Academia: April 2006 Archive Page

In graduate school, I ransacked the library in my quest for inspiration: it was a kind of archaeological excavation. Today, because of online catalogs and specialty Web sites, information can be targeted with pinpoint accuracy and accessed with stunning speed. Hence I doubt whether that kind of untidy, often grimy engagement with neglected old books will ever appeal again to young scholars. But it was through the laborious handling of concrete books that I learned how to survey material, weigh evidence, and spot innovative categorizations or nuggets of brilliant insight. Many times, the biggest surprises revealed themselves off-topic on neighboring shelves. --Camille Paglia --Erich Neumann: Theorist of the Great Mother (Arion: A Journal of the Humanities and the Classics)

Paglia is always stimulating, if not always comprehensible. (This is actually one of her more accessible essays.)

When I find significant errors in student writing, I chalk it up to one of three reasons: they don't care, they don't know, or they didn't see it. And I believe that the first and last are the most frequent causes of error. In other words, when push comes to shove, I've found that most students really do know how to write -- that is, if we can help them learn to value and care about what they are writing and then help them manage the time they need to compose effectively. --Laurence Musgrove --The Real Reasons Students Can't Write (Inside Higher Ed)

Congressman John P. Murtha will be the keynote speaker at this year's commencement, Saturday, May 13 at 11 in the Katherine Mabis McKenna Center on Seton Hill's Greensburg campus. --Alexandra Nseir --Murtha to speak at May commencement (Setonian)

I have heard both faculty and student grumblings about Murtha, who is, depending on who's talking, either pro-labor or anti-business, pro-life or anti-woman, pro-Iraq withdrawal or anti-American, and pro-2nd-Amendment or a gun nut.

I just hope he's a more inspiring speaker than the one who described getting high on marijuana on the day he graduated from college and basically told all the graduates that what they had just spent 4 years doing was crap, or the one that spent most of the time reading a sappy urban legend that's been going around the internet for years.

The Connections class for fall 2006 is going to do a session on SHU etiquette centering around how students can appropriately present themselves to faculty and staff on campus. E-mail, phone, meetings, classroom, verbal encounters are all open for discussion.

With this in mind, will you please give your replies to the following so that we can relay to the students what SHU expects of them.

E-mail me your comments when done.

YOUR COMMENTS WILL BE ANONYMOUS!!!!

Thank You,

Lynda Sukolsky

Please share with others on campus that will have some comments to make on this subject


What is your best piece of advice on how to interact with faculty/staff appropriately?

What is your pet peeve in the classroom around student behavior?

How would you instruct a student to e-mail and/or phone you?

When meeting with a student, the student should....

Additional advice or "don't ever do this".

BONUS-- anyone have any real life stories they can share of what not to do? ALL PARTIES REMAIN ANONYMOUSWhat is your best piece of advice on how to interact with faculty/staff appropriately? (Seton Hill University -- Connections)

It's our obligation as members of an educational community to tell our students what behavior is appropriate, and to reinforce our expectations on a regular basis. Asking students to investigate the boundaries is a great opportunity to get them thinking about such expectations. This time of year, I'm sure plenty of SHU faculty and staff will share horror stories.

But I'm concerned that our contributions may contribute to the impression that we hate students, or that we think they aren't capable of improvement.

It's not only students who violate social norms. I've worked with professors or staff members who put girle pics on their screen savers (visible from the hallway), abused their positions of authority in the classroom during election season, mocked students behind their backs, misused university equipment (taking laptops home over the weekend so their teenagers could play games with it, then returning the laptop on Monday infested with a virus that incapacitated the software I was hired to use... I'm still bitter about that, in case you can't tell), hit "send" without thinking, and left telephone messages when they were too angry to see straight.

And while I have plenty examples of student missteps to contribute, every day I work with students who are better writers, more advanced thinkers, more socially conscious citizens, and simply better human beings than I was when I was an undergrad.

Dear Candidate: Thank you again for meeting with us at the American Historical Association's annual conference. We have narrowed down the applicant pool to three very strong candidates, yourself included, but we just can't decide among them! We hope you would be willing to come to the campus, along with the other candidates, and fight to the death for our amusement. --"Dexter Coisson" --Groundhog Day on the Market (Chronicle)

Five hundred quatloos on the newcomer!

