Kids at home? Here are a few tips from a successful homeschooling family.
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Kids at home? Here are a few tips from a successful homeschooling family.

My wife and I homeschooled our two children. One has now graduated Tufts University, magna cum laude, and the other is studying computer science at the University of Massachusetts. They’ve grown into smart, moral, and caring people. Here’s a little of what we learned from schooling them that may help you survive the next few…

A great rejection

A great rejection

I just read one of the best rejection letters ever. I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this, but Sara Davis, a Post-doc at Skidmore in psychology, claims she received it when applying for an academic position. Here’s the text of the rejection: The faculty position you applied for at [redacted] attracted over 65 candidates….

Indiana University provost’s statement declares war on its own professor

Indiana University provost’s statement declares war on its own professor

The Indiana University’s business school has a professor named Eric B. Rasmusen. Lauren Robel, the schools’ provost, just issued a statement that he’s a racist, sexist, homophobe but they can’t fire him. This could only happen in academia. Go ahead, read the statement: On the First Amendment This message was sent to the Kelley School…

Renoir at The Clark: How should we feel about all that flesh?
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Renoir at The Clark: How should we feel about all that flesh?

The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, western Massachusetts, has mounted a comprehensive exhibit of the nudes of impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It’s impossible to see these paintings and sculptures in a public setting without some complicated feelings. I’ve never visited an impressionist art exhibit with a content warning before. I visited The Clark this weekend. (If…

Ideas on how to confront Professor Writewrong. (Ask Dr. Wobs)
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Ideas on how to confront Professor Writewrong. (Ask Dr. Wobs)

Today’s question is from an academic who’s being forced to use a colleague’s terrible materials in his course. I’ve got six ideas on how to fix the handiwork of Professor Writewrong. Can you do better? Here’s the note I got: Dear Dr. Wobs I’m a college professor and I like to think a decent writer….

A Knewton critique: Why computers shouldn’t teach calculus (or anything else)

A Knewton critique: Why computers shouldn’t teach calculus (or anything else)

Isi, my teenager, is a college student taking calculus. The teacher is assigning homework from Knewton, an online learning system. I’ve been helping with the homework. Now I can see why computers can’t teach college courses — and why tools like Knewton are not just destructive, they’re evil. The old way of teaching calculus worked…

Ask Dr. Wobs: How to bust out of rigid academic writing boxes
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Ask Dr. Wobs: How to bust out of rigid academic writing boxes

Today’s question comes from a university student who thinks the professor is putting him in a box with instructions on how to write a paper. But how big is that box, really? Dear Dr. Wobs, Re: Avoiding the structure of academic writing I’m taking a political science writing class at Ohio State, and we have a…

In editing anything (including a college essay), improve the writer, not just the text

In editing anything (including a college essay), improve the writer, not just the text

The New York Times published a piece about helicopter parents making obvious and easily detectable edits to college essays. Once you recognize that your job as an editor is to improve writers, not just writing, you won’t do stuff like that. The writer of the Times piece, titled “How I Know You Wrote Your Kid’s College…

When is it ethical to write and let others take credit?

When is it ethical to write and let others take credit?

Is it wrong to write a paper for a student? This seems like a black-and-white ethical issue, but having now seen some comments from people with a very different cultural perspective, I’m trying to think about it more carefully. This occurred to me when I saw that the Pakistani tech journalist and entrepreneur Hira Saeed,…