On almost every campus faculty members and administrators are trying to stem…to widen the system’s narrow definition of achievement. Institutes are popping up…designed to cultivate the whole student: the emotional, spiritual and moral sides and not just the intellectual. Source: The Big University – The New York Times Here is my response. Are you kidding […]
Columnists at the NY Times Should Not be Making Erroneous Claims About What Universities Do…
October 6, 2015 by
The Fundamental Way That Universities Are an Illusion – The New York Times. Here is Another, Per Gross and Bok (and me)
July 23, 2015 by
Source: The Fundamental Way That Universities Are an Illusion – The New York Times “…Because universities aren’t as they appear, systems designed to improve them tend to fail…” That is a critical observation. Here is Bill Gross’ view of what colleges really are, and why it is so hard to change them. “…Universities are run […]
“What to Learn in College to Stay One Step Ahead of Computers” Ok, But is That the Problem?
May 24, 2015 by
Universities are struggling to figure out how to impart information to students that won’t be overridden in the near future by computers and robots. Source: What to Learn in College to Stay One Step Ahead of Computers – NYTimes.com I commented. (twice, unfortunately. I thought they had deleted my first comment:() Unfortunately, as thoughtful as […]
Low Productivity, What Impact Does Education Have?
May 10, 2015 by
US innovators claim they have never been busier, but their ideas are persistently failing to transform the country’s economic data. Labour productivity fell an annual 1.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, while unit labour costs rose Source: Low productivity alarms US policy makers – FT.com I commented but more in […]
Maybe One Reason Why So Many Graduates Don’t Get Good Jobs.
May 6, 2015 by
Campus clubs spring up for early birds to rouse classmates; 9 a.m. is ‘really late’ Source: In China, Sleepy University Students Experience a Wake-Up Call – WSJ I commented. “They should come here for college. According to the well-researched Academically Adrift, American students only need to study about 13 hours a week, leaving lots of time […]
The Headline is Correct; But For the Wrong Reason
April 24, 2015 by
Why getting a four-year bachelor’s degree brings large benefits to those seen as marginal. Source: College for the Masses – NYTimes.com Here is my comment. “Back then, a high school education was the new ticket to the middle class. Today, a college education is.” This is patently not true. Study after study contradict this – […]
Mr. Bruni, Don’t Be Surprised When You Don’t FInd “Academic Virtues” in Academe
April 22, 2015 by
Hollywood Trumps Harvard – NYTimes.com. Professors Gates and Oz are just doing what hordes [of] professors and administrators do regularly – act in their own interests, letting us praise “academic virtues”, not them. I’m a former math professor. After over twenty years inside the tower, I have seen how easy it is to prey on […]
William Deresiewicz’s Incisive Observation Taken to Its Logical Conclusion
How college sold its soul to the market Source: [Essay] | The Neoliberal Arts, by William Deresiewicz | Harper’s Magazine I commented. To truly change higher education, the critical observation that college is neoliberal, needs to be followed to its logical conclusion. What has damned higher education in America is the neoliberalist view of colleges […]