I’ve heard a lot of the discussion surrounding the effectiveness of student course reviews, and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re meant to separate out the extremes. In my mind, just “good” classes will receive an average amount of review submissions at the end of the semester, and it’ll be obvious reading them that they’re filled with nondescript, bland information. Course evaluations to me are most beneficial in identifying bad instructors and classes, because in this case students will want to make sure their voice is heard. Yes, some reviews will inherently be from poor students without work ethic, but repeated poor reviews should raise a red flag to the department head to at least look into the issue further. In terms of extraordinary instructors/classes, I feel like word travels fast through other avenues so that by the time course reviews are evaluated by the department there’s already been some kind of buzz, so the positive reviews aren’t a surprise.
Month: December 2018
Comment on Blogging & Academic Writing by eepanty
Devin,
I agree with your points. I also think that our online presence can rightfully “bridge academia” but as you also noted, it can be “a tool to create arguments.” In academia, it is a good tool for students and faculty to spotlight their research and academic interests and reach a wide variety of audiences. However, I sometimes that our online records can be used against us outside academia.
Comment on The Digitalized Academia by eepanty
Ishi, you are spot on this issues, especially the time we spend online. I like to blogging but only to a certain extent. Other platforms are used to connect but there is a fine balance on what we can do online.
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Comment on Discovering Authentic Teaching Self by eepanty
I agree with your point. Professionalism is key in certain situations and setting professional boundaries, respecting and accepting others regardless of their backgrounds and gender or sexuality is essential in maintaining harmonious relationships between the teacher and students. My motto is to always keep it simple, real and respectful.
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Comment on Motivation and Mindfulness by eepanty
Qishen – I agree that motivation may be the result of mindful thinking. We are always motivated for or against something based on a variety of factors. However, as you noted in your post, I believe that a strong culture of learning based on the self-consciousness of learners is important to both the teacher and the student for knowledge creation to occur.
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Comment on Bullying by eepanty
Hi Medha, I totally agree that academic bullying is an unwelcome problem in some institutions of higher learning. Bullying should not be permitted or tolerated in any way, shape or form, on or off campus. I remember Dr. Nelson alluding to this in class. In fact, we need more safe spaces on campuses. I believe all universities should have a zero-tolerant anti-bullying policy.
Comment on Teaching Self by Efon Epanty
Hi Farha, I could not agree more with your post and argument, especially your statement on the “increased academic stakes of not getting higher grades and always being in a competition with peers that I often found myself being in a constant state of confusion and lack of interest in learning.” I guess it is just a stage in our academic careers to feel that way.
Comment on Ethics of gene editing by amnah
One aspect of this horrifying story that I think the biomedical community as a whole needs to consider is what this means for the law. Everyone recognizes that this guy engaged in research misconduct and will probably lose his job/get fined, but nothing in any legal system exists to deal with this. This guy didn’t meet any formal definition of a violent crime or abuse, but it really seems like he did. I think that there are going to be a lot of conversations related to the law evolving to deal with new bio-ethical violations as scientific progress continues.
Comment on The Liberal Arts Can Defend Themselves by sher3004
As a STEM major I will agree with the need for liberal arts in our education. I think it has made me a better with logic problems and to question some of the science I read. I think I saw a statistic that humanity majors make up less than 5% of undergrad majors. I am curious if this drop is due to the wage gap between liberal arts and other majors ? Do you think there is anyway we can excite upcoming students to pursue a liberal arts degree ?
Comment on Open Access in the Field of Higher Education by dustinsong
Thanks for the post! Yeah, I have not thought about teaching itself and only focused on the research itself. You are right. Teaching materials also need open-access so more instructors can have access to the most updated information on certain topics and convey that information to the next generation.