Response to Zakaria on Education

Zakaria's column in TIME: http://www.fareedzakaria.com/home/Articles/Entries/2011/11/6_When_Will_We_Learn.html

The elucidation of the two ways of improving education is great- get students to work hard (S. Korea model) and/or make teaching a fabulous high paying profession and hire the best (Finland model). Between the two, I think the former is more important. Although I admit, from a policy standpoint, the latter is much easier to implement. Having been educated in India, which is a close clone of the S. Korean model, I realize that yes, the passion for learning is aroused by few teachers. But the hunger, energy, and stamina has to be students' and their families'. Not all teachers are exceptional even in these countries and not all of them spend a lot of time with their students. Contrast this with the Finnish model. They may have the best teachers, but can they wave their magic wand and educate a group of students with no energy and stamina for the long run? I doubt so.

There is a lot being written about education, teachers, and students, in isolation. However, a look at three broader societal changes can provide clues to why a few problems are surfacing. I am sure there can be many more explanations.

1. There is a greater emphasis on the short term than the long term.
------a) Need for immediate feedback and interactivity reduces the likelihood of investing in education for the long term, with no visible short term gains - therefore, theoretical concepts in the STEM fields are no longer sexy. This need is being facilitated by the constant ability to be 'plugged in' to the Internet and finding answers for everything and technological developments, where a gesture in front of a screen or on a screen provides immediate response. We are probably just becoming retrievers of information and not intelligent consumers or producers.
------b) How should a student decide whether to work for $10 an hour doing fun and cool things (like working in a store, blogging or tweeting) or spend that hour solving math problems, where s/he considers 'anxiety' as the compensation?
------c) When money is accessible at a young age as students, does it affect the hunger for education, given that for many, education still is instrumental in providing a better economic life?

2. Greater emphasis on measurement. To a great extent, measurement is very useful. But, the culture of measurement can often lead to measurement for the sake of doing it, sometimes with detrimental effects.
----- We measure student learning, GPA, Satisfaction scores, teacher ratings, etc. Is a lower score on any of these good? Should we be surprised of inflation in grades/ GPAs, student satisfaction scores, teaching ratings, and the culture of trying to meet the expectations of students, teachers, parents, and alumni, which may be geared towards the short run?
--- We measure the amount of time worked.... On a job for pay, on homework, etc. How many times have teachers met students who say that they worked one hour on an assignment and didn't get credit for their work. Since when did only the 'time spent' on an activity become a barometer of what one should earn and not the quality of work? Even if one made the case that measuring time is important in some instances, as I would myself, then we should be measuring the quality of the time spent on that activity. For example, I believe that the longer one spent just reading and solving or trying to solve math problems, the more they are primed to learn. However, if we are also listening to music, tweeting, checking mails, and checking the status of friends on facebook simultaneously, the quality is gong to be greatly affected. Clearly, one would ask the question, would you like to be operated by a surgeon who knows what s/he is doing in surgery or by a surgeon who spent time in med school doing other things.

3. The economic incentives of the society are not aligned with what is expected of it. If we want better standards of education, want higher levels of success in STEM, then these fields should be better paying than others, BY A LARGE MARGIN (to go with the calculation- is this deal good for me or can I get by with a little less money but very little complexity in my life). Are they?

What effects are we observing of status quo?

Students are choosing to switch from STEM fields to relatively easier fields, where they have a more relaxed quality of life (in the short run, it turns out to be) and better grades. However, the fields offering job security continue to be the STEM fields. In fact, these fields are experiencing a shortage of qualified employees.

The following are links to few recent news stories on this topic.

Move from STEM to other fields
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/why-science-majors-change-their-mind-its-just-so-darn-hard.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=edlife&adxnnlx=1321105629-fQVBvcX38S/vG%20pnxNB6PA&pagewanted=all

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733504577026212798573518.html

Students of which major are satisfied?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704011904575538561813341020.html

Others
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/11/11/gen-jobless-by-the-numbers/?KEYWORDS=Education

Interactive table of pay of fields and unemployment rates: http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/NILF1111/#term=

Rise in college costs---- three questions

This is an email I sent to the faculty.

There is so much discussion of increased tuition and fees as well as higher levels of student debt (Occupy Wall street group). Three questions ---

1. Where is all the money spent? Clearly, faculty, who are presumably at the core at any institution of higher education--- creating knowledge and educating students --- have not seen the bump (if any at all) in salaries that debt or tuition has seen.

2. In terms of student debt --- there could be other factors besides tuition - are students living like students did 10-20-30 years ago? Is the value they associate with "education" the same today as it was 10-20-30 years ago?

3. Would parents be willing to send their children to colleges with minimal infrastructure but excellent faculty and a lower cost of education? Can there be such a place today?

Netflix shelves idea of Qwikster

http://nyti.ms/ouneqP


What in the world is the difference between going fast and going quick? They just need an excuse to justify their mess.

Steve Jobs... Thank you for a wonderful world

With your innovations, generations of people are together.

Jersey Shore attracting new customers at Toys r us

From the puzzles section of Toys r us comes this puzzling puzzle. I think we are laying the foundation of an excellent generation. Did some one say we had to tinker with social security. It is happening.

Netflix or Qwikster? Are they serious?

Reply to Reed Hastings (to the email address he used to send me his apology)
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Hi,

Thank you for the justification for the price change after two months of implementing it. There is one major concern I have regarding both companies now - the viability of their business models.

(a) Netflix - A person like me, who would like new movies does not get to watch them because the streaming options are not available as soon as the DVD is released. So, should I go to a redbox store,
(b) Qwikster - (the name is not exactly encouraging - Quixtar + Napster = Quikster??) - With only DVDs and video game titles, I don't think it will be in business for long. Disk-based video games are getting obsolete and DVDs are also going to be viewed like CDRs, CDRWs, and Floppy disks in the near future.

With both combined, you could've capitalized on the synergies of their main benefit - delivering entertainment on demand, Now, you have split them based on the media format preferred.

Hope I continue to be a loyal customer for long.
Thanks,
Vivek
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Reply Received:
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