Re:States are moving to cut college costs by introducing ope...
by BEEdwards on Tuesday April 25, 2017 @01:43PM
(#14196124)
I know let's hire more administrators!
That seems to be the plan, instead of hiring more professors they grow class sizes, cut corners, and hire more admin.
Re:States are moving to cut college costs by introducing ope...
by killjoywashere on Tuesday April 25, 2017 @03:58PM
(#14197408)
Which is really the deans and provost growing a power base that is dependent on them. They do not want to be dependant on a large group of influential professors. Better to foster a workforce of neutered adjuncts overseen by administrators who are not technically competent, and so design administrative regimes that avoid addressing issues of technical competence at all. The IRB is a prime example of this: people with a high school education provide administrative oversight of researchers working at the outer limits of human knowledge. It's insanity.
Re:States are moving to cut college costs by introducing ope...
by thearn4 on Wednesday April 26, 2017 @06:59AM
(#14202035)
Are you saying that you think IRBs are a waste by design, or that the way IRBs are typically implemented makes them so as a side effect?
Re:States are moving to cut college costs by introducing ope...
by LoSboccacc on Tuesday April 25, 2017 @02:45PM
(#14196745)
Engineering here had 200+ student enrolled on each class years ago, all managed by early 199x tools. It's doable and still delivered on education quality.
Speaking from the part-time professors perspective: occurring in parallel to this is a steady growth in course section sizes. 30 students used to be the norm for some courses, but 80-90 is the new normal just a few years later. Some of these tools are designed to help manage this. But the actual process of planning and delivering a lecture, providing individual feedback on written assignments (like exams), etc. is suffering.
Teaching effectively to a large section is harder than you might think, especially when teaching is only a fraction of your job & you have no TAs. But half-assing it is actually not too hard I guess. And you are seldom rewarded for the former. Thankfully for me and for my students, it is mostly a side hobby for me and not a living.