Michael In the District

philosopher ordinaire.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@pegobry_en Counterpoints: 1) High school students do have interesting things to say when tutored; 2) most undergraduates do not; 3) DI is a broad category, and should be paired with guided practice to be effective; 4) seminars done well are that guided practice in humanities courses.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@DevinGoure But unlike most things purported to be an essence, consciousness is obviously and distinctly real, and yet, as you show, it’s hard to get any clear language game rules around it.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

Thoughtful post. I’d add: it’s not either-or. To keep with the sports analogy: yes you want players to develop fundamental skills, but if you want to win games, they also need to develop vision and game IQ. These are not either-or. My kid plays for a DC team: even as young as 9, developing vision is as essential as skills. For all their faults, this is the point the math reforms are trying to reach.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@DanRosenheck That’s a big jump from “money ain’t the problem” to “bad teachers” - in between the money and the classroom are major misalignments - conflicting demands and constraints on schools that make it very hard no matter the teaching quality

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

No, it is also to organize ideas in a way proper to the phenomenon (which is often complex, multifaceted) and, in literature, to evoke mood, tone, to resonate with prior passages, anticipate others, elicit feelings, complicate feelings, establish a point of view, etc - also, just true that not everything can be said directly

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@EconTalker @charlesarthur And Born on 4th of July

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@sfmcguire79 Yes! But then replace them with genuine teaching evaluation systems.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@auren The wage premium persists.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@timurkuran Oral assessments not enough. Writing practices can be incorporated into daily lessons, building writing strength. Professors need to be taught how to do this, and then incentivized to follow through.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@zenahitz Yes, it’s a triage approach, better than nothing but not really fixing the underlying problem. What’s needed are genuine and monitored assessment standards, but for that, colleges will need to take teaching seriously.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@KerryHowley It’s more complicated. Rigor and high expectations are absolutely expected and incentivized. But so is passing and making sure every student can succeed. Those are in tension. Classrooms are at the crossroads of many misalignments.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@Tyler_A_Harper Is that bad?

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@karenvaites Schools sit in several conflicting roles/responsibilities: academic achievement sure, but also safety, nutrition, special nds, athletics, mental health, social work, health screening, language, extracurricular, family services... To measure budget just by the first is blinkered.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@jennfrey At some level Elites said and strived for things like this, but mostly most humans were just striving to eat and not be enslaved. Important to keep perspective on our expectations and standards for ourselves.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@MeganTStevenson @tylercowen Why should universities have anticipated this about Canvas? Is the argument that any digital collection of student learning data is irresponsible? The pile-on of Canvas is clearly some sort of bizarre displacement phenomenon.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@barrygoldman1 @zenahitz This is so exaggerated. Nothing beats books, paper, pencils, etc. But the idea that professors are forced to use tons of different ed tech apps is ridculuous. Universities overspend on them, but you don’t have to use them. Any professor that wants to stick to books, etc, can.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@zenahitz Ed Tech is way overhyped. But I don’t get this animus against Canvas. Is it just Canvas as Sacrificial Goat for all ed Tech? Canvas is just an interface platform with some quiz and gradebook functions. It’s hardly the frontline of Ed Tech.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@BrendanNyhan High schools like mine are already doing this - not a cure all but works for some assessments

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@NancyRPearcey This is not true. Or rather, the “average 6th grader,” as if there wer such a thing at the time, was maybe 5% of the population.

[Michael In the District @Michael_in_DC]

@SeanTrende Oral presentations are fine but they are not a substitute for careful, re-drafted structured writing. The problem persists and is not easily solved.