Author Profile

John Staddon

John Staddon is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and a professor of biology and neurobiology at Duke University. He does research on adaptive behavior, evolution, and learning; computational neuroscience; and the policy implications of psychobiology.

Articles by John Staddon

Math Teachers are Taught that Elementary Math Education is a “Struggle for Justice”

Sep 8, 2021 · · Comments Off on Math Teachers are Taught that Elementary Math Education is a “Struggle for Justice”

Does the average person have any idea what is now considered “normal” in the field of K-12 education? I already had some misgivings after reading Jay Schalin’s devastating review of the curricula in education schools: The Politicization of University Schools of Education: The Long March through the Education Schools. Nevertheless, I was unprepared for what … Continue reading “Math Teachers are Taught that Elementary Math Education is a “Struggle for Justice””

Diversity Über Alles: Science Is Threatened by Identity Politics

Oct 2, 2020 · · Comments Off on Diversity Über Alles: Science Is Threatened by Identity Politics

I have worked in academic science my entire life and I have never seen any sign of racism, systemic or otherwise. On the contrary, I have seen people go to considerable lengths to aid able minorities. Yet a petition is circulating nationally complaining that: women and “people of color” are under-represented in STEM (science, technology, … Continue reading “Diversity Über Alles: Science Is Threatened by Identity Politics”

An Open Letter to Duke President Price about Anti-Racism

Aug 11, 2020 · · Comments Off on An Open Letter to Duke President Price about Anti-Racism

Dear President Price: On June 17, you published a 1,400-word “Statement to the Community Regarding Anti-Racism.” The document contains many expressions of concern, fully in tune with the current national mood about the evils of racism and the problems of the African American community. Nevertheless, the measures proposed, and the assumptions made, in this document … Continue reading “An Open Letter to Duke President Price about Anti-Racism”

If All Men are Created Equal, Why Do We Need Grades?

Jul 29, 2020 · · Comments Off on If All Men are Created Equal, Why Do We Need Grades?

I just finished a fascinating book, The Recovery of the West, by polymath Englishman Michael Roberts. Roberts became famous as a poet, but was trained as a scientist and spent much of his life as a teacher. Brief history of grading The book was published in 1941. A teacher in a typical English school at … Continue reading “If All Men are Created Equal, Why Do We Need Grades?”

Why Do American Universities Lead the World in Scientific Research?

Jun 24, 2020 · · Comments Off on Why Do American Universities Lead the World in Scientific Research?

Miguel Urquiola is professor and chair of the department of economics at Columbia University. His special field is education and his book Markets, Minds, and Money: Why America Leads the World in University Research is about American higher education—its history, its relationship to higher education in Europe, and the trajectory it has followed from the … Continue reading “Why Do American Universities Lead the World in Scientific Research?”

The Mess That Is Science Publishing

Jan 24, 2020 · · Comments Off on The Mess That Is Science Publishing

Researchers have been grumbling about the state of scientific publishing for years. Now, rumor has it that the Trump administration (yes, those science-haters!) may be trying to fix at least one problem: access to reports of government-funded research. The rumored proposal will require free, immediate access to all reports of government-funded scientific research. The rumor … Continue reading “The Mess That Is Science Publishing”

The Mess of Federal Funds Is Changing the University

Sep 13, 2019 · · Comments Off on The Mess of Federal Funds Is Changing the University

The modern American university has changed almost beyond recognition from the form it had even 100 years ago. It is larger, more “diverse,” more of a business, and more industrialized with relatively fewer teachers and more bureaucrats than ever before. Those changes have led to new problems. Higher education, if not broken, is at least … Continue reading “The Mess of Federal Funds Is Changing the University”

Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing?

Jun 19, 2019 · · Comments Off on Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing?

Philip Hamburger recently published a piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that Congress should control administrative bloat by limiting student loan funds given to colleges with too many administrators. He is dead right about the vast increase in non-faculty bureaucracy in recent decades and the need to reduce it. But the sources of the … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing?”

Did the Hoaxers Do Anything Wrong?

Feb 13, 2019 · · Comments Off on Did the Hoaxers Do Anything Wrong?

One of the three “Sokal Squared” academic hoaxers, Peter Boghossian of Portland State University, has been accused of violating his university’s research policies. Boghossian is the only one of the three to hold an (untenured) academic position and so is the only one vulnerable to disciplinary action. Boghossian and his compatriots parodied fashionable social-“science” research; … Continue reading “Did the Hoaxers Do Anything Wrong?”

The Tangled Web of Scientific Publishing

Oct 10, 2018 · · Comments Off on The Tangled Web of Scientific Publishing

Science Publishing Is Incoherent, Expensive, and Slow Communication is essential to science. The aim of scientific publication is to convey new findings as quickly as possible to as many interested parties as possible. But the world of “peer-reviewed” scientific publishing no longer functions as it should. Many publishing practices were devised at a time when … Continue reading “The Tangled Web of Scientific Publishing”