Tuesday, September 18, 2007
What I want for Christmas
My favorite blogs with longish posts to be podcasted. Mostly The Becker-Posner Blog. Also Dani Rodrik.
Jason's Law of Pickup Soccer
In any pickup soccer game with at least six people, there is always someone who takes it way too seriously.
Now, back to icing my face.
Now, back to icing my face.
Mini Vacation!
Jenise and I took a quick trip to LA this weekend. We spent our first evening visiting friends. They just had a baby boy two weeks ago which made it extra fun.
The main thing on our agenda for our full day there was to see a soccer game but that wasn’t until the evening. In the morning we went toHollywood Boulevard
The main thing on our agenda for our full day there was to see a soccer game but that wasn’t until the evening. In the morning we went to
Next we went to Venice Beach and walked the boardwalk. There was a bunch of "interesting" characters there. We saw at least 10 fortune tellers, a "bushman" posing with tourists as if he were attacking them with his spear, and, of course, the musclebound dudes lifting weights on the beach. I also saw Paddle Tennis for the first time. I really want to try it--it's like tennis but with the tempo of racquetball.
After playing on the beach for awhile, we were off to Home Depot Center to watch the LA Galaxy play my team, the Houston Dynamo. (Why is that my team? They were formerly the San Jose Earthquakes which was my local team. Next year I’m going to have to balance my allegiance as the San Jose Earthquakes rejoin the MLS.) The Home Depot Center is a pretty sweet place to watch soccer. Even with a smallish crowd, the atmosphere was really good. Too bad their team is terrible. (Their general manager, Alexi Lalas, traded away all their decent young talent to acquire players who "could withstand the pressure" of playing with Beckham.) The pic below gives a good look at the HDC.
The game was pretty exciting. As you probably know, Beckham is out the rest of the season due to injury but it was US international Brian Ching's first game back for the Dynamo after an injury. Once he came on, slightly before halftime, they were running circles around the Galaxy. In the end, the score was 3-1 for Houston.
The game was pretty exciting. As you probably know, Beckham is out the rest of the season due to injury but it was US international Brian Ching's first game back for the Dynamo after an injury. Once he came on, slightly before halftime, they were running circles around the Galaxy. In the end, the score was 3-1 for Houston.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Bklog #3
1984 (George Orwell)
Yup, it lived up to the high expectations.
Maus (Art Spiegelman)
Yup, it lived up to the high expectations.
Maus (Art Spiegelman)
Stop reading. Go pick it up right now. You won't regret it.
Not convinced? Okay, let me tell you a bit more. This two volume graphic novel is about the author's father, a Polish Jew, and his experience of WWII. The structure of the story is self-reflexive in the sense that it's also about the author learning about his fathers experience so he could write this memoir. The father's story is haunting stuff as you would expect. The courage with which he protects and tries to keep contact with his wife throughout it all were especially moving. One of the interesting things the author does is in depicting the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats--I think it would have been too much to bear to see human faces attached to these events. The author describes himself, his father, and their relationship with amazing honesty--it's definitely not always flattering but its rawness makes the emotions and insecurities resonate. The second volume had me watery-eyed throughout for a wide range of reasons. I wish it didn't have to end.
Not convinced? Okay, let me tell you a bit more. This two volume graphic novel is about the author's father, a Polish Jew, and his experience of WWII. The structure of the story is self-reflexive in the sense that it's also about the author learning about his fathers experience so he could write this memoir. The father's story is haunting stuff as you would expect. The courage with which he protects and tries to keep contact with his wife throughout it all were especially moving. One of the interesting things the author does is in depicting the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats--I think it would have been too much to bear to see human faces attached to these events. The author describes himself, his father, and their relationship with amazing honesty--it's definitely not always flattering but its rawness makes the emotions and insecurities resonate. The second volume had me watery-eyed throughout for a wide range of reasons. I wish it didn't have to end.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Bad Bias: Handwriting and Student Evaluation
While I'm not as huge a propononent of overcoming bias as these folks, I think this case deserves wider recognition and some action....
There have been a ton of studies going way back (to at least 1927) that show student handwriting impacts teacher's evaluation of their work. To me, the most obvious explanation for this phenomenon is that good handwriting is a signal of intelligence (or high achievement) which teachers use as a shortcut to evaluate the work.
It is potentially very easy to rule out this explanation. If handwriting is not related to intelligence or school performance as measured by a computerized test, then we can rule out the above explanation. Of course, if it is related to these measures, it doesn't mean we can rule out competing hypotheses that may play a role in the story.
