As university students it has been drilled into us since day one of arriving to university that plagiarism is a serious offence. Our syllabi are equipped with the universities Academic Integrity blurb and our professors always end with the punch line, "Come see me if you have any questions." (Which we all know rarely happens.. we'll probably Google it first). We all know not to do it but what about those students who do. What should the university do about it? I found this news article that explores some of the methods that universities are using.
One part of the article that I found interesting was what Simon Fraser University is doing for those student who are plagiarizing. They have created a new grade, "FD", that will show up on students transcripts which stands for Failed for Academic Dishonesty. I actually think that this is an excellent approach to the situation. The threat alone that something will show up on your official academic transcript saying that you plagiarized were deters many student I believe.
Hey guys! I found this article that I found pretty interesting and I thought you might enjoy it to. The article discusses the benefits of a single-sex classroom rather than the normative co-ed classroom. Single-sex classrooms aren't anything new and we often see them in private institutions. This aticle argues that single-sex classrooms are better for students in the educational process.
One of the arguments that this article makes that I disagree with is that when the opposite sex is taken out of the classroom there is less of a focus on being 'cool' or 'popular'. I do not believe that this is the case. In both males and females there always seems to be a search for a heirarchy, those who are leaders and those who are followers. I do not think taking the opposite sex out of the classroom is going to change competition between the same sex.
The man, the legend, Mr. Feeny. We all grew up with him, and let's face it: we all love him. He was the teacher that we all wanted. And why was that? Because he cared. We've been talking a lot about how teaching styles are important, and what we should learn in the classroom but what I honestly believe matters most is the teachers themselves.
I'm not sure if any of you have watched the show Mr. D but take a look at this clip above! I found this show absolutely hilarious. It's essentially about a terrible teacher who comedically fails his students over and over again, usually trying to impress someone else (whether it be a woman or the principal). I was watching an episode the other day and I got to thinking, "Why do I find this show so funny?" It's about how a teacher is letting down his students for their future yet there is something so real and funny about it. I think it might be the element of that ever nagging question students have, "What are teachers really like outside of school?" Take a look at this clip and maybe watch an episode and tell me what you think!
I looked further into how bad teachers really affect student performance in the classroom and I came across someone else's blog on the subject. This blogger categorizes different kinds of bad teachers. I found this blog hilarious (you all should really take a look at it!). What this person did was list all of the different types of teachers that they have heard students talk about or complain about. They came up with thirteen categories that bad teachers can fit under.
A few of my favourite of these kinds of teachers, because I found the description so relatable in my own education, are the "Tangent", the "Monotone", and the "Over your Head" teacher.
We have all had the "Tangent" teacher at one point or another in our educational experience. It is the teacher that uses the classroom as their personal ranting arena. A lot of the time the tangents these teachers go off on have nothing, or very little. to do with t he subject matter of the class. We also have all probably had a "Monotone" teacher, or at least a substitute that was like this. They are the teachers that can teach, but can deliver because listening to them is like watching paint dry. Then there is the "Over your Head" teacher who expects you to be a genius upon entering the classroom, and be able to understand and recite Shakespeare at the age of 7. Most of us have experienced these teachers, but many of drop there classes before the pain truly ensues.
Have you guys experienced these kinds of teachers? Any other one's that you thought of that this blog didn't cover?
In class a couple of weeks ago we performed a play created by Tara Goldstein called Snakes and Ladders. Snakes and Ladders is what Goldstein calls a performed ethnography. A performed ethnography is a play which exposes a specific flaw or flaws in a given situation. Goldstein wrote Snakes and Ladders using “data from an empirical study on anti-homophobia education [which she] undertook in four Toronto schools from 2002 to 2003” (Goldstein, Collins and Halder, 2008). In recent classes we have also been discussing critical pedagogy, an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action" (Giroux, 2010). If we look at this definition it seems clear that Goldstein’s performed ethnography is an example of critical pedagogy.
On February 14th we were asked to come up with ideas to create our ideal high school. Some of the dimensions we were asked to looked at and think critically about were curriculum, staff, teaching methods, and infrastructure. By brainstorming with other students and critiquing our current education system and being able to come up with innovative ways to change and improve the system, this activity worked as critical pedagogy. Critical pedagogy is the idea that we should be able to look at the flaws in our education system and think, and speak about ways that could improve the system and then take action in order to make a change.
