Dr. Amy B Hollingsworth Berkhouse
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Using Big Data and Social Media to Predict Student Success

10/15/2014

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The basic premise of this TED talk was that scientists can look at the data from Facebook about what you “like,” and then make predictions about you. In the case Golbeck presents, many smart people have “liked” curly fries from Arby’s. (I also happen to love them!) So, which came first? Do more smart people like curly fries? Or did one smart person, who hangs out on Facebook with people who also happen to be smart, like those curly fries, and then their smart friends saw their like, and liked also?
Jennifer Golbeck: The curly fry conundrum: Why social media “likes” say more than you might think


Do you like curly fries? Have you Liked them on Facebook? Watch this talk to find out the surprising things Facebook (and others) can guess about you from your random Likes and Shares. Computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck explains how this came about, how some applications of the technology are not so cute — and why she thinks we should return the control of information to its rightful owners.

I began thinking about big data, and predicting student success. It’s not just “evil corporations” who would have access to our data. What about the universities, or the government? The movie, Minority Report, was grounded on the premise of the government being able to arrest murderers, before they committed the crimes.


Let’s say a college, who has its students go “like” their Facebook page, could do a data analysis of all the students on it’s Facebook site. That school could then categorize their students into those who complete their degrees, and those students who fail out or quit. Maybe there is a certain pattern that successful students take, and a certain like pattern that unsuccessful students demonstrate. What if liking Starbucks was an indicator of student success (drink more coffee, study longer) and liking the local bar (take out stress, let’s go drink!) was an indicator of student failure?


It’s often been said that the SATs, the ACTs, or GPA do not adequately predict who is going to be successful in college. What if social media data patterns DO tell us who is successful or not?


To take it a step further, what if schools made it so part of your college application package was to HAVE TO like the college page? Then, the school could collect data about you… What if the school sees a pattern in your Facebook likes that is that of an unsuccessful student, and then never lets you in? What if you didn’t know your data was being used in that way? What if the data shows that minorities have patterns of unsuccessful behavior? Could social media data discrimination be the next big outrage?


Or, what if this data was put towards helping students already enrolled? If the college sees a students starting a pattern on Facebook that shows distress - end of the semester complaining, substance abuse, withdrawing from friends - what if the school then stepped in to intervene? Just like in 1997, when I was in undergrad, the Resident Assistants would report you to the student life department if they thought you showed patterns of failure (sleeping late, missing classes, drinking, filthy room, not showering), what if Facebook is now used to look for patterns?


The data is there. Big Brother is here. My question is, should we not let scientists analyze our data? I might be HAPPY if Facebook reported to the college that I was showing a pattern of failure I didn’t recognize myself, and then got me help. I might not be happy, however, if my Facebook showed a pattern of failure, and the school kicked me out, because I was no longer worth “the investment.”


What if my employer could analyze me to see if I was worth hiring? (WHOOPS! They are already watching you at work)


What if doctors could predict which patients would comply with their directives? (WHOOPS! Neuroscientists already can)


What if Target could predict I was pregnant, and then send me coupons? (WHOOPS! Target already figured out a teen was pregnant, before she told her dad)


Here are the top ten movies that predicted the future, before it actually happened.


Chilling, thought-provoking, and raises more questions than it answers. What if I applied to a college, and they told me, “We analyzed your social media patterns, and those patterns show you only have a 23% likelihood of achieving your degree. Therefore, you don’t get in.” What if I could be in that 23% who DID succeed? Shouldn’t I be allowed to try? Or does the college know IN FACT that I CAN’T be successful, and won’t let me waste my money? Or does the school let me in, and THEN use my data to shape me, mold me, personalize my education to MAKE ME a success? Who gets to decide - me, Facebook, or the university?



