tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post4504362493406311015..comments2024-03-25T15:17:04.488-07:00Comments on Captain Capitalism: Degree MillsCaptain Capitalismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-13369031380447515732016-04-04T04:58:16.486-07:002016-04-04T04:58:16.486-07:00It's bad when the majority of the students did...It's bad when the majority of the students did pass, but with less than 40% of them earning A's. With the help of our <a href="http://paper-writing.services/" rel="nofollow">research paper writer services</a>, they will be able their C's into A's very quickly!<br />hallsarah204@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15030486128395008892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-80532973849595813192013-07-23T21:03:03.726-07:002013-07-23T21:03:03.726-07:00really these degree mills are ruining other alsoreally these <a href="http://currerbell121.wordpress.com/tag/preston-university-a-degree-mill-or-real-school/" rel="nofollow">degree mills</a> are ruining other alsonajamonline4uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01346972121899415802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-28570462782085782962012-01-06T11:05:22.360-08:002012-01-06T11:05:22.360-08:00The problem is our educational system does not off...The problem is our educational system does not offer an option for kids who are not that "bright". My incredibly talented car mechanic was in "special ed" in HS and they thought he was retarded. He just didn't fit in the round hole. College and higher education is not for everyone. But we don't offer career paths in vocational fields. And if we do, folks are not encouraged to pursue that path.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-83064018149162239412011-08-28T05:59:29.703-07:002011-08-28T05:59:29.703-07:00I was to apologize to these students for their pla...<i>I was to apologize to these students for their plagiarism.</i><br /><br />That wasn't a classroom. That was your girlfriend.The Shrughttp://the-niceguy.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-24793767035305613722009-03-01T13:22:00.000-08:002009-03-01T13:22:00.000-08:00I has virtually the same exact experiences teachin...I has virtually the same exact experiences teaching at Temple University and Drexel University in Philadelphia.<BR/><BR/>And those were supposedly respectable universities. They just enroll completely underqualified [and often willfully ignorant] students.The_Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621186404597424842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-87912062161840781322009-02-20T00:57:00.000-08:002009-02-20T00:57:00.000-08:00I have attended both a two year community college ...I have attended both a two year community college and obtained an AA and then a BA from an online college.<BR/>While I can easily agree that many of my fellow students in the community (accredited) college were not bright, they ran about average for the community. The school enforced standards and many dropped rather than fail.<BR/>In the online college(also accredited), I submitted an average of twenty pages a week, properly researched, argued and formatted. I had to meet minimum standards of online discussions, contribute to study groups, ask and answer questions from the other students and the professors. The requirements in the syllabus were harder than the two year brick and mortar college. <BR/>The online college also had the policy that the requirements be met and some students dropped. Others had to retake classes that did not meet a C standard. However most of my fellow students were going this route because we were working, caring for kids etc and just plain could not take years off with no income. I did notice that since we were more mature that the average students, the vast majority worked harder and the professors made all of the students contribute. Furthermore, all of my teachers were PHD's who were actually working in the fields they taught not just flowers of academia.<BR/> I recommend anyone looking for education to research the graduation rate, the requirements, accreditation and by what body, and their placement rate as well. Avoid any "college" that cannot produce that data. Good luck. BartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-72856650474218363332009-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:002009-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:00This situation is hardly found only in shady two-y...This situation is hardly found only in shady two-year schools. I'm currently enrolled in a graduate program at Hunter College in NYC, earning a Masters in Childhood Education. With a couple notable exceptions, each of the 11 courses I've taken to this point have been exactly as you describe. And this is a freakin' MASTERS PROGRAM. The professors could care less, they are there just to pick up an extra paycheck, the majority of the students are there on government loans or grants and so don't care about what they're "learning," they just want their B average to stay in the program, and the professors are happy to oblige. There is endless extra credit, curving on exams, opportunities to rewrite papers and we spend countless hours simply working on basic paper- and project-creating skills such as research and citation. These are things you should have learned in middle school. It is a freaking joke. And these are the people that are going to be teaching your children in elementary school in a couple years. There are certainly some students that deserve to be there, who try, who know what they're doing and who care, but the vast majority of them wouldn't have graduated from a legit high school much less undergraduate level studies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-39329291293651518802009-02-18T22:35:00.000-08:002009-02-18T22:35:00.000-08:00Once upon a time I was a TA in Poli Sci at the Uof...Once upon a time I was a TA in Poli Sci at the UofT. My sections were nothing but Trinity and UC students and everyone of them was an Ontario Scholar - top 5%.<BR/><BR/>None of them could write. None of them knew anything. There was no internet.<BR/><BR/>I bootcamped the little buggers. Essay - 500 words - a week. Every week. Random reading to the "seminar". A third of the kids dropped my section.