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 …
Category Archive: Education
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 …
Apr 29 2013
What I taught in the development lab today
After our disastrous chick lab — it turns out that getting fertilized chicken eggs shipped to remote Morris, Minnesota during a blizzard is a formula for generating dead embryos — the final developmental biology lab for the semester is an easy one. I lectured the students on structuralism and how there are more to cells …
Apr 29 2013
What I taught today: a send-off with an assignment
Today was the last day I lecture at my developmental biology students. We have one more lab and one final class hour which will be all about assessment, but this was my last chance to pontificate at them…so I told them about all the things I didn’t teach them, and gave them a reading list …
Apr 27 2013
Bruce Alberts, failure
This is not a very exciting video, but I might just inflict it on my cell biology students in the fall. We got a fair amount of flak from students last time around who were frustrated when labs didn’t work like a recipe from a cookbook — yet that’s how science usually proceeds, with lots …
Apr 26 2013
It’s another exam day!
My students are also blogging here: My undergrad encounters Developmental Biology Miles’ Devo Blog Tavis Grorud’s Blog for Developmental Biology Thang’s Blog Heidi’s blog for Developmental Biology Chelsae blog Stacy’s Strange World of Developmental Biology Thoughts of Developmental Biology Biology~ I’ve been terrible about updating everyone about my class the last few weeks — we’re …
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