How Competition Leads to “Content Deflation” in One Anecdote

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 […]

How Much Do Universities and Administrators Really Care About Education? New Article on Higher Ed

I believe that this article is the most enlightening addition that I can make to the debate on higher education.  I hope all of you have time to read it. Here is the link to the page with the article http://www.inside-higher-ed.com/a-tale-out-of-school-a-case-study-in-higher-education/ It is also on the top menu. Here is a direct link to the paper ATaleOutofSchool

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 […]

Good Op/Ed in WSJ about Online Courses and Education

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”

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”

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 […]

Students: Understand the difference between Oranges and Apples when picking a school

Let’s compare the Math SAT scores from Washington University in St. Louis School of Engineering, MIT and Carnegie-Mellon’s Engineering and Computer Science. MIT’s admitted middle 50% is 740 to 800.  The average for those admitted who enroll is 765. Carnegie-Mellon’s middle 50% for those who enroll is 740 to 800 for Engineering and 780 to 800 for […]

How does your course compare?

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 […]