Category Archives: education
Teaching #TheDress : Resources for Teachers on the Psychology behind the Dress
Here is the original post, 27 million views and counting. Here is Virginia Hughes with an explanation based in part on my contributions. Here are some general resources on perception and illusions Michael Bach has a great website with many … Continue reading
5 truths about character and poverty that David Brooks has too much self-control to grasp
My David Brooks posts tend to be blockbusters (tens of hundreds of viewers!) so I am leaning in and going full listicle for this rant about his latest column, which in Brooksian fashion puts a modern social scientific sheen on old conservative … Continue reading
Thumb on the PayScale
In my last post, I took issue with the PayScale college rankings, as well as with how economics reporters framed these rankings, citing their low calculated Return on Investment as evidence that these colleges “make” students poor. Jordan Weissmann has graciously responded to my critique. … Continue reading
Posted in education, higherEd, psychology, science
Tagged college, college rankings, highered, PayScale
20 Comments
The Absurdity of Ranking Colleges by Graduate Salaries
Jordan Weissman has moved from the Atlantic, and is now covering economics at Slate. He has a post up provocatively titled (it is Slate, after all) “What College Will Leave you Poorest?” which covers the Payscale college salary rankings, in which … Continue reading
Grit and Galton: Is psychological research into traits inherently problematic?
Is all psychological research on individual differences racist? Can psychologists ever separate our shameful past of scientific racism from the methods, techniques and questions that have grown from it? A recent post criticizing the concept of “grit” (and Angela Duckworth, … Continue reading
Posted in education, psychology, research, science
Tagged Angela Duckworth, Duckworth, Francis Galton, grit, psychology
7 Comments
How much does it matter how students feel?
As I prepare my tenure portfolio, I am catching up on entering in my student evaluation data and comments into my big spreadsheet. While I don’t think student evaluations should serve as the only data by which to judge teachers, … Continue reading
Posted in education, higherEd, psychology
Tagged learning styles, psychology, student evaluations, teaching
7 Comments
Teaching and learning, labor and fairness
It seems a requirement that any conversation about higher education in America must begin and end with costs and economic outcomes. Along the way, our economic analysts nod to the power of knowledge (economic research shows it improves career prospects!), … Continue reading
Posted in education, higherEd, politics, teaching
Tagged econometrics, highered, labor, learning, teaching
4 Comments
Assume a spherical cow: The Common Core and recess
The Common Core State Standards are an admirable effort to give our students a firm foundation of knowledge, and teachers guidance about content. I’m an advocate of a rich, content-based (rather than skills-based) curriculum, and I sincerely hope that the … Continue reading
My Teaching Philosophy (part 327b)
I’m putting some finishing touches on my syllabi here the night before classes start, and I thought I would share with my blog readers a one-page statement of my teaching philosophy that I put on each of my syllabi. Anyone … Continue reading
Posted in education, higherEd, psychology, teaching
Tagged highered, psychology, syllabus, teaching
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Hopes and Fears about Obama’s Change in Higher Education
I am trying to be optimistic, and I will get there by the time the semester starts in a week and a half. But today, with the White House releasing its plan to make college more affordable, I am finding … Continue reading
