Abolish the Grade Point Average

One of the things I'd like to do at my university is abolish the grade point system and just use percentages. We already give percentage grades for each course on our transcripts but these get converted to grade points for the purpose of calculating grade point averages.

The method of conversion is shown in the table below.

What do you think? Is there any good reason to use grade points and grade point averages in university? Do any of you go to schools where the GPA has been abolished?

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Impending Canadian Copyright Legislation Could Be Disasterous

 
The Government of Canada has served notice that it intends to amend Canadian copyright law to bring it more into line with international standards. The goal has widespread support but the proposed legislation goes too far. The Conservative government is looking at changes that mimic the American Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) [What Is DMCA and Why Should We Care?].

Industry Minister Jim Prentice (see photo) is the man behind this obnoxious legislation.

A consortium of 92 Canadian Colleges and Universities has issued a statement opposing many of the proposed changes (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, AUCC). You can read the entire document at AUCC SUBMISSION TO THE MINISTERS OF INDUSTRY AND CANADIAN HERITAGE CONCERNING COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM.

This is the part that refers to new laws governing internet service providers (ISPs) such as universities and colleges.

One legislative option to address this issue would be to introduce a “notice and notice” system under which an ISP must forward to its user an allegation by a copyright owner that material on the user’s web site infringes copyright. The ISP would be required to take steps to remove the material from the hosted web site only after there has been a finding of infringement by a court and the issuance by the court of a removal order. If an ISP failed to take the steps mandated by the court order, it would be liable for authorizing infringement. This "notice and notice" approach is the existing industry practice of ISPs in Canada and has worked well for both rights holders and for ISPs. The "notice and notice" approach is supported by the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, representing major Canadian ISPs.

An alternative legislative option promoted by some interests would see the introduction of a "notice and takedown" regime similar to the one set out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the U.S. Under this approach, when an ISP is notified by a copyright owner that there is allegedly infringing material on a web site, the ISP must respond expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing. AUCC agrees with the view of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers that this approach has the serious disadvantage of putting ISPs in a "quasi-judicial" role that conflicts with the interests of the users of their services. A “notice and takedown” approach could create incentives for ISPs to take the path of least resistance by removing content without warning or evidence of actual infringement, and thereby harm freedom of expression. This is not a minor matter for universities given that many university faculty members maintain web sites, often related to the university courses that they teach and their research.

AUCC recommendation on the liability of ISPs for infringements by users of their services:

AUCC recommends that the Copyright Act be amended to codify a “notice and notice” system under which an ISP’s obligations would be to forward to its users any allegations of copyright infringement made by a copyright owner. An ISP should not be liable for infringing material that has been posted on a web site by a user of the ISP’s services unless, after a court has ruled that the material is infringing and orders its removal, the ISP fails to comply with the court order within a reasonable time.

This is important legislation that could have a serious impact on the internet in Canada. It's one time when we definitely do not want to copy the Americans as the present government is so fond of doing. People need to pay attention. Contact your Member of Parliament.

Read the links on Canadian Cynic [ Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming] for more information.

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Does Blogging Hurt Your Chances of Getting Tenure?

 
Here are two examples of academics who blog and who didn't get tenure [Too Much Information?]. Neither of them are certain that their blogs had any effect on the tenure committee but who knows for sure?

There are many blogging Assistant Professors who got tenure so it can't be all that bad. My own feeling is that blogging takes up a lot of time and those who are up for tenure might be able to make better use of that time.

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[Hat Tip: Joshua Rosenau at Thoughts from Kansas (Science educator "Expelled!," Disco Inst remains silent)]

Bruce Alberts in Toronto

 
My Ph.D. supervisor, Bruce Alberts, was in Toronto yesterday to receive an honourary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Toronto. We had a nice luncheon in the Upper Library at Massey College. That's Bruce Alberts on the right and my former Ph.D. student and co-author Marc Perry on the left. Three "generations" of Ph.D.'s.

I'm sure three-generation pictures are quite common but four- and five-generation photographs are more unusual. Does anyone have one?

Following the luncheon we were off to the Chancellor's Office to get "gowned" for the graduation ceremony. Yesterday was graduation day for Ph.D. and Masters degree students.

The students were lined up to enter Convocation Hall. There were 391 of them and later on we waited while each one was called to the stage to receive their degree.

The procession of faculty was quite impressive with all the gowns, finery, pomp, and circumstance. Here we are (below) all dressed up on the stage of Convocation Hall. From left to right, Katherine Whiteside, Dean of Medicine; Bruce Alberts, convocation speaker and honourary degree recipient; Jack Petch, Chair Governing Council; David Peterson, Chancellor; David Naylor, President; Susan Pfeiffer, Dean School of Graduate Studies; and half of me on the end. On the right I'm delivering the citation for Bruce Alberts.


Here's part of what I said,

Bruce was very successful at Princeton where he made major advances in working out the mechanism of DNA replication, laying the groundwork for future recognition as an outstanding scientist. He has also contributed greatly to our understanding of chromosomes. In 1995 he came to Toronto to receive a Gairdner Award for his scientific achievements. He has published over 150 scientific papers.

Bruce moved to the University of California at San Francisco in 1976. He served as Chair of the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics during the time that it rose to become one of the leading biochemistry departments in the world. Bruce’s guidance and mentorship during that time contributed in no small part to the success of the department.