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Educational Technology, Time Management, Being Humble, and Amazing Microscopes

9/8/2014

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http://mashable.com/2014/04/03/sesame-street-microsocope/
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” — C.S. Lewis
1. Ed Tech


Amy - When I was a teacher, I was a (sigh) hoarder. I knew to stock all the copier paper, construction paper, pens, markers, glue, and knick-knacks available at any time, because if I didn’t, it wouldn’t be there in the future. This article talks about the ways educators can do more with technology in the classroom.

Article - 5 Ways To Do EdTech On A Shoestring Budget


If teachers ran the government, we wouldn't have a national debt. Teachers are frugal. Very frugal. I’m not saying I reuse dental floss or anything, but the lengths I’ve gone to save money are amazing.  This is because the money I’m saving is often…mine. Still, sometimes a teacher has to spend. I buy tons of pencils, papers, documentaries, resources, and other things each year. What I really want is unlimited access to the types of technologies my students find most engaging. Sometimes I feel this is way outside of my budget.


The five ways to do tech on a budget are 1. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). 2. Purchase Carefully (Will students use this? Will they look forward to using this or will it be a burden? Does it fill some need or make life easier?). 3. Stream (Amazon Prime and Netflix). 4. Bring Tech to the Students (Labs are expensive. Bring the tech TO the students). 5. Go Paperless

2. Time Management


Amy - I use time-tracking software at school. It tells me where I am spending my time, and if I’m spending my time doing the “productive behaviors.” I use RescueTime. It helps me to stay productive, keep from getting distracted, understand my daily habits, and to balance my work with my busy life!
Article - Time is of the essence, so you better track it well


My story of how I learned to embrace time tracking software has very little to do with efficiency and creativity more of an appreciation and awareness of my working hours. Who gets your time? By tracking, I was shown an ugly truth – that precious minutes of my day were being spent unwisely on financially and spiritually unrewarding endeavors.


At these moments, I would go on Facebook to see friends’ familiar faces and have a Gchat with old colleagues from my journalism days. These crutches weren’t doing me any favors in terms of getting me acclimated to my new job.

Once I tracked them, I realized that I was spending time avoiding tasks because I was nervous about taking them on and failing.


If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll get a true audit of your day. If you can’t face all the time you spend on social media or watching YouTube videos to avoid your work day, then you probably need more than just time tracking software.

3. Being Humble


Amy - Really helpful advice for people like me who are teachers, need to work with teams of teachers, and need to work with students. This very concept is described in great detail in "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. That teams want to work with leaders who don't brag, are positive, are kind, and who push the team in the right direction.


As a Biologist, I sometimes struggle with "experts in the field" who are arrogant and have lost sight of their beginnings. They don't believe that their accomplishments were luck, they believe they are smarter than everyone else. Very elitist, and very belittling to the people they are supposed to help. I always strive to be a better leader, to be kind to my students (even when they make me nuts), and to help as many people as I can.

Article - Why the best entrepreneurs and creators are humble



In an age where social media runs rampant with humblebrags and constant barking, humility grows scarcer every day. While this trend may not appear to have any face value, it holds significant implications for your personal achievements, your team building and relationships, and a more realistic projection of the future.


Embracing humility, and being humble, doesn’t mean never talking about your achievements and accomplishments. As 19th century author and preacher Charles Spurgeon eloquently explains it:

Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought, though it might rather puzzle him to do that.


It’s futile to brag about things that haven’t happened yet. Instead, remind yourself that these future events aren’t set in stone — and success isn’t the only possible outcome. Be grateful that you have someone to listen to this and keep you accountable. Whether it’s between friends, or collaborators and colleagues studies show humility to be a trait we value in others.


Humility pushes you to achieve more, Humility builds better teams, and Humility will be the downfall of arrogance.

4. Microscopes


Amy - As a Biologist, I have LOVED looking at the microscopic world. From viewing bacteria, parasites, pond water, macroinvertebrates, and all kinds of little things, the microscopic world holds many of the answers to the questions we ask. We can diagnose diseases. We can find out what’s hurting our ecosystems. We can figure out how systems work. Whether your microscope is a stereoscope (that magnifies up to 40x) or a SEM (scanning electron microscope that can view up to 12,000x) or a TEM (transmission electron microscope that can view up to 50 million times!) Unlocking the microscopic world has given mankind an amazing portal into another universe.

