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 […]
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 […]
Employers Want Tests for Graduates According to WSJ
August 26, 2013 by
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 […]
Follow the Money
August 6, 2013 by
Good article about student loan defaults. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323420604578650420166447266.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Dcomments About 22% of those not in school are either in default or forbearance. Even in a bad economy, that is a big number. Here is what I think it says (posted as a comment on the article). “As a former professor, my advice is, follow the money. Ask […]
NY Times article on Visas and hi-tech
May 20, 2013 by
Here is the link http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/technology/tech-industry-pushes-to-amend-immigration-bill.html?ref=business#comments I don’t feel I am knowledgeable enough to know whether Silicon Valley companies want more visas to hire cheaper labor; or, whether they really can’t find enough qualified Americans. I do know, as do readers of this blog, that one can’t determine how many people are qualified for jobs based […]
Why Do So Many People Not Ask the Right Question?
I just read Jon Meacham’s piece, What Colleges Will Teach in 2025 America must resolve the conflict between knowledge and know-how Read more: http://nation.time.com/2013/09/26/the-class-of-2025/#ixzz2huhvoTUz He is a well known figure and the author of several books. He writes about how little graduates learn, how little students work, and how, in spite of all this, they […]