The Becker Blog

I am teaching a first year communications course for engineers. Most of the students seem to be making some real progress. As always, a few need very little guidance from me and others won’t listen to what I say no matter what.

I keep hearing about how tech-savvy today’s students are, and I have to say, I’m REALLY not seeing it. Many, if not MOST of the kids in my classes really don’t know very much about modern technology, and they FOR SURE don’t understand how most of it works. I am accustomed to working with Computer Science students who are, of course, at the extreme end of the geek-pool when it comes to tech so perhaps I’ve been lulled into a false sense of complacency.

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5 Lessons Professors Can Learn From Video Games -

Technology – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Nice article.

via 5 Lessons Professors Can Learn From Video Games – Technology – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The author suggests we might be in the “third level” of video games inside the ivory tower, one where people are

recognizing that games are often not the best tools in an educational setting, but when they are, they should carefully balance substance and sport.

At that level, it’s possible to deconstruct video games, looking for takeaways that professors can try in their own teaching, whether or not they ever pick up a joystick or click “play.”

I have some comment son each of those parts:

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Students failing because of Twitter, texting – Canada – Canoe.ca

“Thirty per cent of students who are admitted are not able to pass at a minimum level,” says Ann Barrett, managing director of the English language proficiency exam at Waterloo University.

“What has happened in high school that they cannot pass our simple test of written English, at a minimum?” she asks.

Even those with good marks out of Grade 12, so-called elite students, “still can’t pass our simple test,” she says.

via Students failing because of Twitter, texting – Canada – Canoe.ca.

I’m not really surprised. I’ve been teaching a technical writing course to 1st year engineers and many of them have poorer writing skills than my son did when he was 10. To be fair, some are quite good, but many (more than half, I’d say) are careless with their writing and proofreading.

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OK, this is just too much fun.

I just read Mark Guzdial’s excellent post on some of what’s wrong with how we teach introductory programming courses.

Question Everything: How We Teach Intro CS is Wrong

The notion that we should be modeling expert behaviour when teaching programming is silly. Experts work quite differently from novices. We accept this as a given in sport – if you make a novice do things an expert does you could very well cause them to injure themselves.

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Now, I’m a big fan of Serious Games, but I’m also quite sure that this is one of those cases where more is not necessarily better. What is important is balance. I suppose it may be difficult to make sure students have exposure to natural things too, given that they are in Manhattan (http://q2l.org/), but I am quite convinced that ultimately, a lack of connection with nature and living things will have far more negative consequences than spending too much time online.

I’m talking negative on an epic scale.

Here is the article:

New York Launches Public School Curriculum Based on Playing Games

Intellagirl posted a note about this article today and I was curious, so I read it too…
She suggested that the article had entirely missed the point, and she is absolutely right!

The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 16, 2009

Students Stop Surfing After Being Shown How In-Class Laptop Use Lowers Test Scores

The article seems to be reporting on a victory in the reduction of laptop use in the classroom. Yup, you heard right, they are actually HAPPY that their students are no longer using modern technology in the classroom. The belief seems to be that using the laptop causes the students to do less well on tests.

Now, to be fair, they do admit that those students who had lower scores were in fact using their computers to check out their FB pages, ’surf’ (apparently we *still* have a problem with surfers), watch YouTube, etc.

Churchill’s Commentary on Man:
Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.

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OR: Growing Pains: How to Evolve from a College into a University

And, in particular, how to become a university of which everyone can be proud.

I’ve been pondering this question as I am now at an institution (which I believe has great promise) that is poised to change from being a college with a very good reputation for student satisfaction, to being a undergraduate university with a reputation it must build.

Then there are many faculty who have been at the college a long time. Many of those have chosen to stay at the college because it is what it is. What will it mean to become a university?

There are (primarily) new faculty who have come to the college expressly because it is going to become a university. They have personal research agendas. If they are not given the time, space, and access to the necessary infrastructure to actually do their research, they will not stay. This means that the only people who will stay, are those not interested in doing real research. No amount of branding will be able to change the fact that the institution will retain the culture of a college.

I am one of the new guys on the block, but one who has literally grown up in a university environment (a university that has gone from first-rate, one-to-be-proud-of to third-rate, and one that brings shame to anyone left who still has integrity). This gives me a perspective that may be unique.

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Warning: what follows is another rant.

So here I am working at a new job.

I really like the institution (for the most part).

I really like the faculty (for the most part).

I really like the job (for the most part).

BUT (there’s always one of those when a post starts off like this)….

I have been at it for 2 months now and I am becoming more and more (and MORE) frustrated. Wanna know why? If you do, keep reading. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, there is an article where some professor (or group of professors) laments that people won’t come to his(her) class if they have prior access to their notes.

Students profit from diligent note-taking Knetwit.com offers cash, gifts for students who submit lecture notes online, but some faculty members fume

If your concern that students won’t come if they already have notes is legitimate, IT MEANS YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG. Students SHOULD have access to your notes, slides, and any other resources you use. They should be coming to class because you ADD something. If you can’t add anything, then maybe you don’t deserve to be in the classroom.

Do you read your notes? Do you read your slides? I hereby invite you into the 21st century.

Do you really believe that the path to knowledge should go only through you? How arrogant is that?

Coming to class is typically (even with a merely average teacher)  the most efficient way to get the information one needs for that course. Trying to make up the difference by NOT coming to class and then “studying” on one’s own takes at least three times as long. Class = 1 hr VS self-study = >= 3hr. If, on the other hand, as an instructor, all you do is read your notes, shame on you.

