Approaching Academic Armageddon
Over a mere two days recently (May 14-15), the major daily news outlets serving higher education, Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education, reported the following: Data collected…
Posts tagged with
“critical thinking”
No to Rushed Renamings
Self-reflection is a necessary trait for any healthy society or institution. Grappling with the past empowers us to contextualize our lives, make positive change, and avoid repeating the mistakes of…
The Startling Deterioration of American Philosophy Departments
In 2014, according to the QS World University Rankings, the United States boasted eight of the top college philosophy departments in the world. A decade later, that number has been…
How and Why Are American Minds Being Canceled?
Colleges and universities keep telling us that they teach “critical thinking” skills, but in reality they are deeply complicit in the destruction of the ability to think at all. They’re…
Universities and the Poverty Narrative
Universities are supposed to prepare young people to become independent by teaching them critical thinking and preparing them for careers. When a young adult enters university, we expect him or…
The Limits of Expertise
As a professor devoted to his college’s “pre-disciplinary” core curriculum, I was hooked by David Epstein’s title, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book is chock-full of…
To Restore American Liberty, We Need Colleges that Actually Teach the Liberal Arts
Collectivists of many stripes—but one aim—have been eating away at our free society for over one hundred years. If we want to reverse America’s current slide into authoritarianism and actively…
Many NC Students Are Missing out on Core Knowledge
What will they learn? That is the question that the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has been asking America’s colleges for thirteen years in a report by the…
Three Ways to Teach Students How—Not What—to Think
How do we teach students how to think rather than what to think? If the latest election cycle showed us anything, it’s that parents care deeply about what their children…
Are College Exit Exams a Valid Measure of Learning? It’s Complicated
Given the enormity of the public and private investment in US higher education, of course we should evaluate its effectiveness. But, how? It is claimed that over 200 higher education…