Article - 5 Common Objects That Look 300x Cooler Under a Microscope


A microscope can reveal the fascinating world hiding in everyday objects.

If you paid any attention in science class, you know that tiny cells and molecules form the building blocks of most things. Everyday things can look completely different — even otherworldly — when magnified.


SEE ALSO: 5 Fun Science Experiments for Kids


Sesame Street's triangle-loving monster Telly stopped by Mashable's #5facts to discover the mysterious unseen intricacies of ordinary objects.

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Is a Student Emotionally Ready for Dual Credit Courses, if They Are 15 Years Old?

4/15/2014

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I was recently asked for my thoughts on dual enrollment at my school. Dual enrollment is where students are taking a university course, that counts as credit for both high school and college. While I think this is an awesome opportunity for students - giving them access to college, getting them college credit, making one course count for two similar purposes - there are some drawbacks. 

I spoke to Sherri Coon, who wrote the article "Is Dual Enrollment Right For Your Teen?" She interviewed two teens who were helped by duel enrollment, another college professor who talked about the difference between Advanced Placement courses and Dual Enrollment Courses, myself, and a parent. The article is very detailed, and provides a lot more info than I could post here (you should read it, if you are thinking of putting your child into dual enrollment courses).



Here was my response to her question "What should people know about Dual Enrollment courses?
Dr. Amy B. Hollingsworth is an instructor at The University of Akron, who works closely with dual enrollment students in her biology course. "One of the known issues with dual enrollment (DE) is that students don't feel like they belong in either high school or college," Dr. Hollingsworth says. "A student who is 16, and in a college course, may have trouble relating to the other students in the class, which can make them feel isolated. In my lab course, where my students work in groups, I have seen 16-year-olds feel very uncomfortable when the others are talking about drinking or going to fraternity parties," she adds. These students may not feel that they belong in high school, either. "While I feel it is an advantage curriculum-wise, I don't think students are truly emotionally prepared for college at 15 or 16. Unless they are in a distance-learning situation (where the college course is broadcast to their high school via the web or on a screen in a lecture hall) or have excellent counseling, first generation students may feel isolated," she shares. "The word we use for it is 'liminality.' This is where they are at a crossroads between being a teenager and being made to skip the crucial years of understanding oneself, and going straight into college without the emotional maturity," Dr. Hollingsworth adds.
I think back to all those things I learned during high school, that were not part of the curriculum. Learning to be a social person. Learning to navigate the school system. Learning to drive, playing in the band, being a cheerleader, working with my peers. And then, I think about college. During that time, I took courses, learned to live on my own, learned about credit cards (ouch!), went to parties, joined a sorority, worked as a waitress to pay my bills.


Maybe students NEED these two sets of experiences (high school, and college), in order to work their way through their young adult years. If you do high school and college at the same time, you skip some experiences from both high school and college. In order to give students more academic experiences, are we forgetting about them just needing TIME to grow up?
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Bill Gates Gives His Wealth Away

