[EAS] Class of 2012 Mindset
Peter J. Kindlmann
pjk at design.eng.yale.edu
Thu Sep 4 16:58:27 EDT 2008
Dear Colleagues -
As we start another academic year, here is some insight into who our
freshmen are. Below is the mindset survey from Beloit College, as
forwarded by Rick Ries's TOMORROW'S PROFESSOR listserv. By those
(cultural) perspectives I'm an alien from another planet.
I also refer you to the (soberer) annual surveys done by the UCL
Higher Education Research Institute, about which I have also written
to you on this list in years past, e.g.
<http://jove.eng.yale.edu/pipermail/eas-info/2001/000297.html>.
Their latest full report on freshmen (for 2006 though) is available
for $25 at <http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/norms06.php>, but the free
Research Summary (22p) and Press Release (3p) referred to at that
URL contain much salient detail. They also have research projects
such as "Becoming Scientists: Practices in Undergraduate Education
that Contribute to Degree Completion and Advanced Study in STEM
Disciplines."
Good luck, --PJK
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Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 09:05:42 -0700
From: Rick Reis <reis at stanford.edu>
Subject: TP Msg. #885 The Beloit College Mindset List - Class of 2012
To: tomorrows-professor at lists.stanford.edu
Message-ID: <p06240804c4e3143b3aae@[171.64.49.213]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
"It is a multicultural, politically correct and "green" generation
that has hardly noticed the threats to their privacy and has never
feared the Russians and the Warsaw Pact."
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Folks:
Welcome to the 2008-09 academic year! Let's kick things off with what
has been one of the most popular postings on the Newsletter over the
years, the annual "Beloit College Mindset List," that looks at
today's college freshman and what they have and have not experienced
in their short lifetimes. The results are both useful and sobering
for any professor over 30. So here it is for the entering class of
2008 who will graduate in 20012. Beloit College - 700 College St. -
Beloit, WI 53511 - 608.363.2000 - webmaster - Copyright ? 2008
Reprinted with permission.
Regards,
Rick Reis
reis at stanford.edu
UP NEXT: The Power of Play in Teaching and Learning
Tomorrow's Academia
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The Beloit College Mindset List
This month, almost 2 million first-year students will head off to
college campuses around the country. Most of them will be about 18
years old, born in 1990 when headlines sounded oddly familiar to
those of today: Rising fuel costs were causing airlines to cut staff
and flight schedules; Big Three car companies were facing declining
sales and profits; and a president named Bush was increasing the
number of troops in the Middle East in the hopes of securing peace.
However, the mindset of this new generation of college students is
quite different from that of the faculty about to prepare them to
become the leaders of tomorrow.
Each August for the past 11 years, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis.,
has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at
the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering
college. It is the creation of Beloit's Keefer Professor of the
Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief. The List
is shared with faculty and with thousands who request it each year as
the school year begins, as a reminder of the rapidly changing frame
of reference for this new generation.
The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid
communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact
that residence halls are "wired" and equipped with the latest
hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of
telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines
during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell
phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever
shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook
where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole
world.
It is a multicultural, politically correct and "green" generation
that has hardly noticed the threats to their privacy and has never
feared the Russians and the Warsaw Pact.
Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally
born in 1990.
For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie
Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.
1. Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
2. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been
annoying people at parties.
3. They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
4. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
5. Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
6. Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
8. Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard
George Bush announce "tax revenue increases."
9. Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
10. Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school
fashion scene.
11. All have had a relative--or known about a friend's
relative--who died comfortably at home with Hospice.
12. As a precursor to "whatever," they have recognized that some
people "just don't get it."
13. Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey
in Orlando.
14. Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
15. Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
16. Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
17. Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
18. WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
19. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
20. The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations
was for their parents.
21. Students have always been "Rocking the Vote."
22. Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
23. Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
24. We have always known that "All I Ever Really Needed to Know I
Learned in Kindergarten."
25. There have always been gay rabbis.
26. Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
27. College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
28. IBM has never made typewriters.
29. Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.
30. McDonald's and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for
cooking french fries.
31. They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.
32. There has always been Pearl Jam.
33. The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and
started at 11:35 EST.
34. Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
35. They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium.
36. They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
37. Authorities have always been building a wall across the Mexican border.
38. Lenin's name has never been on a major city in Russia.
39. Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
40. Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.
41. Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone.
42. Their parents may have watched The American Gladiators on TV
the day they were born.
43. Personal privacy has always been threatened.
44. Caller ID has always been available on phones.
45. Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
46. The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting
quarterback.
47. They never heard an attendant ask "Want me to check under the hood?"
48. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
49. Soft drink refills have always been free.
50. They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a
show about "nothing."
51. Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the
year they were born.
52. Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.
53. The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily
ration of rum.
54. The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on
the heavens.
55. 98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
56. Michael Millken has always been a philanthropist promoting
prostate cancer research.
57. Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
58. Radio stations have never been required to present both sides
of public issues.
59. There have always been charter schools.
60. Students always had Goosebumps.
Beloit College - 700 College St. - Beloit, WI 53511 - 608.363.2000 -
webmaster - Copyright ? 2008
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