Among the many honours and awards he has received I’d like to single out a few others that relate to his scientific achievements. He holds an American Cancer Society Lifetime Research Professorship. He was elected to the American National Academy of Sciences in 1981. He is a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (London) and many other international societies.

Bruce’s interest in science education was apparent from the beginning. In 1983 he and his colleagues published the very first edition of his famous textbook Alberts et al. The Molecular Biology of the Cell. The book has become familiar to students all around the world. The fifth edition is due to be published in just a few weeks. The Molecular Biology of the Cell set a standard for textbook writing that few other books have matched. I dare say many of the students here have taken at least one course that used his book.

In 1993, Bruce left San Francisco and moved to Washington to become President of the National Academy of Sciences—a post he held for twelve years. During that time he was “First Scientist” in the USA and, arguably, the most influential scientist in the world.

Bruce soon became known as the “Education President” for his efforts to improve science education beginning in kindergarten and the primary grades. He is highly respected for his tireless efforts in bettering science education and research policies in the USA and around the world. This effort has continued since he left Washington. He has received numerous awards for his achievements in education including Outstanding Volunteer Coordinator in California schools, the Leadership in Education Award from Keystone Center, the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the Victor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize from the American Association for Developmental Biology.

There are even more awards and honours, for example Bruce Alberts is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Outstanding scientist, caring mentor, renowned author, and distinguished educator.

Mr, Chancellor, on behalf of the Governing Council, I ask you to confer the degree of Doctor Of Science, honoris causa, upon Bruce Alberts.

After the graduation ceremony we came back to the Biochemistry Department for a reception in Bruce's honour. Many of the graduate and undergraduate students showed up with copies of their textbooks and Bruce was delighted to sign them.

We had a wonderful, but short, visit. I hope he comes back again real soon.

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Cafe Inquiry

 

The Centre for Inquiry (Toronto) and the University of Toronto Secular Alliance are pleased to announce the first Cafe Inquiry. These monthly meetings will focus on topics of interested to the secular community.

The first meeting is going to be held in conjunction with a series of lectures sponsored by CFI. The speaker happens to be me, talking about Evolution as a Theory and a Fact. If you haven't had enough of me on this blog, then come out to the Centre for Inquiry on Wednesday November 28 at 7 pm or McMaster University on the evening of November 27th. The McMaster event is sponsored by the McMaster Association of Secular Humanists.

For more information see [Evolution Is a Theory and a Fact with Prof. Laurence Moran].

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Goodbye Daylight Saving Time

 
Today we stopped using Daylight Saving Time in Canada.

Last Spring I posted an article about time zones [Happy Daylight Saving Time!]. It included the photograph shown here of a strange thing right outside my building on the University of Toronto campus. If you don't know what it is, follow the link.

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Note to students at the University of Toronto: This could be on the The University Exit Exam].

Democracy at Work: The Assembly's Decision

 
I'm very proud of the Ontario Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform. That's the group who examined many electoral systems and selected the mixed member proportional (MMP) system for Ontario. We will vote on it in a referendum tomorrow. It won't win this time around.

I think the Citizen's Assembly should be a model for many decision making processes in a democracy. In fact, I think it could be a model for grappling with complex problems in other situations as well.

Today I went to hear the President of the University brief us on long term strategic planning for the University of Toronto. I pointed out that the process was doomed from the beginning because the five major task forces were filled with appointed members of the Board of Governors and senior administrators (and former administrators). No ordinary faculty members, no students, no ordinary staff members. Nobody is going to listen to a group like that telling us what a university should be like in 20 years.

The response was that we need experienced people on these committees and that means people who have served in administrative positions in the university. I disagree. Watch this video to see another way of doing things.

The Goal of a University Education

 
At the University or Toronto we're about to go through one of our regular navel-gazing exercises where the administrators ask us how they should plan for the future. In this case, it's a document called "Towards 2030." It's another one of those motherhood-type essays about improving the undergraduate experience and coping with a changing research environment. After 43 years in university, it's all beginning to sound a bit repetitive.

I was wondering whether anyone had any new ideas when I saw this article in the New York Times [Academic Business]. It's written by Andrew Delbanco who is the director of American studies and Levi Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. There's nothing new there either. It's the same old complaints that we protested about in the 1960's; namely, the transformation of the university into a corporation. Even when we became Professors we didn't succeed in reversing this trend. The latest navel-gazing exercise is a case in point. It's the administrators who act as though this is "their" university and everyone else is an employee or a customer.

But Delbanco does make a few points that I'd like to comment on.

College today is a place in which students from many backgrounds converge, and it is neither feasible nor desirable to prescribe for them some common morality. But college should be a place that fosters open debate of the ethical issues posed by modern life — by genetic screening and engineering; by the blurring of the lines dividing birth, life and death; by the global clash between liberal individualism and fundamentalism.

I just came back from a class where my students discussed evolution and creationism with me and my colleague, who happens to be a Jesuit Priest. It was a lot of fun but you know what? In a university of 72,000 students (59,000 undergraduates) this class represents only a tiny fraction of the student body. The vast majority don't want this kind of education no matter how valuable we think it is. It's simply not true that if you create the classes they will come.

It's not good enough to just mouth the words about the value of a liberal education. We need practical solutions to the problem of getting today's students to buy into the concept. Anybody got any ideas on how to do that?