As far as competing hypotheses are concerned, it's possible that good handwriting signals something else (or something more) than intelligence or high achievement. Based on my experience grading plenty of university-level homework and exams, the most likely candidate is gender and, to a lesser degree, race. That is, female and Asian students tend to have the nicest handwriting. So one possible explanation is that teacher's behavior is biased by gender and/or racial attitudes.
Regardless of what exactly is driving the bias, the costs are potentially severe. In addition to the possibility that this bias can affect a child every time he/she turns in a piece of handwritten work is the fact that the single most important test that most students ever take is also subject to the bias. The SAT is supposed to be a great measure of ability because it's standardized and because the scores are objective. But how can these tests (in which cursive essays score higher than printed essays) be truly objective while maintaining a handwritten writing section?
What does all this mean for you? You should put effort into improving your child's handwriting. This is unfortunate because it really seems like a waste of time. (That is, it's unlikely to improve their real productivity as adults.)
What does all this mean for us? Given that this problem has been well known for so long, it's a wonder that no direct efforts have been made to deal with it (that I know of.) Perhaps remedies weren't so easy when a lot of this research was done in the 70s and 80s. In any case, today there are a number of low cost measures that can be taken immediately to mitigate the problem. First, we can spread the word about the bias and commit to not succumbing to it ourselves. Second, student evaluation can be more focused on multiple choice type questions. (Cheer on fellow TAs!) Of course, the extent to which multiple choice questions can test understanding is limited. For this reason, term papers (in which the identity of the students are masked prior to evaluation) are a good option. Fully computerized work by students seems to be the ultimate solution--perhaps this is coming anyways.
As far as research goes, as I said before, much work has been done on this topic. At the same time, based on the limited amount of reading I've done, the quality leaves much to be desired. Here's the experiment I'd run:
1. Have a collection of students write a page of random words.
2. Give students an answer to a question and have them write it in their own handwriting.
3. Randomly assign samples from #2 to teachers to evaluate.
4. Randomly assign samples from #1 to teachers. Have them evaluate the quality of handwriting on a 1-10 scale. Also have them evaluate how confident they are that the sample is from a boy/girl on a 1-10 scale.
5. Make sure to collect demographic data on students and teachers.
There are two main innovations of this experimental design. First, the evaluation of the handwriting quality is separated from the evaluation of the "work." Second, and more importantly, is obtaining data on the teachers impression of the child's sex. With this data we could to separate the sex signal from the handwriting signal. And we could also test the initial hypothesis I posed above (by collecting data on the kids prior academic achievement.)
Too bad this would probably be a lot of work. Anyone want want to do the heavy lifting?
There have been a ton of studies going way back (to at least 1927) that show student handwriting impacts teacher's evaluation of their work. To me, the most obvious explanation for this phenomenon is that good handwriting is a signal of intelligence (or high achievement) which teachers use as a shortcut to evaluate the work.
It is potentially very easy to rule out this explanation. If handwriting is not related to intelligence or school performance as measured by a computerized test, then we can rule out the above explanation. Of course, if it is related to these measures, it doesn't mean we can rule out competing hypotheses that may play a role in the story.
As far as competing hypotheses are concerned, it's possible that good handwriting signals something else (or something more) than intelligence or high achievement. Based on my experience grading plenty of university-level homework and exams, the most likely candidate is gender and, to a lesser degree, race. That is, female and Asian students tend to have the nicest handwriting. So one possible explanation is that teacher's behavior is biased by gender and/or racial attitudes.
Regardless of what exactly is driving the bias, the costs are potentially severe. In addition to the possibility that this bias can affect a child every time he/she turns in a piece of handwritten work is the fact that the single most important test that most students ever take is also subject to the bias. The SAT is supposed to be a great measure of ability because it's standardized and because the scores are objective. But how can these tests (in which cursive essays score higher than printed essays) be truly objective while maintaining a handwritten writing section?
What does all this mean for you? You should put effort into improving your child's handwriting. This is unfortunate because it really seems like a waste of time. (That is, it's unlikely to improve their real productivity as adults.)
What does all this mean for us? Given that this problem has been well known for so long, it's a wonder that no direct efforts have been made to deal with it (that I know of.) Perhaps remedies weren't so easy when a lot of this research was done in the 70s and 80s. In any case, today there are a number of low cost measures that can be taken immediately to mitigate the problem. First, we can spread the word about the bias and commit to not succumbing to it ourselves. Second, student evaluation can be more focused on multiple choice type questions. (Cheer on fellow TAs!) Of course, the extent to which multiple choice questions can test understanding is limited. For this reason, term papers (in which the identity of the students are masked prior to evaluation) are a good option. Fully computerized work by students seems to be the ultimate solution--perhaps this is coming anyways.
