IntenseDebate - claudreif

13 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - Buy the Book · 0 replies · +1 points

Thank you, Charles. It\'s rather amazing how people sometimes line up about the book. Among adjuncts, there\'s clear support. Among the tenured, it depends....The head of an adjuncts union at a community college in California said something very smart to me. \"What we need is a few less rights for the tenured and a few more for adjuncts.\" Of course, the disparity isn\'t the only thing wrong with the American Way of Higher Education, but it is at the core of a lot of what\'s wrong. It always amazes me that people who can be so strong for all kinds of social justice around the globe, don\'t see what\'s happening on their own Quad.

13 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - Andrew Hacker Writes I... · 0 replies · +1 points

Thanks for writing. Andrew has certainly opened up a firestorm of debate on thie issue. We appreciate your open/thinking tone. Many who wrote us were quite hysterical about it. It was than saying maybe football should just be a club sport. Best, CD

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - ANDREW HACKER SPEAKS O... · 0 replies · +1 points

Our own view, which we put forward in "Higher Education?" is that the four years of post-secondary education would best be spent in a liberal arts education. We think 18 year olds are too young to be making lifetime commitments; that they should be sampling different ideas and trying out the teachings of our elders. Graduate school is a better place for making career choices.

That said, I should identify that I teach in a graduate school of international affairs. So I have a bias. Still, as far as undergraduate major goes, at least international affairs can include many liberal arts courses--languages, anthropology, economics, religion, political science, sociology, statistics.

What troubles Andrew and myself is 18 year olds opting to be engineers or business majors or food science concentrators. That's turning college into a trade school and our society can afford to do better.

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - Spring Update from Cla... · 0 replies · +1 points

Hello: Thank you for our note. What we're doing is a book that we're tentatively calling, "The Math Mystique," and we're looking at everything about the way math is taught in our high schools and colleges.

We're just starting to research the book together now--though Andrew has been working on it, on and off, gathering ideas for about a decade.

We might like to be in touch with you down the track for some of your thoughts.

Meanwhile, thank you so much for being as kind as to review "Higher Education?" on Powell's.com. It is gratifying to still, at this late stage, get these kind write-ups and we're thrilled that the book is still out there and encouraging much-needed discussion.

Best, Claudia Dreifus

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - Queens College Honors ... · 0 replies · +1 points

I hope its not too late to thank you for your kind words, Joshua. Andrew loves to teach, enjoys his students. Both of us can't understand why so many of our colleagues regard teaching as almost a...punishment. It's life-affirming work, an absolute joy.

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - Opinion Piece in Los A... · 1 reply · +1 points

Dear Mr. Moravec:

Those of us who've been watching the events in California are horrified with how things have gone there.

Every negative scenario seems to have been played out in the worst possible way for students and teachers. It would help if citizens lent their voices in a stronger way to the idea of public higher education and if top administrators and senior faculty responded with greater generousity to the crisis. .

We wish you our personal best. CD

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - The Student Loan Crisi... · 0 replies · +1 points

Dear Gyan Central:

It IS a shame. As a society, we should not be indenturing the next generation. That's wrong. Claudia Dreifus

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - JOIN THE HIGHER EDUCAT... · 0 replies · +1 points

Thanks for your note, CD

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - The Self-Exam That Hig... · 0 replies · +1 points

Dear Jeff Waite:

Thanks for your note. It made our day. Best, Claudia D.

14 years ago @ Highereducationquestio... - Springing Into a New P... · 0 replies · +1 points

Thank you, Kevin. The book is now out and in bookstores and we're getting a lot of terrific feedback. Let us know what you think of it with the additional chapter and updates. Best, Claudia Dreifus, August 15, 20011

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