Archives for February 2014

Princeton Giving Up on Using Grades As Motivation and Feedback?

“That is my worry.  I will state my position as briefly as I can:  If the same material is taught to similar students, then the times it is taught with a higher standard for an A, B, etc…. will be the times that, on average, more students will learn more.  Now on to what is happening at Princeton. The […]

Tom Friedman’s “How to Get a Job at Google”

It is good because it quotes the Sr. VP in charge of hiring on the five attributes that companies like Google are looking for in an employee.  Here is the link http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0 I want to point out the following statement from Tom Friedman, “…For most young people…going to college and doing well is still the […]

Good News: WSJ article notes that “Cash-Conscious Families Clamor for Numbers on How Much Students Learn”

The article is here. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304899704579391513428597546 Here is my comment. “I am a former professor. Far too many universities cater to their naive and uneducated customers – once quiantly called “students”. They do this even when it means NOT educating them – just fooling them into believing they are getting the education they need. This new […]

New York Times Editorial Board: “…the new college campus…does not seem geared to fulfill…the major mission of universities: educating students.”

This is not the first Editorial from the New York Times on education.  But it is the first that I have seen where The Editorial Board seems to be realizing that too many universities don’t see the “new college campus” as a place for education.  I have posted here about most of the previous editorials.  (I will […]

A Comment on Nicholas Kristoff’s Op-Ed in the New York Times

I tell him what I think Clark Kerr’s explanation would be for why there are fewer public intellectuals.  I also, comment on my own situation in trying to address important public issues.  Here is a link to his blogpost, which, in turn contains a link to his Sunday column.  I commented on his blog. “I […]

“Making College Pay” by “Making College equal Education”

“Doesn’t a more educated society create a stronger economy?  Doesn’t the internet create jobs?  Doesn’t a society who can understand and support economically valuable public policy create jobs and a better society? A college “education” does create jobs and a better society.  A college degree without an attached education -which is what we have far […]

On New York Times Editorial “Making College Pay”

I’m glad to see that the Times Editorial Board finally has some questions about college. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/opinion/making-college-pay.html?hp&rref=opinion I think they are still missing the main point and conflating college degree with college education.  I also think that their statistics paint too rosy a picture.  It is important to dig into the data to see which college grads […]

More on Columbia University’s Report on Educational Quality

My view of Columbia’s teacher college went down even further as I read their report on teachinng quality and course rigor.  I added this comment to the Chronicle of Higher Education.  It points out some serious flaws – so serious that I’m a little shocked. “I want to add two more observations to what has […]

Columbia University Report Says “Academically Adrift” is Wrong. Right? No, Wrong.

You can read about the report from Columbia’s “College Educational Quality Project” here: http://chronicle.com/article/A-New-Kind-of-Study-Seeks-to/144621/#disqus_thread The report says it examined “educational rigor” and “teaching quality” to reach its conclusion, which you can read about in my comment below. I commented with what I thought about their conclusion: “The “College Educational Quality (CEQ) Project at Teachers College, […]