Day: June 21, 2011

Yale’s New, Neutered, Anti-Semitism Program

A few weeks ago, Yale announced that it had terminated the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-semitism (YIISA). The official version of events, according to university spokespersons, cited two reasons: (1) an alleged failure by Yale professors affiliated with the institute to produce a sufficient level of scholarship; and (2) an alleged lack […]

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Why Do Multiple-Choice Tests Lie All the Time?

On Inside Higher Ed today “MathProf,” an anonymous poster, raised an original objection to multiple-choice tests: they are packed with lies. He said one student “pointed out to me that multiple-choice tests are inherently deceptive, featuring wrong answers deliberately designed to appear plausible. Is this really the skill we want to teach and reward: not knowledge, […]

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Shorten the “Experience”? No Way

Recently, colleges have been floating three-year bachelor’s degrees to undergraduates.  Many students enter with AP credits and a need to reduce tuition costs, so why not concentrate their studies and head into the real world a year sooner?   The university, too, would benefit.  As a story in the Los Angeles Times last year put […]

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