TIPS Digest for Tuesday, August 05, 2008.
1. Random Thought: Hokey Pokey Teaching, V
2. Re: Did the "six degrees of separation" idea originate with Stanley
Milgram?
3. Is the "Skills Slowdown" the Biggest Issue Facing the Nation? ADDENDUM
4. Congo bongo/Thrilla Gorilla
5. Re: The Innumeracy of Intellectuals :: Inside Higher Ed
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Subject: Random Thought: Hokey Pokey Teaching, V
From: "Louis Schmier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 06:00:43 -0400
X-Message-Number: 1
Well, after being passionate about special students and the need to
accommodate to their special needs, it's back to hokey pokey teaching. I
see teaching with passion is composed of five basic elements: work,
vision, "wise reflection," imagination and creativity, and love. So,
let's start with a couple of reflections on work. Substantive hokey pokey
teaching without exertion is unbridled excitement and optimism. It¨?Ts
just Disneyesque, Jiminy Cricket lying on a window sill, staring out at
the dark sky, "wishing upon a star." Someone said to me recently, "You
know, so many students are just plain headaches. They demand so much of
my time. It's too much work." Well, you know, your head aches only if
you do not want to work at offering aid and comfort to a student. But,
when you gladly and willingly do, no student is a headache. It's as
Richard Bach wrote in Jonathan Livingston Seagull, "You are never given a
wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may
have to work for it, however."
To be sure, sometimes the effort seems effortless, and the labor doesn't
have the texture of seriousness. Sometimes, it looks like play; and,
sometimes it looks like it's nothing more than impromptu. Sometimes,
all people see is the madness, but don't understand either the structure
or the method to the apparent madness. But, hokey pokey teaching it's not
just walking into a classroom and magically letting it all happens by
itself, although at times others may think so.
Hokey pokey teaching, truly caring about each and every student, is
serious and demanding on. Make no bones about, it isn't a something "I
can do in my sleep;" it isn't one of those "anyone can do it" things; it
isn't simply "if you know it, you can teach it." The knowhow of teaching
does take a lot of time; it does demand a lot of constant effort and
commitment; it does need a lot of incessant energy; it does require
persistence and patience. Why should that be such a surprise to so many?
After all, some academic arduously researched, gathered, and organized
data, and then wrote it all up for presentation or publication. Someone
poured a lot of sweat into every made fortune. A lot of weary searching
went into every important discovery. Behind the magnificent work of art
is an artist who spent hour after hour, month after month toiling at
tedious and seemingly endless tasks. Behind the beautiful, soaring music
is a composer who struggled to arrange carefully each note, each chord,
and each tempo. Behind every book is an author who struggled with rewrite
after rewrite to insure every word fit precisely into the prose.
Should teaching be any different? It takes a lot of work to live, care,
and love; it is a lot of work to reflect, articulate, imagine, devise,
activate; it is a lot of work to prepare, design, deliver, evaluate to
what extent it worked or needs reworking; it is a lot of work to get to
know each student, to be in their thoughts and emotions; and so, it is a
lot of work to know of the currents students are swimming against in order
to offer the support and encouragement for each of them to have a chance
to make it.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier
http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/
Department of History www. therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ /
\/\
/ \/ \_ \/ /
\//\/ \ \ /\
//\/\/ /\
\_/___/__ \_ \_\/__\
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on
mole hills" -
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Subject: Re: Did the "six degrees of separation" idea originate with
Stanley Milgram?
From: "Christopher D. Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:13:18 -0400
X-Message-Number: 2
Dr. Thomas Blass wrote:
A Hungarian writer, Frigyes Karinthy , in an essay titled
"Chain-link", published in the 1920s, did suggest that any strangers
could be linked by a 5-person chain. Karinthy's essay was brought to
light by computer scientist Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, himself a
Hungarian, in his book "Linked". However , Milgram was not influenced
by Karinthy, and it is highly unlikely that he even knew about Karinthy.
Barabasi does not think it "highly unlikely" Milgram knew of Karinthy.
