EDUCATION REPORT - Professor Wanted to Learn About Students,

EDUCATION REPORT - Professor Wanted to Learn About Students, So She Became One
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, August 18, 2005

I'm Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Education Report.

 
 

A new book is sure to be discussed, and debated, at colleges this fall. The book is called "My Freshman¹ Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student." The writer is Rebekah Nathan. That is not her real name. She is in her fifties. She is a professor of anthropology² at a university in the United States. Her name for it is "AnyU."

The professor wanted to know why many of her students did not complete their work or ask for help. She decided³ to do a research project. She got the approval of the university ethics⁴ committee. Such groups consider moral and legal issues in studies.

In the spring of two thousand two, she applied⁵ to her own university under the name "Rebekah Nathan" and was admitted. She lived in student housing. She took five classes during her first term and two in the second semester. She did pretty well, although she got one C, a mark of average. She also played sports.

In "My Freshman Year," she does not identify any students by name. But she does discuss what they told her about their lives.

Rebekah Nathan writes that students do not have enough time to be interested in their classes. They are busy with activities and jobs. They try to learn only as much as they have to. But she says they will read the material if it is directly linked to what is being discussed in class.

The professor says her year as a student changed the way she teaches. She gives less reading now. She asks questions designed to get students to speak more. She offers help. And she says she is no longer offended if a student falls asleep.

Other professors and research experts, however, criticize the experiment. They say she was spying. They say she could have gotten the same information without dishonesty. There have been a lot of angry comments on the Internet. But some people say she tells the real story of student life.

Rebekah Nathan says she did not interview any students without written permission on a statement. It said she was doing research that would be published, but it did not say she was a professor.

She says she decided to tell the truth if someone asked. But very few young people asked her about herself. She heard that students avoided the subject because they thought there might be trouble in her life.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.  I'm Shep O'Neal.

1 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

2 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。