5 ms·

I can't say that I find this particular blog post that interesting. "Teacher applies firm standards, which a spineless administration then undermines" is a wel

by ejames 15y ago

I can't say that I find this particular blog post that interesting. "Teacher applies firm standards, which a spineless administration then undermines" is a well-worn subject if you have spent time reading about education, and this particular post is not a strong introduction if you haven't. The site design, on the other hand, will probably stick with me for a while: a background theme of a Soviet-style propaganda poster where the beaming People's Workers triumphantly brandish gin and tacos. It's distracting and the text is hard to read, but I will probably never forget this site's URL. Sometimes there's value in picking something out of left field and just running with it.

bdhe 15y ago
> I can't say that I find this particular blog post that interesting. "Teacher applies firm standards, which a spineless administration then undermines" is a well-worn subject if you have spent time reading about education, and this particular post is not a strong introduction if you haven't. I find this subject very interesting. Could you point me to some, in your opinion, strong introductions?
- gyardley 15y ago
  'The Five-Year Party' by Craig Brandon is a decent, well-written book, by a former professor at Keene State University in New Hampshire.
- ejames 15y ago
  I'll have to go back through my reading list to see what I recommend - I've been following education issues to some extent for a long time, long enough that I remember reading better articles but not where I found them. It's a bit much for me to write up on my coffee break, but I'll try and get back to this. Please shoot me an email (in my profile) if I forget to write it up.
  - ejames 15y ago
    There's basically three categories where this problem shows up: grade inflation, cheating, and discipline. Grade inflation is most relevant to colleges, discipline only matters for levels of schooling with mandatory attendance, and cheating cuts across all levels. However, the same issue is in common: In theory, there are standards applied to students, and it is an important priority to distinguish between students who meet the standards and students who don't. In practice, the administration does not necessarily care about applying the standards rigorously. I think the following two articles are a good introduction to grade inflation as a topic: "Can Untenured Faculty Members Stop Grade Inflation?" - Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/article/Can-Untenured-Faculty-Members/45518/ http://chronicle.com/article/Can-Untenured-Faculty-Members/4... "In the Basement of the Ivory Tower" - The Atlantic Monthly, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-basement-of-the-ivory-tower/6810/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-b... It can also be useful to read up on business schools, because a business major is not an "academic" subject; more than any other major, the students are looking explicitly for a credential that boosts their income, and don't care about the subject material. The book "Ahead of the Curve" (http://www.amazon.com/Ahead-Curve-Harvard-Business-School/dp/B001RNOPLY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302987751&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Ahead-Curve-Harvard-Business-School/dp...) is a well-written appraisal of the Harvard B-School and includes chapters specifically on both grade inflation and cheating. Going through these publications and/or following the notes and recommended reading therein can lead to more involved reading on the topic. Articles in the Atlantic Monthly are always a good starting point. The fundamental issue: If an institution of learning punishes students for cheating, or failing classes, or behaving badly, then somebody, somewhere must have both the authority to do so and the goal of exercising said authority. But often, nobody wants to be that person, or the authority is conflicted, or the goal is given less priority than the goal of making money/quota.
- endgame 15y ago
  Mark Tarver's "Why I am not a Professor" hits a similar but not identical note: http://www.lambdassociates.org/blog/decline.htm http://www.lambdassociates.org/blog/decline.htm
shii 15y ago
I assumed the totalitarian themed background & gin referenced Orwell's 1984 and Victory Gin.
BasDirks 15y ago
Web copy set in tiny Futura is a cute idea, but don't expect people to read it.
- albedoa 15y ago
  I'm not sure that readers are necessarily turned off by small sans-serif fonts. It might be a matter of demographics, but Daring Fireball, which currently has an article on the front page of HN, isn't exactly struggling. Is the font use on DF somehow different? I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts because I've always wondered if it turns off a significant number of potential readers.
  - BasDirks 15y ago
    Small sans is fine for web copy, but Futura really isn't. The typography at DF is excellent, with headings in Gill Sans and copy in Verdana. I favor serifs for web copy, but few stand up to scrutiny. I like Erik Spiekermann's Meta Serif[1]. 1. http://typekit.com/fonts/ff-meta-serif-web-pro http://typekit.com/fonts/ff-meta-serif-web-pro
  - dasil003 15y ago
    Verdana was explicitly designed for small pixel sizes onscreen. Why do you not differentiate between sans-serif fonts?
    - albedoa 15y ago
      I do differentiate. Though he mentioned the font face specifically, I interpreted his criticism to be about the font stack and size and thought he was equating all small sans-serif copy. Verdana is listed second in the stack and is the one that was used when I viewed the page. He has since set me and the record straight.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

