The Chronicle of Higher Education “Student Evaluations Aren’t Useless. They’re Just Poorly Used.” As a person who thinks a lot about the meaning of my course evaluations, this was an important perspective for me to read. Overall I agree with what is said here, although the ought to be used argument is not that persuasive Read More
A Minor Post, Course Evaluations, Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education “Final Exams or Epic Finales” I like reading articles like this because they are pretty firmly aimed — as in wanting to shoot down — the way I teach. It is always good to hear challenges to your pedagogical methods. There is kind of an Achilles’ heel to this article, Read More
A Minor Post, Assessment Methods, Higher Education, TeachingThis is a wonderful little video that is absolutely packed with great ideas about how evolution works, how human evolution works, and how two different evolutionary pressures pushing in opposite directions reach equilibrium. It also makes wonderful use of infographic techniques, using color and quantity throughout the video to clearly convey numerical and conceptual ideas Read More
A Minor Post, Adaptation, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Educational Software and Apps, Evolutionary Modeling, Film, Television, & Video, Gene-Culture Coevolution, Human Evolution, MSCI-463, The Evolution of Cooperation, Quantifying Costs and Benefits, Social NormsThey are in: recently I received the email containing my course evaluations for the Spring 2015 semester, and I am ready to analyze them in their full glory. As I indicate on my Course Evaluations page, I have a somewhat-tortured relationship with student evaluations. Let me just start out by saying that I would be Read More
A Major Post, Assessment Methods, Course Evaluations, MSCI-260, Evolution, MSCI-271, Ecology for ArchitectsChronicle Vitae “Modeling the Behavior We Expect in Class” This is a great little article. I really like the idea of showing one’s own intellectual vulnerability in order to encourage students to be more intellectually courageous. I also agree that getting students to use their power of empathy to ‘take the perspective of a scholar’ Read More
A Minor Post, Higher Education, TeachingConcept mapping is increasingly becoming an important part of my overall approach to teaching. I started out using it in my own research, and quickly realized how valuable it can be as a teaching tool. Because the only real goal of making a concept map is to explore and express understanding of a topic, concept Read More
A Major Post, Community Ecology, Competition, Concept Mapping, Ecology, Ecology Education, Ecosystem Ecology, Information Design, Interactions, Learning Management Systems, Lesson Ideas, MSCI-270, Ecology, MSCI-271, Ecology for Architects, Mutualism, Predation, Teaching ToolsThe Chronicle of Higher Education “You Want to Write for a Popular Audience? Really?” Sometimes I feel bummed out that I do not occupy a seat in a ‘normal’ academic department. But when I read about or encounter the attitudes that pervade these ‘normal’ places, I am really happy to have the freedom associated with Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Breeders, Propagators, & Creators, Higher Education, The WmD ProjectThe Chronicle of Higher Education “Time for a Teaching-Intensive Tenure Track” I remember that when I was nearing the completion of my dissertation and considering how to deal with the impossible job market, I looked up the C.V.’s of some of my favorite undergraduate professors back at Pomona College. I had no delusions of being able Read More
A Minor Post, Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education “Facing the Dreaded End-of-Term Question” I do give Final Exams, but they are relatively low stakes (~30% of students’ grades). Still, I can relate to this piece (a lot!). Increasingly students seem to think that the only thing that matters is the test. In my classes, I actually get a lot Read More
A Minor Post, Higher Education, TeachingIt is early June and I am just beginning to settle in to what will be my longest period of unstructured work time since I left graduate school. In the Spring of 2014 I received tenure and in the Fall of 2014 I applied for my first sabbatical. In the coming semester — Fall 2015 Read More
A Major Post, Breeders, Propagators, & Creators, Cultural Evolution, Higher Education, Pratt Institute, Teaching, The WmD Project