Qualities of the Ideal and Effective College Student

Abstract

MUCH HAS been said and written about the ideal and effective teacher, but what is the ideal and effective student ? What are his qualities? Most of the studies of the problem have been made by faculty member s who have set up from their points of view their impressions of the idea 1 college student. This study attempts to get an answer to the question here raised from the point of view of the student. What, th e n, are the qualities of the ideal and effective college student as seen by the college students themselves? A brief questionnaire was placed in the hands of some 500 young people in mid-west colleges divided rather equally between students of teachers colleges and liberal arts colleges, between men and women students, and among freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The questionnaire gave this simple directive: Some of you have been in college for one term, some for a year or more?so you can help us get a picture of the Ideal and Effective Col lege Student. In your opinion what are the 5 (five) qualities you would list for the ideal and effective college student? (Note: List these qualities in single words or short phrases. ) The questionnaire brought in a grand total of over 2500 separate qual ities. The lists were carefully tabulated and placed in class groups and by men and women. Following are the resultant lists of qualities of the ideal and effective college student as voted by the college students them selves. These lists were derived by a careful process of statistical tab ulation giving each quality a numerical count and then placing the qua 1 ities in rank order according to the ratings of the men students and the women students and also by college classes. The top qualities in rank order of the Ideal and Effective College Stu dent are rated on the following page.