Saturday, May 31, 2008

The particular and the general

Vicenç Font and Ángel Contreras wrote an article that was recently published in Educational Studies in Mathematics. The article is entitled "The problem of the particular and its relation to the general in mathematics education", and here is the abstract:
Research in the didactics of mathematics has shown the importance of the problem of the particular and its relation to the general in teaching and learning mathematics as well as the complexity of factors related to them. In particular, one of the central open questions is the nature and diversity of objects that carry out the role of particular or general and the diversity of paths that lead from the particular to the general. The objective of this article is to show how the notion of semiotic function and mathematics ontology, elaborated by the onto-semiotic approach to mathematics knowledge, enables us to face such a problem.

The particular and the general

Vicenç Font and Ángel Contreras wrote an article that was recently published in Educational Studies in Mathematics. The article is entitled "The problem of the particular and its relation to the general in mathematics education", and here is the abstract:
Research in the didactics of mathematics has shown the importance of the problem of the particular and its relation to the general in teaching and learning mathematics as well as the complexity of factors related to them. In particular, one of the central open questions is the nature and diversity of objects that carry out the role of particular or general and the diversity of paths that lead from the particular to the general. The objective of this article is to show how the notion of semiotic function and mathematics ontology, elaborated by the onto-semiotic approach to mathematics knowledge, enables us to face such a problem.

Two IJSME articles

Two articles has recently been published online in International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. Here are the titles and abstracts:
  • Lene Møller Madsen and Carl Winsløw have written an article called "RELATIONS BETWEEN TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND MATHEMATICS AT RESEARCH-INTENSIVE UNIVERSITIES". Abstract: We examine the relationship between research and teaching practices as they are enacted by university professors in a research-intensive university. First we propose a theoretical model for the study of this relationship based on Chevallard’s anthropological theory. This model is used to design and analyze an interview study with physical geographers and mathematicians at the University of Copenhagen. We found significant differences in how the respondents from the two disciplines assessed the relationship between research and teaching. Above all, while geography research practices are often and smoothly integrated into geography teaching even at the undergraduate level, teaching in mathematics may at best be ‘similar’ to mathematical research practice, at least at the undergraduate level. Finally, we discuss the educational implications of these findings.
  • Muammer Çalik, Alipaşa Ayas and Richard K. Coll wrote an article called "INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ANALOGY ACTIVITY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL CHANGE FOR SOLUTION CHEMISTRY CONCEPTS". Abstract: This paper reports on an investigation on the use of an analogy activity and seeks to provide evidence of whether the activity enables students to change alternative conceptions towards views more in accord with scientific views for aspects of solution chemistry. We were also interested in how robust any change was and whether these changes in conceptual thinking became embedded in the students’ long-term memory. The study has its theoretical basis in an interpretive paradigm, and used multiple methods to probe the issues in depth. Data collection consisted of two concept test items, one-on-one interviews, and student self-assessment. The sample consisted of 44 Grade 9 students selected from two intact classes (22 each), from Trabzon, Turkey. The interviews were conducted with six students selected because of evidence as to their significant conceptual change in solution chemistry. The research findings revealed statistically significant differences in pre-test and post-test scores, and pre-test and delayed post-test scores (p<0.05), but no differences between post-test and delayed test scores (p>0.05). This suggests that the analogy activity is helpful in enhancing students’ conceptual understanding of solution chemistry, and that these changes may be stored in the students’ long-term memory.

Two IJSME articles

Two articles has recently been published online in International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. Here are the titles and abstracts:
  • Lene Møller Madsen and Carl Winsløw have written an article called "RELATIONS BETWEEN TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND MATHEMATICS AT RESEARCH-INTENSIVE UNIVERSITIES". Abstract: We examine the relationship between research and teaching practices as they are enacted by university professors in a research-intensive university. First we propose a theoretical model for the study of this relationship based on Chevallard’s anthropological theory. This model is used to design and analyze an interview study with physical geographers and mathematicians at the University of Copenhagen. We found significant differences in how the respondents from the two disciplines assessed the relationship between research and teaching. Above all, while geography research practices are often and smoothly integrated into geography teaching even at the undergraduate level, teaching in mathematics may at best be ‘similar’ to mathematical research practice, at least at the undergraduate level. Finally, we discuss the educational implications of these findings.
  • Muammer Çalik, Alipaşa Ayas and Richard K. Coll wrote an article called "INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ANALOGY ACTIVITY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL CHANGE FOR SOLUTION CHEMISTRY CONCEPTS". Abstract: This paper reports on an investigation on the use of an analogy activity and seeks to provide evidence of whether the activity enables students to change alternative conceptions towards views more in accord with scientific views for aspects of solution chemistry. We were also interested in how robust any change was and whether these changes in conceptual thinking became embedded in the students’ long-term memory. The study has its theoretical basis in an interpretive paradigm, and used multiple methods to probe the issues in depth. Data collection consisted of two concept test items, one-on-one interviews, and student self-assessment. The sample consisted of 44 Grade 9 students selected from two intact classes (22 each), from Trabzon, Turkey. The interviews were conducted with six students selected because of evidence as to their significant conceptual change in solution chemistry. The research findings revealed statistically significant differences in pre-test and post-test scores, and pre-test and delayed post-test scores (p<0.05), but no differences between post-test and delayed test scores (p>0.05). This suggests that the analogy activity is helpful in enhancing students’ conceptual understanding of solution chemistry, and that these changes may be stored in the students’ long-term memory.