I've had some difficulty with this last paper, no doubt, but I finally think I'm on the right track. However in my oral presentation, I wanted to include some goals, not only for this paper, but also to outline what I hoped to take from this class, once it's over. --Matthew Hampton --Achievable goals for Paper III (MatthewHampton)

Matt is a student in my writing-intensive American Lit II class. I've been impressed by the quality of work all the students are producing in the class, but this list of goals (part of a handout he created for an oral presentation) really impressed me. One of my favorite is "To be able to look at a series of work by an author, analyze and remove the ideas I need, assess that information and then possess the ability to recognize a critical perspective from which I can write." That goal is so much more advanced than "remember key quotes" or "summarize the stories we read" or "apply the stories to my own life."

Worried that I would not like him, my victim had used his humor to engage me, to make me laugh, to join in his witty barbs, and because I did like him, I had joined in. But we were not on equal footing and my comments contained a much more powerful threat because I did not have to like him, and he knew it. --Amy L. Wink --Navigating Whitewater (Inside Higher Ed)

A professor reflects after shutting off a class by getting too chummy with a jokester, and losing sight of where her obligation to teach must overpower the desire to join in the fun.

One item to discuss today is the final project for the class, your blogging portfolio. And among the items we need to consider are these:

* What should it include? (Will it highlight your best blogging, be an overview of what you tend to blog about and/or how you tend to blog, or a combination, or...?)

* What should it look like? (Will it be a blog entry? Will it be a separate web page?)

* How will it be assessed? --Donna Strickland -- Blogging Portfolio (English 4040)

I really like this teacher's effort to involve students in the discussion of how the blogging portfolio should be evaluated. Blogging is a means to a very specific end in the lit classes I'm teaching right now, but in the fall I'll be teaching Writing for the Internet again, and I'll want to be sure to include criteria that reward expressive and outrageous blogging, in addition to the intellectual and introspective blogging that I typically expect from students in lit classes.

Anyway, this is a great way of implementing in the class structure the kinds of collaborative, interactive communication structures that make blogging different from traditional essay writing.

Video game studies? Yes, please. And I don't just mean in gaming schools. Critical perspectives have been developing as well. Metafilter is already wise to ludology,but what about its mother discipline, ergotics? Don't forget narrative and storytelling. Of course, if cultural studies, or education is your thing, that's covered too.

Other programs focus on application and aesthetics.

Perhaps MeFites are catching on? --The seedy academic underbelly of video games (Metafilter)

Science for non-majors offers an important chance to reach out to students outside the sciences, and try to give them some appreciation for scientific inquiry. This is critically important, as we live in a time where science itself is under political assault from both the left and right. People with political agendas are constantly peddling distorted views of science, from conspiracy theories regarding pharmaceutical companies and drug development, to industry-backed attempts to challenge the scientific findings regarding global climate change, to the well-documented attempts to force religion into science curricula under the guise of "intelligent design." It's more important than ever for our students to be able to understand and critically evaluate competing claims about science.

I worry, however, that our approach to teaching science as a part of a liberal education is undermining the goals we have set for our classes. --Edward Morley --It's Time to End ''Physics for Poets'' (Inside Higher Ed)

I took "Physics as a Liberal Art," which did include equations and formulas, but which was more like watching an episode of Cosmos, in that the instructor (James Trefil) focused on the cultural backdrop that indicated why this particular discovery or refinement was important to civilization and the advancement of knowledge. A lesson that has had lasting impact involved the professor giving you a phase of the moon, and requiring you to correctly place the moon, earth, and sun on a diagram. (I mentally give myself that test question whenever I look up at the moon.)

The course that I took was definitely softball science, but it was heavy on humanities content, so I did find it intellectually challenging. (Trefil co-authored The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, with E.D. Hirsch, Jr.) So the course I took does not sound like the trendy "ripped from the headlines" course that Morley criticizes here. To quote Morley,

Science is more than just a collection of difficult facts to be learned. It's a way of looking at the universe, a systematic approach to studying the world around us, and understanding how things work. As such, it's as fundamental a part of human civilization as anything to be found in art or literature. The skills needed to do science are the same skills needed to excel in most other fields: careful observation, critical thinking, and an ability to support arguments with evidence.

