A famous teacher once uttered the following phrase: "All college students should have four years of the same general classes so that our citizens have the same basic foundation on which to build free peoples. Most job training cannot happen in college anyway, so why not build well rounded, educated people and let the job training happen after college. There should be no major--only general ed!"
A brilliant colleague responded, "That's ridiculous. We offer general education for our youth from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. That is enough! College should only be about learning in a particular discipline or field. There should be NO GENERAL education! All four years (or more) should be spent studying in the field in which the student will work!"
With whom do you agree? (should there be all general education or no general education?)
Sunday, April 30, 2017
WEEK FOURTEEN WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ
Yes, write about what you are reading...but not here. Just work on your essay.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
ESSAY ASSIGNMENT...THE TIPPING POINT
DUE DATE: MAY 8th
For the next couple of weeks, we
will be reading through the book The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell.
As you read through the book, look
for examples that will help you build a thoughtful response to this
question: How might one or more of the ideas in the book The
Tipping Point apply to your chosen major or profession(or a deep
interest of yours)?
To give you a couple of examples, in
nursing there might be a new treatment protocol or a new drug that has
"tipped." In education, new theories of differentiated
instruction have emerged while theories of multiple intelligences have
"tipped" and now waned. If you are interested in soccer, goal line
technology seems on the verge of "tipping." In engineering, there are
probably technological issues related to fracking that could be related to
these themes.
For any of those, you would relate
the ideas from the book to the ideas from your major or interest.
WARNING: Avoid writing about social
media. Many bad essays have been written on cell phones, facebook, twitter,
etc. I know these are of interest and do dominate our lives, but don't take the
easy way out.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
WEEK THIRTEEN BLOG ENTRY
Some buildings don't have a 13th floor. Is the number 13 unlucky? Do you believe in luck?
WEEK THIRTEEN WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ
So, now that you have started to read this book, what do you think? What is one compelling idea you noticed?
Monday, April 17, 2017
FACE TO FACE MEETING THIS SATURDAY FROM 9-11 IN WSL 014
As a reminder, you must write one essay in person. We had one opportunity for this earlier in the semester and this Saturday is the other opportunity. YOU ONLY HAVE TO MEET ONCE!
This Saturday, those who did not already write the in class essay will meet with me in the library computer lab, WSL 014, from 9-11. It will be a great time!
See you there and then!
This Saturday, those who did not already write the in class essay will meet with me in the library computer lab, WSL 014, from 9-11. It will be a great time!
See you there and then!
WEEK TWELVE BLOG ENTRY
This week, you should focus on getting your hands on the next book we will read, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. You can get any version or edition or format of the book.
Here is an online version:
https://istihbaratsahasi.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/the-tipping-point.pdf
You do not need to read it yet, but just start to browse around a bit.
BLOG ENTRY FOR WEEK TWELVE
Why do certain products, videos, or trends go "viral" while others simply go nowhere? Apparently, the most watched youtube video of all time is Enrique Iglesias' hit "Bailando," from 2014. It has 1.65 BILLION views. What makes a certain product, video, or trend go viral?
(PS Look at that, another search says the most all time hits on youtube is Gangham Style, with 2.81 BILLION hits...they just keep going!)
...Iglesias info from https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=most+watched+video+on+youtube+of+all+time
...Gangham info from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_viewed_YouTube_videos
Here is an online version:
https://istihbaratsahasi.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/the-tipping-point.pdf
You do not need to read it yet, but just start to browse around a bit.
BLOG ENTRY FOR WEEK TWELVE
Why do certain products, videos, or trends go "viral" while others simply go nowhere? Apparently, the most watched youtube video of all time is Enrique Iglesias' hit "Bailando," from 2014. It has 1.65 BILLION views. What makes a certain product, video, or trend go viral?
(PS Look at that, another search says the most all time hits on youtube is Gangham Style, with 2.81 BILLION hits...they just keep going!)
...Iglesias info from https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=most+watched+video+on+youtube+of+all+time
...Gangham info from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_viewed_YouTube_videos
WEEK TWELVE READING
THE TIPPING POINT EXCERPT
"When we say that a handful of East Village kids started the Hush Puppies epidemic, or that the scattering of the residents of a few housing projects was sufficient to start Baltimore's syphilis epidemic, what we are really saying is that in a given process or system some people matter more than others. This is not, on the face of it, a particularly radical notion. Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants. In most societies, 20 percent of criminals commit 80 percent of crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of all accidents. Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionality becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work."
-- from the first chapter of 'The Tipping Point'
"When we say that a handful of East Village kids started the Hush Puppies epidemic, or that the scattering of the residents of a few housing projects was sufficient to start Baltimore's syphilis epidemic, what we are really saying is that in a given process or system some people matter more than others. This is not, on the face of it, a particularly radical notion. Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants. In most societies, 20 percent of criminals commit 80 percent of crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of all accidents. Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionality becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work."
-- from the first chapter of 'The Tipping Point'
WEEK TWELVE WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ
Just from that excerpt, what do you think this book is going to be about?
Monday, April 10, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
TC BOYLE ESSAYS SENT YOUR WAY...
Those TC Boyle essays should have already been sent to your email. If you turned it in but did not get one from me, let me know at bschmoll@csub.edu.
WEEK ELEVEN
What is your first memory of school? I recall being pushed on the swing by my mother at Longfellow elementary, the one on Union Ave (east side!) and then I turned around and my mother was gone--sad face. But I remember something from preschool also, so that may not be my earliest school memory. What are your first and most indelible early school memories? Did those first impressions of school stay with you or did you change your thinking about school at some point? Did you have a teacher who made you hate/love school?
WEEK ELEVEN READING--OKAY, WATCHING AGAIN
Watch this Ted Talk on schools and creativity--it is a well known Ted talk.
https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity
https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity
WEEK ELEVEN WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ
This has become a famous Ted talk...is he correct? Do schools kill creativity? What has been your experience with this?
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