Delbanco also says,

Some signs suggest that higher education is waking up to its higher obligations. There is more and more interest in teaching great books that provoke students to think about justice and responsibility and how to live a meaningful life. Applications are up at Columbia and the University of Chicago, which have compulsory great-books courses; students at Yale show growing interest in the “Directed Study” program, in which they read the classics; and respected smaller institutions like Ursinus College in Pennsylvania have built their own core curriculums around major works of philosophy and literature.

This is where I part company with the Professor of Humanities. There was a time when I thought that the old books were a wonderful way to build a good program in liberal education. But since then I've come to appreciate that part of the problem is scientific illiteracy and we don't solve that problem by focusing all our attention on dead philosophers and even deader novelists.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that philosophy is the core discipline in an university and every student should become familiar with the basic problems in philosophy. What I'm objecting to is the attitude that being literate in the humanities is all it takes to become educated. You simply can't intelligently discuss the "ethics" of genetic engineering these days if you don't learn science. And you don't learn science by reading the great books, even if one of them is The Origin of Species.

Scientists need to speak out. You can stand around at cocktail parties discussing the meaning of Moby-Dick all you want but you can't call yourself educated if you don't know what DNA is or what causes eclipses and earthquakes.

I don't know how to get students interested in science either, by the way. Does anybody? Is the problem beyond the ability of the university to solve?

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[Photo Credit: The top photograph shows a walkway in one of theolder buildings on the University of Toronto campus from the Macleans website]

[Hat Tip: Michael White at Adaptive Complexity who has some interesting comments that are worth reading(Do Universities care about more than image?)]

How to Get Tenure

 
Janet Stemwedel is about to submit her tenure dossier. She describes the process and the dossier on Adventures in Ethics and Science [A postcard from academe: my tenure dossier]. It's worth a read to see how the process works. Note that Janet has included a section on blogging and her department recognizes that as a legitimate academic pursuit.

Good luck, Janet, although I really don't think you'll need it.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Speaks at Columbia University

 
Tomorrow President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran will speak at Columbia University. There are some who argue that universities should not invite controversial speakers. There are some who argue that Iran is the "enemy"—a member of the axis of evil—and once an enemy has been identified, and vilified, you must never allow them to speak in their own defense. It's especially horrible, according to these people, to allow a publicly-funded university to sponsor such a person.

Those people are dead wrong. Fortunately, the President of Columbia University has the gumption to stand up to those who would destroy the universities and free society [President Bollinger's Statement About President Ahmadinejad's Scheduled Appearance].

I would like to add a few comments on the principles that underlie this event. Columbia, as a community dedicated to learning and scholarship, is committed to confronting ideas—to understand the world as it is and as it might be. To fulfill this mission we must respect and defend the rights of our schools, our deans and our faculty to create programming for academic purposes. Necessarily, on occasion this will bring us into contact with beliefs many, most or even all of us will find offensive and even odious. We trust our community, including our students, to be fully capable of dealing with these occasions, through the powers of dialogue and reason.

I would also like to invoke a major theme in the development of freedom of speech as a central value in our society. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.

That such a forum could not take place on a university campus in Iran today sharpens the point of what we do here. To commit oneself to a life—and a civil society—prepared to examine critically all ideas arises from a deep faith in the myriad benefits of a long-term process of meeting bad beliefs with better beliefs and hateful words with wiser words. That faith in freedom has always been and remains today our nation’s most potent weapon against repressive regimes everywhere in the world. This is America at its best.

If you don't understand this then you don't understand anything about the purpose of a university and the importance of listening to the other side.

PZ Rants About Science Textbooks

This is a posting about science textbook publishing. I have a vested interest in this debate because I'm the co-author of two biochemistry textbooks published by Pearson/Prentice Hall—one of the largest textbook publishers in the world.

PZ Myers posted an article about the high cost of textbooks [Textbooks, again]. He says,

Everyone in academia knows it: textbook publishers abuse the system. Jim Fiore decries the high cost of college textbooks, and I have to agree completely. Basic textbooks at the lower undergraduate levels do not need a new edition every year or two, not even in rapidly changing fields like biology.

There are two points here. The cost of textbooks is determined by the market and lots of other factors. As a general rule, the publishers are not making outrageous profits on individual college textbooks. They try to make their money on volume.

Most people don't understand that a large part of the cost of a textbook is due to the mark-up at the retailers. Much of the rest of the price is due to the cost of production and marketing. Look at the list of people who contribute to a textbook. You'll usually find them listed on the back of the title page. There are artists and editors as well as people who manage the project and people who market the books. Each new edition of a major textbook like biology can cost close to $1 million dollars these days. You have to sell more than 20,000 copies just to recover the production costs. (Really popular books will sell more than 100,000 copies but the difference isn't all profit.)

So let's understand and agree that the original price of a textbook is not unreasonable. My biochemistry textbook in 1965 was Conn & Stumpf and it cost $9.95. This works out to $65.80 in 2007 dollars using the handy-dandy inflation calculator on the US Dept. of Labor website. The 1965 textbook was much smaller, covered less material, and had no color figures. Modern biochemistry textbooks cost about $120-150 and they are very much better than the books published 40 years ago.