Summer, summer. I love the summer.

Hard to believe I'm coming up on the last week of my first year of teaching. I have a lot of mixed, confused feelings about it all. But most of all I'm ready for a good long break. The School of Bloggers are making travel arrangements for a trip to Guadalajara for Chris's sister's wedding, then on to Bolivia for the rest of the summer. We'll be there long enough to see the Urkupiña festival in mid-August, then get back just in time for staff development before school starts again!

Graduation's on Monday. I think I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief to see my seniors walking across that stage.

Friday, May 30, 2008

UW-Madison Grad Students Produce Local Food Map

Yet another connection between education and sustainable local agriculture... and it features two of my favorite things: food and maps.

Four University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate students in geography have produced what they call the "100-Mile Diet Map". It is an interactive, web-based map that features foods produced within 100 miles of Madison, Wisconsin. It also includes businesses such as farms, co-ops, supermarkets, restaurants, and breweries.

Their project is written about in a story posted on The Capital Times web site as well as by UW-Madison News.

You can also view an initial public version of the map here.

Yum.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Dumbest Generation?

Every generation thinks its teenagers are the worst.
The old have been wringing their hands about the young's cultural wastelands and ignorance of history at least since admirers of Sophocles and Aeschylus bemoaned the popularity of Aristophanes ("The Frogs," for Zeussakes?!) as leading to the end of (Greek) civilization as they knew it. The Civil War generation was aghast at the lurid dime novels of the late 1800s. Victorian scholars considered Dickens, that plot-loving, sentimental ("A Christmas Carol") favorite, a lightweight compared with other authors of the time. Civilization, and culture high and low, survived it all.
Is today's generation really the dumbest?

The Dumbest Generation?

Every generation thinks its teenagers are the worst.
The old have been wringing their hands about the young's cultural wastelands and ignorance of history at least since admirers of Sophocles and Aeschylus bemoaned the popularity of Aristophanes ("The Frogs," for Zeussakes?!) as leading to the end of (Greek) civilization as they knew it. The Civil War generation was aghast at the lurid dime novels of the late 1800s. Victorian scholars considered Dickens, that plot-loving, sentimental ("A Christmas Carol") favorite, a lightweight compared with other authors of the time. Civilization, and culture high and low, survived it all.
Is today's generation really the dumbest?

A different way of assessing student learning

is rather than by tests by portfolios and performances. Yesterday I attended a conference in Providence, Rhode Island co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Education which was mainly put on by the Coalition of Essential Schools, an organization which flows from the work of Theodore Sizer, who was one of the speakers.

I plan to write in depth about what I saw when I have time to organize my thoughts - I did not get home until 1 AM this morning, and I still have my own school responsibilities. I saw some examples of student performances and portfolios, I have where possible tried to use the approach in my own teaching, know there is literature that supports the approach, and mention right now that the state of Rhode Island now includes this as a graduation requirement.

But since I may not post my more detailed report for several days, and there is something of value tomorrow, I wanted to be sure if you are interested in performance assessment, whether as an educator, a parent, a student, a policy maker, or simply a citizen, tomorrow you will have a very special opportunity, and I wanted to give you the heads up now.

Here is the press release that explains what you can experience tomorrow:
To mark the end of this year’s National Exhibition Month, CES will host a unique web event on Friday, May 30th (2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific), allowing educators, policy makers, parents and students to see, in action, the power of exhibitions as a means of assessing student learning.

CES will webcast (http://shows.implex.tv/Qwikcast/router.aspx?WebcastID=1281)
an exhibition that occurred earlier in the month in which a student presents her Graduation Exhibition to a panel of evaluators and guests that determines whether she has met proficiency requirements. During the webcast, CES Executive Director Lewis Cohen will be available to answer questions about the exhibition in real time.

Gail Stafford, a senior at Francis W. Parker Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts, is the featured student in the webcast. Her exhibition is the culminating presentation of her year-long senior project that applies Professor Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to an analysis of modern dance, integrating the theory in an original choreography.

We invite the CES community to view the webcast this Friday!

***********************
Date: Friday, May 30th
Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific
Duration: 40 minutes
Log on to: http://shows.implex.tv/Qwikcast/router.aspx?WebcastID=1281


If you have any interest in a better way of assessing learning beyond the ubiquitous number two pencil and scantron, you might find it worthwhile to clear the time to watch this webcast.

Peace.

A different way of assessing student learning

is rather than by tests by portfolios and performances. Yesterday I attended a conference in Providence, Rhode Island co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Education which was mainly put on by the Coalition of Essential Schools, an organization which flows from the work of Theodore Sizer, who was one of the speakers.

I plan to write in depth about what I saw when I have time to organize my thoughts - I did not get home until 1 AM this morning, and I still have my own school responsibilities. I saw some examples of student performances and portfolios, I have where possible tried to use the approach in my own teaching, know there is literature that supports the approach, and mention right now that the state of Rhode Island now includes this as a graduation requirement.

But since I may not post my more detailed report for several days, and there is something of value tomorrow, I wanted to be sure if you are interested in performance assessment, whether as an educator, a parent, a student, a policy maker, or simply a citizen, tomorrow you will have a very special opportunity, and I wanted to give you the heads up now.

Here is the press release that explains what you can experience tomorrow:
To mark the end of this year’s National Exhibition Month, CES will host a unique web event on Friday, May 30th (2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific), allowing educators, policy makers, parents and students to see, in action, the power of exhibitions as a means of assessing student learning.

