‘“It’s not that it makes you more intelligent,” says Phoebe, a history student. “It’s just that it helps you work. You can study for longer. You don’t get distracted. You’re actually happy to go to the library and you don’t even want to stop for lunch. And then it’s like 7pm, and you’re still, ‘Actually, you know what? I could do another hour.’” (Cadwalladr) What if there was something you could take to help you get better grades, study confidently and remember more information? There are, they are known as Nootropics. Nootropics, also referred at as ‘smart drugs’, are medications that stimulate one’s cognitive abilities. These medications include; Piracetam, Aniracetam, Sunifiram(being amongst the most popular) and many others. Though these drugs do enhance one’s abilities, this is not what they were originally intended for. “Smart drugs” were originally medications prescribed to people with certain types of disorders, such as; ADHD, ADD, narcolepsy, etc. As time has progressed students have found these prescription drugs helpful in their busy college life. Though these …show more content…
medications are not for this particular use, students have found that they help tremendously when they come face to face with a difficult task. College students should take smart drugs if desired, because; they enhance one’s abilities, help students improve test scores and grades, and students are able to make their own decisions. First, not only do these medications enhance a person's; cognitive abilities, alertness, memory, concentration and other mental functions, they also bring a sense of calmness to a person who might be overly stressed about an upcoming task. Students take these drugs while studying, taking tests, and doing stressful homework to improve their overall performance. These medications help students to focus more and stress less. “Nootropics, or smart drugs, are being used around the world by students. They are used to boost learning ability, improve memory function, enhance focus and concentration, and even to improve verbal and written communication skills.”(Nootriment) The number of students taking nootropics has increased and continues to increase as students become more aware of the ways these smart drugs can help them. Students have found that it is fairly easy to come in contact with these different medications and, in a way, become desperate to find a solution to their stress. “A recent survey done by the prestigious science publication, Nature found widespread use. At least one out of every five people surveyed reported using drugs for “nonmedical reasons” in order to stimulate their concentration, focus and memory”.(Nootriment) Next, as students being to approach finals and large projects, nootropics can help the students improve test scores and stay focused so that the task at hand will be completed with little or no interruptions. These medications do not make a person smarter by any means, it simply helps the student stay focused and helps students remember large amounts of information. The effects of these medications last only long enough for a student to able to study and take an exam. Tanya Lewis, writer and researcher, states, “Brain-enhancing drugs may increase the release of brain chemicals like dopamine, which can improve memory, learning and motivation in the short-term.” (Lewis) Meaning, that for this short time chemicals become released into the brain that help students carry out their goal, with no lasting side effects. The medications do not give the students a ‘burst of intelligence’ nor do they actually make you smarter, rather they carry out incentive. Smart drugs take what you already know, along with material that is being learned, and helps people to apply their focus to the one task at hand. Anjan Chatterjee, professor at UPenn’s and chair of Neurology at Pennsylvania Hospital, states that “These are really drive drugs, that they increase motivation, and people feel good about themselves and motivated to work harder.” Many students lack the motive necessary to complete important tasks, students oftentimes become side tracked. This can range anywhere from family related issues to checking social media, it all comes down to one major issue, distractions. Everywhere a person goes there will be distractions, some small and others not so small. Each day students face different challenges that are hard to overcome, and therefore turn into stress. The more stress, the less focused a student can become, smart drugs can solve this issue. Lastly, a university's student body mostly consist of adults, who not only can choose how they would like to live, but are(for the most part) mature enough to know what they can and cannot handle.
“This is not the motion under consideration, but I would suggest this radical claim that college students are people. People have the right to choose what they would do or have done to their bodies, and college students have the right to choose what is done -- or what they would do to their bodies.”(Chatterjee) If students are properly informed about a decision they want to make, they should be able to choose openly. People reserve a right to do what they believe is best for themselves. Many Nootropics are not illegal nor do the pose a threat to the well-being of people around the person choosing to take them. Taking away the right to choose which path a person decides is unquestionably
wrong. Contradictory, some people will claim that using this drug is a form of cheating, unethical or unsafe. The view of ‘cheating’ often plays a major role in the opposing view points. Nootropics are simply enhancers, they don’t provide students with extraordinary intelligence, they only help to make sure that a student is able to maintain a state of concentration. If using nootropics is ‘cheating’, shouldn’t other stimulants, such as coffee and energy drinks be banned as well? Why aren’t they? Because they don’t give people any more than they already have. This issue is not cheating, unethical nor is it unsafe. “As scientific research around cognition has improved rapidly in the last few years, a growing number of entrepreneurs are discovering the new class of legal, effective, and safe smart drugs that help with focus, concentration, retention, and energy.”(Cambridge) Though there have been cases in the past of illegal misuse of these smart drugs, time is changing, technology is evolving.
