tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post6615826547013529935..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: I'm Hiram and I'm Baffled By Those Last Week Escapees!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-86992406946862334212012-04-28T22:25:10.845-04:002012-04-28T22:25:10.845-04:00Other surprising questions I have been asked by pe...Other surprising questions I have been asked by people claiming to be college students:<br /><br />- What does "careen" mean?<br /><br />- What does "superfluous" mean?<br /><br />- What is the circumference of a circle? (I refused to answer, because it came from an engineering student: not knowing that it's two times pi times the radius is gross incompetence for an Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68794361752274298642012-04-28T21:16:01.443-04:002012-04-28T21:16:01.443-04:00Yeah, I know an astronomer at Space Telescope Scie...Yeah, I know an astronomer at Space Telescope Science Institute (the outfit on the campus of Johns Hopkins that runs Hubble Space Telescope) who gave a talk at a school in Tennessee. When she said that we are made of elements that have been cooked up in stars, the adults in charge stopped her in mid-talk, escorted her from the school, and told her that they'd "pray for her." One canAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-76605325655639876122012-04-28T09:42:01.777-04:002012-04-28T09:42:01.777-04:00I think it's even worse: I think they have bee...I think it's even worse: I think they have been so shielded from failure that the mere possibility of failing (the risk associated with trying something new) traumatizes them. I read a piece about this a while ago (The Atlantic, maybe?) that confirmed my own sense that this fear comes from their growing up in a world where all risk was minimized through child-proofing. I AM NOT SAYING THAT Lucy, Countess of Bedfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181713706519539554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-73018123241774114102012-04-28T09:37:43.737-04:002012-04-28T09:37:43.737-04:00A story making the rounds: http://www.thinkatheist...A story making the rounds: http://www.thinkatheist.com/profiles/blogs/bill-nye-bood-in-texas-forLucy, Countess of Bedfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181713706519539554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-50558978087756300442012-04-28T00:41:13.276-04:002012-04-28T00:41:13.276-04:00They also need to be told that:
- day and night a...They also need to be told that:<br /><br />- day and night are caused by Earth's rotation, which happens once every 24 hours,<br /><br />- Earth goes around the Sun in 365 days (and change), which is a year,<br /><br />- there is no air in space: Earth's atmosphere ends 60-100 miles above the surface of Earth,<br /><br />- the Sun provides heat and light for Earth and the other planets, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-70574539114953944652012-04-27T21:25:07.767-04:002012-04-27T21:25:07.767-04:00I agree with your assessment. I have the students ...I agree with your assessment. I have the students do a project, which is done by the professionals that they plan to become on a weekly basis. They had an hourlong lecture on the principles of the project and two examples.<br />Last year's class just plagiarized the example projects. This year's class bitched and moaned that I didn't give them enough instruction.<br /><br />I Professor Brown-Cowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844910674434653089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15987012687873994092012-04-27T20:32:34.890-04:002012-04-27T20:32:34.890-04:00"I need to remind them that when ice melts, i..."I need to remind them that when ice melts, it turns into water."<br /><br />Whoaa! Dude, I had no idea.<br /><br />I mean I had no idea anyone could get into college and still need to be told this. Mind you I do live in Tuktoyaktuk, where ice is sort of a fact of life. But still. Duude.Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-76690658654377851462012-04-27T17:56:09.592-04:002012-04-27T17:56:09.592-04:00Yer tellin' me. It makes teaching general-ed s...Yer tellin' me. It makes teaching general-ed science in any intellectually meaningful manner nigh-on impossible, since it isn't an exaggeration to observe that they know no science whatsoever. (I need to remind them that when ice melts, it turns into water.)<br /><br />Also, I remember when I was taking second-grade reading (in 1967), being told, "You learn from your mistakes." Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-1287523606491759082012-04-27T16:20:08.653-04:002012-04-27T16:20:08.653-04:00That problem is even worse Across the Seas. Taking...That problem is even worse Across the Seas. Taking any path less traveled is frowned upon more or less explicitly in many ways, and it can have serious side effects on how students (especially the weaker ones) view their potential. <br /><br />In some cases, though, my impression has been that it helps native Capybara squeakers to be trying new things in courses that are offered in Hamster. As Edna Expathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11438002061912782295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6351837867110725952012-04-27T14:45:54.350-04:002012-04-27T14:45:54.350-04:00I've noticed students won't TRY something ...I've noticed students won't TRY something new; they're too afraid. If I start doing something in class that they've never encountered or know they can master in 5 seconds, they shy away from it. Their "self of steam" is at stake here because they've been told all along that they're smart and can do it, rather than that they should work hard. So when they can'The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.com