CES will webcast (http://shows.implex.tv/Qwikcast/router.aspx?WebcastID=1281)
an exhibition that occurred earlier in the month in which a student presents her Graduation Exhibition to a panel of evaluators and guests that determines whether she has met proficiency requirements. During the webcast, CES Executive Director Lewis Cohen will be available to answer questions about the exhibition in real time.

Gail Stafford, a senior at Francis W. Parker Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts, is the featured student in the webcast. Her exhibition is the culminating presentation of her year-long senior project that applies Professor Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to an analysis of modern dance, integrating the theory in an original choreography.

We invite the CES community to view the webcast this Friday!

***********************
Date: Friday, May 30th
Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific
Duration: 40 minutes
Log on to: http://shows.implex.tv/Qwikcast/router.aspx?WebcastID=1281


If you have any interest in a better way of assessing learning beyond the ubiquitous number two pencil and scantron, you might find it worthwhile to clear the time to watch this webcast.

Peace.

Obama on Teacher Quality

While teacher quality didn't make into much of the media coverage of Senator Obama, the topic was featured prominently in yesterday's speech on education. He discusses teacher residency programs, mentoring programs, differentiated compensation, and career ladders.

It would be nice to have a president in the White House who understands that it takes more than just accountability and testing to improve schools. It requires preparing teachers better throughout their careers, recruiting more qualified candidates into the profession, providing leadership opportunities, increasing and reforming teacher compensation, and stripping away classroom isolation by supporting teachers during their initial years in the profession.

Here's an excerpt:

To prepare our teachers, I will create more Teacher Residency Programs to train 30,000 high-quality teachers a year. We know these programs work, and they especially help attract talented individuals who decide to become teachers midway through their careers. Right here in [Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts], you have excellent teachers like Ike Ogbuike, who became a math teacher after working as an auto-engineer at Ford and completing a one-year, teacher-residency program.

"To support our teachers, we will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced, successful teachers with new recruits — one of the most effective ways to retain teachers. We'll also make sure that teachers work in conditions which help them and our children succeed. For example, here at MESA, teachers have scheduled common planning time each week and an extra hour every Tuesday and Thursday for mentoring and tutoring students that need additional help.

"And when our teachers do succeed in making a real difference in our children's lives, I believe it's time we rewarded them for it. I realize that the teachers in Denver are in the middle of tough negotiations right now, but what they've already proven is that it's possible to find new ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them.

"My plan would provide resources to try these innovative programs in school districts all across America. Under my Career Ladder Initiative, these districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as mentors to new teachers with the salary increase they deserve. They can reward those who teach in underserved areas or teachers who take on added responsibilities, like you do right here at MESA. And if teachers acquire additional knowledge and skills to serve students better — if they consistently excel in the classroom — that work can be valued and rewarded as well.

It would be nice to have a president in the White House who understands that it takes more than just accountability and testing to improve schools. It requires preparing teachers better throughout their careers, recruiting more qualified candidates into the profession, providing leadership opportunities, increasing and reforming teacher compensation, and stripping away classroom isolation by supporting teachers during their initial years in the profession.

Obama On Education

There are two stories in today's papers on Senator Obama's plans for education as the Democratic presidential nominee. (Has Clinton conceded yet?)

The first comes from the Washington Post. While the story is framed broadly around domestic policy and the headline ("On Policy, Obama Breaks Little New Ground") has a clear negative connotation, it offers up a hint of what's to come on education now that the campaign can see the light at the end of the tunnel:

Heather Higginbottom, who runs Obama's policy office at the campaign's Chicago headquarters, cited education as one area in which Obama offers ideas that are not traditionally Democratic, arguing that the problem is not all about schools or funding, but about parents who let their children watch too much television. She said his proposal to give teachers bonus pay if they receive special training or if their students score high on standardized tests is an idea that some liberal-leaning teachers unions oppose. And she said the campaign has brought "fresh thinking" on many issues, particularly on one of Obama's favorites: increased government transparency.

But Higginbottom said the campaign's emphasis is on practical solutions, not ideological points. "I know it's interesting from a political perspective to look left, right and center, but we want to put forward ideas that will move forward in Congress," she said. "And we have the potential to engage people in a way they haven't been engaged recently and give them the tools to participate."

David Axelrod, Obama's top political adviser, said that the campaign will devote more staff members to policy (there are now seven) and that the senator's speeches will increasingly highlight his proposals.

"The next six months is going to be about competing visions for this country," he said. "Obama is looking forward, and his policies will reflect that."

The second story comes courtesy of the Denver Post's coverage of an Obama campaign stop in Thorton, Colorado yesterday.

Obama used the town-hall event to tell about 400 people about his plans for education reform. He promised to fix the "broken promises" of No Child Left Behind, make math and science instruction a national priority, and encourage every child to learn a foreign language to better compete in a global economy.

While praising the goals of No Child Left Behind, Obama has criticized the program for not providing the funding to make it successful.

"We also need to realize that we can meet high standards without forcing teachers and students to spend most of the year preparing for a single, high-stakes standardized test," he said.

The Illinois senator said he would simplify the application process for financial aid for children going to college and give a $4,000 tax credit for students attending public universities and colleges. In return, the students would be required to do 100 hours of public service a year.

He also vowed to create a Service Scholarship program to recruit talented people into teaching and place them in overcrowded districts or struggling

"I will make this pledge as president to all who sign up: If you commit your life to teaching, America will commit to paying for your college education," he said to cheers.