He addresses the issue specifically (p. 37). He notes that Milgram's
father was Hungarian, and that it would be quite unusual for Hungarian
of that generation NOT to know about Karinthy. He was a literary star in
Hungary. This does not amount to proof, but it puts the burden of proof
back on the person who claims that Milgram would not have known of a
figure who may seem "obscure"to us, but almost certainly was not to
members of Milgram's immediate family.
Best,
Chris
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada
416-736-2100 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
"Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his
or her views."
- Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton
=================================
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Subject: Is the "Skills Slowdown" the Biggest Issue Facing the Nation?
ADDENDUM
From: Richard Hake <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 14:48:33 -0700
X-Message-Number: 3
If you reply to this long (20 kB) post please
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of this post that may appear in your reply down
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ABSTRACT: Eugene Geis (2008) pointed out a
serious deficiency in my previous post "Is the
'Skills Slowdown' the Biggest Issue Facing the
Economic Competitiveness and Preservation of Life
on Planet Earth," writing: "You could've
attempted a paraphrasing of your concept of the
'Threat to Life on Planet Earth'.. ." Rather than
attempting to paraphrase the 22 references to
"Preservation of Life on Planet Earth" (as a
driver of education reform and gender equity) in
Part 2 of Hake & Mallow (2008), I list seven of
those references that reflect the work of Al
Bartlett, James Duderstadt, Arjun Makhijani,
Bill McKibben, Craig Nelson, Gus Speth, and
Edward Wilson.
****************************************
In my post "Is the 'Skills Slowdown' the Biggest
Issue Facing the Nation?" [Hake (2008)], I wrote:
"But, in my view, a BIGGER ISSUE. . . .[than the
'Skills Slowdown']. . . . and a more menacing
tectonic plate is the 'Threat to Life on Planet
Earth,' seldom mentioned by educational leaders.
. . . . . see e.g., "Drivers Of Education Reform
and Gender Equity: Economic Competitiveness and
Preservation of Life on Planet Earth" in Part 2
of Hake & Mallow (2008)."
In a PHYSOC post, Eugene Geis - aka "Quickness" (2008) responded:
"You could've attempted a paraphrasing of your
concept of the 'Threat to Life on Planet Earth'.
It might motivate me to download your 13 MB's of
pdf... Especially since it's the BIGGER ISSUE
alluded to in your abstract. . . . . And the
litany of subjects in Part 2 do not hint at a
synthesis into the apocalyptic phrase "Threat to
Life on Planet Earth." Please explain."
GOOD POINT! In Section C of "Drivers Of Education
Reform and Gender Equity: Economic
Competitiveness and Preservation of Life on
Planet Earth" in Part 2 of Hake & Mallow (2008),
(4.8 MB - not 13 MB), we give 13 references to
"Economic Competitiveness" (Section C1, pp.
14-20) and 22 references to "Preservation of Life
on Planet Earth" (Section C2, pp. 21-27 ) as
drivers of education reform and gender equity.
Rather than attempting to paraphrase the 22
references to "Preservation of Life on Planet
Earth," here are seven of those references that
reflect the work of Al Bartlett, James
Duderstadt, Arjun Makhijani, Bill McKibben,
Craig Nelson, Gus Speth, and Edward Wilson:
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111
1a. Bartlett, A.A. , edited by R.G. Fuller, V.P.
Clark, & J.A. Rogers. 2004. "The Essential
Exponential! For the Future of Our Planet,"
Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer
Education, Univ. of Nebraska - Lincoln
<http://scimath.unl.edu/csmce/exp.php>:
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is
our inability to understand the exponential
function." - A.A. Bartlett
1b. Bartlett, A.A. 2004. "Thoughts on Long-Term
Energy Supplies: Scientists and the Silent Lie:
The world's population continues to grow -
shouldn't physicists care?" Physics Today 57(7);
53-55; online at
<http://fire.pppl.gov/energy_population_pt_0704.pdf>
(336 kB). See also (a) the companion Physics
Today article by Paul Weisz (2004); (b) the
ensuing criticism of the views of Bartlett and
Weiss (and counters by those authors) in the
Letters section of Physics Today 57(11): 12-20,
online to all at
<http://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_57/iss_11/12_1.shtml>;
Bartlett (2004) wrote:
"The most sacred icon in the 'religion' of the US
economic scene is steady growth of the gross
national product, enterprises, sales, and
profits. Many people believe that such economic
growth requires steady population growth.
