BrokenArts on 23/5/2010 at 00:48
Don't include all Texans in this now, not fair. Thats pretty damn presumptuous there Turtle. I may live in Dallas, doesn't mean I agree with this. I don't. Dumbing down of America.
I've talked to my daughter about this, she doesn't agree. I do plan on contacting the board with this. It will take more than one parent, yes parents do care, and its bullshit.
Pardoner on 23/5/2010 at 01:01
Queue, why is it that every time you try to lift the discourse, people have to dig themselves out from under it?
Quote Posted by Enchantermon
Even those that do only have an impact if the students care. One of my friends at college once commented to me that he didn't understand why Critical Thinking was a required course because he doesn't "need that in life." :erg:
He barely needs it in college. There are whole departments at my school that rely on multiple choice mark sense forms for undergraduate testing. Why think critically when you only need the first four letters of the alphabet?
I'd also like to see informed thinking become more common, but I think it's too easy to become cynical about students. Teachers (even as beset as they are) need to be able to communicate these modes of thought to students. Critical pedagogy is tough, but it's utterly necessary. And demanding that these overtly political and bigoted notions be present in classrooms means this process becomes more difficult.
Queue on 23/5/2010 at 01:07
Talent, my friend. Sheer, bitter, talent.
Muzman on 23/5/2010 at 02:57
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
Not necessarily. This used to be true, but with advances in computer layouts, small printing runs, etc, the publishers can very easy tailor the books to each state without having a single uniform run. The Texas information could be added in sidebars that other states don't see, for instance.
Are you sure about this? I'm sure it's technically true, but the fuss over the Texas board of education's behaviour this year has been because the situation still exists. The two big book states (Texas and California) basically decide the content for everyone else.
There has been talk, from an article I read anyway, of completely decentralising the textbooks and even putting them all online right up to university level and many states and schools want to do this. But textbooks are such a racket, with billions tied up in the staus quo, that publishers are fighting it tooth and nail.
BrokenArts on 23/5/2010 at 04:48
Quote Posted by Turtle
Obviously you're not a real Texan.
TY. ;) There are aspect I like of Texas, some I can easily do without. Remember, I'm from Grand Rapids, damn Yankee. I just hated to see everyone in Texas lumped into one big ass pile. Some of us don't fit, or don't like the smell, which ever comes first.
Enchantermon on 23/5/2010 at 06:06
Quote Posted by Pardoner
There are whole departments at my school that rely on multiple choice mark sense forms for undergraduate testing. Why think critically when you only need the first four letters of the alphabet?
Eh. You can still promote critical thinking with multiple choice questions. See: the SAT. You read a short essay and use comprehension and logic (and an understanding of rhetoric) to determine what is really being said. Whether you have a set of answers to choose from or a few sentences to write probably wouldn't make that much of a difference, though I will grant that choosing from a set limits your answers as you may emerge with a viewpoint that is different than the given choices. Though even then, at least you've still had the opportunity to analyze; just because you had to choose one answer from a set doesn't necessarily mean those answers are right and yours is wrong. The important thing is that you know how to read, analyze and deduce. Skills are more important than grades.
Pardoner on 23/5/2010 at 07:15
Even if you can, the SAT is a terrible example. Comprehension and analytical skill there may hurt your grade; understanding the logic of the test writers and graders is key, because that's what goes on your transcript and everyone knows it. I'm not convinced that the current American assessment model works well, or even at all.
ercles on 23/5/2010 at 09:18
Quote Posted by Turtle
Obviously you're not a real Texan.
I've never been, but one thing I've heard from plenty of friends who are either American or who have spent a stack of time there say that the whole Texan stereotypes don't necessariliy hold to be true. They reckon that with Dallas being such a well developed city, and Austin being so into being "weird" and counter-culture that Texas is actually far more intelligent than people give it credit for. Alabama and Georgia, on the other hand, I've heard, are total backwaters.
