Category: education

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In which I announce my candidacy for University Provost, and make a serious point about salaries as well

Our Provost at the University of Oregon has stepped down, and there’s a call for nominations for a new one. The search will be internal, i.e. the next provost will be a UO faculty member. Bill Harbaugh — economics professor, president of the University Senate, and muckracking journalist — tossed his hat into the ring … Continue reading In which I announce my candidacy for University Provost, and make a serious point about salaries as well

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Local trends in college majors (Or: Do Oregon students choose offbeat degrees?)

[Update, Feb. 4, 2023: See the new & improved version of this post, here!] A remarkable graph I came across a few weeks ago, copied below, shows the changes in the numbers of students majoring in various topics between 2011 and 2017. Part of an insightful article by Benjamin Schmidt titled “The History BA Since … Continue reading Local trends in college majors (Or: Do Oregon students choose offbeat degrees?)

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Guess the Major! (A quiz)

Which University of Oregon department saw its number of undergraduate degrees awarded per year plummet from 82 in 2004 to 22 in 2008, before rebounding to 85 in 2017? The answer is among many that can be gleaned from UO’s excellent Office of Institutional Research website. After conversations in my own department (Physics) about numbers … Continue reading Guess the Major! (A quiz)

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Cite this post! (On publication metrics)

All departments at the University of Oregon are being called upon to create metrics for evaluating our “scholarship quality.” We’re not unique; there’s a trend at universities to create quantitative metrics. I think this is neither necessary nor good — in brief, quality is better assessed by informed, narrative assessments of activity and accomplishments, and … Continue reading Cite this post! (On publication metrics)

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On Teaching Evaluations (with a bonus guest essay…)

A long post with some thoughts on student evaluations of teaching, and a guest essay on similar themes. Part 1: I suggest that such evaluations should be done a year after a course, rather than immediately at its end. Part 2: (Guest post) On the difference between “good” and “effective” teaching, and our failure to differentiate … Continue reading On Teaching Evaluations (with a bonus guest essay…)