Questions – Page 46 – coldhearted scientist وداد

Academic Issues From A Very Contrarian Point of View Monday: On Rights for Non Tenure Track Faculty

30/11/2009

Do you think all the kind articles about how adjuncts and other non tenure track faculty should be well treated is part of the abolition of tenure generally? An old colleague of mine thought adjuncts, instructors, and non tenure track faculty should have non ideal working conditions precisely so that they would either go on … More Academic Issues From A Very Contrarian Point of View Monday: On Rights for Non Tenure Track Faculty

Straitjackets of Normalcy

29/11/2009

I have so many things to do that it is hard to know where to start. It is hard to know where to start because realistically, there is not enough time to accomplish it all — if there were, I could start anywhere. I would prefer to just start anywhere but I must first discern … More Straitjackets of Normalcy

The Average Mentality?

28/11/2009

Someone said the typical person does not think at all about the common good, the point of view of anyone else, or doing what is right. They only do what they want, and they are so oblivious to the existence of any other way of operating that they do not realize that this is what … More The Average Mentality?

Introducing: Academic Mondays

23/11/2009

Following the suggestion of a reader, we will now have an open thread each Monday on a current academic keyword (e.g. “excellence”) or on other topics of very broad interest to academics. Today’s question is: what did you not learn in graduate school that you most wish you had? My answers are: how to teach … More Introducing: Academic Mondays

How Long, Lord? How Long?

20/11/2009

It is of course Friday, so we should be wearing white, and it is the weekend, so we should sing. I sing that I used to be surprised at what was happening. Then I was shocked, and then angry. After that I was sad, and then I was ashamed for a long time. Next I … More How Long, Lord? How Long?

Controversial Monday Ideas

26/10/2009

…that I heard over the weekend. For your consideration: 1. “Student centered classrooms” and “task based learning” have been invented to cover and compensate for having teachers trained in classroom management but not knowledgeable about the subject matter. 2. “Communicative” and “proficiency” oriented language teaching is part of vocational education, not part of a liberal … More Controversial Monday Ideas

How Long Would It Take You?

26/09/2009

It took me seven hours, working steadily, to do book orders for four courses and make a poster for one. I have taught all of these courses before, so I had a head start. But I also had some decisions to make, as I wanted to choose books that would really work. Then one must … More How Long Would It Take You?

On Getting By

08/09/2009

With some effort — not inordinate effort, mind you, but some — I have put together a two year long speaker series for my other department. That is eight outside speakers a year, four per semester, for two years, for a program that has no budget of its own. I have done this for the … More On Getting By

The Textbook Industrial Complex, or, The Baroque Era

03/09/2009

In my foreign language class we have a thick textbook, a workbook, a lab manual, three websites, CDs, DVDs, PowerPoint slides, and videos. It is not yet clear to me how well these materials fit together or to what extent they repeat each other. It may take me more than this semester to learn. I … More The Textbook Industrial Complex, or, The Baroque Era

Heu Mihi

01/09/2009

A GENERAL QUESTION Is this only my bad luck, or is it a trend — new professors, graduate students somewhere last year, who (a) refuse to write their own grant applications because that is “administration,” (b) have, however, big ideas for administrative and service projects in related to their fields that they think I should … More Heu Mihi

coldhearted scientist وداد

Writing in Memory of Paulo Freire

Category: Questions