“The fundamental problem of higher education is no longer the availability of content, but rather the availability of motivation.”
This is one of the central premises of “How College Works,” the topic of a talk given at New Trier HS in March by Dr. Daniel Chambliss, a professor and author who spent years trying to measure what makes college students happy and successful. Motivation: This one word, combined with “students” and “learning” really hit the nail on the head here at Lakeside corporate HQ. This adviser has heard more times than she can count how much a student hated a class because of the awful teacher and the boring material.
Dr. Chambliss has taught at Hamilton College in upstate New York for 37 years, but he didn’t write his 2014 book based solely on his observations as a sociology professor at the small liberal arts college. Chambliss and former student Christopher Takacs spent eight years researching what measures that college students thought helped them to reach for their potential in school and become successful after they graduated. The surprises were:
Majors don’t matter nearly as much as taking the classes, and professors, that interest you. It’s the universal skills (like writing, collaboration, public speaking) and values that matter.
Facilities didn’t mean much. Lazy rivers, climbing walls and roof gardens weren’t cited by students as to what made their college years worthwhile.
Distribution requirements and curriculum are fine but they aren’t drivers of educational outcomes.
Chambliss’ central thesis is that actual human relationships formed at college are the key to the intellectual growth, confidence, and security that push students to the self-discovery necessary to mature as adults. Finding two to three good friends and one to two significant professors with whom a student can mentor were more important than anything else the researchers found through thousands of surveys, study of existing data, and interviews that they conducted.
They found that good old-fashioned freshman dorms of the long-hallway and communal bathroom model promote prolonged social interaction over the course of the school year and were far superior to suite- and apartment-type student housing. Students who found friend groups in different sectors of student life were also happier.
As for professors and classes, “The quality of teaching really matters,” Chambliss said. “It affects student’s interest in the subject. If I’m dull they think sociology is dull. If I’m exciting and funny they think sociology is fun. Especially in fields they have not encountered before.”
While Lakeside agrees with everything Dr. Chambliss had to say, we also have our own thoughts on why degree choices do sometimes matter, and why great academic facilities do make a difference. But it would be hard to discount the importance of learning to adapt to the new environment of college, to put yourself out there to find friends, and to really engage yourself in the learning process whether it be a class on anthropology, Russian literature, or particle physics. Finding the right landing pad to begin your adventure is where our work begins. Because for every thriving Hamilton student, there is a happy Ohio State Buckeye. And for every giddy molecular biology major at MIT, there is an equally fired up music industry major at USC. It’s finding that place that matters.