I totally agree with you on several fronts. One, I sadly have to admit that prior to college i was one of those students who did the bare minimum to just pass through from grade to grade and now reflecting back i realize that part of the reason what that we I was asked to conform to certain ways of learning (clearly was not the best for me”. Two, thinking outside the box is a great concept but i am not sure why some people (professors) are too afraid to let that happened (is it because they themselves don’t realize that there multiple ways of learning and the one they are using may not be the best one .. i don’t know) and Three the baseball analogy is a powerful one and i enjoyed what you wrote about textbooks and lack of innovation.

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Seth Godin ‘s point about connecting the dots really resonated with me as well. I don’t think that students are taught the skills to connect the dots between what they learn and what they read especially in undergraduate classes (I know I am making a generalization but it happened to me way to many times, in fact it still happens in grad classes). After reading this I have already started to think in the ways I can use this philosophy when I teach.

I agree with a number of things you mentioned and honestly there are very few students who don’t put money as their number one motivation for college. Part of that is that our society (locally and internationally) values education (which is good) and those that have the credentials get paid more. Another point you mention that I often think about is how biased our classroom teaching can be some times. Biased in a way that we (the students at some point in out lives) just blindly follow what others say (some even do it now). Which raises the question for me is that are the teachers even aware of what they are instilling in their students? probably not. By the way good post : )

I agree with you that we think we are good at multitasking (when using various gadgets) but really thats not always the case. I think at the graduate level we are a lot more aware of this (as we don’t have a choice-haha) but honestly, almost weekly I hear from some of my undergraduate students who state that it is so much easier to procrastinate when trying to get stuff accomplished due to all the distractions (phone, social media- and primarily the ease at which they can access them). Most people learn it the hard way that not being self disciplined and what they think is multitasking is hurting them. So one of the things that I intentionally ask my students is to monitor how many hours a day they are on their gadgets, if it is more than the number of hours they sleep for (each day)…Thats a problem and it’s time to start thinking about what needs to change.

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Ross , nice post- I agree with a number of things you posted and I’m glad that you too caught the statement that people read more now than they did before. For me, I have never been a person who read books for fun, so when I evaluate how much I read before-to how much I read now (and I am not talking graduate school, research or required books), I mean random news, “Do it yourself” projects, or read about any number of topics online-I still think I am reading way more for some one who does not enjoy reading novels and magazines. Also I am well informed on what is going on locally, nationally and internationally. Technology allows me the ease of quickly looking up what I want to learn, connect with family who are abroad and I believe that I have become better at managing my time because I use these avenues to help me be better and not give them more power then they deserve (finding the balance).

Bottom line is that I don’t believe that technology is the devil or that “Google is Making Us Stupid”, I think it is us, as individuals who lack the discipline, self control and realizing when something is too much. My parents always said “too much of anything is not good” and I feel like that is what is the problem is with multitasking, or abusing social media or gadgets.

Great post! I fully agree with you on starting the research early for students and not just at the university level but from an even younger age (the earlier students start the better they will get by the time they reach college). I also believe that with the changes in technology and the ease with which one can research now- compared to prior decades, this should enhance the creativity and approaches for teachers and students.

I really enjoyed reading your post and completely agree with you that we : teachers/ educators must actively work to empower students. And this empowerment may look different for different students for example: the way we develop teaching strategies, ways in which we instill critical thinking may be different for freshmen compared to seniors… I think ultimately the goal of the teacher should be to be intentional in whatever they do and teach. This would include preparing students for the ” real world” outside of the walls of the classroom.

As always- awesome post Alex -and I agree with you on several aspects: 1) about how some faculty take the power dynamics too seriously (i wrote a little about that in my blog as well), and they intentionally continue to reinforce the power by showing who is in charge through titles and actions (like students ever forget). 2) I understand that faculty are busy individuals and don’t always have the time to be creative (due to all their responsibilities) but what they don’t realize is that they create more work for themselves/ and others, long term by being unintentional now.

I see your point about diversity within as opposed to hiring international individuals, but what you are talking about is immigration related problems in hiring (I understand that it is a larger issue dictated by the government) and not necessarily diversity related (but we can keep our fingers crossed and hope that this eases up).

I think you raise a great question ! I agree that self awareness/reflection is really important and this should be a constant process. I really believe that there is no way we can ever have 100 % control over anything or prevent anything completely. I think what is more important is what we do as a result of certain biases or prejudices when they happen.