tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16623883.post113968353236491301..comments2023-09-24T07:27:45.698-04:00Comments on Modern Science: Higher Edzandperlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700239961953729095noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16623883.post-38478794503980888182008-01-02T13:38:00.000-05:002008-01-02T13:38:00.000-05:00What you call "academic freedom", I call "teaching...What you call "academic freedom", I call "teaching from the same yellow lecture notes for 35 years and giving the same test each year despite the fact that the average score is 38% and nobody does anything about it." Univerisities are places for research, not for teaching. Everyone knows that. Why do you think that "You teach the way you were taught" has negative connotation? Because we have researchers preparing our future teachers, not expert teachers. There are mounds and mounds of educational research that says that out of all of the methods of teaching, two of the worst are lecture and reading the textbook. So why should we trust what the post-secondary educators say about accountability when they are using the least effective teaching strategies in their "lecture halls" every day despite all of the evidence against it.<BR/><BR/>Avoidance of accountability is one of the "Five Dysfunctions of a Team." It is no surprise that universities would avoid accountability. Effective instructors welcome accountability and use it as a tool to improve their skill. Ineffective instructors whine that it takes away their academic freedom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16623883.post-1139772485877171742006-02-12T14:28:00.000-05:002006-02-12T14:28:00.000-05:00"The proposed Board could intrude into academic co..."The proposed Board could intrude into academic conduct and content of higher education"<BR/><BR/>This is probably the whole point of the exercise. Standardized testing is not about making sure the kids learn what's important, it's about making sure they learn what the testing authority WANTS them to learn. If university profs are spending all their time preparing students for the testing, they won't have time to teach all the "liberal commie gay agenda" stuff that the Right is now obsessed with purging from university campuses. Standardizing higher education would reduce the free-wheeling intellectualism which right-wingers are always generally suspicious of - and which is one of the major differences between "basic" K-12 education and university.<BR/><BR/>It is definitely an attack on academic freedom, and what's more it is a deliberate attack.Allison M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08362700513221195102noreply@blogger.com