Are MOOCs just the clunky starting place for a more evolved form of new teaching?
Posted 18 Jan 2014 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “Innovation in 2014: Welcome to the Evolution“
A Minor Post, Articles, Higher Education, TeachingI will participate in a roundtable discussion on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Posted 30 Oct 2013 / 0My Dean, Andy Barnes, recently published an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the role of smaller institutions like Pratt in the age of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). He is sponsoring a roundtable discussion on the topic, and I will be one of the participants… A roundtable discussion on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and their Read More
A Minor Post, Higher Education, Learning Management Systems, Pratt Institute, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Teaching, Teaching ToolsAre MOOCs and the arts incompatible?
Posted 25 Oct 2013 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “MOOCs and the Arts: A Plea for Slow Education” This article makes some great points about what kinds of teaching are and are not compatible with massive, anonymous, separated forms of education: in some fields learning can come from a well-crafted exercise that involves no other interaction than learner with Read More
A Minor Post, Art & Design, Articles, Higher Education, Teaching, Teaching ToolsFor the next eight months, the future of my career is (mostly) out of my hands
Posted 30 Sep 2013 / 2It is a ritual that most academics hope to be able to participate in, but that does not make it any less excruciating. Where else but academia do we get the chance to argue for our own permanent employment? Where else but academia is the process so exhaustive and complicated? Where else is there so Read More
A Major Post, Department of Mathematics & Science, Higher Education, Pratt Institute, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, SurvivalRecognizing the difference between what the big and small educational institutions offer
Posted 19 Sep 2013 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “‘Farm to Brain’: Locavore Education vs. MOOCs” What I really appreciate about this piece (full disclosure: it was written by my current Dean) is that it makes clear that the MOOC model is simply the extensification of the big research university model of education. It is no wonder that these educational Read More
A Minor Post, Higher Education, Pratt Institute, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Teaching, WebIs this site good enough to clone?
Posted 27 Jul 2013 / 0I do think that the old adage “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” is apt: if people are willing to copy what you do, they obviously think that what you have done is valuable. So I suppose that I should be flattered by this: Look at bit familiar? Sound a bit familiar? Yeah, that Read More
A Minor Post, Creative Commons, Ethics, Higher Education, WordPressMy decision to make my course evaluations public
Posted 26 Jul 2013 / 0At the end of every semester there is an important ritual that I participate in. In my department, this ritual is initiated by Margaret, our indispensable Assistant to the Chair. She sends out a message requesting that all untenured professors schedule a ten-minute period during each of their classes during which course evaluations can be completed by Read More
A Major Post, Assessment Methods, Course Evaluations, Higher Education, Pratt Institute, TeachingEmbarking on a grand experiment in conceptual teaching
Posted 24 Jul 2013 / 0I pride myself on being a conceptual teacher: although you will likely learn a lot of interesting facts in my classes, the focus of my teaching is on ideas and concepts. I want my students to understand how things work and why things exist, and both of these pursuits are fundamentally conceptual in nature. Almost all of Read More
A Major Post, Assessment Methods, Concept Mapping, Conceptual Teaching Assessment Project, Cooperation, Course Readings, Evolution Education, Higher Education, MSCI-463, The Evolution of Cooperation, TeachingAs the nature of university-level teaching changes, should we re-assess the credit hour?
Posted 26 Jan 2013 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “The Curious Birth and Harmful Legacy of the Credit Hour” The Chronicle of Higher Education “In Defense of the Credit Hour“
A Minor Post, Articles, Higher EducationNew assessment of scientific reasoning skills suggests that students need better inquiry-based education
Posted 24 Jun 2012 / 0Science Insider “U.S. Students Know What, But Not Why“
A Minor Post, Ecology Education, Evolution Education, Higher Education, Teaching