Even if we didn't want to make substantive changes in each edition and even if there were no second-hand market, we would still be forced to update our books because of pressure from competitors. Those other authors are hard at work revising and improving their books and if you don't follow suit you'll soon end up having no market share. What I'm saying here is that there are many reasons for new editions and it's very simplistic to attribute the cause to ripping off students. That's not how it works.

PZ's second point is more complex. Textbooks come out with new editions every few years. A typical cycle is four years—not the "year or two" that PZ suggests. While it is true that some of the pressure to produce new editions comes from a desire to eliminate the second-hand book market, that's not the only reason. There really is new material to add and new ways to approach the subject. In my case we're into the 4th edition of my Principles of Biochemistry textbook. The dates of publication are: 1992, 1996, 2002, and 2006. The next edition is scheduled for 2010. We're just about to start work on it. The differences between these editions are not trivial: they're part of a plan to transform the way we teach biochemistry. This is not unusual.

Churning editions is just a way for the publisher to suck more money out of a captive audience. It makes it difficult for students to sell off their used textbooks, it gives faculty the headache of having to constantly update their assignments, and if you allow your students to use older editions, it means we have to maintain multiple assignments. It's extraordinarily annoying, and to no good purpose at the university (to great purpose at the publisher, though).

This is simply not accurate. It's part of the urban myth about publishing. Everyone likes to blame someone else for the cost of textbooks.

I'm surprised that PZ would complain about having to update his assignments. You can't have it both ways, PZ. Either the new editions are trivial, in which case you don't have to change much, or they contain substantive changes, in which case your complaint about it being motivated to rip off students is unjustified. If you were using my textbook then be aware of the fact that my goal is to get you to change the way you've been teaching biochemistry. That's why I have new editions.

PZ, it sounds like you would never consider switching textbooks because it would be too much trouble for you to change your teaching. Is this a correct assumption?

On the plus side of their ledgers, though, I also urge the students to keep their textbooks once the course is over. These are valuable reference books that they may well find handy throughout their college careers and in their life afterwards. I've never quite understood the rush to dispose of those books the instant the semester ends — I kept my undergraduate biology and chemistry books until they fell apart (another gripe: the increasingly cheap bindings of these books), and I still have several of my old history texts on my shelves.

I'm with you on that one, PZ. I have all my old college textbooks. They are my friends. I never, ever, thought of selling them. They are full of notes in the margins and text highlights that reflect how I learned the material and what was important or controversial. I don't understand why students want to get rid of their textbooks when the course ends. Unless, of course, they never really cared about the subject in the first place and just needed a grade to graduate or get into medical school. But that's probably being too cynical.

Extra Credit

 
On Adventures in Ethics and Science they're having a little debate about something called "extra credit" [Question of the day: Is extra credit fair?]. The debate seemed kind of interesting but I really didn't have a clue what they were talking about, so I asked.

Nobody answered. I gather the concept of "extra credit" for a course is so widespread in American schools that they must have thought I was joking. After a bit of internet searching I think I'm beginning to understand what this "extra credit" is all about. There seem to be universities that permit students to raise their grades by doing extra work. For example, they might get a grade of 75/100 on all the exams and tests but they could add another 5 marks to bring their final mark up to 80% if they do some project that is not required of all students in the class.

Here's an example from an introductory biology course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [Integrative Biology 101].

During the semester you have an opportunity to earn up to 6% worth of extra credit points to be added to your course grade at the end of the semester. You may earn any number of extra credit points up to the maximum of 6 points. To earn the whole 6% you must start early and sustain your extra credit work throughout the semester. There is also an option for one additional bonus point if you complete one of the two "Bonus" projects in addition to the maximum number of projects determined by the date you start your extra credit work.

Extra Credit projects require that you engage in some independent learning in areas of biology that interest you, write a brief report or review and then read the work of your classmates and interact with them via the Web Crossing computer conferencing system to share and discuss what you and your classmates have learned.

Extra credit projects are due at three specific times during the semester - before each of the hour exams and at the end of the semester. You may earn two extra credit points at each of these due dates.

For most extra credit projects, one extra credit point can be earned by writing one project review and completing two interactions (dialog entries) by reading and replying to two classmate's extra credit projects. While you must write at least one dialog entry to a classmate for each extra credit point, you may count another student's dialog entry to your project as your second dialog entry. If no one writes to you, you must then write a second dialog entry to another student.

I'm dumbfounded. How widespread is this practice?

Does this mean that when we're evaluating transcripts from the University of Illinois we have to consider the possibility that, while a student may have an "A" on the transcript, they may have only gotten a "B" when it comes to understanding the required material in the course?

There may be a logical reason for giving out extra credits but the logic escapes me. Can someone explain it?

Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Persistent Irrelevance

 
I'm discussing the Freedom in the Classroom (2007) report from the American Association of University Professors [Freedom in the Classroom (2007].

The first posting covered the issue of indoctrination and made the point that Professors have to allow for debate in the classroom [Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Indoctrination]. The second posting discussed the report's comments on balance in the classroom—the proposition that Professors are obliged to present both sides of a controversy Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Balance. In the third posting, I present the discussion about intolerance and a hostile learning environment [Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Intolerance].

This posting addresses the criticism that "instructors persistently interject material, especially of a political or ideological character, irrelevant to the subject of instruction."

