KOTA Territory NewsChildren First: Do college kids really learn anything?

Children First: Do college kids really learn anything?

Shonti Tager

Going to college isn't all about the academic experience, but if you or your parents are putting down $15,000 a year for an education, you should expect to learn something.

A recent study finds that 45% of college students probably haven't learned a thing, academic wise, event through their sophomore years. That statistic alone has students taking a look at their college experience.

"They might take longer because they are letting the students what path they want to follow," said South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Senior Kaleb Rehmer.

"There's not really much motivation to go to a math class if I have no need for math in my future," said School of Mines Sophomore Charissa Johnson.

Sharon Kirkpatrick-Sanchez is a psychology instructor at the School of Mines. She says the new trend in underachievement is due to the same technology that's supposed to make learning easier.

"What you practice most is what you're going to become more proficient at, like texting, Facebook, and very, very quickly moving through lots of information and doing skimming compared to deep reading," said Kirkpatrick-Sanchez.

Too many social activities, like partying, may also be a culprit. the study finds that students who study alone, read and write more, and attend more selective schools post greater learning gains.

The findings bode well for students like Charissa Johnson who says the key is to focus on your work at the time. She tries to keep weekend happenings out of her mind until the weekend.

"For every credit hour, you're supposed to spend three hours studying. So if you're not studying enough then your obviously not going to learn as much, but I study all the time, so I feel like I've learned quite a bit," Johnson said.

The study found that more social engagement generally diminished academic growth. Students in the Greek System also had lower rates of learning.