Ok, some do, but I know dozens, if not hundreds, of math professors. I don’t know any that I think became math professors so that they could teach. That doesn’t mean that they can’t teach; it doesn’t mean they don’t like teaching. Think of professors like musicians. Becoming a professor is – or should be – […]
On Mark Bauerlein’s Commentary in “The Chronicle of Higher Education”
March 4, 2013 by
In his Commentary “Give AP Credit Where Credit Is Due”, Professor Bauerlein explains how he “…chaired a group of high-school and college English teachers charged … with reviewing and revising the standards for…” an AP course. (See his entire commentary at http://chronicle.com/article/Give-AP-Credit-Where-Credit-Is/137543/) Prof. Bauerlein writes that there “…was a deliberate, two-year process. For instance, we examined the results […]
Online Courses MOOC
January 31, 2013 by
In my post http://www.inside-higher-ed.com/how-does-your-course-compare/, there is a link to MIT’s OpenCouresWare. These are MIT courses that the university has put online for their students – or for anyone who wants to use the materials. Furthermore, if you go to https://www.edx.org/university_profile/MITx you will find a site that explains how MIT and Harvard are jointly offering to not just put […]
Even More On AP Courses – From the New York Times
January 18, 2013 by
Today (January 18th) Tamar Lewin reported in the NY Times that Dartmouth will stop giving AP Credit. What is more important is what Dartmouth found when they looked into how well students with a 5 on the AP had actually learned. You can read that here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/education/dartmouth-stops-credits-for-excelling-on-ap-test.html?_r=0 The article goes on to report that “…The […]
More on AP Courses
January 14, 2013 by
Here is a quote from CalTech’s description of its Freshman math course: “…The typical high school courses, and the AP tests themselves, are woefully inadequate in explaning, or testing, why things work and how to justify one’s propositions…” The link to the where I got this quote is: http://www.math.caltech.edu/~2011-12/1term/ma001a/#des This is, of course, CalTech, but […]
How does your course compare?
December 10, 2012 by
Let’s say you are taking a course in Calculus (or Differential Equations, or whatever) and you want to know if it is up to snuff. I suggest that students go to the MIT OCW (OpenCourseWare) site (http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm) and look up the same course there. You can find the course description, homework problems, old exams and a list of […]
Open a Windows Folder – Get College Credit
December 10, 2012 by
It’s part of this Op-Ed, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/opinion/who-will-hold-colleges-accountable.html?ref=opinion I think the most important point that the author makes is that there is no accountability in higher education. How do you know what you are getting? (See my next post on “How does your course compare?” if you want one suggestion I give students who want to make sure they are getting […]
AP Calculus Courses Discussion on NPR
December 4, 2012 by
I commented on the “Talk of the Nation” show: “Op-Ed: AP Classes Are One of America’s ‘Great Frauds’”. It is based on a piece by Mr. Tierney that appeared in the Atlantic. My comments are about 6 minutes into the show. Here is a link to the NPR program: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/03/166414595/op-ed-ap-classes-are-a-scam
Article on Jobs and Degrees in Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education (www.chronicle.com) does an excellent job of reporting. There is a recent article that describes employers views of the product colleges are, in general, producing. That “product” is, of course, college graduates. (I know that people aren’t products, but that just makes it sadder.) Here is a link to the article: […]