by ejames 15y ago

bdhe 15y ago

> I can't say that I find this particular blog post that interesting. "Teacher applies firm standards, which a spineless administration then undermines" is a well-worn subject if you have spent time reading about education, and this particular post is not a strong introduction if you haven't. I find this subject very interesting. Could you point me to some, in your opinion, strong introductions?

gyardley 15y ago
'The Five-Year Party' by Craig Brandon is a decent, well-written book, by a former professor at Keene State University in New Hampshire.
ejames 15y ago
I'll have to go back through my reading list to see what I recommend - I've been following education issues to some extent for a long time, long enough that I remember reading better articles but not where I found them. It's a bit much for me to write up on my coffee break, but I'll try and get back to this. Please shoot me an email (in my profile) if I forget to write it up.
- ejames 15y ago
  There's basically three categories where this problem shows up: grade inflation, cheating, and discipline. Grade inflation is most relevant to colleges, discipline only matters for levels of schooling with mandatory attendance, and cheating cuts across all levels. However, the same issue is in common: In theory, there are standards applied to students, and it is an important priority to distinguish between students who meet the standards and students who don't. In practice, the administration does not necessarily care about applying the standards rigorously. I think the following two articles are a good introduction to grade inflation as a topic: "Can Untenured Faculty Members Stop Grade Inflation?" - Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/article/Can-Untenured-Faculty-Members/45518/ http://chronicle.com/article/Can-Untenured-Faculty-Members/4... "In the Basement of the Ivory Tower" - The Atlantic Monthly, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-basement-of-the-ivory-tower/6810/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-b... It can also be useful to read up on business schools, because a business major is not an "academic" subject; more than any other major, the students are looking explicitly for a credential that boosts their income, and don't care about the subject material. The book "Ahead of the Curve" (http://www.amazon.com/Ahead-Curve-Harvard-Business-School/dp/B001RNOPLY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302987751&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Ahead-Curve-Harvard-Business-School/dp...) is a well-written appraisal of the Harvard B-School and includes chapters specifically on both grade inflation and cheating. Going through these publications and/or following the notes and recommended reading therein can lead to more involved reading on the topic. Articles in the Atlantic Monthly are always a good starting point. The fundamental issue: If an institution of learning punishes students for cheating, or failing classes, or behaving badly, then somebody, somewhere must have both the authority to do so and the goal of exercising said authority. But often, nobody wants to be that person, or the authority is conflicted, or the goal is given less priority than the goal of making money/quota.
endgame 15y ago
Mark Tarver's "Why I am not a Professor" hits a similar but not identical note: http://www.lambdassociates.org/blog/decline.htm http://www.lambdassociates.org/blog/decline.htm

shii 15y ago

I assumed the totalitarian themed background & gin referenced Orwell's 1984 and Victory Gin.

BasDirks 15y ago

Web copy set in tiny Futura is a cute idea, but don't expect people to read it.

albedoa 15y ago
I'm not sure that readers are necessarily turned off by small sans-serif fonts. It might be a matter of demographics, but Daring Fireball, which currently has an article on the front page of HN, isn't exactly struggling. Is the font use on DF somehow different? I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts because I've always wondered if it turns off a significant number of potential readers.
- BasDirks 15y ago
  Small sans is fine for web copy, but Futura really isn't. The typography at DF is excellent, with headings in Gill Sans and copy in Verdana. I favor serifs for web copy, but few stand up to scrutiny. I like Erik Spiekermann's Meta Serif[1]. 1. http://typekit.com/fonts/ff-meta-serif-web-pro http://typekit.com/fonts/ff-meta-serif-web-pro
- dasil003 15y ago
  Verdana was explicitly designed for small pixel sizes onscreen. Why do you not differentiate between sans-serif fonts?
  - albedoa 15y ago
    I do differentiate. Though he mentioned the font face specifically, I interpreted his criticism to be about the font stack and size and thought he was equating all small sans-serif copy. Verdana is listed second in the stack and is the one that was used when I viewed the page. He has since set me and the record straight.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]