I never took a college science lab. In fact, about a year ago I took my molecule-obsessed son to our school's science labs for a tour with one of the faculty (John Cramer), and that was the first time I'd ever been in a college science lab.

Of course, at the time I had no idea that I would end up teaching technical writing to engineering students, or that my first full-time job would be a technical writing instructor. I'm not sure that taking a science lab would have automatically made me a better tech writing teacher.

At any rate, since these last few years I've taught an American Lit survey course that includes many gen-ed students, I can certainly understand what's at stake when an instructor is faced with the question of stoking the fear and wrath of students who don't want to be in the class in the first place, or simplifying and lowering your expectations, thus robbing the committed students from a truly challenging classroom experience.

Like most of the faculty on my campus, I typically just use the ELMO as an overhead projector to show handouts, but without having to go through the trouble of making a transparency, since it will project anything you put on it. In my mind, it's even easier to operate than a PowerPoint presentation, and I'll sometimes print out a quick outline for any lecture or class plan (in large font) and just project it, moving as we go through the class outline, keeping the hour organized. But I also like to experiment with the ELMO and see what other things it is capable of doing. After all, people's eyes are naturally drawn to a big screen spectacle and there is a way to tap into this for educational purposes and to reach out to visual learners. These devices are fantastic for visual aids, but I haven't seen professors using them very creatively, let alone with much expertise. It's something worth taking advantage of to not only project information, but to put into action to keep a class' attention (without, of course, using it as a DISTRACTION). --Mike Arnzen
--Tickling the ELMO (Pedablogue)

A great fresh look at a piece of technology I use almost every day.

The Times article adds, from the CIRP survey, that the proportion of students who applied to 12 or more colleges increased by 50 percent from 2001 to 2005. The article does not go on to note that the 50 percent increase brought the percentage from 1.4 to 2.1. Most of the students who are using such strategies, and who turn up in such articles, are from a relatively elite background, educationally and financially.
Kevin Carey, research and policy manager at the think tank Education Sector, pointed out that the statistic would have been far less intimidating had it been presented instead as a 0.7 percent decline in the number of students who didn't apply to at least 12 colleges.

"To me that's a pretty good example of how you see all these stories that really only apply to a small percent," Carey said. "For the majority, this whole phenomenon means nothing."

Carey said that acceptance rate at the most elite institutions are down about one percentage point, but that even at those colleges it's hard to tell if it's truly more difficult to get in. Because more applicants in that pool are applying to more places, it could just be that there are just more applications, not more applicants. If that is the case, "it's not harder to get in, it just seems harder," Carey said. "It's not that there are many more students going to college. It's going up a bit." --David Epstein --Out of Control Admissions Hype (Inside Higher Ed)

A good article that analyzes some of the statistics cited by media reports.

Shouldn't that be "out-of-control" (with hyphens)?

On one level, blogs are little more than personal journals posted on the Internet for all to see. They provide a forum for teachers to share ideas with colleagues around the world or simply talk about themselves and others. But under a wider lens, the sometimes funny, sometimes searing blogs paint what may be the rawest portrait seen of the teaching profession in transition -- and by some measures, in trouble.

Read some and find out why more teachers than ever -- some estimates say up to half in this decade -- are leaving the profession feeling exhausted, disillusioned and underpaid. --Valerie Strauss --Blackboard Blogging: Web Journals Become the New Fly on the Wall of Teachers' Lounges (Washington Post (will expire))

This article begins with the approach that blogs are gossipy and snarky vehicles of personal opinion: "Some teachers use blogs in the classroom to communicate with students and allow them to critique each other's work. But it is in the personal blogs that teachers have some of the most open, and occasionally brutal, discussions about themselves and their profession."

"We found that men do not regard books as a constant companion to their life's journey, as consolers or guides, as women do," said Prof Jardine. "They read novels a bit like they read photography manuals." Women readers used much-loved books to support them through difficult times and emotional turbulence, and tended to employ them as metaphorical guides to behaviour, or as support and inspiration.

"The men's list was all angst and Orwell. Sort of puberty reading," she said. Ideas touching on isolation and "aloneness" were strong among the men's "milestone" books.

