‘“It’s not that it makes you more intelligent,” says Phoebe, a history student. “It’s just that it helps you work. You can study for longer. You don’t get distracted. You’re actually happy to go to the library and you don’t even want to stop for lunch. And then it’s like 7pm, and you’re still, ‘Actually, you know what? I could do another hour.’” (Cadwalladr) What if there was something you could take to help you get better grades, study confidently and remember more information? There are, they are known as Nootropics. Nootropics, also referred at as ‘smart drugs’, are medications that stimulate one’s cognitive abilities. These medications include; Piracetam, Aniracetam, Sunifiram(being amongst the most popular) and many others. Though these drugs do enhance one’s abilities, this is not what they were originally intended for. “Smart drugs” were originally medications prescribed to people with certain types of disorders, such as; ADHD, ADD, narcolepsy, etc. As time has progressed students have found these prescription drugs helpful in their busy college life. Though these …show more content…
“This is not the motion under consideration, but I would suggest this radical claim that college students are people. People have the right to choose what they would do or have done to their bodies, and college students have the right to choose what is done -- or what they would do to their bodies.”(Chatterjee) If students are properly informed about a decision they want to make, they should be able to choose openly. People reserve a right to do what they believe is best for themselves. Many Nootropics are not illegal nor do the pose a threat to the well-being of people around the person choosing to take them. Taking away the right to choose which path a person decides is unquestionably
According to “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff says that “ Everyone knows some young person who is impressively “street smart” but does poor in school” ( Gerald Graff 244). He explains that to many people believe that one who is so intelligent in life cannot do well in academic work, and he or she needs spend extra time on his or her school works than things in sports. However, Graff used his own anti-intellectual experience to verify his opinion that street smarts are simply as important as school smarts, and he recommends school should take all these street smarts and apply them into good academic environment. Graff also believes we should allow students read literature or any things they first feel interested, for example “George Orwell, which is a writing on the cultural meanings of penny postcards is infinitely more
In the essay ”Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he discusses different types of intellect, more specifically the ways they can apply to us in our lives. He discusses the different types of “smarts” referred to in his paper as street smarts, and school smarts. Graff hints upon the missed opportunities by colleges to embrace the form of intellect called “street smarts” because of a preconceived idea that there is no way to use this form of knowledge in an academic setting. To quote Graff directly “Colleges might be at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts”. We then learn some of Graffs personal experiences pertaining to this very thing. He shares a story about himself which reviews his underlying love for sports and complete diskliking for books or any form of intellectualism, until he became college aged. He shares that he now believes, his love of sports over over school work was not because he hated intellectualism but perhaps it was intellectualism in another form. He shares his
In the fall of 1991, respondent James Acton, then a seventh-grader, signed up to play football at one of the District's grade schools. He was denied participation because he and his parents refused to sign the testing consent forms. The Actons filled suit on the grounds that it violated the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The federal district court ruled in the school district's favor, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, stating that although the district had laid the foundation for a drug policy, the interest was not so compelling as to justify a random testing program. The time between the 1980's and 1990's America saw a dramatic increase in drug use which spread through nearly every community in the nation. Drugs had not previously been a major problem in Vernonia schools. In the mid-to-late 1980's, however, teachers and administrators observed an increase in drug use. Students began to speak out about their attraction to the drug culture, and boasted that there was nothing the school could do about it.
Co-author of “They Say/I Say” handbook, Gerald Graff, analyzes in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” that “street smarts” can be used for more efficient learning and can be a valuable tool to train students to “get hooked on reading and writing” (Graff 204). Graff’s purpose is to portray to his audience that knowing more about cars, TV, fashion, and etc. than “academic work” is not the detriment to the learning process that colleges and schools can see it to be (198). This knowledge can be an important teaching assistant and can facilitate the grasping of new concepts and help to prepare students to expand their interests and write with better quality in the future. Graff clarifies his reasoning by indicating, “Give me the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue in Source over the student who writes a life-less explication of Hamlet or Socrates’ Apology” (205). Graff adopts a jovial tone to lure in his readers and describe how this overlooked intelligence can spark a passion in students to become interested in formal and academic topics. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his credibility, appeal emotionally to his readers, and appeal to logic by makes claims, providing evidence, and backing his statements up with reasoning.
In a 2012 study published by the Journal of American College Health, by senior year, Adderall and other prescription stimulants are offered to two-thirds of college students. Furthermore, about 31 percent are taking the drug in hopes to enhance their concentration to get better grades (Zadrozny 2013). Students who take Adderall that don’t have ADHD report that they have a increased sense of focus, motivation, and concentration, which are all the ingredients you need to have for a successful all-nighter to help on providing an added boost before an exam. With characteristics such as difficulties in focusing, reasoning, problem solving and planning, ADHD is a neurobehavioral-based disorder and is associated with an insufficient amount of dopamine (Student Health: Drug & Alcohol Abuse among College Students 2015). Adderall is enticing to students because they believe it can help them perform enhance their academic skills. On the other hand, some students abuse the drug because simply for the high it gives
College can be a challenge with endless papers, tests, and other tasks. A pill that allows extreme focus helps accomplish necessary tasks. Adderall is a prescription medication given to patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Jaffe). However, this drug has become known as a “smart drug” around college campuses (“Daily News & Analysis”). About 6.4 percent of college students have taken Adderall without a prescription (Carver). At more competitive schools, about twenty-five percent of students have taken Adderall (Pantovich). Students take the drug with hope to improve a grade. However, in the long run, the student only hurts himself or herself.
