It’s time to do away with selective college admissions for undergraduate education. Now, let’s get the caveats out of the way. When it comes to specific training that requires particular … Continue reading “The Case Against Admissions Selectivity”
As long as college students are considered entitled customers, their complaints about their professors will be taken seriously by administrators. That’s because happy students boost college applications, affect the closely-watched … Continue reading “Who’s to Blame When Students Fail a Course?”
In June 2014, I wrote a piece entitled “Reform Intro Economics” for Inside Higher Ed. There, I argued that then-current introductory economics courses were little changed from those of decades … Continue reading “Failing Introductory Economics”
In his April piece for the Martin Center, Adam Ellwanger critiqued “contract grading” as a symptom of “the war against academic excellence” and the broader societal movement toward “some fetishized … Continue reading “A Defense of the “Ungrading” Movement”
Veritas. Lux et veritas. Veritas vos liberabit. Truth. Light and truth. Truth will set you free. These are the official mottos for Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. They reflect a … Continue reading “The Post-Truth Classroom”
Imagine a room full of fresh-faced humanities graduate students tasked with answering this timeless question: “Why read literature?” These eager youths race to the white board, markers in hand, scribbling … Continue reading “Reading: Feeding the Mind and Soul”
To the editor: The article on “How Higher Education is Going to Change” talks about the increasing importance of consumer input to the mix of what is offered. But how … Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: How prospective students can choose a major”
Predictions that American higher education is on the verge of great change have been heard for quite a few years, but so far the system doesn’t look much different than … Continue reading “How Higher Education is Going to Change”
Each generation returns the same complaints: college teachers drone, college teachers lack creativity and spark, nay, they often lack even rudimentary pedagogical awareness. And since the ascendance of what William … Continue reading “A Perennial Question: What Makes a Good College Teacher?”
Former Harvard president Derek Bok has long lamented that our institutions of higher education largely underperform in their missions. He has now written another book making that argument. His Higher … Continue reading “Derek Bok’s Higher Expectations – Our Colleges Should Accomplish More”