Month: September 2016

Teaching Evaluations and the Problem of Unstated Assumptions

There’s a piece in Inside Higher Ed today on yet another study showing that student course evaluations don’t correlate with student learning. For a lot of academics, the basic reaction to this is summed up in the Chuck Pearson tweet that sent me to the story: “Haven’t we settled this already?” The use of student… Continue reading Teaching Evaluations and the Problem of Unstated Assumptions

Advice for New Faculty, 2016

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to speak on a panel about teaching during Union’s new-faculty orientation. We had one person from each of the academic divisions (arts and literature, social science, natural science, and engineering), and there was a ton of overlap in the things we said, but here’s a rough reconstruction… Continue reading Advice for New Faculty, 2016

362-366/366: Sillyhead-Centric Closing

The Pip swimming with a noodle at the Niskayuna town pool.

And now, the photo-a-day project straggles in to the finish line, with a final five photos dominated by the kids: 362/366: Kid Art I 363/366: Kid Art II One of the official end of summer activities is cleaning off the “art shelf” in the bookcase in the dining room, where we pile the various projects… Continue reading 362-366/366: Sillyhead-Centric Closing

353-361/366: Penultimate Photo Dump

The Schenectady Greenmarket, our regular Sunday-morning activity.

Another day, another batch of photos from August. 353/366: Trail Blaze This is actually a slight reversal of chronology, as the hike through Vischer’s Ferry was the day after I went for a hike in the H. G. Reist Wildlife Sanctuary. The pictures from Vischer’s Ferry were better though, as despite the name I didn’t… Continue reading 353-361/366: Penultimate Photo Dump

344-352/366: Wetland Walk

Great blue herons in the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve.

Another in the sadly delayed wrapping-up of my photo-a-day project. These are all pictures from a hike in the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve over in Clifton Park. We took the kids over there one time, but a thunderstorm started coming in before we got very far. While the kids were at my parents’, I decided… Continue reading 344-352/366: Wetland Walk

336-343/366: Panoramas and Sillyheads

Panorama from the "porch" outside the Olin Science Center at Union College.

I’ve got a big backlog of photo-a-day pictures, but finding time to edit and post them is a major challenge. I’ve got nearly all the editing done, now, so I’ll start putting blocks of stuff up when I have time (generally very early in the morning, as I’m awake before everyone else in Chateau Steelypips).… Continue reading 336-343/366: Panoramas and Sillyheads