For more on Obama's education policy plans, check out his official campaign web site here.

From SPM to Public Uni?

Read this report in the Star a few days ago. About 30,000 SPM and equivalent holders were accepted into the public university system. My question is this - How can we really be sure that a majority of these students are ready to enter university without any pre university foundation (such as STPM or matriculation)?

The 30,000 figure represents about 10% of the total student population in our public universities. Since there have been previous students who have been admitted with just an SPM certificate, the total number of such students might be as high as 20% of the public university system.

While the Higher Education Minister, Khaled Nordin, had emphasized that these students were chosen purely on merit, I have to take his statement with a bit of salt given Malaysia's poor record in choosing students purely based on 'merit', however it is defined.

Is there any reason why these students would be better qualified to go straight from SPM to a public university compared to those who choose to do their STPM or the matriculation program? 30,000 is not a small number. Surely not all of them can be regarded as top scorers i.e. scoring 9As and above. Surely many of the top scorers end up doing STPM and matriculation instead of choosing to apply to go straight into a public university.

If out of a cohort of about 300,000 students who take SPM and about 10% of that cohort goes straight to a public university, wouldn't that strike someone as worrying?

It would be interesting to track these SPM entries to see over a period of time whether they perform better or worse than those who enter with an STPM or matriculation certificate.

My sense is that this number is way too high and that many of these students could have done well with at least one year of a foundation or pre-university course.

I can't help but feel that this is another factor in contributing to the massive decline in the standards of our public universities.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Teachers' Pay

I put up a short post on the Ministry of Education's reply to my question with regards to raising teachers pay and pay-scale here (in my PPE blog).

So for those interested in the reply, you can visit the other site. ;-)

Let's Carnival!

The 173rd edition of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by Bluebird's Classroom.) has opened its midway!And don't forget to round out your educational experience by checking out The Carnival of Homeschooling.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Musical Elective of the Week

The Musical Elective of the Week is Neil Finn.

My family and friends are, of course, saying "What took you so long?" (and Sara is probably rolling her eyes). They know that Neil Finn is my favorite artist. And he is completely and utterly underappreciated -- especially in America. Finn is one of those rare talents who combines songwriting mastery and musicianship. He's a master pop craftsman, penning intelligent, personal, and provocative lyrics and pleasing your ear with fantastic melodic hooks. And he's been doing it successfully for three decades.

Neil Finn (who turned 50 today) is best known as the co-founder and lead singer/songwriter of the band Crowded House. The Crowdies, as they affectionately are known in Australia, formed in 1985 and wound down in 1996, but re-formed last year.

In Australia and New Zealand, Crowded House is a multi-platinum band, selling out stadium dates, and headlining last summer's Live Earth concert in Australia. In Europe, they are also mega-stars; for example, in 1994, Crowded House was named the BRIT Awards International Group of the Year--ahead of U2, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and R.E.M.

What made the Crowdies special was not only Finn's songwriting and musical prowess but also the stage presence and musical skills of the lads, including co-founder and drummer Paul Hester (whose life ended far too soon in 2005) and bassist Nick Seymour. The current line-up of Crowded House also includes Mark Hart, who joined the band prior to their 1994 album, and Matt Sherrod who replaced Hester as the band's drummer.

Crowded House's eponymous debut album was released in 1986 and offered up two top 10 U.S. hits, "Don't Dream It's Over" and the radio friendly "Something So Strong." They never reached such heights again in the states, lost amidst the grunge and rap of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Crowded House's second album, Temple of Low Men, was a critical success but a commercial disappointment, but includes such fantastic tracks as "Into Temptation," "When You Come," and "Better Be Home Soon."

Woodface
, the third album, was released in 1991 and made the band certifiable stars in Europe. For this album, Tim Finn--Neil's older brother--joined the band as an official member and co-penned a number of the tracks. It includes the stellar singles, "Fall At Your Feet," "Weather With You," "Four Seasons In One Day," and "It's Only Natural." Crowded House's fourth album, Together Alone, was released in 1994. It includes the track "Locked Out" (featured in the film Reality Bites) and the international hits "Distant Sun" and "Private Universe." After closing the first chapter of the band in 1994 with a "Farewell To The World" concert before nearly a quarter million fans on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 1996, Crowded House released Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House.

Crowded House reformed in early 2007 and released its fifth album, Time On Earth, later that year. The band's first studio album in fourteen years, it features the singles "Don't Stop Now" and "She Called Up."

Finn is a Kiwi, a native and current resident of New Zealand. He got his start at the ripe old age of 18 in his big brother Tim's new wave band Split Enz. In 1980, Neil actually helped launch the group into the pop stratosphere with its hit "I Got You" off the album True Colours.

In addition to being a band leader, Finn is also a solo artist. He has released two solo albums--Try Whistling This (1995) and One All (2002)--as well as a live album, Seven Worlds Collide, featuring a band including Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam), Johnny Marr (of The Smiths and currently of Modest Mouse), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (of Radiohead), Sebastian Steinberg (of Soul Coughing) and Lisa Germano.

Finn also has also released two albums--Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004)--with brother Tim under the moniker of the Finn Brothers. Stand-outs from the first album include "Suffer Never" and "Angel's Heap", and not to be missed from the brothers' second album are "Won't Give In" and "Part Of Me, Part Of You." The albums fully capture the vocal harmonies between the two brothers that made such Woodface-era Crowded House tracks as "Weather With You" and "It's Only Natural" so special.