Persistent Irrelevance

The 1940 Statement of Principles provides that teachers "should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject." The origin of this admonition lies in the concern of the authors of the 1925 Conference Statement on Academic Freedom and Tenure for immature youth or, more accurately, a concern by the administrators of small and often denominational colleges for potential adverse parental reaction to their children's exposure to thought contrary to the conventional pieties of small-town America.14 The admonition was reconsidered and addressed in an interpretive comment to the 1940 Statement, appended by the joint drafting organizations in 1970:

The intent of this statement is not to discourage what is "controversial." Controversy is at the heart of the free academic inquiry which the entire statement is designed to foster. The passage serves to underscore the need for teachers to avoid persistently intruding material which has no relation to their subject.

The 1940 Statement should not be interpreted as excluding controversial matter from the classroom; any such exclusion would be contrary to the essence of higher education. The statement should be interpreted as excluding "irrelevant" matter, whether controversial or not.

The question, therefore, is how to determine whether material is "irrelevant" to classroom discussion. In some contexts, the meaning of "irrelevance" is clear. Students would have every right to complain if an instructor in ancient history dwelled on internecine conflict in her department or if an instructor in American literature engaged in lengthy digressions on his personal life. But such irrelevance is not the gravamen of the contemporary complaint.

The question is not so much about trivial irrelevance, it's about serious deviations from the advertised course content. But how do we define those serious kinds of irrelevance? Are all irrelevant comments out-of-bounds? Should the university set up some sort of "irrelevance police" to check out every classroom?

Clearly not. But students and members of the general public don't seem to have a problem with this sort of tactic. The greatest danger these days comes from threats that are outside of the academic community. This report should be required reading for students at university.

The group calling itself Students for Academic Freedom (SAF), for example, has advised students that "your professor should not be making statements . . . about George Bush, if the class is not on contemporary American presidents, presidential administrations or some similar subject." This advice presupposes that the distinction between "relevant" and "irrelevant" material is to be determined strictly by reference to the wording of a course description. Under this view, current events or personages are beyond the pale unless a course is specifically about them. But this interpretation of "relevance" is inconsistent with the nature of higher education, in which "all knowledge can be connected to all other knowledge." Whether material is relevant to a better understanding of a subject cannot be determined merely by looking at a course description.

Excellent point. Surely we don't want classrooms where the Professor is forbidden to make comments about real world events and how they might relate to the material in the course or to the ideas that are being discussed?

Might not a teacher of nineteenth-century American literature, taking up Moby Dick, a subject having nothing to do with the presidency, ask the class to consider whether any parallel between President George W. Bush and Captain Ahab could be pursued for insight into Melville's novel? Might not an instructor of classical philosophy, teaching Aristotle's views of moral virtue, present President Bill Clinton's conduct as a case study for student discussion? Might not a teacher of ancient history ask the class to consider the possibility of parallels between the Roman occupation of western Mesopotamia and the United States' experience in that part of the world two millennia later? SAF would presumably sanction instructors for asking these types of questions, on the grounds that such questions are outside the purview of an official course description. But if an instructor cannot stimulate discussion and encourage critical thought by drawing analogies or parallels, the vigor and vibrancy of classroom discussion will be stultified.

This committee of the American Association of University Professors had some smart people. They were able to summarize the problem succinctly. Here are their names.

• MATTHEW W. FINKIN (Law), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, chair
• ROBERT C. POST (Law), Yale University
• CARY NELSON (English), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• ERNST BENJAMIN (Political Science), Washington, D.C.
• ERIC COMBEST, staff

The committee deals with a number of specific examples, including that of Prof. Turner who was dismissed from the University of Pittsburgh in 1934 for comparing contemporary political figures to historical figures in his history course. The committee concludes with,

How an instructor approaches the material in classroom exposition is, absent breach of professional ethics, a matter of personal style, influenced, as it must be, by the pedagogical goals and classroom dynamics of a particular course, as well as by the larger educational objective of instilling in students the capacity for critical and independent thought. The instructor in Melville or classical philosophy or Roman history must be free to draw upon current persons and events just as Professor Turner did seventy years ago. Instructors must be free to employ a wide variety of examples in order to stimulate classroom discussion and thought. If allusions perform this function, they are not "irrelevant." They are pedagogically justified.

At root, complaints about the persistent interjection of "irrelevant" material concern the interjection of "controversial" material. The complaints are thus a variant of the charge that instructors have created a "hostile learning environment" and must be rejected for the reasons we have already discussed. So long as an instructor's allusions provoke genuine debate and learning that is germane to the subject matter of a course, they are protected by "freedom in the classroom."

Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Intolerance

 
I'm discussing the Freedom in the Classroom (2007) report from the American Association of University Professors [Freedom in the Classroom (2007].

The first posting covered the issue of indoctrination and made the point that Professors have to allow for debate in the classroom [Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Indoctrination]. The second posting discussed the report's comments on balance in the classroom—the proposition that Professors are obliged to present both sides of a controversy [Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Balance].

This posting addresses the third item in the report; namely the charge that "instructors are intolerant of students' religious, political, or socioeconomic views, thereby creating a hostile atmosphere inimical to learning."

Hostile Learning Environment

Contemporary critics of the academy have begun to deploy the concept of a "hostile learning environment," which was first developed in the context of antidiscrimination law. The concept has been used in universities to support speech codes that suppress expression deemed offensive to racial, ethnic, or other minorities. The concept is now being used in an attempt to suppress expression deemed offensive on religious or political grounds.

