In A Tale Out of School – A Case Study in Higher Education, I describe how, after pressuring me to change a course I was teaching, the Chairman of the Mathematics Department explained that the Math Department “…just wrested [a course] from [engineering]…and we don’t want to have to give up [this course]…” (For those who haven’t read A Tale Out […]
Good Op/Ed in WSJ about Online Courses and Education
June 3, 2013 by
In my view, an important part of the article is the discussion of resistance to MOOC’s. Also, the author speaks from experience, not from studies. We need both, but we are short on op/ed’s from experience. It is by Andy Kessler. You can find him in Wikipedia. Here is the link, followed by my comment, […]
Worried they “just don’t get it”
May 31, 2013 by
Before I post a link to the most recent instant of this, an explanation is justified. Here is my worry. Too many newspapers, radio shows, tv commentators talk about a college “degree”. When someone points out that not all degrees represent an education, I worry that the authors, etc… think, “Everyone knows that not all […]
Two sides to the “online course coin”
May 30, 2013 by
There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal titled “Web Courses Woo Professors: Online Firm Opens Way for More Educators to Create Their Own Internet Classes” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324682204578513541557842934.html?mod=WSJ__MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird#articleTabs%3Dcomments I commented about my worries after reading these two paragraphs that I think show both sides of the coin. First, the good side, “I think that what […]
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 […]
High Unemployment for Recent Grads in Info Systems, Comp. Sci., and Engineering
Today’s USA Today has a good article on unemployment for recent grads. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/07/30/tech-job-unemployment/2595669/) I commented with my views. “After spending over a quarter of a century as a college professor, this does not surprise me. It does sadden me. We are seeing the observations of Clark Kerr (“…This shift from academic merit to student consumerism […]