And talent apparently runs in the family. Neil's son, Liam Finn, was named as one of 10 artists to watch for 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine. (Hmmm ... that could be a whole other Musical Elective!)

Happy listening....

------

Extra Credit -- Past Musical Electives of the Week:
Ray LaMontagne
Stuart Stotts
Dan Wilson
Kathleen Edwards

Say Goodnight, Hillary

For those who may have been off the planet out of town this past weekend, Hillary Rodham-Clinton's latest gaffe appears to confirm what many had already thought: Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama."My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary

Get Your Carnival Entries Submitted!

Entries for the 173rd edition of The Carnival Of Education (Hosted this week over at Bluebird's Classroom.) are due. Please email them to: karelleabiggs [at] charter [dot] net . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern) 6:00 PM (Pacific) Today. Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the

Monday, May 26, 2008

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Wolf Howling earned the most Council votes with Republicans Ponder The

Vice-Chancellor Selection

Finally I had my question on the status of the Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor and the Ministry's selection process answered today in writing by the Ministry of Higher Education.

My question to the Minister was
...bagaimana kedudukan kontrak Naib Canselor Universiti Malaya. Adakah seorang Naib Canselor baru akan dilantik, dan apakah cara pemilihan yang akan digunakan untuk mengenal pasti seorang akademik yang bertaraf "world class" untuk memulihkan mutu pengajian tinggi di Malaysia.
We have already received news blogged here earlier via the media that the UM vice-chancellor's contract has been extended by 6 months to 7th November 2008. Hence, the focus was on the Ministry's reply towards and its ability to shed light on its selection mechanism.
Cara pemilihan Naib Canselor yang dilaksanakan oleh Kementerian ialah membentuk satu Jawatankuasa Semakan/Carian bagi menilai prestasi Naib Canselor berdasarkan petunjuk prestasi utama (KPI) yang ditetapkan.

Sekiranya Jawatankuasa berpuas hati dengan prestasi Naib Canselor sedia ada, maka Jawatankuasa akan mengesyorkan kepada YB Menteri supaya perkhidmatan Naib Canselor sedia ada disambung.

Sekiranya Jawatankuasa tidak berpuas hati, maka proses carian calon-calon yang berkelayakan akan dibuat. Calon-calon tersebut kemudiannya akan ditemuduga dan dinilai berdasarkan kriteria-kriteria tertentu separti nilai dan sikap yang positif, pencapaian akademik, kepimpinan dan pengurusan, pengiktirafan di peringkat tempatan dan antarabangsa, artikulasi visi dan misi, kemahiran komunikasi dan jauga keperibadian yang unggul. Calon-calon yang berjaya akan disyorkan kepada YB Menteri untuk pertimbangan dan persetujuan.
I don't know about you, but I thought it was an answer that was as good as a "no answer".

In other words, the Minister was saying, if the evaluation committee is happy with the vice-chancellor's performance, his or her contract will be renewed, and if not, then a new candidate will be sought according to certain (but unspecified) criteria.

What type of answer is that? Are we more "enlightened" thanks to the highly informative answer given by the Minister?

What criteria is used to evaluate the vice-chancellor? How will the search/evaluation committee be set up? What are the criteria for VC selection? How are the candidates nominated and shortlisted? Will there be worldwide invitation for application? And I could go on and on, especially on how all of the answers to the above questions will priortise on the need for a 'world class' vice-chancellor as the first step towards stopping the continued deterioration of our higher education system.

The reply given by the Minister clearly showed two things.
  1. Firstly, he is not serious about the Parliamentary question and answer session for not having given an answer which shed any light on the issues raised.

  2. Secondly and more importantly, the new Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Khaled Nordin is not serious at all about reforms to our higher education system to narrow the quality gap of between our universities with that of those overseas, and clearly do not have the political will to achieve the goal of a world class university.
Having been following these issues relating to the quality of higher education in Malaysia closely for the past 3 years over 3 different Higher Education Ministers, I'd like to express my complete disappointment with the total lack of progress made by the Ministry in reversing the decline of our local universities.

"muscular philanthropy"

Posted, too, at SM:
Muscular philanthropy--that's what Fred Hess calls the kind of Walton-Broad-Gates phalanx that has as one of its goals the charterizing (rhymes with cauterizing) of American public schools, beginning first in the urban schools where voucher efforts have been unsuccessful so far. Bill and Melinda, the darlings of the neoliberal set, are a bit queasy regarding vouchers, having the ongoing history that they do with the education establishment. See, too, "How Many Billionaires Does It Take to Fix a School System," NY Times Magazine, 3/9/08.
Now charter schools are a different matter, particularly as we have elements of the AFT and the head of the SEIU, Andy Stern, on board with Steve Barr, Eli Broad, and the Gates Foundation to craft a corporate-controlled version of public schools for the poor and working classes at a 20 percent savings to the taxpayer (and a 20% cost to teachers). Bill and Melinda, in fact, gave $7.8 million to Green Dot Public Schools, Inc. last July. That's a nifty complement to the $20+ million already dished up by the Broad Foundation for the LAUSD charter takeover.

(Photo: Andy Stern (SEIU) looks on as Steve Barr, CEO of Green Dot Public Schools, Inc. presents Eli Broad a plaque for $10 million given at the first annual Green Dot Ball, November 2007, Los Angeles).

