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MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

tech.mit.edu

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Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#91

Post by jasode »

edtechdev wrote: post #24
legutierr wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By this reasoning, you should put a list of the universities you were admitted to on your resume, not the university that you actually attended. Under these terms, what's the difference between going to Harvard for a couple of semesters and dropping out, and getting admitted to Harvard but deciding to attend Dartmouth instead?

Getting admitted isn't as valuable a signal as getting a degree. Both are a signal or proxy for intelligence (IQ), but getting a degree is also a signal of persistence and conformity to get through the grind of college courses. Bryan Caplan has written much about 'signaling theory' and education in posts like this one: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/02/mixed_signals.ht...

>Getting admitted isn't as valuable a signal as getting a degree.

It depends. In the limited world of software startup hiring, a compsci student that got admitted to MIT/Stanford but drops out after his freshman year conveys a more valuable signal than graduating from the University of Alabama (a much lower ranked school) after 4 years of study.

If it's an older institution doing the hiring such as IBM or Goldman Sachs, they'll want that official piece of paper showing you graduated regardless of the school's low ranking.

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#92

Post by such_a_casual »

Pharaoh2 wrote: post #80
such_a_casual wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Either that, or you don't get to vote. What? Graduating from school (highschool or university) is about learning how to follow directions and play the game. To say that a degree somehow guarantees that a person knows how to think critically is ludicrous. But you're not even making such a modest claim, you're actually claiming that it is the only way to assure people can think critically (even though it's not even a…

I have a place for you that your might really like, https://www.reddit.com/r/topmindsofreddit Go there and be happy. The important thing in high school and college wasn't what I learned in the classroom, although some of it does help me in life. The important this was what I learned in that environment with my peers. I don't know how bad your college was, but I did go to a pretty good college in my country. It might…

You've addressed none of the points that I made. You claimed that school is the only way to learn how to think critically and should be used to take away the suffrage of millions of people. In response to me calling you out on this very dangerous and ignorant opinion, you've chosen to derail by linking to reddit, talk about "life lessons" you learned as a teenager, and brag about the college you went to. Nice.

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#93

Post by digikata »

kedean wrote: post #74
digikata wrote: post #69

It would be interesting to compose your own 'major' program out of smaller granularity subject modules. So e.g. if one were interested in majoring in robotics, you could assemble a study program of something like basic CS, basic MechE, basic EE, then stack some other intermediate level subjects modules on top... Controls, Visual processing, etc...

Interesting, but maybe not all that useful. The purpose of a major is to give others an implicit idea of what you studied. If I say I have a major in Robotics, then everyone can infer what that consisted of, even if it varies across universities (in which case that knowledge usually disseminates). What happens when I say I majored in robotics, but I failed to actually include anything on the hardware side of it and o…

A company hiring someone out of this new kind of university would look at projects the student worked on as well as their subject modules. But large projects can get fuzzy as to what the specific contributions might be, and the subject modules then give you an idea of that candidates background skill spread. So if the company were looking for someone in robotics for more of the software side, then it would be apparent from the studied modules that they might be a good fit.

But more than that, it would give universities a model to continue creating a range of advanced or specialized subject modules. This would allow students or employees to come back and pickup new subject modules in a more integrated way to how the whole university operates.

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#94

Post by cmurf »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #85
david927 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's surprising that it's taking so long. The wealthiest have always found ways to preserve their wealth and Ivy League institutions have played a role in that. Take some smart people, a lot of people that are good at fitting the mold that looks best, mix your rich kids in there and call the paint one color. Remember, George W. Bush (all politics aside, just looking at him in terms of intellectual prowess) graduated…

George W Bush plays much dumber than he is. It's hard to get an unbiased opinion on the matter since it can be used to score political points, but he definitely has >100 IQ.

Well 100 is average so you're pretty much riding the top of the bell curve with this comment.

But then, there are house plants that decided not to invade Iraq and Afghanistan...

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#96

Post by mietek »

david927 wrote: post #54
dhimes wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"guarantee" that students "know" what they are "taught" That used to be the case, but now corporations require you to pass their own exam before they hire you. Let that sink in a moment. No longer are the universities taken at their word about their product. For some of you it has never been any different, but this change came about more or less when I was teaching at university/college. Some of us saw this as a quit…

It's surprising that it's taking so long. The wealthiest have always found ways to preserve their wealth and Ivy League institutions have played a role in that. Take some smart people, a lot of people that are good at fitting the mold that looks best, mix your rich kids in there and call the paint one color. Remember, George W. Bush (all politics aside, just looking at him in terms of intellectual prowess) graduated…

What do you really know about George W. Bush?

http://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#97

Post by [deleted] »

david927 wrote: post #54
dhimes wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"guarantee" that students "know" what they are "taught" That used to be the case, but now corporations require you to pass their own exam before they hire you. Let that sink in a moment. No longer are the universities taken at their word about their product. For some of you it has never been any different, but this change came about more or less when I was teaching at university/college. Some of us saw this as a quit…

It's surprising that it's taking so long. The wealthiest have always found ways to preserve their wealth and Ivy League institutions have played a role in that. Take some smart people, a lot of people that are good at fitting the mold that looks best, mix your rich kids in there and call the paint one color. Remember, George W. Bush (all politics aside, just looking at him in terms of intellectual prowess) graduated…

[deleted]

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#98

Post by bachmeier »

Something that concerns me, unless I missed it, is that there is no mention of the liberal arts. What is described here is closer to my view of what a university should be. (I'm in year 14 as a professor.) I think it would be a huge mistake, though, to not have a liberal arts core.

Re: MIT dean to start new university: “No majors, no lectures, no classrooms”

#100

Post by tanker »

fao_ wrote: post #65
bobby_9x wrote: post #56

The current system was created for a reason: because for most people, it works. I ran a language learning group for a couple of years and we tried many different styles of learning. With no structure, most people flounder. Unless you already learned the material and just need it for review, it really doesn't work well. The best was complete structure: tests, lesson plans, and homework. Most people are passive. They w…

> With no structure, most people flounder. I find the opposite -- it is impossible for me to get any kind of complex learning done while I am on a structured course. It's telling that I learned more in three weeks of being ill and choosing to passively read books on mathematics (While coughing my guts up, of course), than I did actively participating in a course. (The only reason I am participating in the course is b…

I too learn more deeply outside of the confines of a structured class. However, I find the structure of an OCW course nearly ideal for many subjects.

For me it seems to be at least partially a function of my ability in an area. The stronger I am in a subject, the less structure I need.

I suspect the optimal amount of structure varies from person to person and within a person from subject to subject. People learn differently.

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