Over at Effect Measure, Revere (or one of the Reveres, anyway, I’m not certain if they’re plural or not) has posted another broadside against PowerPoint, calling it “the scourge of modern lecturing.” This is something of a sensitive point for me, as I use PowerPoint for my lectures in the introductory classes. I’ve been using… Continue reading A Good Craftsman Never Blames His Tools
Category: Academia
Literature in Translation
For I’m not sure what reason, Scott Eric Kaufman is blogging a close reading of Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. I suspect this may be a new frontier in procrastination, but I’m not up on the latest developments in that field. In the course of his reading, he helpfully updates one stanza into modern… Continue reading Literature in Translation
Clifford Johnson Tribute Post 2
I didn’t take any pictures, but Monday night, I went to a Balinese gamelan concert on campus, put on by a group of twenty-odd students from a couple of Asian music classes, aided by some visiting musicians from Bali. There were also dance performances by three students, and one visiting Balinese dancer (who is actually… Continue reading Clifford Johnson Tribute Post 2
Physical Education
Two nights before my college graduation, I was having a beer in one of the two bars in town, and one of the Deans was at the bar, holding forth. “Do you know,” he said to me and a couple of other students, “there are five people in your class who aren’t going to graduate… Continue reading Physical Education
Thoughts on Survey Seminars
I’ve had a tab open for a while containing an Inside Higher Ed article on a new approach to introducing science at Emory University: David Lynn, who chairs the department of chemistry at Emory University, spoke about Emory’s seminar program for entering freshmen. All Emory freshmen must take a seminar the first semester and the… Continue reading Thoughts on Survey Seminars
New Teaching Evaluation Study
Inside Higher Ed, in their “Quick Takes” points to a new study of teaching evaluations that they summarize thusly: Students care more about teaching quality than professorial rank when evaluating professors, and professors who receive good evaluations from one group of students typically continue to do so in the future, and to have students who… Continue reading New Teaching Evaluation Study
Virtual Labs
The New York Times today has a story about Web-based classes offering virtual labs, and whether they should count for AP credit: As part of a broader audit of the thousands of high school courses that display its Advanced Placement trademark, the [College Board] has recruited panels of university professors and experts in Internet-based learning… Continue reading Virtual Labs
Having A Family Helps Your Career?
From Inside Higher Ed this morning, interesting new results on marriage and academic careers: A year ago, a graduate student in economics at Cornell University released a study showing that men who are married are more likely to finish doctoral programs than are single men. When Inside Higher Ed wrote about the study, the graduate… Continue reading Having A Family Helps Your Career?
Kids These Days (Student Government Edition)
Inside Higher Ed has a story about the recent student elections at Penn State, which ended up with the winning candidates being belatedly rejected after making inappropriate comments: Jay Bundy won a plurality of votes in last week’s campus election and was poised to take over leadership of the University Park Undergraduate Association, recognized by… Continue reading Kids These Days (Student Government Edition)
Classic Edition: You Talkin’ to Me?
This post dates from all the way back in July of 2002, and contains a bunch of thoughts on the preparation of different types of scientific presentations. I’ve re-covered some of this ground in the previous post, but there’s enough different material to justify a separate Classic Edition post. Since posting this, I’ve given several… Continue reading Classic Edition: You Talkin’ to Me?