In the lecture hall yesterday, from left to right: A dewar of liquid nitrogen, a tube of racquetballs, a squeaky dog toy, a handful of yellow balloons, a vase of flowers, an inflated red balloon, an insulated glove, and a 4-liter jug of liquid nitrogen. The dewars, the vase, the glove, and the dog toy… Continue reading Still Life With Lecture Props
Category: Academia
Local Economics of Higher Education
The Dean Dad, spinning off an article in the Chronicle, has some interesting thoughts on the economic benefits of colleges and universities: Apropos of my minor obsession with the economic conditions in Northern Town, the Chronicle of Higher Ed has a story noting that the University of Rochester is now the largest employer in Rochester.… Continue reading Local Economics of Higher Education
Is Our Students Learning?
Over at Inside Higher Ed, there’s an article by Laurence Musgrove on whether student writing has really gotten worse in recent years. He suggests a good mechanism for how faculty might be fooled into thinking so: […] I think the main difference between students then and now exists mostly in our heads, since in many… Continue reading Is Our Students Learning?
The Perverse Incentives of Tenure
From America’s Finest News Source: Professor Pressured To Sleep With Student For Good Course Evaluation FAYETTEVILLE, AR–Alan Gilchrist, an associate professor of English literature at the University of Arkansas infamous for his tough grading standards and dry lecturing style, was coerced into sleeping with an undergraduate on Monday in order to earn a good course… Continue reading The Perverse Incentives of Tenure
Academic Advising
Two links containing important advice for the academic set. First, Derek Lowe reminisces about summer in graduate school: When I was in graduate school, I had a law student as a neighbor for a while. We were both pretty quiet, and got along fine in our respective dinky efficiency apartments, but we couldn’t help but… Continue reading Academic Advising
Diversity in Science
Inside Higher Ed has an article today on a study of career tracks that found markedly different results for different ethnic groups. This ought to be interesting data for the endless debates about diersity in science hiring, especially this tidbit: Asian doctorates – 51 percent of them – are far and away the most likely… Continue reading Diversity in Science
The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection
Tara wrote a post about pressure to be perfect a few days back. This collided somewhat weirdly with this month’s Rolling Stone piece on Duke (cashing in on the lacrosse scandal), which includes a few serious issues among a bunch of credulous stuff about sex: In 2003, Duke launched a yearlong study, known as the… Continue reading The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection
Politics and Academics
The esteemed Dr. Free-Ride has a post about politics responding to Sean Carroll’s recap of Yearly Kos. Both of them say things about the practice of politics that nicely encapsulate why I’m not a political activist– I’m too much of an academic:
Stop Nodding!
Rob Knop talks about a great teaching moment: A student who refused to just smile and nod: I was very grateful for that student. You see, when professors ask, “do you understand that?”, it’s not a test. It’s not the professor trying to catch the students up in admitting to being confused, it’s not the… Continue reading Stop Nodding!
Math Isn’t That Hard
Inside Higher Ed has a story this morning about Smith College moving toward requiring math. Smith, a women’s college in Massacusetts, has had an “open curriculum” (i.e., no requirements at all) for many years, which has allowed lots of students to graduate without ever taking a course requiring math or mathematical reasoning. They haven’t introduced… Continue reading Math Isn’t That Hard