Category: education
Engineering is an Identity
Society is reliant on our ability to harness technological advances in order to facilitate economic, social, and political activities that make us “human.” Our ability to do so has advanced to a point where now the boundaries between policy and engineering design are no longer clear. This is especially true if you have the same…
10 minutes for thoughts on teaching
Timer’s on… I enjoy teaching. It is the most enjoyable part of my job as a professor. I also hate teaching. It is the most difficult part of my job as a professor. I love teaching because it is a conversation. I have the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals how the theory developed in…
why are we asking the wrong questions about education?!?
[I’m warning you now, this is probably the longest blog post I’ve ever written, but my passion on the issue requires it…] The Chicago Teachers’ strike is compelling news to me for a number of reasons. [For example, why did the union not give parents and students more lead time that a strike might be…
#CENS #participatorysensing demonstration
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-ItfpA3XiY&w=560&h=315]
what is education? a generic good with brand-name prices?
As the academic year draws closer, I am getting antsy to start the semester. Not too antsy, since I haven’t yet hit the beach nor completed all my lectures for the upcoming semester, but I’m excited to meet the new class of graduate students, my new advisees, and get started on my second year of…
the challenge of evaluating students within technicalities but based on truth
I am challenged by what I find is the hardest part about teaching. Well, it’s one of the hardest things about life in general, but especially when teaching or mentoring students you often find yourself in the position of authority or ‘judgment’ on the quality of students’ work and, in some cases, character. This challenge…
#70: worship, authority ranking and appeal, suburban sprawl’s Ponzi scheme, and other Sunday thoughts…
“Fly like eagles in worship…” At church this morning [Grace International Church, Baltimore, MD], Pastor Ken and the worship team improvised a lyric saying “Eagles take their prey to a higher altitude to suffocate them. Worship is moving to a higher altitude where problems and doubts can’t breathe.” Such an awesome exhortation! Worship takes our…
#67: learning teaching & understanding undertanding II
This week I received my first set of teaching evaluations… Let’s just say they weren’t pretty at all. I knew they were going to be bad, but they were catastrophic. Among several concerns my students had, one was a previous blog post I had written where I was wrestling with the disconnect between student motivation,…
#63: R&R==running and research
as you may know, i’m a new professor coming to the end of my first academic year. i’ve had the opportunity to write my first proposals, arrange my first collaborations, and teach my first class at this new institution. i’ve gotten to choose my first graduate students, join my first university committees, and attend my…