[Pay graphs updated Aug. 19, 2026, described below.] The University of Oregon (UO) has budget problems, a shortfall of around 25 million dollars per year that will expand if unchecked about 65 million dollars per year, driven largely by falling out of state enrollment (link). For scale, UO’s total annual budget is around $1.8B, and … Continue reading Vice Presidents Flourish at the University of Oregon
If you’ve ever wondered: What has the enrollment in the introductory “Physics with calculus” (PHYS 251) course at the University of Oregon (UO) been over the past 30 years? What about Business Administration 101? You’re now in luck, because I’ve made an online dashboard that allows you to plot the enrollment history for any UO … Continue reading A historical course enrollment visualizer
What makes one microscope better than another? A few weeks ago I co-ran a week-long Physics and Human Physiology day camp for high school students, part of the University of Oregon’s “SAIL” program that especially targets low-income students. I’ve written about SAIL before (2019, 2017, 2014) — this was our 14th Physics + Human Physiology … Continue reading A Few Flavors of Microscopes — SAIL recap, 2023
Which college majors have exploded in popularity over the past decade and which have shrunk? Over the past two posts (#1, #2) I’ve discussed my analyses of the number of degrees awarded in various fields at US “R1” universities (“very high research activity”) between 2011 and 2021. I’ve wondered how I could convey the overall … Continue reading College Major Trends: The Movie
In my last post, I plotted trends in various college majors, comparing how the numbers of degrees awarded in a range of subjects have grown or shrunk over the decade 2011-2021. I compared my university, the University of Oregon, and other R1 (“Very high research activity”) universities. This post focuses on computer science and closely … Continue reading 10 Double the number of Computer Science majors / 20 GOTO 10
About four years ago, I looked into data on how US college students’ choice of majors had changed since 2011 and whether the University of Oregon (UO) differs notably from other R1 (Carnegie “Very High Research Activity”) universities. The old post is here, but there’s no need to look at it. I’m now revisiting this … Continue reading Majors at [Your Ad Here] U. of Oregon, 2011-2021
When I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997, non-California-residents made up about 10% of the undergraduate population [1]; the fraction now is 25% [2]. Here at the University of Oregon (UO), also a public university, out-of-state undergraduates are 44% of the student body. Why have these numbers increased so much at … Continue reading Graphs about out-of-state college students and money
[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?)
Assessing exams I’m fond of analyzing the outcomes of exams I give. My favorite assessment is to look at how the score on each exam question correlates with the overall total score, and to plot this correlation coefficient versus the fraction of students who got that question correct. Roughly, I’d like the plot to turn … Continue reading Graphs and Grading: Winter 2016
What makes a good exam question? Not surprisingly, I try to write exams that most students who are keeping up with the course should do well on — almost by definition, the exam should be evaluating what I’m teaching. But I also want the exam to reveal and assess different levels of understanding; it would … Continue reading What have I got in my pocket?
![Majors at [Your Ad Here] U. of Oregon, 2011-2021](https://eighteenthelephant.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bottle_redliquid_inset.png?w=256&h=256&crop=1)
The Eighteenth Elephant 