Curricular issues:
In the latest issue of The Scientist, there's an article (free registration required) by C. Neal Stewart, Jr., and J. Lannett Edwards, two biologists at the University of Tennessee, about how they came to teach a graduate course on research...
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Posted on February 6, 2008 2:16 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'm pretty sure the National Collegiate Athletic Association doesn't want college athletes -- or the athletics programs supporting them -- to cheat their way through college. However, this article at Inside Higher Ed raises the question of whether some kind...
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Posted on October 3, 2007 2:24 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Perhaps you've already seen the new(ish) AAUP report Freedom in the Classroom, or Michael Bérubé's commentary on it at Inside Higher Ed yesterday. The report is such a clear statement of what a professor's freedom in the classroom amounts to...
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Posted on September 12, 2007 2:57 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a Luddite who composes her posts on wax tablets before uploading them.* So it may seem curious that nearly every semester I teach at least one section of my Philosophy of Science...
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Posted on August 23, 2007 1:46 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Chad and Rob have already noted this piece of news about soon-to-be-published research indicating that the order in which high school students are taught physics, chemistry, and biology makes very little difference to their performance in science classes at the...
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Posted on July 27, 2007 6:23 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Making chemistry experiments less hazardous might also make them better pedagogically.
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Posted on June 25, 2007 2:13 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Because I am engaged in a struggle with mass quantities of grading, I'm reviving a post from the vault to tide you over. I have added some new details in square brackets, and as always, I welcome your insight here....
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Posted on May 23, 2007 9:45 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Ann Althouse asks why schools should bother having kids read fiction: And why does reading even need to be a separate subject from history in school? Give them history texts and teach reading from them. Science books too. Leave the...
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Posted on May 18, 2007 12:53 PM • 24 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Since many of you were kind enough to suggest questions to ask of Margaret Spellings at SJSU's Founders Day "The Future of Higher Education" panel last Friday, I thought I should report back on that session. First, the bad (but...
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Posted on May 9, 2007 1:40 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Jake, Chad, and Rob have posted about a newly published study about the benefits of research experiences for undergraduates. The quick version is that involvement in research (at least in science/technology/engineering/mathematics disciplines) seems to boost the student's enthusiasm for the...
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Posted on April 30, 2007 6:19 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The April 16 issue of Chemical & Engineering News has an interesting article about homeschooling families looking for chemistry curricula. (You need an individual or institutional subscription to view the article; it might be worth checking with your local library.)...
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Posted on April 24, 2007 4:59 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
What is involved in adapting laboratory work for people with disabilities?
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Posted on April 18, 2007 12:38 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Steve Gimbel has a provocative post that suggests the costs of undergraduate lab classes may outweigh the benefits. Quoth Steve: [E]verything I know about physics, I learned from my theory classes. You see, science classes come in two flavors. There...
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Posted on March 28, 2007 11:31 PM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Score another point for my mother. My mother is a really good cook. She is also an unrepentant violator of recipes. My earliest cookbook related memory involves noticing that, while Mom had a recipe in front of her, she was...
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Posted on February 20, 2007 2:06 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Larry Moran posts a response to my response to his earlier post on the advisability of putting ethical discussions into science classes. Careful fellow that he is, he's decided to stick to a single issue per posting, so he starts...
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Posted on January 24, 2007 6:37 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In a post about curricular issues in genetics and biochemistry courses, Larry Moran raises some good questions: It's almost a requirement these days that introductory genetics courses include a section on genetically modified crops. This invariably leads to tutorials, or...
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Posted on January 22, 2007 1:52 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an assistant professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.
