Category Archives: Luis Martinez

DQ#12 Dutch System

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At most US colleges and universities, the faculty wield quite a bit of power. The Dean of Faculty is considered one of the most senior positions, and when professors earn tenure they often sit on committees that sway a lot of institutional decision making. Could American administrations ever succeed in wrestling power away from faculty, as the Dutch have?

“Talking up quality” is one of the more interesting points in the article. It seems that many Dutch, educational public relation offices are comfortable positioning themselves among the best in the world for enrollment purposes. We see this happening in the US too [ex. “UMBC (University of MD Baltimore College) is again recognized as a top university for undergraduate teaching in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges guide, ranking 8th nationally, tied with Duke University”]. Are rankings and bold statements unethical or a fair way of expressing institutional pride?

http://about.umbc.edu/what-others-say/

 

DQ#7 The Great Mismatch

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1) A lot of attention was placed on President Obama in the article. In the most recent presidential debate he stressed investing in education as a leverage to the 9% unemployment rate. While most agree that this approach will certainly have long term success, how long will it take, and can one term provide enough support of education to turn the employment rate?

2) Will the globalization of white collar jobs increase the quality of customer service and products we receive, and can the US compete with internationally skilled workers at that level or will it further gauge our employment rate?

DQ #6 PISA and TIMSS mathematical/science exams

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1) Should test administrators take variation of questioning into consideration. One of the defining differences of PISA and TIMSS is that PISA asks students to solve problems through real world contexts. Does this make a difference in outcomes and should all subject tests be related to practical situations?

2) Is it fair that exams like PISA and TIMSS exclude the measurement of other faculties? Should test administrators (of all standardized tests) consider adding sections that evaluate things like language proficiency and writing ability?

How some of us read math problems:

funny-math-problem-confusing-quote.jpg

DQ#5- International Baccalaureate

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IB courses are meant to introduce high school students to college level rigor and writing demands. If students master topics, and reach a certain score on their exams, many colleges and universities apply college course credit. Should students then have the freedom to take these courses earlier on in their high school careers in order to maximize college credits and save money at expensive institutions?

What is more beneficial to a high school student, AP or IB coursework? While the IB curriculum offers a more globalized perspective, the AP curriculum offers more variety with some schools listing up to 30 different courses on their profiles.

Discussion Questions: The Long Walk to School

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Regions around the world pose distinct needs. One area may necessitate a larger skilled/physical workforce over another in order to thrive. Should global organizations like the World Bank set uniform educational standards meant to be met by systems across the board?

Harvard’s Howard Gardner argues that eight categories define intelligence: logical-mathematical, spatial, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, inter and intra-personal, naturalistic, and existential. Do US colleges and universities value the logical-mathematical category most when evaluating candidates for admission? Are these categories equally meaningful, and do different cultures value some over others when assessing a student? LCM