Response to Jessica Dickty’s Personal Response
Greetings,
First off, Jessica, don’t become offended by news articles, especially those in which use averages and statistics, they don’t apply to everyone. Also, when you make these types of posts, would you be willing to supply a URL for the article. Thanks.
Even with that said, I must also express my displeasure with the article, but for other reasons. Although we haven’t had to deal with those “real life” experiences, one must also know that we, as college students, are supposed to be the smartest in the United States, and should be able to figure out how to balance a checkbook, calculate a tip, or interpret credit card offers. For example, I have never had to interpret several credit card offers, because I always destroy them, but if I decided that I wanted a new credit card, I would amass several offers and read them over carefully, comparing the different rates and with a little help from the internet for definitions, I would be able to pick a reasonably decent credit card offer.
I don’t want to seem too cantankerous with your comments, but our generation does need to use some logic even currently. I don’t see any reason why we should not be able to read a chart, or calculate a tip. I can’t think of a subject matter that wouldn’t use a table at some point, or a person who hasn’t eaten in a restaurant.
However, I would agree with you that the article is harsh with our lack of “real world” experience, for example understanding what systolic and diastolic pressure (blood pressure) means and which of those is more important to keep low. I would also agree that the number of students polled seems kind of low (only 1,827 students) to be a significant portion of the population.
Website:
Study: College Students lack literacy for complex tasks.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/20/literacy.college.students.ap/index.html
