Student Guide Corner

Education is highly criticized these days for (a) costing too much and (b) achieving too little.    And, if we are perfectly honest, those criticisms are not just idle chatter.    I have long argued that much of college education is not radically different than what I experienced when I started as a college freshman 47 1/2 years ago.    (Okay, we do have PowerPoint now and teachers did not have that back in 1966, but I am not sure if that is progress or regression.)    The world has changed radically over those decades but a lot of education has barely flinched. I believe that there is not enough innovation in education.    Think of the sheer number of teachers working in the United States.    Why are there not more innovative ideas flowing from those minds?     If each teacher came up with one innovative idea, the world of education would be radically transformed almost immediately.    We would be fl...

  After a sabbatical semester, I am back in the classroom.    It is interesting to be away for 8 months and then walk in to face young faces again.    In the first week, I try to do as I always do:    Set the tone that I want for the entire semester.    I see no reason to wait to say �this is how I want the semester to go.�    During the first class, in different words on several different occasions, I explained exactly how I wanted the class to operate.    I always believe that it goes better if you are very open with the students and clear on your goals and expectations.  I think, for the most part, students rise to a challenge if they are convinced that the benefit is real. �During this semester, I will devise weird situations each day and then I will guide you as you figure out proper responses.    We�ll make lots of mistakes along the way but if we work hard we�ll eventually get to good, firm, logic...