Tag: Ivory Tower

By Holger H. Herwig

In a recent edition of the Calgary Herald, Sara MacIntyre, a graduate student in Political Science, complained bitterly that upon arriving from Western Ontario she discovered that she could not enjoy a Big Rock beer at the Den on campus. No Traditional, no Grasshöpper, no Warthog. Why? Because the Students’ Union executive banned Big Rock… Continue reading Of beer, and pop, and choice

By Harry Vandervlist

In an excellent article two weeks ago Rhia Perkins asked: are there funding disparities between the arts and humanities faculties and the others? She found that yes, fewer government and corporate dollars find their way to the faculties of Social Sciences, Humanities and Communication and Culture. Some hypotheses were offered about why this might be.Here’s… Continue reading Humanities students dangerous

By Peter Bowal

As we grow through the various stages of our physical and intellectual development, we are exposed to new levels of cognitive ability. Many will have heard about Bloom’s taxonomy. In 1956, this guy categorized abstraction levels of questions that commonly occur in educational settings. He proposed we could advance from knowledge, to comprehension, to application… Continue reading Intelligent comments welcomed

By Peter Bowal

For those of you who read this column, you’ve probably noticed one preachy theme throughout it. That message is to fit your university experience into your broader framework of life. I think professors have a responsibility to help you do that.For example, what you learn should be useful in life. It should engage you in… Continue reading The bad apples of the student population

By Peter Bowal

One of the most dreaded and discredited features of some upper-year courses is the "class participation" component. Almost no one, student or prof, has a consistently pleasing experience with it. Many students will avoid any section of a course that uses it. As someone who uses this form of student evaluation, I think it is… Continue reading Speak up in class, get a better education

By Peter Bowal

I am surprised by how many times the Safeway checkout cashier notices my university card in my shuffle to get control of the Club Card, AirMiles Card and credit card. Correctly sensing that I am well beyond my formal student days, the cashier will often volunteer what profs were good and which ones were not… Continue reading Fun and friendly might not mean effective