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Category Archives: social issues
Brain Scans as Lie Detectors
BBC News – Brain scans being misused as lie detectors, experts say. And of course those who claim to interpret the scans will also call themselves experts. (Which leads us off to another conversation entirely) I am troubled by the … Continue reading
Posted in psychology, social issues, technical issues
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Patterns of Change – Calculus as a Critical Literacy
Stephen Downes’ introductory blog posting for the second week of the Critical Literacies Online Course ( CritLit2010 ) deals mainly with how we describe change, and in fact it would (with some minor edits) be the basis of a good … Continue reading
Why People Hate Mathematics and Atheists
Jason Green’s response to the readings for Week 1 of the Downes&Kop Critical Literacies course concludes with the question “how does one think critically without it coming across as a baseline of distrust?” I actually think that a “baseline of … Continue reading
Vaisakhi parade risky for MP Ujjal Dosanjh and MLA Dave Hayer: organizer
Vaisakhi parade risky for MP Ujjal Dosanjh and MLA Dave Hayer: organizer. I have often enjoyed the Vaisakhi parade, but the criteria for a parade permit are based largely on the possibility of ensuring public safety. I wouldn’t want to … Continue reading
Posted in bc
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LRB · Joseph Stiglitz · The Non-Existent Hand
LRB · Joseph Stiglitz · The Non-Existent Hand. One comment in particular rang a bell for me. Often the use of a mathematical model is considered as giving predictions greater credibility when all it really does is ensure that they … Continue reading
iPod Levy Proposal Makes Sense
Michael Geist – Angus Defends iPod Levy Proposal. IF the “Canadian solution” of a media levy is valid (and I think it is), then there is no logical reason to distinguish in any way between different types of digital memory. … Continue reading
Posted in canada, copyright, technology
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OnLine Educational Resources
Scott Leslie may be on the right track with another 1/4-baked idea – OER “virtual reference librarian” at EdTechPost, but I suspect that it may be less with the idea itself than with the doubt he expresses as follows: <<Is … Continue reading
Hard Problems
hardproblemsmovie.com is the website of a documentary made about the US team in the 2006 International Math Olympiad. << Although American students on the whole rank well behind many countries in mathematics, American math Olympiad teams regularly finish among the … Continue reading
Posted in education, mathematics
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Interesting Poll Results
BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Free market flawed, says survey.
Why Math?
A couple of recent additions to the arsenal of reasons for promoting mathematics education are this recent article by Ian Stewart in the UK Telegraph and the collection of ‘Math Matters – Apply It’ posters developed by SIAM (the Society … Continue reading
Posted in education, mathematics
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Stanford Study of Writing
The Stanford Study of Writing provides a welcome counterpoint to some of the nonsense that has been put about regarding impact of the internet on literacy.
Crossing the Finish Line: SATs and GradRates
Stephen Downes points to Chad Adelman posting on Crossing the Finish Line – a recent book about university graduation rates by William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos & Michael S. McPherson. I haven’t read the book but am suspicious of … Continue reading
Posted in education, social issues
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A Widening Gap
The Back Page article by Joseph Ganem in this month’s APS News suggests that nominal content and student capability outcomes in US high school mathematics are moving in opposite directions – and attributes this largely to attempts to introduce abstract … Continue reading
Posted in education, mathematics
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FAQ for Universities Interested in WPMu
Since my institution has started using WPMu for faculty and departmental websites I had better have a look at this from bavatuesdays (which came to me via Stephen Downes).
Posted in education, WordPress
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How to remember trig ratios
Inventing cute mnemonics is fun, and the process of inventing and checking them may help reinforce the definitions, but beyond that they really are useless – and I believe they do more harm than good when people actually try to … Continue reading
Posted in education, mathematics
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Teaching math using interactive white boards
This interview with a recent convert to teaching math using interactive white boards includes a lot of good ideas for using the computer display but leaves me wondering what the IWB adds over what could be done with a tablet … Continue reading
Copyright Consultations
Well I have finally got around to putting in my views at 8:50pm in Vancouver – which is still 10 minutes before midnight in Ottawa so should be within the 48 hour extension that was announced on the Copyright Consultations … Continue reading
Science & Religion again
Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, coauthors of “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future”, writing in the LA Times, ask “Must science declare a holy war on religion?” Their concern appears to be that Richard Dawkins and other so-called … Continue reading
Posted in religion, science
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Stephen Hawking . . .
. . . would have died long ago if he had lived in the UK – or so said an anti-medicare US “thinktank” (the Investors Business Daily) until Jay Bookman and others pointed out that . . . he does!