See From ‘Hamlet’ to Hillary – NYTimes.com for Bruni’s article. My comment: “As a former professor – and observer of higher education – I think that in 2015 you would be hard put to find the type of courses that your examples took, not in 2015. I recently posted (on my blog inside-higher-ed) a syllabus from […]
Frank Bruni Thinks Learning LibArts Is Important? I Do Too, But Where Do You Go To Do That?
May 3, 2015 by
Is This an Invitation For Professors to Pass Everyone?
April 23, 2015 by
“…students will not have to pay until they pass the courses…” from Promising Full College Credit, Arizona State University Offers Online Freshman Program – NYTimes.com. How about not paying till there is evidence of learning? like getting a good job? or, getting into grad school? or doing well on some standardized test in the subject?… […]
Mr. Bruni, Don’t Be Surprised When You Don’t FInd “Academic Virtues” in Academe
April 22, 2015 by
Hollywood Trumps Harvard – NYTimes.com. Professors Gates and Oz are just doing what hordes [of] professors and administrators do regularly – act in their own interests, letting us praise “academic virtues”, not them. I’m a former math professor. After over twenty years inside the tower, I have seen how easy it is to prey on […]
College Counsel for the Poor – WSJ
April 21, 2015 by
College Counsel for the Poor – WSJ. I suggest this excellent article. I commented. “In their insightful book, Paying for the Party – How College Maintains Inequality, Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton, show that a major reason why many students need outside counseling is not just the students’ background. It is also the fact that […]
Pressure to Please Students – It’s All Over the Place
April 13, 2015 by
Dan Laroque responded (on the WSJ site)to my previous post. I think it is important because, I have only taught at 3 places. From that and newspaper articles, books, and data, I deduce behavior elsewhere. His comment adds to our understanding. Here it is. “By the time I retired I was fully disgusted with fake teaching. […]
Demand for Skilled-Worker Visas Exceeds Annual Supply – WSJ
April 8, 2015 by
Demand for Skilled-Worker Visas Exceeds Annual Supply – WSJ. My comment and explanation: “In a nutshell, these two items explain this story. 1. Washington U. in St. Louis, “make it the normal ‘cookbook’ course..so we don’t have trouble [with students]…” (Chair of Math Dep’t speaking to me about a critical course for engineers); on another […]
Gov’t Appropriations Per Student UP dramatically; Learning Per Student DOWN dramatically
April 5, 2015 by
Another comment I made on, The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much – NYTimes.com. “…appropriations per student are much higher now than they were in the 60’s…” (end of paragraph six), but learning (and later earning) per student has decreased dramatically – even at many so-called “elite” schools. (There is much evidence that demonstrates […]
The Upwardly Mobile Barista – The Atlantic
The Upwardly Mobile Barista – The Atlantic. I commented. “I’m a former math professor. (I last taught at Wash. U. in St. Louis.) This article describes a wonderful and laudable effort by Starbucks’s Howard Schultz. But it never asks the question: What’s between the buns? Is there really any beef wrapped up in those degrees? […]