledge but it will teach you how to tackle an unfamiliar problem. Doing well in her class will then demonstrate to others that you are willing to do more than your peers to overcome professional challenges, which ultimately translates into being a better professional.