Find a comfortable chair: good old fashioned reading is the best bet for building comlex reasoning skills and academic success

The 2011 book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses has often been misrepresented as evidence that a college education is no longer worthwhile. However, what the book in fact revealed was that the quality of college education is connected to coursework that demands high academic rigor in both reading and writing. The book cited an in-depth longitudinal study of 2,300 students at 29 diverse, 4-year colleges in the U.S. showing that many areas of study in college - particularly business, education, health, and social work – have low classwork expectations which result in minimal gains in measurable skills during college. In contrast, traditional liberal-arts majors (such as literature, natural science, archaeology, psychology, mathematics, history, sociology, etc.) demonstrated markedly higher gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills.

Using survey responses, transcript data, and results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), the study tracked the academic gains of 2,300 students enrolled at four-year colleges and universities. At several points during and then after their college careers, the students took the CLA, a test designed to measure gains in critical thinking, analytic reasoning and other "higher level" skills. The study included only students who graduated from four-year institutions within six years and did not transfer.

In 45% of the students studied, there were no significant gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning or writing skills. The study found a correlation between poor performance on the Collegiate Learning Assessment and unemployment, credit card debt, and likelihood of living with parents.

Many reviews and summaries of the book have swept a crucial finding of the study under the rug: researchers found that students majoring in traditional liberal-arts fields see much higher gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills over time than students in other academic concentrations. Students showing the smallest gains were those who majored in K-12 education, business, social work, and communications. Engineering and computer science majors fell below liberal arts majors in gains, but above education, business and social work. The study tracked data that suggest those much larger gains for liberal-arts majors are a result of greater academic rigor in those fields of study. Most liberal-arts majors are required to write more, and their writing is held to a higher standard by professors in those fields. Based on the study, those majors were more likely to read at least 40 pages per week of material with complex concepts that required high level reading comprehension.

The research also found a direct relationship between academic rigor and gains in learning:

• Students who studied by themselves gained more knowledge than those who spent the most time studying in peer groups.
• Students whose classes included more than 40 pages of reading a week and more than 20 pages of writing a semester gained more than other students.
• Students who spent the most time in fraternities and sororities showed decreased learning.
• Off-campus or extracurricular activities like social clubs and volunteer work showed no relation to gains on CLA
• Students majoring in liberal arts fields had "significantly higher gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills over time than students in other fields of study." Students majoring in business, education, social work and communications showed the smallest gains.
• Students who had more advanced classes (advanced placement) in high school had greater subsequent gains on the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) in college

· Researchers recommended that colleges need to shift focus from "social engagement" on campus, which may indeed result in greater student retention and contentment, but has little to do with goals to improve students’ complex reasoning and writing skills.

The Study:

https://www.aacu.org/meetings/annualmeeting/AM11/documents/AcademicallyAdriftAACUJan2011.pdf

http://highered.ssrc.org/?page_id=28

http://highered.ssrc.org/files/SSRC_Report.pdf

New Books by Shelia Swan and Peter Laufer

Shelia Swan and Peter Laufer have donated a collection of their work to the Silver City Volunteer Library, including the new edition of Neon Nevada and the autobiography of Milan Melvin.

Shelia Swan studied photography as an assistant in her father’s portrait studio. Later, at the Nevada Craft Guild, she began her study of Nevada’s neon tradition. She was the associate producer and editor of the award-winning documentary film "Exodus to Berlin.” Her current photography is focused on Polaroid transfer and emulsion prints.

