----- Forwarded message from David A. Heiser -----
I don't agree with Demming. Life is essentially a matter of diversity, and
being able to find one's own "niche". The process of ranking is inherent in
life whenever there is stress on a population. Going to college is indeed
"stress".
----- End of forwarded message from David A. Heiser -----
Hmmmm. In my department we are responding to a reviewer who urged
greater uniformity among sections of the same course. I sort of
agree, but this has raised questions as to what should be the same and
what is allowed to vary. Right now we have some sections of Stats.I
where weekly Minitab assignments are collected and graded and others
where computers are not used at all. I don't think that is good. On
the other hand, I don't think we all need to use the same text, as
long as we all use respectable ones -- say, ones on the approved list
for AP Stats. While this is debatable, my outlook re education is
highly colored by my undergraduate experience at MIT. There it was
common for the professor to give his (no women in those days) own idea
of what was important in his field. These views were often highly
idiosyncratic and absolutely brilliant. I had courses containing
stuff that was not contained in any published textbook. I loved it
and learned a lot. Enforcing uniformity would have turned MIT into
just another college.
Now, what do you think about the variation in Beethoven's symphonies?
Obviously this guy did not have a very good QC system. There is a lot
more uniformity in performance these days -- I hear little differences
compared to the differences among Toscanini, Walter, Furtwangler,
Mengelberg, etc. Is this really an improvment?
Likewise cars are all much more alike than they were when we have
inline 6s and 8s, v-8s, v-12s, OHV engines, flatheads, etc. Maybe
it's for the better but I miss my Buick straight eight.
What about spouses? Should they all be the same?
_
| | Robert W. Hayden
| | Department of Mathematics
/ | Plymouth State College MSC#29
| | Plymouth, New Hampshire 03264 USA
| * | Rural Route 1, Box 10
/ | Ashland, NH 03217-9702
| ) (603) 968-9914 (home)
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fax (603) 535-2943 (work)