Although physicists address the problems that
result from a ballooning population-such as
energy shortages, congestion, pollution, and
dwindling resources- their solutions are starkly
deficient. Often, they fail to recognize that the
solutions must involve stopping population
growth."
2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
2. Duderstadt, J.J. 2000. "A University for the
21st Century." Univ. of Michigan Press; for a
description see <http://tinyurl.com/9lhpl >. On
pages 20-21 Duderstadt wrote:
SPACESHIP EARTH: There is mounting evidence that
the growing population and invasive activities of
humankind are now altering the fragile balance of
our planet. The concerns are both multiplying in
number and intensifying in severity: the
destruction of forests, wetlands and other
natural habitats by human activities leading to
extinction of millions of biological species and
the loss of biodiversity; the buildup of
greenhouse gases such a carbon dioxide and their
possible impact on global climates; the pollution
of our air, water, and land.
With the world population now at 6 billion, we
are already consuming 40% of the world's
photosynthetic energy production. Current
estimates place a stable world population at
about 8 to 10 billion by the late twenty-first
century, assuming fertility rates continue to
drop over the next several decades. Yet even at
this reduced rate of population growth, we could
eventually consume all of the planet's resources,
unless we take action. BECAUSE OF THIS OVERLOAD
OF THE WORLD'S RESOURCES, EVEN TODAY, OVER 1.2
BILLION OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION LIVE BELOW THE
SUBSISTENCE LEVEL, AND 500 MILLION BELOW THE
MINIMUM CALORIC INTAKE LEVEL NECESSARY FOR LIFE.
[Our CAPS.]
It could well be that coming to grips with the
impact of our species on our planet, learning to
live in a sustainable fashion on spaceship earth,
will become the greatest challenge of our
generation. This will be particularly difficult
for a society that has difficulty looking more
than a generation ahead encumbered by a political
process that generally functions on an
election-by-election basis, as the current debate
over global change makes all too apparent.
UNIVERSITIES MUST TAKE THE LEAD IN DEVELOPING
KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATING THE WORLD'S CITIZENS TO
ALLOW US TO LIVE UPON OUR PLANET WHILE PROTECTING
IT. [Our CAPS.]
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3. Makhijani, A. 2007. "Carbon-Free and
Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for US Energy Policy."
IEER Press. Online as a 4.4 MB pdf at
<http://www.ieer.org/carbonfree/index.html>. We
thank Hugh Haskell for calling our attention to
this book. EggheadBooks information at
<http://www.eggheadbooks.org/books/carbonfree.htm>:
"In a world confronting global climate change,
political turmoil among oil exporting nations,
nuclear weapons proliferation, nuclear plant
safety and waste disposal issues, the United
States must assume a leadership role in moving to
a zero-CO2-emissions energy economy. At the same
time, the U.S. needs to take the lead in reducing
the world's reliance on nuclear power. This
breakthrough joint study by the Institute for
Energy and Environmental Research and the Nuclear
Policy Research Institute shows how our energy
needs can be met by alternative sources. Wind,
solar, biomass, microalgae, geothermal and wave
power are all part of the solution. "Carbon-Free
and Nuclear-Free" is must reading for people
concerned with energy politics and everyone who
wants to take action to protect the planet's
future."
Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/3l6jd6>.
A good review by John Roeder, soon to be on the
"Teachers Clearinghouse for Science and Society
Education Newsletter"
<http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~lindenf/pse/>
can be download at <http://tinyurl.com/4ba8el> -
scroll to the bottom and click on
<Reviews(W08).doc>.
444444444444444444444444444444444444444444
4. McKibben, B. 2008a. "Civilization's last
chance: The planet is at a tipping point on
climate change, and it gets much worse, fast,"
Los Angeles Times, 11 May; online at
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-mckibben11-2008may11,0,7434369.story>.
