You’d think if there was any area of human endeavor that was least likely to be full of absurd sexual drama and thoughtless harassment, it would be philosophy. Don’t those people sit around thinking ponderously about ethics and moral behavior and living the life of the mind all the time?* But no, it’s all booze …
Category Archive: Education
Jun 04 2013
Harvard’s shame
It seems Tauriq Moosa and I have a similar opinion of Oprah Winfrey — she’s a successful peddler of pseudoscientific nonsense. It’s too bad that Harvard doesn’t have the same ability to recognize a fraud when they see one, since they had Oprah disgrace their commencement ceremonies, and then gave her an honorary degree. In …
Jun 01 2013
Carl Zimmer gets a lot of email
And a lot of it is students asking him to do their homework for them. I get this too, and I sympathize — but Zimmer goes straight to the teachers to ask them what they’re doing. It’s great that you are looking for new ways for your students to do research and learn about science. …
May 26 2013
Uh-oh. Now Victor Stenger disagrees with me
I’m sticking by my guns, though. Stenger thinks that Eric Hedin, a professor at Ball State, should be fired have his classes cancelled for teaching Christian/creationist nonsense. I don’t. While agreeing that the course is "bad science" and its material of "abysmal quality," in his April 25 Pharyngula popular blogger and biologist PZ Myers defended …
May 17 2013
Spare me this ‘deficit model’ nonsense
Maybe it’s something in the air: Spring brings out the sociological criticisms of science, or something. But for some reason, this week people have been talking at me about the “deficit model” repeatedly, and it is really beginning to annoy me. The latest source is Alice Bell in the Guardian, who says some sensible things …
May 10 2013
What is your state’s highest paid public employee?
America, you are all screwed up. The article also makes the point that the athletic programs these universities sponsor are major loss leaders, draining money away from education to pay off overpaid coaches.
May 06 2013
Say it ain’t so, Genie!
Eugenie Scott is planning to retire from the NCSE. This is not possible. There is no one fit to replace her! Although…perhaps I should apply for the job. I looked at the qualifications, and it was like looking in a mirror, man — especially that last bit about “the ability to work effectively and diplomatically …
May 03 2013
What I taught today: FINAL EXAM TIME!
I’m in Arizona, on my way to Orange County, but that doesn’t stop me: I’ve given my students a take home final exam. I wouldn’t want them to be bored over finals week, you know. 1. In the last lecture, I tried to give you a little context, and explained that a dynamic picture of …
May 01 2013
When science is criminalized, only criminals will do science
I hate the way chemistry has been infantilized to the point where you can’t even buy a decent home chemistry kit for kids anymore, but this story takes it a step further. A teenager in Florida did a simple experiment that made a small plastic bottle go boom and spew out some smoke (and no …
May 01 2013
What I taught today: toroids!
It was the last day of classes for us. I brought donuts. Dammit, I just realized I missed a golden opportunity. I should have talked to them about Thrive and Pivar and Fleury and Andrulis. Crackpot fringe developmental biologists all seem to have a thing for donuts. Rats. Well, I’ll just send all my students …
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