“My “C,” “D,” and “F” students this semester are almost exclusively American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have – despite language barriers – generally written solid papers, excelled on exams, and become valuable class participants,” states Kara Miller, a rhetoric and history professor at Babson college, in her article “My Lazy American Students” (1). This means that the American students are not studying enough or not understanding the material. It can also mean that they don’t put much effort into their classes or don’t pay attention in class. Skip Downing, an English professor with a master’s in Psychology, explains in his book On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, “In college, two of the most important ways you’ll collect information and skills are through reading textbooks and attending classes” (25). When you attend classes you are exposed to the material and when you read your textbook you are exposed a second time. This allows you to retain information better. Then, you can ask questions during class on the material you didn’t understand. This will allow you to apply your understanding of the material to exams and might even help you pass the class. This would have allowed Miller’s American students to do better in her class. If you don’t pay attention during class then you’re essentially just cramming the information in your brain when reading the text. In addition, if you only pay attention during class and don’t read the textbook then you will miss out on valuable information not covered in the
Michael S. Roth, “Why liberal arts matter”. CNN. CNN. 21 May 2011. Web. 05 March 2014.
Graff begins by talking about the educational system, and why it flawed in many ways, but in particular, one: Todays schools overlook the intellectual potential of street smart students, and how shaping lessons to work more readily with how people actually learn, we could develop into something capable of competing with the world. In schools, students are forced to recite and remember dull and subject heavy works in order to prepare them for the future, and for higher education. “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic. We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating, fashion, sports, TV, or video games.” (Graff, 198-199) In everyday life, students are able to learn and teach themselves something new everyday. It is those students, the “young person who is impressively “street smart” but does poorly in school” (Graff, 198), that we are sweeping away from education and forcing to seek life in places that are generally less successful than those who attend a college or university.
Homework attributes to student success. According to Harris Cooper, a comparison of homework with no homework shows that the average student in a class with homework assigned would score 23 percentile scores higher on tests of the knowledge assessed than students in classes with no homework assigned (4). Cooper’s meta analysis concluded in the early elementary grades, there wasn’t a clear-cut agreement on the benefits of homework. However, in grades 7-9, the percentile gain doubled to twelve from a percentile gain of 6 in grades 4-6. Homework had the greatest effect on high school students grades tenth through twelfth with a percentile gain of 24. The study suggest that as homework’s difficulty and amount increased,, students percentile gains increased(5). The longer it takes to complete homework, the more the benefits increase. Another positive effect of homework is that it leads to better retention of knowledge learned in the school day. This means that if a student is assigned quality homework, it will help the student remember what he or she learned during school. ”Students in the U.S spend less time studying content than other students in different countries (Marzano and Pi...
Many people believe that college is not for everyone. They believe that knowing and learning about life cannot be gained by reading books. In the meantime, there are many people who believe that college does prepare students for the real world. They believe college offers students valuable tools that will equip them for the real world. For instance, open classrooms where students can engage in stimulating conversations prepare students for professions that pay people who can think fast and come up with creative ideas for their companies. Moreover, professors assign homework, exams, and papers to stimulate thinking and prepare students for deadlines and job assignments. However, college may prepare students for the professional world, but does it really prepare students for the real world. The purpose of this essay is...
After students graduate high school, there are many life tasks that are thrown at them. These tasks are advanced, and the students may not have any notion of how to complete them correctly. There are subjects that aren’t taught in high school, that students are expected to use and understand right after they graduate. Some subjects that are not taught in high school and are needed in the 21st century are finances and money, preparing for a job, and getting a job. To be successful in college, you need to meet many requirements. Some of these requirements are to have “Deep understanding of and facility applying key foundational ideas and concepts from the core academic subjects.” Another key concept is to be able to read and write well, as also needed in the real world. This is important to education because effectiveness is a very significant concept in education today, and will continue to be significant as education continues to evolve. When and if students are not prepared for what the 21st century is really like, then they will not be in a good place after they graduate high school. Effectivity is a great concept in education, and shows what the student will need to have great achievements. It goes with the past and the present of education to make our society
Some will argue, older students can sit longer, therefor can take in additional amounts of homework, but it has also shown that these students may fail a test if they studied too long. The logic behind this came from tenth through twelfth graders. It appears that the achievement seems to improve when student do homework, although after doing one-and-a-half or more hours of it a night, achievement declines. The success in school tends to increase by having smaller amounts of homework. A person’s brain needs downtime to process information
We were taught in elementary school that if we study then well do perfect on tests, the only problem is we were never really taught how to study the ways that benefits us best. We were never taught what methods of studying help you on tests and how to make the material stick in your mind so you won’t just forget. That’s why the study of metacognition and multiple intelligence is now being used in classrooms and at home to better prepare the student for upcoming tests. Metacognition is being able to take charge, be aware and understand your own learning and thought process. Multiple intelligence is the theory that people aren’t born dumb but that they have naturally inherited sections of intelligence that aren’t realized in the brains of everyone.
It also helps us to remember the materials that were taught in class. Another reason homework can be beneficial is the fact that it can prepare us for tests and the dreadful pop-quiz that a teacher may randomly give us. This fact was proven, according to a 2006 study by Harris Cooper, director of Duke University’s Program in Education, in the article “Homework or Not? That is the “Research Question”. The studies instituted that “students who had homework performed better on class tests compared to those who did not” (DeNisco).