McKibben wrote:
". . . . .all of a sudden, those grim Club of
Rome types who, way back in the 1970s, went on
and on about the "limits to growth" suddenly seem
... how best to put it, RIGHT (emphasis in the
original).
All of a sudden it isn't morning in America, it's dusk on planet Earth.
There's a number -- a new number -- that makes
point most powerfully. It may now be the most
important number on Earth: 350. As in parts per
million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
A few weeks ago, NASA's chief climatologist,
James Hansen, submitted a paper to Science
magazine with several coauthors. The abstract
attached to it argued -- and I have never read
stronger language in a scientific paper -- that
"IF HUMANITY WISHES TO PRESERVE A PLANET SIMILAR
TO THAT ON WHICH CIVILIZATION DEVELOPED AND TO
WHICH LIFE ON EARTH IS ADAPTED, PALEOCLIMATE
EVIDENCE AND ONGOING CLIMATE CHANGE SUGGEST THAT
CO2 WILL NEED TO BE REDUCED FROM ITS CURRENT 385
PPM TO AT MOST 350 PPM." [Our CAPS.]
See also McKibben's website <http://www.350.org/>.
55555555555555555555555555555555555555555
5. Nelson, C.E. 2006. "Celebration and
Reflection," MountainRise 3(1), online at
<http://mountainrise.wcu.edu/archive/vol3no1/html/nelson.html>.
Nelson concludes:
"For a variety of reasons, it is becoming much
clearer that major real world problems are
collectively worse than most faculty have
previously realized. These include global
climatic change, social inequity, national and
international disease situations and geopolitical
problems. Public discourse in a nation's capital
on these issues can be seen as a collective final
exam for the institutions of higher education in
that country. Most of the major players in the
national government, at least in the US, have an
undergraduate degree and many have a graduate or
professional degree. BUT POLICIES AND PUBLIC
DISCOURSE RARELY SEEM TO ADEQUATELY GRASP THE
COMPLEXITIES AND TRADEOFFS. [Our CAPS.] Perhaps I
am being too optimistic in suggesting that more
than a few faculty see SOTL . . . .[Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning]. . . . as a way of
focusing higher education on finding more
effective ways to foster fundamental outcomes
like critical thinking, engagement with the real
world and sophisticated ethical judgment. I, for
one, certainly hope that the effects of SOTL will
extend this far."
666666666666666666666666666666666666666666
6. Speth, J.G. 2008. "The Bridge at the Edge of
the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and
Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability." Yale
University Press, publisher's information at
<http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300136111>.
"How serious are the threats to our environment?
Here is one measure of the problem: if we
continue to do exactly what we are doing, with NO
growth in the human population or the world
economy, the world in the latter part of this
century will be unfit to live in. Of course human
activities are not holding at current levels-they
are accelerating, dramatically-and so, too, is
the pace of climate disruption, biotic
impoverishment, and toxification. In this book
Gus Speth, author of "Red Sky at Morning" and a
widely respected environmentalist, begins with
the observation that the environmental community
has grown in strength and sophistication, but the
environment has continued to decline, to the
point that we are now at the edge of catastrophe.
Speth contends that this situation is a severe
indictment of the economic and political system
we call modern capitalism. Our vital task is now
to change the operating instructions for today's
destructive world economy before it is too late.
The book is about how to do that."
See also Speth's website
<http://www.thebridgeattheedgeoftheworld.com/>:
"My point of departure in this book is the
momentous environmental challenge we face. But
today's environmental reality is linked
powerfully with other realities, including
growing social inequality and neglect and the
erosion of democratic governance and popular
controlS As citizens we must now mobilize our
spiritual and political resources for
transformative change on all three fronts." - Gus
Speth
"When a figure as eminent and mainstream as Gus
Speth issues a warning this strong and profound,
the world should take real notice. This is an
eloquent, accurate, and no-holds-barred brief for
change large enough to matter." - Bill McKibben
Amazon.com information at
<http://tinyurl.com/5v6m4w> - includes many
editorial reviews.
