Summer is more than half way over
But, I’m only now relaxing into it
So, how are the goals coming along?
My office looks exactly as it did during finals in May.
I’ve just begun the book chapter, sort of. I have a few paragraphs written.
Author Archives: administrator
Summer Science
Many college faculty, particularly those who work at smaller colleges and universities, are on 9 month appointments. A 9 month appointment means that our work contracts run for nine months, usually from late August through the end of May or beginning of June. This arrangement feels a lot more flexible than most year-round jobs, even though if we had 12 month contracts we would make more money and would have benefits like vacation days.
Enhanced Distributional Requirements for Educating Global Citizens?
What would a college curriculum look like if we had more extensive distributional requirements?
image from: http://vq.vassar.edu/issues/2012/01/vassar-today/on-educating-the-global-citizen.
Science Courses for All?
How do Colleges teach science to nonscience students?
In browsing a number of big university websites looking for the “general education requirements” for a bachelor’s degree, I discovered that most seem to require a minimum of one course with a laboratory in the natural sciences; some state two if the courses do not have a lab component. The liberal arts colleges I visited online (Williams College, Haverford College, Oberlin College, Bryn Mawr College, Smith College, Pomona College and Vassar College) varied a bit in their requirements. All except Vassar College have distributional requirements.
Science Tracts?
The last post was about the importance of science in our education. Now, let’s look at some numbers:
Most of the people in the United States graduate from high school. 85% was the all-time high in 2004, according to the US Census Bureau.