David R. Russell and Arturo Yañez’s essay, “Big Picture People Rarely Become Historians’: Genre Systems and the Contradictions of General Education,” is a dynamic piece that attempts to describe the motives and feelings of students being forced to take general education credits using a methodology known as the Activity Theory. Described by Russel and Yañez, the Activity Theory can be described as a way of evaluating human interaction over time, including change and learning (335). The authors apply the Activity Theory to students enrolled in an Irish history general education course in an effort to explain the alienation felt by students whose majors fall outside of history. Also, the authors touch on the “Transmission Model” as it is
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Midwestern public university and other universities across the country argue general education credits are beneficial to all as they give students a broad background and better students’ abilities to complete everyday activities. On the other hand, many students seem to feel that general education courses are a simply a waste of time. Comments from students include, “It’s just memorization. You can’t apply it to other parts of your life” and “It was a waste of time, useless, just busy work, a painful chore” (Russel & Yañez 334). These opinions expressed by students are clear and simple. What Russel and Yañez really mean is students feel like the information is irrelevant to their life and they are wasting their time. Obviously, the students being forced to take a specialty course that is not within their study would feel a sense of alienation. This is of importance as it shows the sharp contrast between the students and the school administration. Russel and Yañez point us to the Activity Theory to try to explain why and how these people feel the way they do about general education requirements. For example, the students view of general education courses would include the students and teacher being the subjects, pencils, paper, and oral lectures would be tools, and the object of the class would be to receive a high grade and move on with life. …show more content…
McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange lands” discusses factors that determine success between classrooms. To determine the factors that lead to discrepancies in success between classrooms, McCarthy studies a college student named Dave who is enrolled in many different courses. Dave often finds himself disliking courses required by the university and liking courses geared towards his major. McCarthy realizes that there is a correlation between how much a person likes a course and their success as Dave did much better in classes geared toward his major. Also, McCarthy found clear expectations and more social interaction increased success in classes. Russel and Yañez’s Activity Theory help tie McCarthy’s evidence all
Midwestern public university and other universities across the country argue general education credits are beneficial to all as they give students a broad background and better students’ abilities to complete everyday activities. On the other hand, many students seem to feel that general education courses are a simply a waste of time. Comments from students include, “It’s just memorization. You can’t apply it to other parts of your life” and “It was a waste of time, useless, just busy work, a painful chore” (Russel & Yañez 334). These opinions expressed by students are clear and simple. What Russel and Yañez really mean is students feel like the information is irrelevant to their life and they are wasting their time. Obviously, the students being forced to take a specialty course that is not within their study would feel a sense of alienation. This is of importance as it shows the sharp contrast between the students and the school administration. Russel and Yañez point us to the Activity Theory to try to explain why and how these people feel the way they do about general education requirements. For example, the students view of general education courses would include the students and teacher being the subjects, pencils, paper, and oral lectures would be tools, and the object of the class would be to receive a high grade and move on with life. …show more content…
McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange lands” discusses factors that determine success between classrooms. To determine the factors that lead to discrepancies in success between classrooms, McCarthy studies a college student named Dave who is enrolled in many different courses. Dave often finds himself disliking courses required by the university and liking courses geared towards his major. McCarthy realizes that there is a correlation between how much a person likes a course and their success as Dave did much better in classes geared toward his major. Also, McCarthy found clear expectations and more social interaction increased success in classes. Russel and Yañez’s Activity Theory help tie McCarthy’s evidence all