Now I don't know if you would label corporate control of the public schools as social control. I guess some would call it corporate socialism or just plain fascism. For those, however, seeking more evidence of Bill's boyish, if slightly creaky, charm applied to using private billions to buy the public good, here are a few additional links here, here, here. I wish I had time to summarize them for Dr. Anonymous, but I am going the beach in few minutes.

The saddest part of all this is that the corporate media outlets offer ample opportunity for Broad and others of his ilk to pump the KIPP charter chain gangs (Bill and Melinda gave $7.9 million to KIPP in 2004) as the modern day solution to the "negro problem." Ed Week has only a slightly more nuanced approach, as Tmao Essj points out in this blog entry from last June:
The June 13 issued of Education Week published an article on student attrition at KIPP schools, particularly the two in San Francisco and one in Oakland, that didn't bury the lede as much as it pretended it didn't exist. Somewhat surprisingly, all manner of bloggers and commenters performed the same intellectual sleight-of-hand.

The article is trapped behind a subscription wall, making it unlinkable, but Ed Week correctly reports that fewer than half of the kids that begin the Bay Area KIPP schools as 5th graders in 2003 make it to 8th grade in 2006. In the Oakland incarnation, the attrition rate climbs to 75 percent. The article ignores the fact that these lost students are overwhelmingly African-American males. The three Bay Area KIPPs lost 77, 67, and 71 percent of its Young Black Males (YBMs) during this time period.

That's the story Ed Week. That's the story Eduwonk. That's the story, KIPP PR fixers.

There's more Black males on the KIPP website than in the KIPP. . . .
Admittedly, these attrition rates for KIPP in the Bay Area are not as bad (or good) as they were at the Hampton Institute in 1900 in Virginia (or the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama), when one out of five students who entered those industrial education/teacher training camps earned certificates to permit them to brainwash black children throughout the South in the "dignity of labor," but you have to admit the KIPP numbers are pretty impressive stats. The washouts, of course, have an economic function, too, providing as they do the future customers in the privately-managed prison industrial complex that the technocrats have devised to replace, yet another, civic responsibility.

You can be sure, however, that those black and brown KIPP-sters who make it through the direct instruction gauntlet are no less ready than the Hampton graduates to do, as Booker T. Washington did, the work that is offered by the overseers whose respect must be earned--repeatedly. WORK HARD, BE NICE--indeed.

"muscular philanthropy"

Posted, too, at SM:
Muscular philanthropy--that's what Fred Hess calls the kind of Walton-Broad-Gates phalanx that has as one of its goals the charterizing (rhymes with cauterizing) of American public schools, beginning first in the urban schools where voucher efforts have been unsuccessful so far. Bill and Melinda, the darlings of the neoliberal set, are a bit queasy regarding vouchers, having the ongoing history that they do with the education establishment. See, too, "How Many Billionaires Does It Take to Fix a School System," NY Times Magazine, 3/9/08.
Now charter schools are a different matter, particularly as we have elements of the AFT and the head of the SEIU, Andy Stern, on board with Steve Barr, Eli Broad, and the Gates Foundation to craft a corporate-controlled version of public schools for the poor and working classes at a 20 percent savings to the taxpayer (and a 20% cost to teachers). Bill and Melinda, in fact, gave $7.8 million to Green Dot Public Schools, Inc. last July. That's a nifty complement to the $20+ million already dished up by the Broad Foundation for the LAUSD charter takeover.

(Photo: Andy Stern (SEIU) looks on as Steve Barr, CEO of Green Dot Public Schools, Inc. presents Eli Broad a plaque for $10 million given at the first annual Green Dot Ball, November 2007, Los Angeles).

Now I don't know if you would label corporate control of the public schools as social control. I guess some would call it corporate socialism or just plain fascism. For those, however, seeking more evidence of Bill's boyish, if slightly creaky, charm applied to using private billions to buy the public good, here are a few additional links here, here, here. I wish I had time to summarize them for Dr. Anonymous, but I am going the beach in few minutes.

The saddest part of all this is that the corporate media outlets offer ample opportunity for Broad and others of his ilk to pump the KIPP charter chain gangs (Bill and Melinda gave $7.9 million to KIPP in 2004) as the modern day solution to the "negro problem." Ed Week has only a slightly more nuanced approach, as Tmao Essj points out in this blog entry from last June:
The June 13 issued of Education Week published an article on student attrition at KIPP schools, particularly the two in San Francisco and one in Oakland, that didn't bury the lede as much as it pretended it didn't exist. Somewhat surprisingly, all manner of bloggers and commenters performed the same intellectual sleight-of-hand.

The article is trapped behind a subscription wall, making it unlinkable, but Ed Week correctly reports that fewer than half of the kids that begin the Bay Area KIPP schools as 5th graders in 2003 make it to 8th grade in 2006. In the Oakland incarnation, the attrition rate climbs to 75 percent. The article ignores the fact that these lost students are overwhelmingly African-American males. The three Bay Area KIPPs lost 77, 67, and 71 percent of its Young Black Males (YBMs) during this time period.

That's the story Ed Week. That's the story Eduwonk. That's the story, KIPP PR fixers.

There's more Black males on the KIPP website than in the KIPP. . . .
Admittedly, these attrition rates for KIPP in the Bay Area are not as bad (or good) as they were at the Hampton Institute in 1900 in Virginia (or the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama), when one out of five students who entered those industrial education/teacher training camps earned certificates to permit them to brainwash black children throughout the South in the "dignity of labor," but you have to admit the KIPP numbers are pretty impressive stats. The washouts, of course, have an economic function, too, providing as they do the future customers in the privately-managed prison industrial complex that the technocrats have devised to replace, yet another, civic responsibility.

