In my previous post, Time Magazine Writes That Americans Have Feelings About Online Education?, I questioned why Americans would think they have informed views on MOOC’s when so many colleges grads know so little. (See the post for how little, “so little” is.) But then, I could say that about many topics, not just MOOC’s. […]
UPenn Vice-Provost Encourages More Tests But There is a Rub.
September 26, 2013 by
Prof Emanuel, Vice Provost and Professor at the Univ. of Penn., has a nice article on testing in The New Republic http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114793/american-schools-need-more-testing-not-less He has a good idea. But will it really be testing when put into practice? I directed his readers to my article. Here is what I wrote. “As someone who taught mathematics for […]
Is The Atlantic Right to Report on a Report the Way it Did?
September 25, 2013 by
I previously commented on an article about a paper by the president of Northwestern, Northwestern President Publishes Study About Northwestern And the National Bureau of Economic Research Publishes It? The paper apparently is getting lots of publicity and The Atlantic published a second post on it, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/09/are-tenured-professors-really-worse-teachers-a-lit-review/279940/#comments I don’t agree with some of the reporter’s […]
What If Your Family Is Not Elite And You Go To A “Consumer-Oriented” Elite College?
August 26, 2013 by
Let’s say you want to be an engineer. Say you take a faux-physics course and a faux-calculus course, etc… What will be the difference between you and some of your colleagues from elite families? (I will speak of the “average” you and the “average” them.) Neither you, nor they, will learn the engineering skills that […]
Washington University Engineering Says Northwest Missouri’s Calculus and Physics is “Equivalent” to Theirs
July 26, 2013 by
There is an article in today’s NY Times that mentions Randolph College and some of the problems they, and others, are having filling freshman slots. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/education/in-a-recovering-economy-a-decline-in-college-enrollment.html?pagewanted=all I commented and will include that at the bottom of this post. But first this. Randolph College is one of the schools affiliated with Washington University’s 3-2 Engineering Program. […]
My take on today’s front page article in NY Times “Chinese Creating New Auto Niche Within Detroit”
May 13, 2013 by
Here is the link to the article http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/business/global/chinese-automakers-quietly-build-a-detroit-presence.html?ref=todayspaper The article starts, “Chinese-owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology and ….hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers.” I worry that, for reasons I give in the following comment, […]
Time Magazine Writes That Americans Have Feelings About Online Education?
Unfortunately, “feelings” is probably the right word. Here is a link. http://nation.time.com/2013/10/16/americans-have-mixed-feelings-about-online-education/ Here is my view which I put in my comment. “Let’s see. Jon Meacham recently wrote, “…barely half [of college graduates] knew that the U.S. Constitution establishes the separation of powers. Forty-three percent failed to identify John Roberts as Chief Justice; 62% didn’t […]