We are continuing to work on The Four Tools of Clusters at Plymouth State University. Thematic pathways in the General Education program is the tool that is the most challenging…
A major goal of our Tackling a Wicked Problem class is to introduce students to our General Education program's Habits of Mind, which are the learning outcomes of the program. Understanding…
I went to a one day course in Boston at the end of October led by Edward Tufte, the author of many books on data and information visualization. I have long…
I apologize for my silence for the last several weeks. The start of the semester was a particularly busy time with multiple days dedicated to chair responsibilities and University Day…
I'm often surprised that some of the most valuable lessons I learned back in the late 1980's have not become standard practice in software development. Back then, I worked for…
I'm reading an interesting book by Janet Murray called Inventing the Medium: Principles of Interaction Design as a Cultural Practice. She is articulating things that I've thought for a long…
I recently wrote a blog entry in response to Caroline Bender's question about the Scrabble game we were playing online. Since we have different motivations for playing Scrabble, Ms. Bender…
I just finished watching the five episodes of the BBC miniseries The Last Enemy. Ann had recommended it because it is about computers and privacy and also because Benedict Cumberbatch (of recent…
Recently, my favorite NPR show, On the Media, had a story about an interesting blog called Zero Views. The blog celebrates "the best of the bottom of the barrel" by posting…
I recently rewatched Julia, the 1977 film starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based on a chapter in Lillian Hellman's memoir, Pentimento: A Book of Portraits. That chapter tells…
The latest salvo in the "games good for you" vs. "games bad for you" debate has been fired. For now, it seems that games are good for you. Researchers at…
Mad Men is one of the most interesting shows on television right now. The characters continue to reveal layers of complexity into the show's third season. The early 1960's setting…
Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am an agnostic. So it might be a surprise to learn that this post was inspired by a sign on a church. …
The BBC is sponsoring a very cool project to get people excited about science. It's called So You Want To Be a Scientist. Over 1300 people submitted ideas for scientific questions…