As far as research goes, as I said before, much work has been done on this topic. At the same time, based on the limited amount of reading I've done, the quality leaves much to be desired. Here's the experiment I'd run:
1. Have a collection of students write a page of random words.
2. Give students an answer to a question and have them write it in their own handwriting.
3. Randomly assign samples from #2 to teachers to evaluate.
4. Randomly assign samples from #1 to teachers. Have them evaluate the quality of handwriting on a 1-10 scale. Also have them evaluate how confident they are that the sample is from a boy/girl on a 1-10 scale.
5. Make sure to collect demographic data on students and teachers.
There are two main innovations of this experimental design. First, the evaluation of the handwriting quality is separated from the evaluation of the "work." Second, and more importantly, is obtaining data on the teachers impression of the child's sex. With this data we could to separate the sex signal from the handwriting signal. And we could also test the initial hypothesis I posed above (by collecting data on the kids prior academic achievement.)
Too bad this would probably be a lot of work. Anyone want want to do the heavy lifting?
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A trip to the movies
I know I'm not alone in being irritated by people talking during a movie. But I *really* hate it. For me, going to the theater involves strategy to minimize the likelihood that someone talking will bother me. The most important thing is to make sure no one is sitting directly behind you because their whispers and popcorn-chomping will usually carry forward. Here are some strategies I have tried:
1. Get to the theater at the last minute so no one is likely to come in after you and take the seats behind you.
I don't like to get anywhere at the last minute so this one's a no go for me. Plus you might end up with really bad seats.
2. Get to the theater early enough to get seats in the very back.
This is my personal favorite. I'm usually willing to pay an extra 10-15 minutes so that I don't have to deal with annoying people or I don't have to engage in #3.
3. First, find seats no one is sitting behind. Second, make people think sitting behind you might be a bad idea.
I'll often rest my hands on top of my head and shift awkwardly in my seat. Nothing too blatant. On a related note, to incentivize people away from sitting in front of you, you can always rest your feet against the seat in front of you. (On the other hand, they may choose to sit in behind you as an alternative. And putting your feet *on* the seat in front of you comes off as rude if there's some possibility that someone would want to sit there.) Of course, interfering with someones experience once they've sat down is unacceptable.
4. If all of these have failed, you can always move to more attractive seats once the movie has started.
The only problem with this solution is that you may not have very good options to move to.
If you're wondering, I went to see Two Days in Paris this weekend. It didn't meet my expectations based on its high (89%) tomatometer score. It wasn't funny enough to make its cynicism bearable. Plus it was weird because the story was told from Julie Delpy's character's perspective while the conflict was centered around her costar's character. Strange choice although maybe not surprising since she was also the director.
1. Get to the theater at the last minute so no one is likely to come in after you and take the seats behind you.
I don't like to get anywhere at the last minute so this one's a no go for me. Plus you might end up with really bad seats.
2. Get to the theater early enough to get seats in the very back.
This is my personal favorite. I'm usually willing to pay an extra 10-15 minutes so that I don't have to deal with annoying people or I don't have to engage in #3.
3. First, find seats no one is sitting behind. Second, make people think sitting behind you might be a bad idea.
I'll often rest my hands on top of my head and shift awkwardly in my seat. Nothing too blatant. On a related note, to incentivize people away from sitting in front of you, you can always rest your feet against the seat in front of you. (On the other hand, they may choose to sit in behind you as an alternative. And putting your feet *on* the seat in front of you comes off as rude if there's some possibility that someone would want to sit there.) Of course, interfering with someones experience once they've sat down is unacceptable.
4. If all of these have failed, you can always move to more attractive seats once the movie has started.
The only problem with this solution is that you may not have very good options to move to.
If you're wondering, I went to see Two Days in Paris this weekend. It didn't meet my expectations based on its high (89%) tomatometer score. It wasn't funny enough to make its cynicism bearable. Plus it was weird because the story was told from Julie Delpy's character's perspective while the conflict was centered around her costar's character. Strange choice although maybe not surprising since she was also the director.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Bklog #2
A Farewell to Alms (Gregory Clark)
Much has already been said about the content (see the Marginal Revolution discussions) so I won't say anything more on that front. Instead, a personal anecdote. As an undergrad, I often finished economics courses thinking "wow, economists sure know a lot about X, Y, and Z." I was convinced by these classes that economists usually thought about problems "in the right way" but there was already so much that had been done I wondered how I could ever contribute. When I took Prof. Clark's class (as an undergrad about 4 years ago), and he made many of the arguments in this book, I thought "wow, there's still so much interesting and important work to do!" I felt that excitement again reading the book.