The statement On Freedom of Expression and Campus Speech Codes, adopted as Association policy in1994, acknowledges the need to "foster an atmosphere respectful of and welcoming to all persons." An instructor may not harass a student nor act on an invidiously discriminatory ground toward a student, in class or elsewhere. It is a breach of professional ethics for an instructor to hold a student up to obloquy or ridicule in class for advancing an idea grounded in religion, whether it is creationism or the geocentric theory of the solar system. It would be equally improper for an instructor to hold a student up to obloquy or ridicule for an idea grounded in politics, or anything else.

Hmmm ... while I agree with the sentiment here I'm not sure I agree entirely with the words. If a student in an astronomy class started arguing with their Professor by claiming the sun goes around the Earth, it would be almost impossible for that Professor to respond to the attack without making fun of the student's beliefs. There really are some ideas that are so far removed from reality that they can be mocked in public.

Similarly, a student who claimed that women are inferior beings who deserve to be stoned to death for adultery does not have to be treated with undue reverence in the classroom just because their views are based on religion. And students who advocate the position that scientists are frauds and liars because evolution conflicts with the Bible do not necessarily deserve to be treated with kid gloves. I agree that obloquy is almost always inappropriate. I certainly agree that harassment and discrimination are wrong. But a little bit of ridicule may be okay.

But the current application of the idea of a "hostile learning environment" to the pedagogical context of higher education presupposes much more than blatant disrespect or harassment. It assumes that students have a right not to have their most cherished beliefs challenged. This assumption contradicts the central purpose of higher education, which is to challenge students to think hard about their own perspectives, whatever those might be. It is neither harassment nor discriminatory treatment of a student to hold up to close criticism an idea or viewpoint the student has posited or advanced. Ideas that are germane to a subject under discussion in a classroom cannot be censored because a student with particular religious or political beliefs might be offended. Instruction cannot proceed in the atmosphere of fear that would be produced were a teacher to become subject to administrative sanction based upon the idiosyncratic reaction of one or more students. This would create a classroom environment inimical to the free and vigorous exchange of ideas necessary for teaching and learning in higher education.

Right on! Once again, the authors of this report have hit the nail on the head. Students should be encouraged to speak out but they can't hide behind charges of intolerance or "hostile learning environment" when their opinions are criticized.

Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Balance

 
I'm discussing the Freedom in the Classroom (2007) report from the American Association of University Professors [Freedom in the Classroom (2007].

The first posting covered the issue of indoctrination and made the point that Professors have to allow for debate in the classroom [Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Indoctrination].

But allowing for classroom debate is not sufficient. I'd go one step further, I would insist that Professors actually address the contrary opinions in the classroom and provide references to the writings of other academics who present the other side of the controversy.

The reason for advocating this is to avoid indoctrination by default. If the students are unaware of the controversy—which they often are—then the Professor is guilty of bias by not alerting students to the possibility that they can hold a valid, but different, opinion.

I was recently alerted to this problem when I learned that our second year students had never heard of random genetic drift or punctuated equilibria in their first year biology class Organisms in Their Environment. This course is taught by members of the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the course description is,

Evolutionary, ecological, and behavioural responses of organisms to their environment at the level of individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems.

I think my colleagues may be guilty of indoctrination if they're only presenting an adaptationist view of evolution and not alerting our students to other mechanisms of evolution.

The AAUP report covers this issue as well.

Balance

Current charges of pedagogical abuse allege that instruction in institutions of higher education fails to exhibit a proper balance. It is said that instructors introduce political or ideological bias in their courses by neglecting to expose their students to contrary views or by failing to give students a full and fair accounting of competing points of view.

I completely agree with this charge. I think it's criminal if Professors don't bring up contrary views in the classroom. How do universities ensure that Professors present both sides of a controversy?

We note at the outset that in many institutions the contents of courses are subject to collegial and institutional oversight and control; even the text of course descriptions may be subject to approval. Curriculum committees typically supervise course offerings to ensure their fit with programmatic goals and their compatibility with larger educational ends (like course sequencing). Although instructors are ethically obligated to follow approved curricular guidelines, "freedom in the classroom" affords instructors wide latitude to decide how to approach a subject, how best to present and explore the material, and so forth. An instructor in a course in English Romantic poetry is free to assign the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance so long as the course remains focused more on John Keats than on Langston Hughes.

This is how universities and departments are supposed to work. Collectively, they draw up guidelines for courses in order to make sure that all the essential topics are covered. Once the course is under way, there should be some feedback between what's supposed to be taught and what is actually taught in the classroom. Unfortunately, this doesn't always occur. Even more unfortunately, it's not always true that the department as a whole is aware of some controversies.

In the case that I alluded to above, I'm not certain that the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology thinks there's a problem with the way our first year course is being taught. Does that absolve them of the charge of indoctrination?

To make a valid charge that instruction lacks balance is essentially to charge that the instructor fails to cover material that, under the pertinent standards of a discipline, is essential. There may be facts, theories, and models, particularly in the sciences, that are so intrinsically intertwined with the current state of a discipline that it would be unprofessional to slight or ignore them. One cannot now teach biology without reference to evolution; one cannot teach physical geology without reference to plate tectonics; one cannot teach particle physics without reference to quantum theory. There is, however, a large universe of facts, theories, and models that are arguably relevant to a subject of instruction but that need not be taught. Assessments of George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda might be relevant to a course on her Middlemarch, but it is not a dereliction of professional standards to fail to discuss Daniel Deronda in class. What facts, theories, and models an instructor chooses to bring into the classroom depends upon the instructor's sense of pedagogical dynamics and purpose.

