Category Archives: Assessment

Collaborative learning (aka “group work”)

A very interesting piece from an NAIS blogger on cooperative learning. http://www.nais.org/Independent-Ideas/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=419 My experience was the opposite of that of the author of the blog.  As a science major, I had lab partners from Middle School through graduate school, and … Continue reading

Posted in 21st century learning, Assessment, Creativity, group work, Implications for teaching, Learning, Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Collaborative learning (aka “group work”)

“Curving tests”

I had a colleague opine yesterday that if you have to curve a test, it’s not a good test.  I would say that’s only true if your goal is to write a test that doesn’t need curving.  If you have … Continue reading

Posted in 21st century learning, Assessment, Creativity, failure, Implications for teaching, Reflection | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on “Curving tests”

Teaching and Training – 1

I’ve been thinking recently about the difference between teaching and training. Some of you may be familiar with my occasional idea that there’s not really any such thing as “teaching” in the sense teachers are supposed to do: there are … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, Implications for teaching, Learning, Reflection | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

What are your interests and aspirations for next year?

In response to that question from one of my dept heads, after much thought I finally sent the following response.  It is somewhat overstated and deliberately provocative in the hope that even motivating people to say, “That’s crap!” would be … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, group work, Implications for teaching, Interdisciplinary, Learning, Reflection, Teaming | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tapestry

In response to a post by Brian Bennett: http://www.brianbennett.org/blog/bunching-vs-wrapping/ I wrote: Thinking of teaching as a tapestry is a great imagery.  You take different threads and bring them together, some here for one part of the design, others disappear for awhile … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, Implications for teaching, Learning, Reflection | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Tapestry

Perspective shift

So, a great deal of thought and blogspace, even time at conferences, goes into such topics as “PBL” (problem-based learning), “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics”, and “21st-century learning” (which is either self-evident or means so many different things to … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, FIR, Future posts, group work, Implications for teaching, Interdisciplinary, Learning, Philosophy, Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Perspective shift

Algorithms, programs, and robots

As I read emails about improving customer service with better software and similar things, I am coming to agree with the conventional wisdom (though it’s not phrased this way) that the more algorithmic your work is, the more likely you … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, Implications for teaching, Reflection | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Algorithms, programs, and robots

Just read Thomas Friedman’s column of that name in today’s New York Times.  Guess I have to read the book of Gladwell’s to which he refers, but… I suppose you could say I’ve stayed at St. John’s so long because … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, Implications for teaching, Learning, Reflection | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on

Would that….

this article had come out 25 or 30 years ago…. http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/03/06/teaching-the-last-backpack-generation/ It’s both gratifying and annoying to see that what I’ve been doing in some way for the last at least 25 years, probably my whole career, but I may … Continue reading

Posted in Assessment, Creativity, failure, Implications for teaching, Learning | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Would that….

New Year’s Thoughts

Seemed like an appropriate time for some thoughts from Whitehead on education:   Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilization of knowledge. In education, the broad primrose path. . . is represented by a book or a … Continue reading

Posted in Aphorisms, Assessment, Creativity, Implications for teaching, Interdisciplinary, Learning, Philosophy, Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Year’s Thoughts