Although my teaching methods and views on grading are diametrically opposed to Louis' I respect greatly what he tries to do in his classes. I also know that I am constitutionally incapable of doing what he does in the classroom. The thought that the quality of a class might be largely out my control and might depend more on the students' talents & motivation than on my own sends shivers up my spine and my blood pressure soaring.
During my long tenure as Dept. chair I came to appreciate that different faculty have different talents and that it would be a rather boring place if we did everything the same way. Some are good at what they do and some are awful and I'd certainly rather they all were good at what do. But I'd no more want a dept. full of Louis Schmiers than I'd want one filled with clones of myself. Besides, isn't it possible that the answer to our questions about the importance of grades and pedagogy is that these things interact with the individual professor's subject matter, personality and talents? (There would, of course, also be an interaction with some student variables but that's too obvious to mention and besides, we're talking about professors here.) So let's spend our time discussing what works for each of us and picking and choosing those strategies and techniques that work for each of us, individually. By virtue of the fact that we are all involved in this discussion group, I think we are hardly a random sample and that we've all demonstrated we care about teaching and academia. So let's discuss these matters with mutual respect. Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Graduate Coordinator, Holocaust and Genocide Studies Department of Psychology, West Chester Univ. of Pennsylvania ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, bluegrass fiddler and herpetoculturist ( http://www.adcham.com) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shameless self promotion: The Mill Creek Bluegrass Band performs every Tuesday night at Dugal's Inn, Mortonville, PA. Call 610- 486-0953 for directions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
