You should have no trouble guessing the answer: of course they are — otherwise why write a piece? In last Sunday’s NYT, Annie Murphy Paul’s piece says that there is research to show that the lecture style of college class is unfair to the usual oppressed and underrepresented groups. Women, for example, are supposedly more apt to be intimidated by lectures and consequently don’t do as well. Many more women than men now earn college degrees, but — well, never mind that.

I think the research here is poor, but that’s beside the point. No kind of pedagogical technique is best for everyone. Students who don’t initially do well in lecture courses should work to improve themselves rather than demanding that the professor adjust the course to accommodate them. This is another illustration of one of the malign effects of progressivism: if some individuals aren’t doing well, it’s up to the institution or the government to make things easier and nicer for them; it’s never the responsibility of the individual to adjust to the way the world is.