My sabbatical is coming to an end, so I’ve begun prepping my class for the term that starts Monday. I’m teaching the honors section of introductory E&M, and for the intro classes, I lecture off PowerPoint. We’re starting an entirely new syllabus this year, and I plan to use my spiffy tablet PC to do… Continue reading On the Suckitude of Office 2007
Category: Education
Class and National Service
The Dean Dad posted an interesting article about “national service” programs yesterday. He’s against them, for class reasons: The message that national service programs send strikes me as dangerous. The implication seems to be that rich kids can just jump right into higher ed and start moving up the ladder, but the rest of us… Continue reading Class and National Service
You’ve Got to Have Money to Learn Math
EurekAlert provides the latest dispatch from the class war, the the form of a release headlined ” Family wealth may explain differences in test scores in school-age children“: The researchers found a marked disparity in family wealth between Black and White families with young children, with White families owning more than 10 times as many… Continue reading You’ve Got to Have Money to Learn Math
Uncomfortable Questions: Physics Curriculum
Johan Larson asks: How would you change the requirements and coursework for the undergraduate Physics major? This is a good one, but it’s a little tough to answer. I have ideas about things I’d like to change locally, but I’m not sure I really have the perspective I would need to be able to say… Continue reading Uncomfortable Questions: Physics Curriculum
Uncomfortable Questions: Research University
“A” asks: Given the chance, would you take a job at a major research-university, or do you enjoy teaching a lot and doing some research at your small liberal arts college? My first answer is “no,” though I guess it would depend on the terms of the offer. In general terms, though, I’m very happy… Continue reading Uncomfortable Questions: Research University
Reforming Intro Labs
Over at Physics and Physicists, ZapperZ is thinking about the intro curriculum, and offers a suggestion: I believe that we should have a more open-ended experiment to be given to the students. So I’ll give an example. Note that while thing is something that I’ve thought about for a while, I’m still writing this off… Continue reading Reforming Intro Labs
Tips for Speakers
Over at the new(ish) Of Two Minds, Shelley has posted a video giving advice on scientific presentations from a couple of guys at Michigan. They offer a few quick tips to giving better presentations: Know your material well enough to give it without slides Skip the outline (for short talks in particular) Minimize text on… Continue reading Tips for Speakers
What Everyone Should Know About Science
Michael Nielsen is planning to attend an “unconference” and is considering possible topics. He quotes one from Eva Amsen: My idea: find 4 or 5 volunteers from different backgrounds to sit on a 20 minute panel and (with audience feedback) make a list of Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Science. Since we have a… Continue reading What Everyone Should Know About Science
Single Sex Education?
The Sunday New York Times magazine has a big article on single-sex public education, one of the latest educational fads. The bulk of the article is taken up with looking at promoters of single-sex classrooms for kids: Among advocates of single-sex public education, there are two camps: those who favor separating boys from girls because… Continue reading Single Sex Education?
“Story of Your Life” Guest Lecture
The Science Fiction class for which I agreed to guest lecture is an 8am class, which is earlier than I like to be up and about. Knowing this, I went to bed early on Thursday night. Of course, being a bookaholic of long standing, I needed something to read to put me to sleep. Genius… Continue reading “Story of Your Life” Guest Lecture