- Problem solving like a physicist | Science Edventures
Another way, which looks the same on the surface, is to break the nasty problem into a sequence of steps. “First, find the relationship between A and B. Then, calculate B for the given value of A. Next, substitute A and B into C and solve for C in terms of A…” That’s a sequence of smaller problems that will lead to a solution of the nasty problem. But it’s not scaffolding: it’s spoon-feeding and it teaches none of the problem-solving skills we want the students to practice. I’ve heard from number of upper-level instructors declare they don’t want to baby the students. “By this stage in their undergraduate studies,” the instructors say, “physics students needs to know how to tackle a problem from scratch.” This is the dilemma I’m facing. How do we scaffold without spoon-feeding? How do we get them solving nasty problems like a physicist without laying a nice, thick trail of bread crumbs?
- Beating the Cheating: Five Ways to Combat the Plague « 21k12
Two recent articles have recently surfaced the issue. First, in Edweek’s section “Focus on Student Behavior,” Sarah Sparks has a piece entitled Studies Shed Light on How Cheating Impedes Learning. Second, the APA (American Psychological Association) published a piece by Amy Novotney last spring with the appealingly succinct title, “Beat the Cheat.” The two pieces overlap in the research they site, the findings they report, and the recommendations they make. Both are constructed with strong research foundations; see their original pieces for the evidentary basis of the claims quoted below. Both are compelling, emphatic, and appalling in their articulation of the epidemic that is cheating.
- Beyond SATs, Finding Success in Numbers – NYTimes.com
The stories of Brown and Rangel tell us not just that the SAT is an inadequate predictor of college success, but that it can be malignant. Many colleges acknowledge its limitations. DePauw University, a Posse partner school, asked its institutional research department to do a study of past students to see which factors correlated with academic success. “The one thing that made no difference whatsoever was standardized test scores,” said Cindy Babington, vice president for student services at DePauw.