I’m taking Cathy Davidson’s Coursera course on the History and Future of Higher Education, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on some thoughts about higher education that were prompted in a pedagogy class I took last semester. In the book , Jo Sprague discusses four potential goals of education: Transmit… Continue reading The Goals of Higher Education
Category: Education
4 Questions For the MOOC Dream and Higher Education
Let’s play a quick a game. See if you can guess when the following passage was written and to what technology it was referring. The writer hoped that students could be taught by: “a single inspiring teacher who speaks to the thousands of revived students through [a technology]. A whole nation of students might… Continue reading 4 Questions For the MOOC Dream and Higher Education
Behaviorism
Merry Earth Day! I really hope everyone takes some time today to ponder protecting the planet. Better yet, just go recycle something or plant a tree…or both! . In my first posting ever on Philosophy Matters, I discussed the interrelatedness of psychology and philosophy, and I mentioned some major schools of thought. Today, I want… Continue reading Behaviorism
Montessori Inspired Toys
If you’re a regular reader of the Philosophy Matters blog, you’ll know that I’ve recently become very interested in Montessori educational philosophy, and written a few book reviews about some Montessori related works. Recently the interest changed from professional to personal when I found out my significant other was pregnant with our first child! After… Continue reading Montessori Inspired Toys
An Educational Philosophy Contrast
vs. In what may be described as an overzealous use of the library, my first trip to Wake County libraries consisted of searching for “Montessori” and checking out every in-stock book that appeared. While mostly successful, a few books that weren’t really Montessori related slipped under the radar, namely Amy WIlson’s In… Continue reading An Educational Philosophy Contrast
Philosophy Book Review: The Montessori Method
As a follow-up to the reading of Dewey’s Democracy and Education, I recently read The Montessori Method. Written in 1914, it purports to be one of – if not the first – attempt at scientific pedagogy. The emphasis is on designing education around a method that actually works for the way children behave naturally, rather than… Continue reading Philosophy Book Review: The Montessori Method
#Winning: Thought-Priming to Influence Behavior
Merry Monday! JustHeath likes games. In fact, he is the co-sponsor for an Analog Gaming Club—get it?…non-digital. We recently had our last meeting for the semester (a tournament), and I recalled a famous psychological study involving a classic game. Today, I’m going to share with you Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg’s (1998) research about a… Continue reading #Winning: Thought-Priming to Influence Behavior
On our fear of insects
Lately I’ve been dealing a lot with overcoming fears, tiptoeing outside of my comfort zone, and loss. What a downer. On the flipside, I spend a lot of my day thinking about ways that I can get people to like insects as much as I do… and I know for some of you reading this… Continue reading On our fear of insects
Moral Monday: Kill Kindergarten or ‘Ssassinate Senior Year?
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya! Another heightened emphasis of Philosophy Matters is critical thinking, and today I’m going to attempt to highlight that with some oldies and goodies such as education and ethics. I should first mention that critical thinking is one of the major cruxes of most branches of psychology. Some may wonder,… Continue reading Moral Monday: Kill Kindergarten or ‘Ssassinate Senior Year?
Teaching By Walking Around
A recent article from Tomorrow’s Professor discussed a new model called Teaching By Walking Around, and looked at how this might be useful when looking at the differences between online and traditional classes: In the midst of a proliferation of cost effective online courses, universities will have to differentiate in order to charge a higher… Continue reading Teaching By Walking Around