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7. Wilson. E.O. 1998. "Consilience: The Unity of
Knowledge." Knopf. Amazon.com information at
<http://www.amazon.com/Consilience-Knowledge-Edward-O-Wilson/dp/067976867X>.
Note the "Search Inside" feature. Wilson wrote:
"The global population is precariously large, and
will become much more so before peaking some time
after 2050. Humanity overall is improving per
capita production, health, and longevity. But it
is doing so by eating up the planet's capital,
including natural resources and biological
diversity millions of years old. Homo sapiens is
approaching the limit of its food and water
supply. Unlike any species before, it is also
changing the world's atmosphere and climate,
lowering and polluting water tables, shrinking
forests, and spreading deserts. Most of the
stress originates directly or indirectly from a
handful of industrialized countries. Their proven
formulas for prosperity are being eagerly adopted
by the rest of the world. The emulation cannot be
sustained, not with the same levels of
consumption and waste. Even if the
industrialization of the developing countries is
only partially successful, the environmental
aftershock will dwarf the population explosion
that preceded it."
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands.
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/>
REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2008. "Is the 'Skills Slowdown' the
Biggest Issue Facing the Nation?" online at
<http://tinyurl.com/5n85uj>. Post of 4 Aug 2008
to AERA-A, AERA-B, AERA-D, AERA-H, AERA-K,
ARN-L, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EdResMeth,
EvalTalk, Math-Teach, NetGold, Phys-L, PhysLrnR,
PHYSOC, POD, RUME, STLHE-L (abstract only),
TeachingEdPsych, & TIPS, & WBTOLL.
Hake, R.R. & J.V. Mallow. 2008. Gender Issues in
Science/Math Education (GISME): Over 700
Annotated References & 1000 URL's:
*Part 1 - All References in Alphabetical Order
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/GISME-5t-Part1.pdf> (8.5 MB);
*Part 2 - Some References in Subject Order
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/GISME-5t-Part2.pdf> (4.8 MB).
Eugene Geis (aka "Quickness). 2008. Re: Is the
"Skills Slowdown" the Biggest Issue Facing the
Nation? PHYSOC post of 5 Aug 2008 00:33:46-04;
online at <http://tinyurl.com/55etkh>. To access
the archives of PHYSOC one needs to subscribe,
but that takes only a few minutes by clicking on
<http://listserv.uark.edu/archives/physoc.html>
and then clicking on "Join or leave the list (or
change settings)." If you're busy, then
subscribe using the "NOMAIL" option under
"Miscellaneous." Then, as a subscriber, you may
access the archives and/or post messages at any
time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!
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Subject: Congo bongo/Thrilla Gorilla
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 20:11:05 -0400
X-Message-Number: 4
The disvovery of an estimated 100,000 gorillas in the Congo should be
welcome news to all.Now we should leave them alone.Never mind the
deliciousness of the meat-very high in protein.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach.Florida
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Subject: Re: The Innumeracy of Intellectuals :: Inside Higher Ed
From: Paul Brandon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 20:59:16 -0500
X-Message-Number: 5
One might distinguish between academics and intellectuals.
Intellectuals have been defined as someone who can talk with equal
ignorance about any topic.
On Aug 4, 2008, at 10:09 AM, Christopher D. Green wrote:
Here's a column from today's Inside Higher Ed that claims it is
socially acceptable for academics to know nothing about math and
science, but not to know nothing about art and music (and then gets
all self- righteous about the former while personally admitting to
the latter).
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/08/04/orzel
I'm don't think I fully agree with this fellow. On the one hand, I
know boatloads of academics who know nothing about art and music
and, on the other hand, I think that academics who proclaim their
ignorance of math and science "drop slightly in [the] estimation"
of their colleagues just as much as this columnist does when he
admits his ignorance of art and music (whether they "feel" it like
he does or not).
Still, it was an interesting read. It might have been more
interesting if it had been written by someone who thought that
remedying his own educational lacunae was at least as good an
approach as sheepishly admitting it and then immediately moving to
decrying those of the "other side."
Paul Brandon
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Minnesota State University, Mankato
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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