Class lecture format must be changed
Students might be among peers in the classroom, but not everyone is equal.
The college class structure — often a stereotypical lecture in which a professor drones on in front of an overwhelming mass of students — is biased toward those who are affluent, white, male and, often, extroverted. Large lectures and voluntary participation might be the conventional modus operandi, but it’s the responsibility of universities like USC to ensure that class structure does not encourage discrimination.
In a recent piece for The New York Times, “Are College Lectures Unfair?” columnist Annie Murphy Paul contends that the current lecture format puts racial minority groups, women and low-income students at a significant disadvantage. Paul says that this is no fault of instructors themselves, only of the actual structure of classes. In this passive class structure, a high-pressure atmosphere contributes to less participation by underrepresented student groups due to a lack of a sense of belonging. The piece cites a 2014 study that found that though women make up 60 percent of university introductory biology courses, they only accounted for 40 percent of class participation.
Another rarely mentioned marginalized group in this class lecture format, is introverted students. In her book Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain says that your personality type defines you more than any other factor, thus making introverted people already at a major disadvantage in the extroverted world we live in.
“Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women living in a man’s world,” Cain told Forbes in 2012. “Our most important institutions are designed for extroverts. We have a waste of talent.”
One of these institutions is the University. Despite a commitment to meeting the educational needs of all students, USC still clings to an outdated structure that favors a small group of students.
There’s no question that engagement and participation in classwork and class discussion is beneficial for all students, but the current system bars some students from this enrichment.
Take, for instance, the idea of the participation grade in the college lecture structure. The University penalizes students in a situation where the odds are systematically stacked against them. Some are introverts by nature and feel uncomfortable speaking up in front of other students. Others have less to say simply because they come into a class without the background knowledge that an affluent student who attended an elite private school might have. Either way, the current system does not cater to these students’ unique educational needs.
The University has taken some steps toward a more active learning environment by offering smaller seminar sections compared to classes at other universities. But it’s more than just classroom size — the University should replace the traditional lecture structure with repeated engagement with material and without the assumption that students fully understand background information.
It’s easy for a university to hold lectures instead of seminars that foster a low-pressure environment. It’s easy for a professor to call on the overeager student in the first row, stretching their hand up as if to reach the ceiling. It’s easy for TAs to simply spend discussion time regurgitating the lecture. In other words, it’s easy to stick to the status quo.
It’s often said that once students get to college, they are responsible for their own education. They can choose whether to go to class, whether to do the readings, whether to turn in assignments. But, simply placing the burden on students, when many are systematically discriminated against, is not fair. USC has a duty to consciously act in a way that gives the greatest number of students the most effective learning experience.
The University claims it is committed to diversity, but it is simply not enough to attract a diverse group of students to campus. Once they are here, the University must also make sure their opportunities are no less than their classmates’.
Daily Trojan Fall 2015 Editorial Board