The researchers also found that women preferred old, well-thumbed paperbacks, whereas men had a slight fixation with the stiff covers of hardback books.

"We were completely taken aback by the results," said Prof Jardine, who admitted that they revealed a pattern verging on a gender cliche, with women citing emotional, more domestic works, and men novels about social dislocation and solitary struggle. --Charlotte Higgins --A tale of two genders: men choose novels of alienation, while women go for passion (Guardian)

Not exactly a scientific study, but still interesting.

This list of Best Geek Novels Written in English certainly fits the stereotype of male literature, though I wonder how that list would change if you separated it into male geeks and female geeks.

My Students Impressed Me Today (Jerz's Literacy Weblog)

In my "Intro to Literary Study" class, I assigned Arthur Miller's recent play, Resurrection Blues. At the beginning of the class term, I told my students that it wouldn't be in the bookstore yet because Amazon.com said the book wouldn't be published until early February, just a few weeks after classes started.

When the book did arrive, I let them know it was in the bookstore. Because I know that the bookstore returns unsold copies shortly after midterms, I warned them in early March to pick up their books, or to order them online.

A week ago, I reminded them that the next book we were going to cover was the one that arrived in the bookstore late, and I asked who had already picked up a copy. Only one student's hand went up.

Then, the other day, one of the other students stopped me in the cafeteria and said, "The bookstore already returned that book, and there are about nine of us who don't have copies."

I tried to be pleasant, but I didn't say, "Oh, that's too bad, we'll have to reorganize the syllabus to account for your lack of planning."

This morning, fully expecting most of the students to show up unprepared, I collected their 200-word reflection papers (which is something I usually don't do, though I warned them at the beginning of the term that I might do it sometimes), and announced that I was reorganizing the syllabus.

I didn't go on to say "to account for your lack of planning," but that was only because I was sure it didn't need to be said. I was tsk-tsking at them and pointing out how I kind and magnanimous I was, since I wasn't giving them a pop quiz to slam their grades, that really affected the beginning of the class. But then I looked more closely, and saw that at least three students had copies of the book on their desks, and it turned out that most of the other students had managed to borrow whatever copies were available.

While a few students still weren't prepared, enough of them were that we could have had a decent discussion. I told them that I had come to class all prepared to be crabby and disappointed, and that I was sorry I had underestimated their responsibility.

O'Connor's depiction of humanity's struggle with surrender and submission touched me more deeply than most of the modern works I've read lately. At one point--when Hulga starts shushing the boy and trying to seduce him into atheism--I actually felt some kind of strong internal reaction and inexplicably threw the book across the room. I felt repulsed, furious, and horrified all at the same time. Very few stories have ever drilled that far into my core, and it was certainly a surprise to me. --Chris Ulicne --O'Connor, Good Country People: What is the meaning of this? (Below Zero)

For the past few weeks, in my American Lit class we've been reading A Good Man is Hard to Find, a collection of short stories by Flannery O'Connor. The students have responded very well to the stories, though Chris's reaction is unusually strong. I'm glad to know these works are having an effect on my students. I've been trying to get the students to discuss how O'Connor uses dark images and themes because without them, there's no way to emphasize light.

Rather than the familiar panels consisting of three 15-20 minute papers, a pitcher of water, and a brief Q&A (time permitting), these meetings were structured as “electronic poster sessions.” Multiple presenters stationed around the perimeter of the room in front of easel displays and laptop computers demonstrated their projects and spoke to anyone who stopped by with questions. --Steven E. Jones --The Significance of Electronic Poster Sessions (Inside Higher Ed)

This scholarly genre is nothing new. I've given several myself, one at a medieval drama convention, and one or two at the 4Cs.

What's significant is that the Modern Language Association is interested in it.

I had high hopes for the Higher Ed Blog Con, which starts today, but both of the first presentations are delivered as downloaded linear files. The first one is an argument for screencasting -- a lecture alternative. I can certainly understand why it would be useful to download a screencast about the value of screencasting, but the other is presented in 2 parts, which together will require almost an hour to watch. Were I actually at the conference, I could spend the time, but since I'm going to have to fit this conference in an already busy week, I don't think I'm going to watch many hour-long linear, old-fashioned presentations. New wine, old wineskins.