The Game (Neil Strauss)
Yes, the book about pickup artists. Yes, I started it after watching the VH1 show The Pickup Artist which is the most entertaining thing on TV the past few weeks. (The star of the show is a lead character in the book.) Yes, the behavior is nauseating. But that's why the show and the book are so interesting--it actually seems to work. The book is worth recommending from a purely intellectual perspective. Of course, it's also interesting for the shock value of the "exploits" that are described (quite vividly, I might add.) The unexpected highlight was learning about the inner-workings of the *community* of pickup artists. Seriously. They have online discussion groups and whatnot. And many of the leaders would fly around the world to teach "the art" in workshops that cost over $1500 a person. Who knew?
Much has already been said about the content (see the Marginal Revolution discussions) so I won't say anything more on that front. Instead, a personal anecdote. As an undergrad, I often finished economics courses thinking "wow, economists sure know a lot about X, Y, and Z." I was convinced by these classes that economists usually thought about problems "in the right way" but there was already so much that had been done I wondered how I could ever contribute. When I took Prof. Clark's class (as an undergrad about 4 years ago), and he made many of the arguments in this book, I thought "wow, there's still so much interesting and important work to do!" I felt that excitement again reading the book.
The Game (Neil Strauss)
Yes, the book about pickup artists. Yes, I started it after watching the VH1 show The Pickup Artist which is the most entertaining thing on TV the past few weeks. (The star of the show is a lead character in the book.) Yes, the behavior is nauseating. But that's why the show and the book are so interesting--it actually seems to work. The book is worth recommending from a purely intellectual perspective. Of course, it's also interesting for the shock value of the "exploits" that are described (quite vividly, I might add.) The unexpected highlight was learning about the inner-workings of the *community* of pickup artists. Seriously. They have online discussion groups and whatnot. And many of the leaders would fly around the world to teach "the art" in workshops that cost over $1500 a person. Who knew?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Feed Test: Video
EDIT: Well, looks like that one worked through the feed. I don't know why the TeacherTube videos don't. Anyways, it's amazing how much Amy Winehouse can sound like Lauryn Hill. That's a good thing. They're both awesome.
TeacherTube!
First of all, innovation is needed in education. There's simply no way that computers have been integrated into teaching quickly enough. As a start, I think pretty much all K-6 teachers should have blogs/websites so parents can keep track of what's going on in the classroom without digging through their kid's backpacks. And I'm all for using videogames like Brain Age to help kids learn. Heck, I say do whatever you have to do to get kids to learn with some enthusiasm. Even stuff like this.
Anyways, the main reason for this post is to share a few videos I found on TeacherTube. As expected with this sort of site, few of the videos are great but you have to love the spirit of everyone involved. Especially from Mrs. Burk!
The following video makes a great argument for having kids blog. (Blogs can be made private if that's a concern.)
Sorry I can't figure out how to get the videos to show up through the feed to those of you on Google Reader or the like.
Anyways, the main reason for this post is to share a few videos I found on TeacherTube. As expected with this sort of site, few of the videos are great but you have to love the spirit of everyone involved. Especially from Mrs. Burk!
The following video makes a great argument for having kids blog. (Blogs can be made private if that's a concern.)
Sorry I can't figure out how to get the videos to show up through the feed to those of you on Google Reader or the like.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Teaching Hacks: Class Participation
I'm organizing a course on teaching for first-time economics department TAs in the fall so I've been thinking more about teaching lately. Besides getting over the initial nerves, I think the biggest challenge is in getting undergrads to participate. Here are a few scattered thoughts on the issue:
- Try to start getting participation beginning with the first class. It's a lot easier for students to join in after their peers have already done so. And it can be hard to recover if a non-participatory environment is the status quo.
- I find it helpful to ease the class into participating. For example, I usually begin the first meeting of the quarter by asking about their background. "Raise your hand if you're a first year. Raise your hand if you've taken such-and-such level math. Raise your hand if you're from out of state." I often use this approach on a class by class basis as well. For example, I'll begin the class with "raise your hand if you think minimum wages always reduce employment. Now raise your hand if you disagree" to start the class before moving on to open-ended questions later on.
- Reward participation with enthusiasm.
- When someone gives a wrong answer, move on quickly so they don't feel bad and so others aren't intimidated. I like to give the correct answer right away. I understand why some may disagree with this approach because it takes the challenge away from other students.
- The 10 second rule. After you ask a question, be patient and look the class over while waiting for a response. It will get uncomfortable if no one answers. Stick to it. Before 10 seconds are through a student will likely break the silence. Now that you've committed to getting feedback, they will usually answer subsequent questions more quickly. Second, now that (at least) one person has participated, others will feel more comfortable joining in. If the 10 seconds pass without an answer, it's probably time to move on. Try again with a different question after a few minutes.
- Don't ask questions that are too easy. If you do and your students give you the "are you serious?" stare, just give the answer yourself and move on.
I'd love to hear your thoughts/suggestions in the comments.
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