Teaching

NutmegCT · May 10, 2018

A follow-up to PC's Enlightenment post:

I've had this pinned to my note board ever since I first saw it back in 1985.

(Pop quiz tomorrow?)

Tom M.

Popeye · May 10, 2018

One of my all-time favorite cartoons. However, there are two sides of the story - young Freshmen are gullible and don't have the "maturity" to question authority. Professors have a duty to instill this in their young students; to politely question and discuss, and that it is OK to disagree and still be friends.

"Trust but verify." (A quote often attributed to Reagan, with Russian origins. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify)

LarryK · May 11, 2018

Minds are a fabulous thing to mess with!

NutmegCT · May 11, 2018

LarryK said:
Minds are a fabulous thing to mess with!

Hey - politics is a forbidden subject!

<ducks and runs>

LarryK · May 11, 2018

I've got this guy hanging around the garage everytime I open the doors to work. Always asking when i'm going to get done. Two projects, my MK1 Jag and my wife's Valiant. He is a Vette person who has $30K invested in a C3. 11 yr old tires and won't drive it. Same with his Harley, 9 yr old tires. So, yes, I mess with his head ( no brains there ). Politics aren't even in the equation. I say pull up a chair, sit down, now ask me that question again. OH, not getting anything done while I'm here? It is a start.

NutmegCT · May 11, 2018

Larry - if he's bugging you, give him a "helper" job to do that's a real PITA. Probably won't come back again.

When we get a new farm volunteer at Sturbridge Village, first assignment is to clean out the sheep stall. Six months of sheep poop. That usually separates the rams from the wethers - and the wethers don't usually come back.

TM

LarryK · May 11, 2018

He had a park brake problem in his Dodge truck. Complained about the price of the plastic piece. He replaced the pull handle, but brake wouldn't work. Found a broken cable, made him fix it while I watched. He trade the truck and a 300 on a Dart the production stopped in 2016. It was new with warranty, has the 2.4L that looses oil and he bought it anyway, so he isn't one to take hints. Doesn't know how to do anytthing, has to go to dealer and complain about prices. &#55357;&#56854;

NutmegCT · May 11, 2018

Wonder if he had a parent like a friend of mine. Friend does *everything* for his 25 year old son. Son has never shoveled or blown snow, never mowed a lawn, never changed his car's oil. Parents bought son and wife a house with pool, and two Jaguars. Dad keeps a spare (!) Jaguar at home in case son's Jaguar has a problem. Son calls Dad if car makes a "funny" sound, so dad drives 50 miles to figure out problem. Dad keeps tabs on Jag's maintenance, and drives 50 miles to change Jag's oil, etc. Son calls Dad if house plumbing leaks; dad drives 50 miles to fix it. Son is good at video games however.

Wow.

LarryK · May 11, 2018

:frown-new:

PC · May 13, 2018

Have a friend who drives 130 miles when his twenty-something son needs help with his house.

Shows him how it's done. Then the kid does it. When he's done it to dad's satisfaction he's on his own. Well, not entirely on his own. Dad does pitch in on large projects. Kid and kid's bride work their butts off on the place.

Doesn't need to help on his other son's place. Kid lived at home. That is until he got the executive job out of state.

Both kids are eagle scouts.

NutmegCT · May 13, 2018

Shows how ancient I am. I can't imagine back in the 1960s living with parents even past high school, or expecting dad to drive 100+ miles to fix something. Jeez, parents back then didn't have time (or gas money) to do things like that - and we learned by doing things with our parents while we were growing up anyway.

Let's hear it for the video game generation!

yow

waltesefalcon · May 14, 2018

We are quickly turning into a nation of helpless people.

NutmegCT · May 14, 2018

waltesefalcon said:
We are quickly turning into a nation of helpless people.

Walt - you sure hit the nail on the head. My neighborhood has six houses (rural Connecticut). Despite there being teens in every house but mine, there are never any teens mowing lawns or shoveling snow. It's the grey-haired parents and grand-parents who do the outside work. Something that amazed me when I first retired - the amount of people in their 30s and 40s who weren't working. Inherited big chunks of money, had big settlements after car accidents, lived in their own parents homes, married into money, etc. Wow.

Remember the IBM motto back in the 1960s? "Machines should work - people should think."

Today it's morphed into "Machines should work - people should have fun and watch videos."

waltesefalcon · May 14, 2018

Tom, my whole reason for having kids was to not have to do my dishes or mow my lawn. Have you ever seen the liberty mutual commercials where they basically say they insure people who are too useless to change a tire, etc, etc? My kids would be disowned if they said they couldn't change a tire, hook up jumpers, etc.

NutmegCT · May 14, 2018

How 'bout this one: neighbor's son (age 27) went to private academy, then *very* expensive college. Dad wrote his papers, found him a job, now does all the kid's (and kid's wife's) house and car work.

Kid is working in the international relations division of a Fortune 500 company. One day I asked him what he thought about the military actions in Afghanistan. He said "That's terrible - but Africa has always had military problems."

yeesh

Basil · May 17, 2018

NutmegCT said:
A follow-up to PC's Enlightenment post:

I've had this pinned to my note board ever since I first saw it back in 1985.

(Pop quiz tomorrow?)

Tom M.

I’ll just say that IMHO kids should be taught to hear both sides and THINK critically - lest they become indoctrinated. Read The Closing of the American Mind: How higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today's students, Allan Bloom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Closing_of_the_American_Mind

And, as Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I've got to say about that."

NutmegCT · May 17, 2018

"I’ll just say that IMHO kids should be taught to hear both sides and THINK critically - lest they become indoctrinated."

I agree with you 101%. With today's instant gratification media operating 24/7, thinking critically is more important than ever.

Thanks.
Tom M.

maynard · May 18, 2018

I remember as a grad student, my advisor told me to sit in on one of his undergrad lectures on embryology. It was an hour of double talk. He would say things like the mesoderm develops into muscle cells, and a few minutes later would say the mesoderm never develops into muscle cells. The students were so involved in note taking they did not pay any attention to what he was really saying. I'd have loved to be in the room when they were going over their notes.

BTW, the lecture was on 4/1.

NutmegCT · May 18, 2018

Maynard - maybe this guy did the lecture?

Metanedie · May 25, 2018

I remember as a grad student, my advisor told me to sit in on one of his undergrad lectures on embryology. It was an hour of double talk. He would say things like the mesoderm develops into muscle cells, and a few minutes later would say the mesoderm never develops into muscle cells. The students were so involved in note taking they did not pay any attention to what he was really saying. I'd have loved to be in the room when they were going over their notes.

most of my classmates do the same! sure, it depends on a lecturer, but students have to hear and learn rather than just make notes. who needs this? yeah, sure, the professor should be also flexible in their criteria

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