4/5/2014

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I think that Bill and Melinda Gates have done some of the most amazing, most helpful things with all their money. They have set up their lives to help so many people. They are wonderful role models. I appreciated their brainstorming techniques, which is described as “long walks on the beach, talking about their goals.” I watched their TED talk, “Bill and Melinda Gates: Why giving away our wealth has been the most satisfying thing we’ve done,” and was inspired by many of the things they said.
In 1993, Bill and Melinda Gates took a walk on the beach and made a big decision: to give their Microsoft wealth back to society. In conversation with Chris Anderson, the couple talks about their work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as their marriage, their children, their failures and the satisfaction of giving most of their money away.
They talk about how they are not going to enable their kids to be rich, spoiled brats. They are not leaving their children billions. No trust funds. They want their childrens’ lives to have a meaning and purpose. They will provide an education for each child, that encompasses each child’s strengths.
The Gates parents’ attitude toward their kids and money — call it the anti-Paris Hilton approach — resonates with an attitude toward wealth that runs as a subtext through TED itself. As an event, TED manages to gather some of the world’s richest people into one room. Once there, they’re bombarded with the message that money is not for having but for doing. As the world’s richest people, the Gates family could spend lifetimes doing nothing at all. But for the TED set, at least, the only points you get are for making something happen.
I agree strongly with that point. These days, everyone is a critic. People criticize Gates for having an agenda. Others think there are ulterior motives, or a vast conspiracy. But being critical, in and of itself, doesn't help anyone do anything. The only way to help people in your life, is to make things happen. The Gates made goals, and then they go through each checkpoint on the way to reaching their goals.


Most of their philanthropic work centers around the educational system in America, reducing poverty and equality through access to education, and health care and childhood vaccines. They have traveled extensively through Africa, and have tried to help bring down the rate of infant mortality. They are fighting to bring access to injectable birth control in third world countries, because this gives women the choice whether or not to reproduce.


Gates said, “Just because we don’t agree with everything about education, doesn’t mean we scrap the whole system. We fix what’s broken, and we keep our eyes on our goals.” The Gates advocate for smaller class sizes, STEM education, charter schools, and technology innovations. They discuss wanting great teachers in small classrooms, to give each child more attention. They have rightly pointed out that many of the graduating seniors today read at a middle-school level. They are working to help schools through grants, technology donations, charter schools, and creating university programs.


When you have money like the Gates’ money, you are going to be criticized. People complain about their investing tactics, which they say is promoting companies that hurt the people in third-world countries. The Gates say they will always invest for the maximum return on investment.


Next, people say there are three major problems with the foundation's allocation of aid. First, "by pouring most contributions into the fight against such high-profile killers as AIDS, Gates guarantees have increased the demand for specially trained, higher-paid clinicians, diverting staff from basic care." This form of "brain drain", pulls away trained staff from children and those suffering from other common killers. Second, "the focus on a few diseases has shortchanged basic needs such as nutrition and transportation.” Finally, "Gates-funded vaccination programs have instructed caregivers to ignore – even discourage patients from discussing – ailments that the vaccinations cannot prevent. If people want to see nutrition or transportation focused upon, they should start their own foundations. It’s not right to criticize, but do nothing to offer up help for what people think should be priorities. The Gates can focus on any disease they want - yes, there will always be other diseases out there that need money, but it is ultimately up to Gates and their foundation to how they spend their money.


About education, Gates is criticized for “undermining the public education system.” I think that “public education” is a broken system, and I also advocate for charter schools, which can meet the needs of more students, in creative new ways not controlled by unions. Like Gates, I love teachers, but hate the bureaucracy. I do think test scores should be part of teachers’ evaluations, and I love the idea of merit pay. I think merit pay encourages the best teachers to put in the effort to become better. When the Gates Foundation gives students choices that they may not have had, if they had been stuck in a failing public school, I think the Gates are helping the poor beyond belief.


Just as there will always be critics of the government, there will always be critics of the Gates. I believe that they have made amazing progress in achieving the goals they have made, and that they should forge ahead with the good things they do. Nothing they do is without vast amounts of research and man-power, and the Gates are helping people live and be educated every day. I may need to apply for one of their grants!