Silver City folks may remember Peter Laufer from his days as editor-in-chief in the early 1970s of the Gold Hill News and his stints at KPTL in Carson City and KOLO in Reno (he is “an innovator and specialist in bringing magazine content to speech radio.”) Laufer is an independent journalist, broadcaster and documentary filmmaker who has traveled the globe as a correspondent for NBC News and taught at universities across the world, including Sonoma State University, Western Kentucky University, San Francisco State University, the University of Nevada at Reno, the University of Oregon at Eugene, California State University at San Luis Obispo, American University in Washington, the Freie Universität in Berlin, and Misr University in Cairo. He has also written dozens of books, including those listed below that you can now find in the Silver City Volunteer Library:

Highlights of a Lowlife: Autobiography of Milan Melvin, 2004

Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets, 2010

Nightmare Abroad: Stories of Americans Imprisoned in Foreign Lands,1993

Calexico: True Lives of the Borderlands 2011

Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq, 2006

Safety and Security for Women Who Travel, Travelers Tales, 1999 (co-authored with Sheila Swan Laufer)

Neon Nevada by Shelia Swan and Peter Laufer, 2011

More About These Titles (taken from peterlaufer.com)

Neon Nevada

The glow of Nevada and neon is more than an advertising call. Since the invention of the neon sign the flashing colors documented the development of the Silver State. Sheila Swan and Peter Laufer criss-cross Nevada to bring both the frivolity and the reality of Nevada neon to life. This updated and revised edition of Neon Nevada was published by Globe Pequot Press in 2011. Swan and Laufer made a third survey trip across Nevada in late 2010 to complete their field work. The new edition of the book includes some 100 full color images, about a third of them from the 2010 expedition.

Highlights of a Lowlife

This book is the autobiography of Milan Melvin, edited and completed by Peter Laufer. Rolling Stone magazine’s Ben Fong-Torres wrote of the work, “Milan Melvin was one of the most fascinating figures out of the sixties. In fact, a case could be made that he helped to shape that time of our lives. Peter Laufer is one of the sharpest journalists out of the sixties. In one of his last major decisions, Milan asked Peter to help him tell his story. Together they do, and it is one for the ages. Light up, buckle up, and enjoy the flight.”

Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq

Disillusioned, outraged, and betrayed, some American soldiers took a stand against the war in Iraq.

A shattering journey of revelation, pain, and betrayal, Mission Rejected takes the reader deep into the turmoil of U.S. troops confronting the Iraq War. Some of these soldiers have decided not to fight in Iraq. Others, who have served in the “Sand Box” only to return so appalled by their experience and by what that experience has done to them, choose to declare, in the words of the old Phil Ochs song, “I’m not marchin’ anymore!”

Praise for this timely and important book by Peter Laufer comes from Cindy Sheehan, Norman Solomon, and Jim Hightower along with this poignant appraisal from Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army Reserves Colonel and former U.S. diplomat. “In the military, real courage is taking a stand against orders one believes are unlawful and accepting the consequences. Moral cowardice is taking the easy way by accepting unlawful orders and committing illegal actions. Ultimately, one must live with oneself. These women and men have chosen the hard short path to freedom from the long-term emotional, spiritual and physical consequences of conducting state sponsored murder in a conflict that has nothing to do with our national security.” About Mission Rejected, Howard Zinn wrote, “These heartbreaking, powerful stories tell more about the war in Iraq than any analysis by pundits or journalists. I hope this book will be widely read, especially by young people who may be enticed, by false promises or deceptive patriotic exhortations, to go to war.” To see and hear Peter Laufer talking about this book with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, see this link:

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/6/15/mission_rejected_u_s_soldiers_who

Nightmare Abroad

The outgrowth of Laufer’s multiple award-winning NBC radio documentary on U.S. citizens held in foreign prisons, this eye-opening survey should be read by any one traveling abroad. Laufer, who visited Americans jailed in 21 countries, emphasizes three major points: that most nations adhere to the Napoleonic code, which presumes the accused to be guilty until proven innocent; that few nations grant bail between arrest and trial; and that the State department will rarely intervene to aid an accused or convicted American for fear of upsetting relations with the host country. NBC Today show producer Rich Minner, producer says, “Any American traveling outside the United States should read Nightmare Abroad.

Safety and Security for Women Who Travel

Personal safety is a prime concern for women on the road, and this collection of tips and wisdom gives women the tools they need to be secure, confident travelers. Authors Sheila Swan and Peter Laufer help lay to rest fears and provide guidance for women to travel securely anywhere in the world. Published by Traveler’s Tales; The Christian Science Monitor writes, “A cache of valuable advice.”