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Tag Archives: teaching
Evolution Outside of the Science Classroom
If you’re a college instructor, and the subject of evolution comes up in a class, and you are not a scientist yourself, what should you say about it to your students? Here are some things that might help you think … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, college, critical thinking, Darwin, evolution, God, philosophy, science, teaching
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How to Really Make a World of Humanists: Helen Vendler Urges Training in Close Reading
In a recent essay for Harvard Magazine, the great Helen Vendler pushes back against our teach-to-the-test/Twitter-texting culture, eloquently calling on parents and teachers, including those teaching college, to train young people in close, as opposed to merely proficient, reading: Without reading, there … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, critical thinking, English, freedom, helen vendler, humanism, literature, parenting, reading, reason, teaching
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Critical Thinking in the Classroom Watch: What Miguel Aguilar Does
In the Los Angeles Times this weekend is an article about an unusually successful 5th grade teacher in LA Unified, Miguel Aguilar, and I notice that he very specifically teaches critical thinking to his students. Here, for example, is how the Times describes … Continue reading
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Tagged education, miguel aguilar, pedagogy, teachers, teaching, what the best teachers do
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Two Questions for Professors: Are You Demanding and Do You Teach Critical Thinking?
The following is in Salon today: [W]hat if the downward trend in learning extends into the echelons of higher education? That’s what Richard Arum argues in “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.” Arum, a sociology and education professor at … Continue reading
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Tagged college, critical thinking, education, professors, reason, teaching, United States, university
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In praise of Chateauneuf (Voltaire’s godfather and tutor)
Below are some rather impious lines from La Moisade, a 17th century French satirical poem (author unknown). It opens with this sass of Mosaic legislation: A teaching so irrelevant Shall not my doubts destroy? With empty sophism thou shalt not My reason … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, Catholicism, child rearing, critical thinking, God, humanism, Jesus, Moses, skepticism, teaching, the Bible, Voltaire
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Lecturing Doesn’t Work?
The NY Times reports today that, at M.I.T, the traditional freshman physics lecture class of 300 students or more is being replaced by hands-on learning in small groups. Money quote: The physics department has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with … Continue reading
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Tagged bob dylan, college, college life, education, evolution, nostalgia, physics, science, teaching, teaching methods, the times they are a changin
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Prometheus Unbound 