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The Evolution of Education: Streaming Video and Its Uses for Evaluation

4/4/2014

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From The State of Educational Video 2014:
The proliferation of mobile devices and the surge in popularity of the flipped classroom mean that video is at the head of the class in today's schools.
Today’s generation of students, from kindergarten to university, were raised with video online. For them it’s a natural tool for learning, whether or not video is actually used in their schools. This is something that many forward-looking educators and video professionals have been predicting would happen.
We all know that kids are already on the smartphones, tablets, and laptops in our classes. We either embrace these technologies, or resist, to our own peril. We are competing with Youtube, whether we like it or not. Why not provide the BEST videos to your students, so that they are watching YOUR content?
“I think schools are really going to have to adapt soon,” says James Foley, manager of digital media development at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RTI). “The bar is getting set high, but not in the way we think.” That’s because students are coming to college with their expectations already set by watching YouTube or instructional video sites such as Khan Academy.
I think that a lot of educational professionals are scared of their videos looking cheesy, not professional enough, or even BAD. I'd love to share with you the huge number of videos I've made where I said, "Look at my eyes! I look sick, or old!" Never cool, as a woman! I also have videos where there are long stretches of space where nothing is happening. That happens a lot, in science. 

I do a lab using termites, where we look at their behavior. I have a ton of students video that lab, and what if I could have the students share the snippet of what is happening, and all the students in the class could watch? Then, I could evaluate the group of students, based on their videos that *I* watch? It would tell me a lot as an educator about what my students are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and how I could help them get better. Like a "virtual student portfolio." COOL!!!
In her Grade 2 classroom in Wolf Creek, teacher Kendall Johnson says, “Video is used a lot more to motivate kids.” During a physical education lesson last year, she used her smartphone to record students practicing the long jump. Afterward, Johnson reviewed the footage with them in the classroom, providing constructive feedback on their technique.

Smart classrooms and large-format displays are particularly important so that students may view videos one-on-one with teachers, in small groups, or all together. Additionally, it is not practical to give the youngest students video homework assignments, in part because they are more likely to have limited internet access outside of school.

“By the students viewing it on the larger screen,” Serviss says, “it has a true impact on their self-esteem. Ten years from now they’ll still have that video footage. We’ll look back and show our classes 10 years from now, ‘Here’s your parents, talking about your heritage.’”


Or maybe the scientists and educators of the future will look at how we did science ten years ago, and see why we thought what we did, back then. Can you imagine watching DARWIN study his finches ON VIDEO? I'd watch that! The great Neil Tyson DeGrasse of Cosmos, in ten years, can look back at how we understand the world around us, and see how we've changed. One of the tenets of science is that when we find out new facts, we change our mind. Now, we can do it all on camera.


I recently told a friend that my dream is to become the next David Attenborough. Well, female David Attenborough. Here's my chance!
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Is the Path Out of Poverty the Path Right Back Into Poverty? Is Pushing For "Diversity in STEM Education" a Bad Idea?

4/4/2014

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STEM education is in the news, and is often touted as the best college career path ANY student can take. STEM is also criticized for not having enough minority student interest. Historically, STEM is very white, and very Asian. Pushing low-income, first-generation minorities into STEM fields may not be the “great idea” that it appears to be, from the outside. The headline on The Inside Higher Education blog reads:

New Push to Boost Numbers of Minority STEM Ph.D.s

California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of California campuses at Berkeley and Los Angeles jointly announced a new effort Thursday to increase the number of minority Ph.D.s in science, mathematics and technology fields. The four universities will create "a unique, cross-institutional community of underrepresented minority Ph.D. students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty members in the targeted fields; developing faculty training to better recognize and help these students thrive and advance; and conducting research that includes annual surveys of Ph.D. students about what factors impact their attitudes, experiences and preparation for the future," the announcement said.

On the surface, this seems like a noble goal. Get more minority students into STEM. Exciting! But, on the same website, is this headline about how blacks and Latinos are taking on more debt than their white counterparts:

Debt, Race and Ph.D.s

Colleges and universities -- not to mention many businesses -- have been pushing for gains in the numbers of black and Latino students who earn doctorates, especially in STEM or social science fields.

A new study may point to one hindrance in making progress toward this goal. Black and Latino graduate students are more likely to borrow and more likely to borrow larger sums to earn a Ph.D. than are white or Asian graduate students. The figures are particularly striking for African Americans and for STEM fields.


