Required Reading, 5 March 2018
Just one today, because it is Important. Ron Srigley, “Whose University is it Anyway?” LA Review of Books, Feb 22, 2018. — On another note, you may be noticing some visual changes across the Skepchick network. Along with the face lift we hope to soon put out a call for …
Pros of Participation Grades 3
Continuing my series on the downsides and benefits of grading participation, here is another benefit. 3. It is a motivation for some. There’s no magic secret to motivating people, and broadly speaking it doesn’t work. One of the common skeptical criticisms of practices like firewalking and other such “motivational” activities is that …
Pros of Participation Grades 2
Continuing my series on the downsides and benefits of grading participation, here is another benefit. 2. It makes effort important. Though this post won’t really deal too much with motivation and grading (ie. whether or not students actually view grades as “important”), there is a good case to be made …
Pros of Participation Grades 1
I’ve written a series of posts addressing some common criticisms of giving grades for participation in class. For each of those criticisms, there was a strong rebuttal. Basically, they can be summed up as “this isn’t a problem if you do it right.” Now I’m going to go over some …
Cons of Participation Grades 5
Continuing my previous post (which I unfortunately must do in installments due to my schedule) here is another common criticism of grading participation. 5. It is not fair. This is the last of the “cons” of participation grades I often hear about. The unfairness aspect of participation is typically linked to student …
Recent Comments
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Education
Required Reading, 5 March 2018
Just one today, because it is Important. Ron Srigley, “Whose University is it Anyway?” LA Review of Books, Feb 22, 2018. — On another note, you may be noticing some visual changes across the Skepchick network. Along with the face lift we hope to soon put out a call for …
Critical Thinking
Why Schools Should Teach Critical Thinking (Final)
This is part five (the end) of a rebuttal to this article. Part one can be found here. There are just two more points I need to address in Hendrick’s article before I am done with my rebuttal. I know, all two of you readers have been waiting with bated …
Pedagogy
Pros of Participation Grades 3
Continuing my series on the downsides and benefits of grading participation, here is another benefit. 3. It is a motivation for some. There’s no magic secret to motivating people, and broadly speaking it doesn’t work. One of the common skeptical criticisms of practices like firewalking and other such “motivational” activities is that …
Culture
On the Market VII: Job Candidates Are People Too
Another year, another job season. Sigh. I’ve been on the market for several years now, and regular readers may remember that in that time I have applied to many, many, many jobs. The positions I’ve applied for since finishing my PhD have represented a generous sampling of nearly all that our …