You can be sure, however, that those black and brown KIPP-sters who make it through the direct instruction gauntlet are no less ready than the Hampton graduates to do, as Booker T. Washington did, the work that is offered by the overseers whose respect must be earned--repeatedly. WORK HARD, BE NICE--indeed.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Ed Links (Belated)

These have been piling up. This is part I

Working Memory Has Limited 'Slots'

A new study shows how our very short-term "working memory," which allows the brain to stitch together sensory information, operates. The system retains a limited number of high-resolution images for a few seconds, rather than a wider range of fuzzier impressions. Humans rarely move their eyes smoothly. As our eyes flit from object to object, the visual system briefly shuts off to cut down visual "noise," said one of the psychologists. So the brain gets a series of snapshots of about a quarter-second, separated by brief gaps.

Why We Don't Always Learn From Our Mistakes

If you are struggling to retrieve a word that you are certain is on the tip of your tongue, or trying to perfect a slapshot that will send your puck flying into a hockey net, or if you keep stumbling over the same sequence of notes on the piano, be warned: you might be unconsciously creating a pattern of failure, a new study reveals. Researchers find that practice doesn't always make perfect; sometimes the effort instills a pattern that dooms us to failure.

Overweight Kids Need Less Intensive Exercise For Effective Weight Loss, Study Suggests

Overweight kids are better off doing less intensive exercise if they are to shed the pounds effectively, suggests a study of pubescent boys. The researchers assessed the rate at which fat was burned (fat oxidation) during graded leg cycling exercises in thirty 12 year old boys, 17 of whom were obese. The others were lean and healthy.

Poor Kids Four Times As Likely To Be Seriously Injured On Roads As Rich Kids, UK Study Shows

Rates of serious injury among child pedestrians in poor areas of England are four times as high as those among children in affluent areas, finds new research. The findings are based on an analysis of hospital admission rates for children aged up to 15 between 1999 and 2004. Almost 664,000 children up to the age of 15 were admitted to hospital during this period, of which almost 8,000 were for serious injuries.

Why High School Boys Dodge Gym Class

As obesity and inactivity among North America's youth becomes a growing concern, new research is asking why some high school boys are reluctant to participate in physical education classes. And while much of the research being publicly debated links the inactivity to television and computer use, one professor is examining the relationship between perceived masculinity, body image, and health.

New Research Dispels Myth That Cigarettes Make Teenage Girls Thinner, But Smoking May Stunt Growth Of Teenage Boys

New research shows teenage girls who smoke cigarettes are no more likely to lose weight than girls who don't smoke, dispelling a commonly-held belief. In addition, boys who smoke cigarettes show a decrease in height as well as body mass index (BMI). These findings could have important public health implications, especially since many young girls cite weight control --- or the desire to be runway model thin --- as a reason for taking up smoking.

Boosting Self-esteem Can Backfire In Decision-making

Smart business leaders understand that confidence affects decision-making and ultimately a company's earnings. But giving employees positive feedback in the hopes of promoting better decisions sometimes can backfire, suggests new research. Positive feedback actually can escalate perceived threats to the ego and increase the need to prove that a questionable decision was the right one.

One Bad Experience Linked To Sniffing Out The Danger

Each human nose encounters hundreds of thousands of scents in its daily travels perched front and center on our face. Some of these smells are nearly identical, so how do we learn to tell the critical ones apart? Something bad has to happen. Then the nose becomes a very quick learner. New research shows a single negative experience linked to an odor rapidly teaches us to discriminate that odor from similar ones.

Neurons Hard Wired To Tell Left From Right

It's well-known that the left and right sides of the brain differ in many animal species and this is thought to influence cognitive performance and social behavior. For instance, in humans, the left half of the brain is concerned with language processing whereas the right side is better at comprehending musical melody. Now scientists have pinpointed for the first time, the left/right differences in how brains are wired at the level of individual cells.

Robotic Minds Think Alike?

Most schoolchildren struggle to learn geometry, but they are still able to catch a ball without first calculating its parabola. Why should robots be any different? Researchers have developed an artificial cognitive system that learns from experience and observation rather than relying on predefined rules and models.

Teenage Risk-taking: Teenage Brains Really Are Different From Child Or Adult Brains

Many parents are convinced that the brains of their teenage offspring are different than those of children and adults. New data confirms that this is the case. A new article describes how brain changes in the adolescent brain impact cognition, emotion and behavior.

Preschool Kids Do Better When They Talk To Themselves, Research Shows

Parents should not worry when their pre-schoolers talk to themselves; in fact, they should encourage it, says a new study. The study shows that children do better on motor tasks when they talk to themselves out loud than when they are silent. Researchers also looked for the first time at the ways that autistic children talk to themselves and the effectiveness it has on the way they do things.

Compassion Meditation Changes The Brain

Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study suggests the answer is yes. Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states, according to new research.

Brain's 'Sixth Sense' For Calories Discovered

The brain can sense the calories in food, independent of the taste mechanism, researchers have found in studies with mice. Their finding that the brain's reward system is switched on by this "sixth sense" machinery could have implications for understanding the causes of obesity. For example, the findings suggest why high-fructose corn syrup, widely used as a sweetener in foods, might contribute to obesity.