In the essay ”Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he discusses different types of intellect, more specifically the ways they can apply to us in our lives. He discusses the different types of “smarts” referred to in his paper as street smarts, and school smarts. Graff hints upon the missed opportunities by colleges to embrace the form of intellect called “street smarts” because of a preconceived idea that there is no way to use this form of knowledge in an academic setting. To quote Graff directly “Colleges might be at fault for missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts”. We then learn some of Graffs personal experiences pertaining to this very thing. He shares a story about himself which reviews his underlying love for sports and complete diskliking for books or any form of intellectualism, until he became college aged. He shares that he now believes, his love of sports over over school work was not because he hated intellectualism but perhaps it was intellectualism in another form. He shares his
In the fall of 1991, respondent James Acton, then a seventh-grader, signed up to play football at one of the District's grade schools. He was denied participation because he and his parents refused to sign the testing consent forms. The Actons filled suit on the grounds that it violated the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The federal district court ruled in the school district's favor, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, stating that although the district had laid the foundation for a drug policy, the interest was not so compelling as to justify a random testing program. The time between the 1980's and 1990's America saw a dramatic increase in drug use which spread through nearly every community in the nation. Drugs had not previously been a major problem in Vernonia schools. In the mid-to-late 1980's, however, teachers and administrators observed an increase in drug use. Students began to speak out about their attraction to the drug culture, and boasted that there was nothing the school could do about it.
This issue of having real world smarts as well as book smarts is especially relevant to the modern day higher education student. With all the pressure surrounding schoolwork, it is easy to get caught up in academics and lose sight of the world around you. Achieving a balance between school work and real world education is key to success in this world. College students these days must try to find their own personal "Manley Pointer", in order to remind themselves of the balance necessary in life.
In a 2012 study published by the Journal of American College Health, by senior year, Adderall and other prescription stimulants are offered to two-thirds of college students. Furthermore, about 31 percent are taking the drug in hopes to enhance their concentration to get better grades (Zadrozny 2013). Students who take Adderall that don’t have ADHD report that they have a increased sense of focus, motivation, and concentration, which are all the ingredients you need to have for a successful all-nighter to help on providing an added boost before an exam. With characteristics such as difficulties in focusing, reasoning, problem solving and planning, ADHD is a neurobehavioral-based disorder and is associated with an insufficient amount of dopamine (Student Health: Drug & Alcohol Abuse among College Students 2015). Adderall is enticing to students because they believe it can help them perform enhance their academic skills. On the other hand, some students abuse the drug because simply for the high it gives
Graff begins by talking about the educational system, and why it flawed in many ways, but in particular, one: Todays schools overlook the intellectual potential of street smart students, and how shaping lessons to work more readily with how people actually learn, we could develop into something capable of competing with the world. In schools, students are forced to recite and remember dull and subject heavy works in order to prepare them for the future, and for higher education. “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic. We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating, fashion, sports, TV, or video games.” (Graff, 198-199) In everyday life, students are able to learn and teach themselves something new everyday. It is those students, the “young person who is impressively “street smart” but does poorly in school” (Graff, 198), that we are sweeping away from education and forcing to seek life in places that are generally less successful than those who attend a college or university.
When Gerald Graff was younger he and his friends would have various debates about sports including what team had the best pitcher in baseball. Graff pointed out that while having these arguments with his friends, they would have evidence to support their thoughts whether it be using statistics to find batting averages or using their argumentative abilities in general to support their opinion. This proves that even people who do not do the best in school are capable of brilliant things, the school system just needs to encourage students to use their hobbies to enhance their academics. Instead of dividing the different forms of intelligence, book and street smarts could merge and grow into a more detailed educational system that can help not just with academics, but with life itself. While it is good to know proper grammar, knowing about dating, sports, or cars can actually get people farther than anticipated in life. Graff thought that in the school system, street smarts is perceived as less than compared to “book smarts” which are encouraged in school. If the two forms of intelligence were to merge instead of separate, the educational system can transform into something
College can be a challenge with endless papers, tests, and other tasks. A pill that allows extreme focus helps accomplish necessary tasks. Adderall is a prescription medication given to patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Jaffe). However, this drug has become known as a “smart drug” around college campuses (“Daily News & Analysis”). About 6.4 percent of college students have taken Adderall without a prescription (Carver). At more competitive schools, about twenty-five percent of students have taken Adderall (Pantovich). Students take the drug with hope to improve a grade. However, in the long run, the student only hurts himself or herself.
Many people believe that college is not for everyone. They believe that knowing and learning about life cannot be gained by reading books. In the meantime, there are many people who believe that college does prepare students for the real world. They believe college offers students valuable tools that will equip them for the real world. For instance, open classrooms where students can engage in stimulating conversations prepare students for professions that pay people who can think fast and come up with creative ideas for their companies. Moreover, professors assign homework, exams, and papers to stimulate thinking and prepare students for deadlines and job assignments. However, college may prepare students for the professional world, but does it really prepare students for the real world. The purpose of this essay is...
