The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Instructor's Use Of "Bomb" Reference Lands Him In Jail

A University of California, Davis, police declaration supporting the arrest of James Marchbanks describes the fear three students reportedly felt when he presented an envelope holding end-of-course evaluations by saying, "I have a bomb." But a letter reportedly signed by 13 other students in the class says Marchbanks was clearly using a figure of speech to present the documents that might "bomb" his career. What most of the class saw as a dramatic performance, however, three students apparently interpreted as a bomb threat. Read more at:
http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/2384100.html#mi_rss=Education

Grade Inflation Devalues The College Degree

About 40 percent of undergraduate grades at the University of Nevada, Reno last spring were A’s — a statistic some faculty say illustrates a national grade inflation problem devaluing college degrees. Others suggest that the grade distribution could be attributed to high-achieving students or improved teaching methods. The sheer number of A’s and B’s awarded last semester —  together 76 percent, according to UNR’s Office of Institutional Analysis — is a contrast to Nevada’s typical rankings in national reports on education. Some faculty think inflation started long before 1993, the earliest year for which institutional analysis figures are available. They say it stemmed in part from professors’ wanting to keep students exempt from the draft in the ’60s and college becoming more accessible throughout the years. Read more at: http://nevadasagebrush.com/blog/2009/12/01/rising-trend-grade-inflation/

Harvard Finally Opts For A Faculty Retirement Plan

Harvard University’s largest school announced yesterday that it is offering a retirement program for 127 professors, the first formal retirement program in the history of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The program - which includes options for faculty over age 65 to wind down their work over one, two, or four years - could result in a nearly 18 percent decrease of its 720-member Arts and Sciences faculty if all of those eligible opt to retire and the university chooses not to replace them. It follows a financial meltdown that resulted in the university losing 27 percent of its $37 billion endowment last fiscal year, though it remains unclear how much money the program would save the school. Read more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/12/03/harvard_to_offer_first_retirement_plan_for_professors/

Cherry Award Will Go To America's Best College Teacher

The Cherry award seeks out college teachers who, according to both students and fellow teachers, are especially good at making clear, forceful, inspiring, knowledge-rich classroom presentations that actually help students to learn. The finalists this year include, in addition to Prof. West, Roger Rosenblatt of Stony Brook University and Edward Burger of Williams College. Each has been asked to deliver a public lecture at Baylor and another lecture on his home campus. All three finalists emphasize that teaching is something you have to work at. It takes time to prepare. It takes time to practice. It takes time to process the feedback from students. Maybe that sounds obvious. But the truth is that many professors don't bother. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704402404574524402818418042.html#mod=todays_us_weekend_journal

Big Bucks For Clicker Research

A University at Buffalo science professor has received a $500,000 National Science Foundation grant to study the use of electronic audience-response devices in science classrooms.Clyde Herreid, co-director of UB’s National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, will head up a study focused on the impact of “clickers” while teaching science. Read more at:
http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2009/11/09/daily29.html

Shades Of Profscam

Months off the job, guaranteed! What an offer! Hundreds of Minnesota college teachers take paid leave, or sabbatical, every year. Deciding who gets to exercise this option is not always based on merit. It's a guarantee some Minnesota colleges agreed to and you're paying millions for it. Watch the video! See more at:
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1236697.shtml?cat=206

Cheat In This Course And You're Going To Hell For Eternity

Frustrated over cheating allegations, one professor at Middle Tennessee State University took the idea of a traditional honor code in a controversial direction. Suspecting that one of his MBA candidates had just cheated on an exam, Professor Thomas Tang had each of them sign a pledge that said if they had cheated, they'd be condemned to an eternity in Hell. Some students had called the department chair and complained that they were asked to sign this honor code they found offensive." Professor Tang admits he may have overreacted. Read more at:
http://www.wkrn.com/global/story.asp?s=11445552

Students To Faculty: We're Not Impressed By Your Use Of Technology

According to new research released Monday, only 38 percent of students indicated that their instructors "understand technology and fully integrate it into their classes." Students also rated that lack of understanding as "the biggest obstacle to classroom technology integration." Despite this, 74 percent of higher education instructors polled indicated that they "incorporate technology into every class or nearly every class," and 67 percent said they were "satisfied with their technology professional development. Read more at:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/11/03/students-unimpressed-with-faculty-use-of-ed-tech.aspx

Political Scientists Ponder Their Relevance

After Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, this month proposed prohibiting the National Science Foundation from “wasting any federal research funding on political science projects,” political scientists rallied in opposition, pointing out that one of this year’s Nobel winners had been a frequent recipient of the very program now under attack. Yet even some of the most vehement critics of the Coburn proposal acknowledge that political scientists themselves vigorously debate the field’s direction, what sort of questions it pursues, even how useful the research is. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/books/20poli.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Majority Of Faculty Just Not That Into Twitter

Despite the seemingly relentless barrage of hype surrounding Twitter, most faculty in higher education institutions are not using the microblogging service at all. In fact, according to a new study from Faculty Focus, most have never even tried it. In a survey of 1,958 higher education professionals conducted by Faculty Focus in July and August, 69.3 percent of respondents said they do not use Twitter in any capacity, and 56.4 percent haven't tried it at all. Some of the reasons faculty members do not use Twitter were that they don't see the relevance to education, that they think microblogging might contribute to poor writing skills, that they don't understand how to use it, or that they don't have time for it. Read more at:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/08/26/most-faculty-dont-use-twitter-study-reveals.aspx