Playing Numerical Board Games Boosts Number Skills Of Low-income Preschoolers

A study conducted with low-income preschoolers attending Head Start found that certain numerical board games increased early math learning. Board games with consecutively numbered, linearly arranged spaces helped children learn about counting, identifying numerals and comparing the sizes of numbers. Children playing an identical game that varied in color rather than number did not improve in these areas. Playing such board games could help lessen discrepancies in early math learning, which predicts later math achievement.

Seeing May Be Believing -- But Is It The Same As Looking?

If you see something, it's because you're looking at it, right? A recent study has established that while people do tend to notice objects within their gaze, it is the assumptions they make about their environment that affects their perceptions. People are biased towards believing that they were looking directly at what they have seen.

Children Who Bully Also Have Problems With Other Relationships

Children who bully were found to have conflict in relationships with their parents and friends, and also to associate with others who bully. Researchers looked at 871 students for seven years, beginning at age 10, and found that most children engage in bullying at some point. The research underscores that bullying is a "relationship problem" that calls for interventions targeting the aggressive behavior, social skills, and problem-solving skills, and also on bullying children's strained relationships.

Youth's Social Problems Contribute To Anxiety And Depression

A longitudinal study found that individuals with social problems in childhood and adolescence were at increased risk for anxiety and depression in young adulthood. Researchers followed 205 8- to 12-year olds for 20 years and conducted detailed interviews to examine how anxiety and depression related to social competence over time. The relationship between decreased social competence and "internalizing problems" remained the same when explanations including intellectual functioning, quality of parenting, social class, were accounted for.

Antisocial Conduct And Decision Making About Aggressive Behavior Influence Each Other In Teens

Antisocial behavior was previously thought to be unchangeable in the teenage years. New findings suggest that social decision making and behavior reciprocally influence each other throughout adolescence. The study of 522 boys and girls in 7th through 12th grades utilized parent questionnaires and self-report measures to examine teenagers' judgments and behavior. The relation between decision-making and aggressive behavior supports the need for interventions that change thinking in antisocial adolescents to prevent aggressive responses in behavior.

'Digital Skills Divide' Emerging

While the "digital divide" may be narrowing in terms of access to the Internet, a significant "digital skills divide" is emerging. Researchers found the higher the socio-economic status, the greater the time spent on the Web and the more sophisticated the search and evaluation skills. Google was the favored search engine by parents in the high socio-economic group.

Adolescents With Chronic Insomnia Report 'Twofold To Fivefold' Increase In Personal Problems

Chronic insomnia is costing adolescents more than sleep. It's been linked to a wide range of physical, psychological and interpersonal problems, according to public health researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, who completed the first prospective study of adolescents with persistent sleep problems. Documenting a "twofold to fivefold" increase in personal problems among adolescents with persistent sleeplessness, public health researchers say they have completed the first prospective study demonstrating the negative impact of chronic insomnia on 11 to 17 year olds. More than one fourth of the youths surveyed had one or more symptoms of insomnia and almost half of these youngsters had chronic conditions.

Language Feature Unique To Human Brain Identified

Researchers have identified a language feature unique to the human brain that is shedding light on how human language evolved. The study marks the first use of diffusion tensor imaging, a noninvasive imaging technique, to compare human brain structures to those of chimpanzees, our closest living relative.

Color Vision System Independent Of Motion Detection in Eye Sight

The vision system used to process color is separate from that used to detect motion, according to a new study. The findings run counter to previous scholarship that suggested motion detection and color contrast may work in tandem.

Childhood Personality Can Predict Important Outcomes In Emerging Adulthood

A new study in the Journal of Personality reveals the extent to which children's personality types can predict the timing of key transitional moments between childhood and adulthood. The 19-year longitudinal study illustrated that childhood personality types were meaningfully associated with the timing of the transitions.

We Help Friends Due To Empathy; Relatives Due To Expectation Of Reciprocity

Empathy is an emotional reaction to the plight of others. Empathy can lead to altruistic behavior, i.e. helping someone with the sole intention of enhancing that person's wellbeing. If we see people in difficulty, for example, we feel the same emotions, and this may prompt us to help them. Yet the relationship between empathy and altruism is still far from clear. One young psychologist has researched the topic and concluded that when we help friends in need, we are prompted by feelings of empathy, and that when we help relatives we do so because we have expectations of reciprocity.

Brains Are Hardwired To Act According To The Golden Rule

Wesley Autrey, a black construction worker, a Navy veteran and 55-year-old father of two, didn't know the young man standing beside him. But when he had a seizure on the subway platform and toppled onto the tracks, Autrey jumped down after him and shielded him with his body as a train bore down on them. Autrey could have died, so why did he put his life on the line -- literally -- to save this complete stranger?

Hyperactive Girls Face Problems As Adults, Study Shows

Young girls who are hyperactive are more likely to get hooked on smoking, under-perform in school or jobs and gravitate towards mentally abusive relationships as adults, according to a new study.

Comprehensive Sex Education Might Reduce Teen Pregnancies, Study Suggests

New research suggests that comprehensive sex education might lead to less teen pregnancy, and there are no indications that it boosts the levels of sexual intercourse or sexually transmitted diseases. "It is not harmful to teach teens about birth control in addition to abstinence," said the study's lead author. Parents and educators have long argued over whether students should get instruction in birth control or simply learn how to say no. At issue is which approach will best postpone sex.

Children With Healthier Diets Do Better In School, Study Suggests

A new study in the Journal of School Health reveals that children with healthy diets perform better in school than children with unhealthy diets. Students with an increased fruit and vegetable intake and less caloric intake from fat were significantly less likely to fail the literacy assessment.