Fair enough. One could perhaps argue that random genetic drift and punctuated equilibria, for example, are not essential topics in a first year course on evolution. But you'd have to be a damn fool to make such an argument. I think these are "theories, and models ... that are so intrinsically intertwined with the current state of a discipline that it would be unprofessional to slight or ignore them."

To urge that instruction be "balanced" is to urge that an instructor's discretion about what to teach be restricted. But the nature of this proposed restriction, when carefully considered, is fatally ambiguous. Stated most abstractly, the charge of lack of balance evokes a seeming ideal of neutrality. The notion appears to be that an instructor should impartially engage all potentially relevant points of view. But this ideal is chimerical. No coherent principle of neutrality would require an instructor in a class on constitutional democracy to offer equal time to "competing" visions of communist totalitarianism or Nazi fascism. There is always a potentially infinite number of competing perspectives that can arguably be deemed relevant to an instructor's subject or perspective, whatever that subject or perspective might be. It follows that the very idea of balance and neutrality, stated in the abstract, is close to incoherent.

We concede this point. Nobody is asking an adaptationist Professor, for example, to give equal time to punctuated equilibria and Gould's hierarchical theory of evolution. That would be absurd and it would go against one of the most important principles of good education, namely the idea that students should be exposed to the passionate opinions of experts in the field. I don't like the mamby-pamby, politically correct view that we have to be dispassionate reporters of facts in the classroom.

The ideal of balance makes sense only in light of an instructor's obligation to present all aspects of a subject matter that professional standards would require to be presented. If a professor of molecular biology has an idiosyncratic theory that AIDS is not caused by a retrovirus, professional standards may require that the dominant contrary perspective be presented. Understood in this way, the ideal of balance does not depend on a generic notion of neutrality, but instead on how particular ideas are embedded in specific disciplines. This is a coherent idea of balance, and it suggests that balance is not a principle that can be invoked in the abstract but is instead a standard whose content must be determined within a specific field of relevant disciplinary knowledge.

The authors of this report have clearly thought about these criticisms a great deal. They are to be congratulated on crafting an excellent summary of the important issues in university education. The point here is well-taken. The point about "balance" in the classroom is not to enforce strict bland neutrality. It's to make sure that the opinions of Professors are placed in the appropriate context of the discipline.

There might be a controversy about "appropriate context." Maybe there are many evolutionary biologists who believe that "balancing" adaptationism with silly ideas about pluralism is not required in order to maintain professional standards? How do we resolve that?

This part of the report closes with a succinct statement of a principle that most people don't appreciate.

If scholars must be free to examine and test, they must also be free to explain and defend their results, and they must be free to do so as much before their students as before their colleagues or the public at large. That is the meaning of "freedom in the classroom." To charge that university and college instruction lacks balance when it does more than merely summarize contemporary debates is fundamentally to misconstrue the nature of higher learning, which expects students to engage with the ideas of their professors. Instructors should not dogmatically teach their ideas as truth; they should not indoctrinate. But they can expect their students to respond to their ideas and their research. As students complete different courses taught by different professors, it is to be hoped that they will acquire the desire and capacity for independent thinking.

This puts some of the onus on the students. They have an obligation to engage in their own education and not to just sit there and soak up facts. This is not the normal politically correct view of university education. In that view, students can never be blamed for the problems in the universities.

(BTW, just for the record. There are lots of problems in universities and I think that Professors are to blame for most of them.)

Freedom in the Classroom (2007): Indoctrination

 
The American Association of University Professors has just published a document called Freedom in the Classroom (2007) [Freedom in the Classroom (2007]. The report was written by a subcommittee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

This report addresses some very important issues that relate to the role of university Professors in general but it is especially relevant in the context of the evolution/creationism controversy. Michael Bérubé has written a very nice article about freedom in the classroom for the latest issue of Inside Higher Education [Freedom to Teach]. It's worth reading. One of my favorite philosophers, Janet Stemwedel has posted a really comprehensive and thoughtful article on her blog Adventures in Ethics and Science [Freedom in the classroom]. This is such an important issue that I'd like to add my two cents. It's an issue that comes up frequently in my own classes and in lunchtime discussions with colleagues.

The report covers four "charges" against Professors.

Critics charge that the professoriate is abusing the classroom in four particular ways: (1) instructors "indoctrinate" rather than educate; (2) instructors fail fairly to present conflicting views on contentious subjects, thereby depriving students of educationally essential "diversity" or "balance"; (3) instructors are intolerant of students' religious, political, or socioeconomic views, thereby creating a hostile atmosphere inimical to learning; and (4) instructors persistently interject material, especially of a political or ideological character, irrelevant to the subject of instruction. We address each of these charges in turn.

I'll discuss each of these charges in separate postings.

Indoctrination

Professors are often accused of indoctrinating students rather than educating them. This charge arises when a particular group, such as religious fundamentalists, perceive that their views on the literal truth of the Bible are not getting proper attention in the university.