And in light of the reoccurring theme on The Chronicle of Higher Education, Insider Higher Ed, The Huffington Post, and countless other websites, it is becoming almost impossible to find a tenure-track, high paying job. One article talks about rejection, frustration, giving up searching, and living in despair. Here, a report from Congress about adjuncts, and the lower compensation and unpredictable schedules they face:

The median respondent salary was $22,041, below the federal poverty line for a family of four ($23,550), although the typical course load was difficult to ascertain from the online forum (with adjuncts reporting as many as 10 courses per semester). Some 89 percent of respondents teach at two or more institutions, and most can’t depend on assignments from semester to semester. Many also said they relied on help from family members and government assistance to survive, despite having advanced degrees. More than 50 percent of respondents had Ph.D.s and 30 percent held master’s degrees.

Respondents also reported low prospects for advancement to tenure-line or full-time jobs, and 89 percent said they received no professional support for teaching or research from their institutions. The average length of time respondents said they’d worked as an adjunct was 10 years. The median length of time was four years.


“Growing up in a poor neighborhood … I believed earning several college degrees would be my path out of poverty, but that is no longer the case,” one adjunct said.


So, is the path out of poverty a path right back into poverty? The likelihood of achieving the tenure-track dream is so small and wrought with emotional turmoil and anxiety, is it worth it to push minority students down this path? They may end up in a worse place – saddled with student loan debt, stuck in an adjuncting position that pays below the poverty level, and without the necessary skills to advance in a non-academic position – than they were before they began “pursuing their dreams.” Is higher education the path out of poverty, or the dream-crusher that mounts added liabilities and wastes precious time? How do you know when higher education is the problem, or the solution?

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The Best Ideas? Or Race, Gender, and  Sexuality First? Who Decides?

4/3/2014

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Universities play many roles in society – places of big ideas, places where people can gather to talk about those ideas, places where experts discuss their ideas, and places where experiments about big ideas can take place. Balancing those ideas and giving priority to an agenda makes leading a university community difficult. One of the most massive difficulties I see is the delicate balance between two competing courses of thought. Do universities value the best ideas first? Or do universities value diversity first? Who decides?

There was an article in The Daily Bruin (UCLA’s student newspaper) about the lack of diversity in commencement speakers:


Since the UCLA College of Letters and Science reinstated a college-wide commencement in 2002, the crop of commencement speakers has lacked the diversity that UCLA administration touts as one of the university’s top priorities.

Only four out of 13 were people of color. Seven of the past 13 speakers were white males. Only two were women and neither of those women were people of color.

While the College has picked successful and compelling speakers from a wide range of backgrounds and fields of expertise over the course of its history, the College’s recent choices point to a lack of critical thinking.

It is just as important to give students relatable and diverse role models as it is to give them speakers with impressive academic, professional and personal accomplishments.

Providing speakers with a myriad of different personal experiences – shaped by a number of factors, among them gender, race, personal history as well as field of expertise and academic accomplishment – will enable students from all walks of life to see themselves in their commencement speakers.

The committee within the College in charge of picking the commencement speaker would do well to remember this come next year.

In an email statement to The Bruin, the deans of the College said that they are “proud that half of (the) speakers come from underrepresented backgrounds and have broken barriers to reach the pinnacle of their careers.”

The deans are counting the two women who spoke at the 2012 and 2013 commencements, respectively, as a part of the “half.”

It should be noted that until two years ago, there was not a single woman featured on the list of commencement speakers at all. And even now, there is not one woman of color to be found on the list.

These numbers speak to a need for the College to more carefully examine its choices and to think more deeply about what it means to look back on a list of speakers that reflect the diversity of the student body.



