I found a very interesting graph yesterday. It's on "What we teach." vs. "What they actually need."

It's a perfect example of what we're struggling against.

I shared it with my students, and it sparked some interesting conversation--so I figured I'd share it. You can see it here (since I can't upload it with this post).

I teach at an engineering college, and am trying to share creative values with my students.

In general, our freshmen are very bright and hard working. They're a wonderful group, and I don't think I'd be happy teaching anywhere else. However, their previous educational experiences have largely ignored the spectrum of skills/knowledge in "What they actually need."

I heard this on the radio today--it was quite interesting. Some of you Tech Rhet folks may actually be able to follow up on this too...

NPR Interviews Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence

"Daniel Goleman, author of the book Social Intelligence, explains why human beings are hard-wired to connect, and how those connections can actually change our biology."

You can listen to it here.

I wonder, how might social networking impact "social intelligence," according to Goleman's theories/research?

Part One: The Academic Perspective

As college instructors, we've a personal interest in defining the role of today's universities.

My own academic backgrounds--the fields in which I have undergraduate and/or graduate degrees--are in Writing and Poetics, English, and Secondary Education.

However, I'm also a member of the business community. In the past, I've served as Director of Online Marketing and Content Generation for a national powersports dealership (we sold and delivered new and used ATVs, motorcycles, jet skis and jet boats to consumers all over the US), and I've continued to work as a consultant to a handful of online businesses since that time. This means that I've a professional interest in the "product" of universities/colleges--namely, the quality of the students' education--those whom I help make the decision to hire, or not.

June 16th's episode of NPR's "Talk of the Nation" was terribly interesting (you can listen to it here you can listen to it here).

The authors of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science and The Republican War on Science had something of a debate on the issues surrounding the pursuit of science (and education) in this country.

The scientific community hasn't been this politicized for a LONG time (I'm reminded of the trial of Galileo, the outcry against Darwin--the Monkey Trial of the 20th Century, and then again over Intelligent Design, in Dover, PA).

Online Journals and the Writing Classroom

This semester, I decided to try Web Biographies as an instructional aid. When I did, I noticed a marked improvement in my students' quantity—and quality—of writing. Over the years, (as graduate student, and now faculty) I've found that students want new ways to write, and to share what they've written.

Recently, my Nature and Human Values students (it's a course that's unique to the Colorado School of Mines) have been creating online journals for their own writing, and responses to the semester's reading list. The assignment is similar to the traditional paper based reader-response journals that I've asked students to write in the past.