Wikipedia 1, U Chicago News Office 0.
I was browsing my news feed today when I came across the following video, posted by the University of Chicago’s News Office. Since I’m about to get very critical, let me first talk briefly about the...
View ArticlePop Quiz: First impressions
I debated whether to call this piece “snap judgements” instead of “first impressions” because that’s really what it’s about. In jodee’s column, she reminded us that the first week of college started...
View ArticleIs there a difference between teaching and having an impact?
I just finished doing a guest lecture in a class on animal behavior. It went well. The class was attentive and I got through all my planned material clearly, with enough humor tossed in to keep people...
View ArticlePop Quiz: The Horror of Math
The bulk of the classes I teach are general science courses that are not math heavy. Even though these courses do not rely on math like a Physics class would there is still a small math component to...
View ArticlePop Quiz: Why college?
In Jennifer’s latest pop quiz, she asks which level of teacher, elementary, high school, or college, has the toughest job, using a set of e-cards as her inspiration. She mentions the joys of dealing...
View ArticlePop Quiz: Email propriety part eleventy one
Like most teachers and professors, I have received many an email from a student that employs a less than professional tone. (Let’s be real here, I’ve gotten emails that are train wrecks of bad...
View ArticleOvercommitted
Many of the articles I have written for School of Doubt focus on the costs and benefits of a college education, with the focus on the value of such an education. It used to be a high school diploma...
View ArticleCampus security
So the news has been full of Ebola and guns on campus. I was asked last week in a meeting of some top level administrators if students has been talking about the Ebola outbreak. (The gun article...
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Student Loan Payments… into Retirement?
The cost of higher education is on everyone’s minds. The conversation tends to focus on young people who can incur massive amounts of debt in trying to keep up with the rising costs of a college...
View ArticleUNC’s “Paper Classes” are Merely the Logical Endpoint of Several Current Trends
Unless you subscribe to the SoD monthly print zine–sign up now for the low, low price of $100 per crudely photocopied issue; please make all cheques payable to CASH–chances are you have an internet...
View ArticleWriting in the digital age
As a college professor who requires students to do at least some writing in class, I have long despaired of the writing ability of them young’uns. There seems to be no end to the bad grammar, poor...
View ArticleAcademic science and sexism
A recent New York Times article declared academic science isn’t sexist. The article has already been heavily criticized, and rightly so. I just thought I’d add my two cents from the perspective of a...
View ArticleWhat About the Beethovenz?
I love going to conferences. It’s probably my favourite part of being an academic because it’s one of those very few opportunities you get to be surrounded by people who are not only excited about...
View ArticleDashing hopes and dreams
It’s that time of year again, when the grades are shaping up to the point students are panicking if they are going to pass. The drop deadline is looming. What to do… Many of the incoming students to...
View ArticleMOOCs, A High School Teacher’s Perspective
If you haven’t heard of MOOCs yet, welcome to the education blogosphere, it’s nice to have you here! The New Yorker recently wrote an article challenging the mission and execution of Massive Online...
View ArticleActive learning as get-out-of-teaching?
A recent article in the Chronicle highlighted the growing shift toward student- or learner-centered teaching in higher education. The idea is that rather than a professor lecture to a passive...
View ArticleIt Takes a Village to Make a Doctor
I defended my dissertation Wednesday, which now makes me technically-officially Dr. Dan. Please update your Rolodexes accordingly. It also got me thinking about the long, meandering, and sometimes...
View ArticleThe ones we’re in it for
One of my regular courses is that notoriously difficult course that’s required by several different programs for completion and has all sorts of rumors swirling about it about how hard it is and how...
View ArticleDeriding ease
In yesterday’s Required Readings, librarienne pointed us to a profile of a community college professor, Dr. Eduardo Vianna, which described many challenges facing community colleges, many of which are...
View ArticleActive learning: does depth outweigh breadth?
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. (attributed to the Greek poet Archilochus) A friend recently sent me to a NY Times article on teaching science in the universities,...
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