Co-author of “They Say/I Say” handbook, Gerald Graff, analyzes in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” that “street smarts” can be used for more efficient learning and can be a valuable tool to train students to “get hooked on reading and writing” (Graff 204). Graff’s purpose is to portray to his audience that knowing more about cars, TV, fashion, and etc. than “academic work” is not the detriment to the learning process that colleges and schools can see it to be (198). This knowledge can be an important teaching assistant and can facilitate the grasping of new concepts and help to prepare students to expand their interests and write with better quality in the future. Graff clarifies his reasoning by indicating, “Give me the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue in Source over the student who writes a life-less explication of Hamlet or Socrates’ Apology” (205). Graff adopts a jovial tone to lure in his readers and describe how this overlooked intelligence can spark a passion in students to become interested in formal and academic topics. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his credibility, appeal emotionally to his readers, and appeal to logic by makes claims, providing evidence, and backing his statements up with reasoning.
Michael S. Roth, “Why liberal arts matter”. CNN. CNN. 21 May 2011. Web. 05 March 2014.
“My “C,” “D,” and “F” students this semester are almost exclusively American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have – despite language barriers – generally written solid papers, excelled on exams, and become valuable class participants,” states Kara Miller, a rhetoric and history professor at Babson college, in her article “My Lazy American Students” (1). This means that the American students are not studying enough or not understanding the material. It can also mean that they don’t put much effort into their classes or don’t pay attention in class. Skip Downing, an English professor with a master’s in Psychology, explains in his book On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, “In college, two of the most important ways you’ll collect information and skills are through reading textbooks and attending classes” (25). When you attend classes you are exposed to the material and when you read your textbook you are exposed a second time. This allows you to retain information better. Then, you can ask questions during class on the material you didn’t understand. This will allow you to apply your understanding of the material to exams and might even help you pass the class. This would have allowed Miller’s American students to do better in her class. If you don’t pay attention during class then you’re essentially just cramming the information in your brain when reading the text. In addition, if you only pay attention during class and don’t read the textbook then you will miss out on valuable information not covered in the
Homework attributes to student success. According to Harris Cooper, a comparison of homework with no homework shows that the average student in a class with homework assigned would score 23 percentile scores higher on tests of the knowledge assessed than students in classes with no homework assigned (4). Cooper’s meta analysis concluded in the early elementary grades, there wasn’t a clear-cut agreement on the benefits of homework. However, in grades 7-9, the percentile gain doubled to twelve from a percentile gain of 6 in grades 4-6. Homework had the greatest effect on high school students grades tenth through twelfth with a percentile gain of 24. The study suggest that as homework’s difficulty and amount increased,, students percentile gains increased(5). The longer it takes to complete homework, the more the benefits increase. Another positive effect of homework is that it leads to better retention of knowledge learned in the school day. This means that if a student is assigned quality homework, it will help the student remember what he or she learned during school. ”Students in the U.S spend less time studying content than other students in different countries (Marzano and Pi...
We were taught in elementary school that if we study then well do perfect on tests, the only problem is we were never really taught how to study the ways that benefits us best. We were never taught what methods of studying help you on tests and how to make the material stick in your mind so you won’t just forget. That’s why the study of metacognition and multiple intelligence is now being used in classrooms and at home to better prepare the student for upcoming tests. Metacognition is being able to take charge, be aware and understand your own learning and thought process. Multiple intelligence is the theory that people aren’t born dumb but that they have naturally inherited sections of intelligence that aren’t realized in the brains of everyone.
After students graduate high school, there are many life tasks that are thrown at them. These tasks are advanced, and the students may not have any notion of how to complete them correctly. There are subjects that aren’t taught in high school, that students are expected to use and understand right after they graduate. Some subjects that are not taught in high school and are needed in the 21st century are finances and money, preparing for a job, and getting a job. To be successful in college, you need to meet many requirements. Some of these requirements are to have “Deep understanding of and facility applying key foundational ideas and concepts from the core academic subjects.” Another key concept is to be able to read and write well, as also needed in the real world. This is important to education because effectiveness is a very significant concept in education today, and will continue to be significant as education continues to evolve. When and if students are not prepared for what the 21st century is really like, then they will not be in a good place after they graduate high school. Effectivity is a great concept in education, and shows what the student will need to have great achievements. It goes with the past and the present of education to make our society
Some will argue, older students can sit longer, therefor can take in additional amounts of homework, but it has also shown that these students may fail a test if they studied too long. The logic behind this came from tenth through twelfth graders. It appears that the achievement seems to improve when student do homework, although after doing one-and-a-half or more hours of it a night, achievement declines. The success in school tends to increase by having smaller amounts of homework. A person’s brain needs downtime to process information