Is diversity a token word, tossed around by administration, given lip service, and then disregarded? And what about diversity of ideas? Each of these speakers has very different, very big ideas. In looking at the diversity of race, aren’t we in fact promoting a sort of racism, where we say race matters? That you are not just your ideas, you are your race, or your gender, or your sexuality? And in trying to achieve “diversity,” are we saying that the 61-year-old white man’s ideas should now be placed on the back-burner, because race matters more than big ideas?

How about my ideas? If I have the best ideas, and I get credit for them, should I not be placed “at the front of the pack” because I’m white? BUT!!!... I’m a woman. Does that mean I should be placed ahead, but still behind minority races, or sexuality? What order do we place people with ideas in? Are white people automatically placed “at the back of the bus” now, because of promotion of diversity? How is that fair to ME? I didn't choose to be white, or a woman, and I worked really hard at my great ideas!

Is the subtle promotion of diversity instead promoting racism of a new kind? UCLA student columnist Eitan Arom features an intriguing letter from a UC-Berkeley alumnus on the subject of a recent Daily Bruin column, 


I am a 61-year-old white man, the sort that is often considered irrelevant and accused of being angered by the loss of privilege following social incursions of one or another previously oppressed groups. To allay any such considerations, I state for the record I have enough privilege to suit me, and no lack of money. I say what I say out of concern for our educational and other institutions.

I am old enough to remember when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stated that one day he hoped we would be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin. Our obsession with diversity has created a society in which the reverse of the reverend’s hopes have been achieved. We care less about an individual’s achievements, the new criteria being whether they are African American, Hispanic, LGBT, female, American Indian or some other protected group.

I believe this obsession with diversity is actually subtly racist. It suggests that without special treatment by the great white father, no member of the protected classes could succeed. I don’t know about others, but I would feel greatly insulted. There’s two cents’ worth from an old white male.

Dr. Andrew Kindler
UC Berkeley alumnus


One of the student responses to the editorial asks some great questions:

When will people realize that diversity of opinions is far more important than skin pigmentation or sexual organs? Life is more than just a checkbox or making sure you have a perfect "diversity zoo", if you will, with the exact mix of races and genders in the right proportions?

Why does the Daily Bruin Editorial Board insult students' intelligence by assuming that people can only relate to others of their own pigmentation? Key exhibit from the piece below:


"Providing speakers with a myriad of different personal experiences – shaped by a number of factors, among them gender, race, personal history as well as field of expertise and academic accomplishment – will enable students from all walks of life to see themselves in their commencement speakers."

So caucasian students can't "see themselves" in African-American speakers and vice-versa? How unbelievably insulting to the intelligence of UCLA students. A logical conclusion is that the Daily Bruin editorial board would be in support of (voluntarily) segregated graduations, each with a speaker of their own race they can "see themselves in."

This PC multiculturalism has gone way too far and this editorial is a perfect example and wake-up call.

Another student notes:

Why are we so focused on skin color and sex. What the speakers have to say is much more important. 

And so I ask you, which comes first? Best ideas or diversity? If your answer is "Both!" then what happens if, for 12 years in a row, the best ideas come from 61 year-old, white men?

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    Dr. Amy B. Hollingsworth

    Author

    Dr. Amy B Hollingsworth has worked in education for over 20 years. Most recently, she was a Learning Coach at the NIHF STEM School in Akron. She served as the Executive Director of Massillon Digital Academy. She was the District Technology Specialist at Massillon. She also was the Natural Science Biology Lab Coordinator at The University of Akron. She specializes in Biology Curriculum and Instruction, STEM education, and technology integration. She has written six lab manuals, and an interactive biology ebook. She has dedicated her life to teaching and learning, her children - Matthew, Lilly, and Joey, her husband Ryan, and her NewfiePoo Bailey.

    What's Amy Reading?

    • College Insurrection
    • The Chronicle of Higher Education
    • Digital Learning in Higher Ed
    • HuffPo College
    • Girls in STEM
    • The Simple Dollar
    • Tim Ferriss
    • Edudemic
    • Mashable
    • Inside Higher Ed
    • Gawker
    • io9

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