Tag Archives: highered
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
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On Treating the Unprepared as if they were Unmotivated and Unworthy
An academic job market story yesterday reminded me of the perils of interpreting lack of preparation with lack of worth. A philosophy candidate for a job at Nazareth College in Rochester was offered the job, made some fairly common requests, … Continue reading
Oh I get tenure, with a little help from my friends
To continue from my last post, one of the elements that disturbed me about defining scientist as “gets grants, has groundbreaking ideas” is not just that this narrow definition of scientist excludes worthy people, but also that it excludes certain … Continue reading
Student Learning and Labor Policies, follow up
My piece for the Atlantic ran yesterday, on how student learning is not directly connected to exploitative labor policies. I had some interesting conversations, on twitter and over email, so I thought I would share those with my readers. It … Continue reading
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
Simple, general solutions to college problems (just add data)
“Get some burgers, get some beers data, a few laughs, Dude, our troubles are over.” http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-KDCB4bbmbh24m/the_big_lebowski_1998_walters_plan/ I thought of Walter’s line in the Big Lebowski while reading Dylan Matthews piece in the Washington Post wonkblog on college costs (part X: … 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
Why is the “Ideal English Major” uncurious and anti-intellectual?
Why choose to be an English major? Why choose to study language and literature? According to University of Virginia Professor of English Mark Edmundson, one big reason is to be able to find new ways to say you are better … Continue reading
What is a Syllabus?
At the beginning of every college class, I hand out a syllabus. What is the purpose of this document? What is in it? How do I plan it? How do I design it? I thought it might be useful or … Continue reading
