I will be updating the story A Tale Out of School – A Case Study in Higher Education. Since the updates are so brief, I will post them here. There are two news items, plus a couple of additional documents. (The documents have already been posted.) (1) 6 of the 153 engineering students that started […]
Gina Kolata’s New York Times Article Gives Helpful Insight for Flawed Cholesterol Calculator
November 19, 2013 by
Gina Kolata wrote again today about the cholesterol calculator that exaggerates “…the true risk of a heart attack or stroke by an average of 100 percent…” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/health/flawed-gauge-for-cholesterol-risk-poses-a-new-challenge-for-cardiologists.html?ref=us This article gives more insight into the statistical/mathematical problems: “…Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a medical professor at Dartmouth [says] the calculator, like many others used in medicine, is […]
The Chonicle of Higher Education Headlines: The STEM Crisis: Reality or Myth? But…
November 13, 2013 by
Compare “Feeder Schools”: Another Addendum to the Previous Post
November 12, 2013 by
Just posted a reply to Mel Murphy, who wrote, “Read your article. Having kids in the college selection mode, and having received mailings and invitations from WUSTL as well as other “prestigious” institutions, I am most appreciative and find it eye-opening. Caveat emptor, indeed” I think the following is useful advice for anyone looking at schools. “Maybe, […]
Addendum to “Peter Cappeli” Post – Another Testimony About Higher Ed
November 11, 2013 by
Dan Laroque put this comment on the WSJ “… In the latter years of my teaching career, it got very frustrated dealing with students and administration. The universities have literally turned the curriculum standards over to the students. It is all about garnering as many students in a major as possible with no rules on rigor. It is ‘take […]
Peter Cappelli’s Article in The Wall Street Journal
November 11, 2013 by
Professor Cappelli is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School and Professor of Education. His article is titled “Why Focusing Too Narrowly in College Could Backfire” http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324139404579016662718868576 It gives some good practical advice and I think it is well worth reading. Some of […]
Another Good Article by Miles Kimball & Noah Smith on Learning Math
November 4, 2013 by
The authors wrote a previous article for The Atlantic that explains the need for math in economics. Here is a link to a post on that article Need for Math to Study Econ – Excellent Description – But… They have now written their suggestions on changing how math is taught. The article makes a good point […]
New York Times: Concern for the Humanities
October 31, 2013 by
Tamar Lewin wrote this front page article in the Times today: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/education/as-interest-fades-in-the-humanities-colleges-worry.html?hp I expressed my concerns which I pasted below. “There several reasons to be concerned. There is what Jonathan Jacobs at John Jay College points out is the inability of many graduates to even recognize a rational argument. A subgroup of these graduates teaches […]
The Economist Cover Story “How Science Goes Wrong” and NY Times “Risk Calculator for Cholesterol Appears Flawed”; Connected?
Both of these stories focus on what could be a failure of professionals to understand and utilize quantitative data and methods. In the case of the cholesterol test, I have no way of knowing exactly how the failure occured. But I am worried that it is symptomatic of our problems in higher education. I posted […]