Should colleges allow students to make their own decisions? Article Abstract

The speaker asserts that people prefer following directions to making their own decisions,and therefore colleges should make as many decisions as possible for theirstudents. In my view, the speaker''s threshold and ultimate claims are both specious. Itmight appear that people often prefer others to make decisions for them, and thatcolleges know what''s best for their students. However, upon further reflection itbecomes evident that following the speaker''s advice would on balance do disserviceto students and to society.As for the speaker''s threshold claim. I concede that under certain circumstancespeople prefer to take direction from others. For instance, when members of a footballteam heed their coach''s directions, they are preferring not to make their own calls.Moreover, many people are natural followers who know that they function best whenother people make decisions for them. Nevertheless, I find this threshold claim internallyillogical.Yielding voluntarily to the direction of others for the purpose of servingone''s own interests-such as winning the game or obtaining a useful collegedegree-is itself an expression,of one''s free preference to decide what is best foroneself. Accordingly, I frnd the speaker''s threshold claim suspect.I turn next to the speaker''s ultimate claim that colleges should make as manydecisions as possible for their students. I agree that when it comes to particular tasksin which college professors are more experienced and knowledgeable,following theirdirections is to be preferred, for failing to do so can result in costly mistakes. Forinstance, chemistry students must strictly follow proper laboratory procedures-orrisk tainting experimental results, damaging equipment. or wasting their lab partners''time. Language students must follow the pedagogical lead of their teachers, or riskcoming away without the linguistic foundation needed to master their new language.And, students who are free to disregard homework assignments find themselves unableto follow class discussions, let alone participate meaningfully in them.However, when it comes to decisions about major and minor fields of study, curriculumchoices, and other broad decisions, for the most part students themselvesandnot college administrators-should be the final decision-makers. Admittedly, acollege that requires exposure to a breadth of academic disciplines ensures that itsgraduates will be uniformly well-rounded. And students are generally well-served inthe long term as a result. Nevertheless, I think it is a mistake to take too many curriculumchoices away from students. If they are not free to choose course work that mostinterests them, students are likely to be unmotivated in their studies. Moreover, thesestudents will not have learned to assume responsibility for the consequences of theirown decisions.Thus a curriculum which includes certain core I requirements alongwith a broad array of electives provides an optimal balance of discipline and choicefor most students.The speaker might retort that many college students respond to freedom of choiceregarding curriculum by enrolling in as few courses as possible, in courses that aremost enjoyable, and in courses whose instructors are lenient graders. Yet, studentswho misuse their freedom in these ways will ultimately fall by the wayside, freeing upour educational resources for more committed students who are more likely to contributemeaningfully to society later in life. Besides, by allowing students to experiencethe consequences of their vouthful misjudgments colleges can teach studentslife lessons that are just as valuable. if not more so, than the lessons taught in theclassroom.In sum, my intuition is that by nature people prefer autonomy, and reach their fullpotential, only if they steer their own ship.When colleges take away too much of thatautonomy in the name of quality assurance. they breed legions of graduates incapableof handling their incipient autonomy responsialysis, while somecurriculum guidelines might be appropriate in the interest of ensuring a breadth ofeducational experience, on balance a policy of student choice is to be preferred.

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