It is not indoctrination for professors to expect students to comprehend ideas and apply knowledge that is accepted as true within a relevant discipline. For example, it is not indoctrination for professors of biology to require students to understand principles of evolution; indeed, it would be a dereliction of professional responsibility to fail to do so. Students must remain free to question generally accepted beliefs if they can do so, in the words of the 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure, using "a scholar's method and . . . in a scholar's spirit." But professors of logic may insist that students accept the logical validity of the syllogism, and professors of astronomy may insist that students accept the proposition that the earth orbits around the sun, unless in either case students have good logical or astronomical grounds to differ.

This is an important point. Professors are not obliged to present ideas that are in conflict with the established "truth" in a discipline. They are, however, obligated to permit dissent from this established truth provided students can present a scholarly argument. However, students need to understand that although they have the freedom to challenge the "accepted beliefs" they must be prepared to defend their challenge. Professors are under no obligation to simply permit speeches in the classroom without making any comment.

We all understand that some positions are so overwhelmingly correct that it makes no sense to try accommodate an opposing view. But not all positions fall into this category. Sometimes a Professor will argue a certain point of view that may not be universally accepted within the discipline. Is this indoctrination?

It is not indoctrination when, as a result of their research and study, instructors assert to their students that in their view particular propositions are true, even if these propositions are controversial within a discipline. It is not indoctrination for an economist to say to his students that in his view the creation of markets is the most effective means for promoting growth in underdeveloped nations, or for a biologist to assert her belief that evolution occurs through punctuated equilibriums rather than through continuous processes.

Indoctrination occurs only when instructors dogmatically insist on the truth of such propositions by refusing to accord their students the opportunity to contest them. Vigorously to assert a proposition or a viewpoint, however controversial, is to engage in argumentation and discussion-an engagement that lies at the core of academic freedom. Such engagement is essential if students are to acquire skills of critical independence. The essence of higher education does not lie in the passive transmission of knowledge but in the inculcation of a mature independence of mind.

What this means is that Professors cannot refuse to allow debate in the classroom. In my experience this rarely happens. If there's a lack of debate and argumentation it stems more from self-censorship among the students than from censorship by the teacher. Most of us would dearly love to hear more from our students—especially if they disagree with us. It seems that no matter how provocatively I present an opinion I can never get a rise out of my students.

One School System Network Sponsors a Debate

 
The One School System Network (OSSN) is sponsoring a debate on Friday, September 21st from 7-10 pm in MacLeod Auditorium.

Catholic Public Schools: Constitutional Right or Archaic Privilege? Featuring Jan Johnstone, Progressive trustees network and trustee for the Bluewater District School Board.

The One School System Network includes the University of Toronto Secular Alliance and a variety of civil rights, faith-based and secular humanist advocacy organizations. The OSSN is lobbying the government to merge our two school boards into one secular school system.

University of Toronto Secular Alliance

 
Well, it's that time of year again. The Meds students have already begun classes and the undergraduates start next Monday. It's time to start putting those important events on your calendar.

The University of Toronto Secular Alliance is hosting a BBQ at the Centre for Inquiry on Thursday Sept. 13 from 5 to 7pm. If you haven't joined yet then sign up on the website.

The Centre for Inquiry is located at 216 Beverly St. just south of College St. Following the BBQ you can stay for the Flying Spaghetti Monster Dinner and Movie Night.

Animals and Research

 
There are lots of people who object to the use of animals in medical research. They're usually referring to warm fuzzy animals and not to fruit flies and nematodes, or even fish.

Some of these people write for prominent newspapers like The Guardian in the UK [Ivory tower mentality blamed for 50% rise in animal tests].

Nick Anthis at The Scientific Activist has exposed the myth expressed in the Guardian article [Animal Rights Activists Hijack the Brains of Three Respectable Scientists!]. So has PZ Myers over on Pharyngula [You can't replace animals with petri dishes and computers]. Now Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata has jumped into the fray with a plug for the Foundation for Biomedical Research [Great Animal Research Poster]. I'm copying the poster from their website.

Normally I don't like the kind of rhetoric that's on the poster. I doubt very much that the statement is correct. However, it's an attention grabber and somebody needs to counter the animal activists with a different (gasp!) frame. My life and the lives of everyone in my building are much less comfortable because we have to worry about security on a daily basis. It's not Islamic terrorists that we fear, it's animal rights terrorists. There have been several incidents where property has been destroyed and one bomb has been exploded.

The Purpose of Graduate Education

 
There has been considerable debate about the real purpose of a graduate education. Is it just a way of training students to become university Professors? [Job Propsects for Graduate Students]. Is it true that graduate students are just indentured labour as a recent article in Nature implied?

These are interesting questions. One of the issues that often comes up in these debates is the "pressure" to publish. Supervisors will often try to persuade their graduate students to publish papers. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

It's a good thing, in spite of what most people believe. Here's how Ryan Gregory sets up the question ...

At the base of this discussion is the assumption that most advisors actually do encourage/pressure their students to publish -- an assumption with which I will not disagree here. What remains open is the interpretation of why this might occur. There are several possibilities:

Read his blog to see why graduate students should publish papers and why this doesn't necessarily mean that the advisor is treating them like slave labor [Why would advisors encourage students to publish?].

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[Photo Credit: Graduate students in the Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Toronto.]