The scary part is that HALF of everything is below average – including teachers and professors.

Maybe there should be student tuition options….. – Pay 25% more tuition to get the Premium Education – get taught only by our GOOD instructors! (not those economy instructors)

Net Gen kids cheat, they say….

OK, this annoys me.  Apparently, we learn very little through the millennia.

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” ( Attributed to SOCRATES by Plato ~400BC)

While many schools are trying to advance into the 21st century, others are, … well, … I really don’t know how to describe this. Words fail me. I’m not surprized though. Clearly, a university that claims to cherish the undergraduate experience can’t go around making their lives easier…

I think it would be fun to see the university handle having EVERY student pay their fees with loonies – all at the same time – with the press watching….. Or maybe, they could go to a school that actually cares about them.

From the Gautlet: http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/story/12288

U of C to disallow payments via credit
Sara Hanson
Gauntlet News

March 20, 2008

Earlier this week, a notice was posted on the University of Calgary’s enrollment services webpage notifying students of the change; however, the university has yet to publicly announce the reasons behind the decision.

In 2004, the nearly $1 million in credit card processing fees was raised as an issue of concern, as the university noted the money could be better spent on other services for students. At the time, however, the Students’ Union stressed that credit card payment was a necessity for those students who need extra time to earn enough money to cover their fees.

SU president Julie Bogle stated that while the SU was notified of the decision two weeks ago, they were not adequately consulted in the process.

“It is really unfortunate that after the SU has worked in collaboration with the university successfully on so many other projects that there was not any appropriate consolation on a policy of this magnitude,” said Bogle. “We really would have like to see something like a one year time line which would have allowed students to prepare and make the appropriate financial commendations.”

The policy change comes into effect Jul. 1, 2008.

University administration could not be reached for comment before press time.

I just love this:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8342 

This is from the University of British Columbia 

 To effectively resist the commercialization of public space and the corporatization and militarization of education, students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) created a political group in the summer of 2007 called Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). SDS-UBC consists of students who are unafraid to use direct-action to enact radical social change.  We actively resist the corporate and military funding of our education, and we believe that students should have a meaningful role in the decision-making processes at the university.

Some concrete issues that came out of Resisting the University which SDS-UBC hopes to realize:

• Banning military recruitment at UBC.

• Banning military funding for the Arts and Sciences (eg from the Security and Defence Forum of the Canadian military).

• Stopping the rise of sessional teachers by changing the university’s hiring policies.

• Changing the tenure process so that it breeds less fear, conservatism and complacency.

• Stopping commercial development on campus: affordable student, staff and faculty housing only!

• Equalizing the allocation of funds so that departments that don’t exist to generate a profit secure adequate funding for quality research and permanent staff.

• Pressuring the provincial government to better fund post-secondary education.

• No more Tuition Fees! Zero student debt and zero fees to ensure the university is accessible to all.

• Transforming UBC’s governance structures into more transparent, representative and accountable bodies by empowering the Senate; jettisoning appointed seats; allowing students to easily place an item on the Board of Governors agenda; and eliminating corporate presence on the Board.

• An official acknowledgement that UBC is built on stolen land and that the Coast Salish, and the Musqueam people in particular, have a right to it.

• Coalition building among sessionals, faculty, and other activists organizations to realize these goals.

 So much for the importance of team work in this modern world…..

From TheStar.com: ”

Study groups may be a virtual trademark of the Ivory Tower – but a virtual study group has been slammed as cheating by Ryerson University.

First-year student Chris Avenir is fighting charges of academic misconduct for helping run an online chemistry study group via Facebook last term, where 146 classmates swapped tips on homework questions that counted for 10 per cent of their mark.

The computer engineering student has been charged with one count of academic misconduct for helping run the group – called Dungeons/Mastering Chemistry Solutions after the popular Ryerson basement study room engineering students dub The Dungeon – and another 146 counts, one for each classmate who used the site.”

So, of course, I checked the university site to see what kind of pixy-dust they would try to throw on me if I were a prospective student. Well, I didn’t find any (granted, I didn’t look very hard, but most places who want to recruit students spend at least some time telling you how wonderful they are. Amongst other things, Ryerson says this: “If you’re looking for quality, career-ready learning – that combines academic rigour with relevant practical experience – you’ve come to the right place.”

Perhaps they meant to say “academic rigor mortis”?

I was elated when I successfully defended my thesis. I was thrilled to hear that the defense went extremely well, and everyone signed off on the dissertation on the spot. As luck would have it, the person in charge of approving the dissertation for the Faculty was the Neutral Chair, and she signed her part on the spot too.

Very tidy.

Everyone was happy. One of the examiners suggested I publish it as a book, and another commented that she had never before seen this much scholarship in a single thesis. She suggested there might actually be equivalent to several dissertations. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

A few days later, I made a few very minor changes (mostly just fixing typos) and sent my thesis off to the printers. I prepared the necessary paperwork according to the instructions on the University websites (very helpful) and continued on. I was all set….. (HA!!!!! Not so fast, Slick.)

Flying high from having pleased my committee with my work, I went off on a lovely 7-day cruise in the Caribbean on the Disney Cruise Ship Magic. And it really was.

Magic.

Disney sure seems to understand organizational management. Even when things go awry, they know exactly how to deal with it.

Don’t get me wrong – things still happen; but stuff is fixed or made better. They win, and so do we.

Very professional.

Then…….. Read the rest of this entry »