A Defense of the “Ungrading” Movement
In his April piece for the Martin Center, Adam Ellwanger critiqued “contract grading” as a symptom of “the war against academic excellence” and the broader societal movement toward “some fetishized…
Posts tagged with
“engaged learning”
The Post-Truth Classroom
Veritas. Lux et veritas. Veritas vos liberabit. Truth. Light and truth. Truth will set you free. These are the official mottos for Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. They reflect a…
Reading: Feeding the Mind and Soul
Imagine a room full of fresh-faced humanities graduate students tasked with answering this timeless question: “Why read literature?” These eager youths race to the white board, markers in hand, scribbling…
Letter to the Editor: How prospective students can choose a major
To the editor: The article on “How Higher Education is Going to Change” talks about the increasing importance of consumer input to the mix of what is offered. But how…
How Higher Education is Going to Change
Predictions that American higher education is on the verge of great change have been heard for quite a few years, but so far the system doesn’t look much different than…
A Perennial Question: What Makes a Good College Teacher?
Each generation returns the same complaints: college teachers drone, college teachers lack creativity and spark, nay, they often lack even rudimentary pedagogical awareness. And since the ascendance of what William…
Derek Bok’s Higher Expectations – Our Colleges Should Accomplish More
Former Harvard president Derek Bok has long lamented that our institutions of higher education largely underperform in their missions. He has now written another book making that argument. His Higher…
How Can Professors Inspire Students to Want to Learn?
COVID-19 has revolutionized how we think about online college teaching. Until last spring, two perspectives predominated. One argued that massively enrolled online classes presented by impressive teachers or prestigious universities…
True Learning Starts With Real Mentorship
There’s a chasm between the purpose of a liberal arts education and how many colleges and universities actually operate. Throughout academia, excessive value is placed on efficiency, research publications, and…
The Case Against the Cult of Critical Thinking
To speak against critical thinking in today’s academy is comparable to denying the divinity of Jesus in the medieval church—it’s heterodox. Not only does it rail against the values of…