<BR/><BR/>What they didn't know was that the topics, every week, were drawn from the past five years of exams given by a very lazy prof. By the time they hit Christmas "practice" exams they could nail 70% of the possible essay questions. And by the end of the year my 25 kids took seven of the top 10 and 16 of the top 20 places in a 300 student class.<BR/><BR/>We drank a lot of beer which I forced them to pay for. <BR/><BR/>But here is the thing: these were, in fact, smart kids. They had been taught badly through 13 years of school; but they were very clearly university material.<BR/><BR/>The sad part of the two year programs (and commerce degrees) is that they leave the students as ignorant as they found them - albeit poorer. But, in the weird way of the credentialing world, more employable.<BR/><BR/>Why? Well, if you live in an egalitarian utopia and a smart person and a dumb person are interviewing for a job you need a "reason", pure and objective, to hire. If the dumb person happens to belong to a protected class you sure as hell better have a certificate based answer as to why you picked the smart person. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Which is silly but how we live now.Jay Curriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07100960091229282311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-85770434748825456652009-02-18T22:34:00.000-08:002009-02-18T22:34:00.000-08:00There are sites to rate profs, but there needs to ...There are sites to rate profs, but there needs to be a site to rate colleges so employers like me can know which ones are useless degree mills.<BR/><BR/>As for profs caught in these farce universities, I would advise that you focus on the few grains of wheat in each class and ensure that they get a good education. As for the weeds, I'm confident that employers will identify them quickly and apply herbicide.<BR/><BR/>It will be interesting what will happen to the Entitlement Generation (ie children of Boomers) if there is a 10 year depression. We Gen-Xers who've had to make our way in a competitive job market will have little time for these perpetual children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-7820766762668554672009-02-18T15:26:00.000-08:002009-02-18T15:26:00.000-08:00The developing debate here about the validity of I...The developing debate here about the validity of IQ testing simply reinforces the point of this excellent articles - that we are too busy trying to be politically correct and wiping everyone's noses to deal with the reality of the results of a failure to truly help them succeed..<BR/><BR/>As pointed out - there is broad acceptance that, in fact, IQ does provide a clear correlation to school and career achievement - so rather than deny that, and perpetuate the myth that we should all be Brain Surgeons and Nuclear Physicists, let's just be honest - many, many students will find out the hard way, as Dean Vernon Wormer pointed out, <I><B>"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son".</B></I>Robert G. Harvie, Q.C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10414822301931567654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-32380292778116893372009-01-19T17:42:00.000-08:002009-01-19T17:42:00.000-08:00I'm one of those students who treaded water the fi...I'm one of those students who treaded water the first time through college (4 year state college). Took the easiest classes, did minimal effort, asked about instructors who gave the least amount of work, etc. It's amazing how many students do this, especially if their parents are paying (and the tax payer subsidy of couse).<BR/><BR/>When all I could get was a retail sales job after graduation (not that there is anything wrong with that), took things a bit more seriously. Went back to get an accounting degree, passed the CPA, etc. Now I'm in an MBA program. <BR/><BR/>You really see how the caliber of both the students and instructors goes up with each level (high school, bullshit business major, accounting, MBA).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-752174871852111152009-01-18T16:32:00.000-08:002009-01-18T16:32:00.000-08:00I said Gould was a Marxist, I was quoting Professo...I said Gould was a Marxist, I was quoting Professor Tom Bouchard (Psychology, U of M) who said exactly that. And I wasn't saying Gould was wrong because he was a Marxist. Gould's opinions about IQ had more to do with his personal ideology (Some form of Marxism) than it did with the actual facts of the matter. That was the exact criticism Dr. Bouchard made and it was the one I made in my comment.<BR/><BR/>In fact, I rather like much of Gould's writing on the topic of baseball.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-66525393221820233442009-01-17T15:27:00.000-08:002009-01-17T15:27:00.000-08:00Gould wasn't a Marxist, and he certainly was a gre...Gould wasn't a Marxist, and he certainly was a great man. He was also absolutely wrong about IQ testing. Being a great scientist doesn't make a person infallible.<BR/><BR/>I should also mention that his political views have nothing to do with his opinions on this particular subject. Even if he were a Marxist, that would just be another thing for me to disagree with him on. It's idiotic to suggest that being a Marxist automatically makes someone wrong about everything.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02683324200571312720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-53313665163183326252009-01-17T09:29:00.000-08:002009-01-17T09:29:00.000-08:00I knew Steven Jay Gould a little and had the honor...I knew Steven Jay Gould a little and had the honor of studying with him. The off-the-cuff assertion that he was a Marxist is ignorant and repulsive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-18149028785324451372009-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:002009-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00I knew Steven Jay Gould a little and had the honor...I knew Steven Jay Gould a little and had the honor of studying with him. The off-the-cuff assertion that he was a Marxist is ignorant and repulsive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-88133213920093027742009-01-15T15:32:00.000-08:002009-01-15T15:32:00.000-08:00Nice post. And I'm glad to see that you emphasized...Nice post. And I'm glad to see that you emphasized the need to go to an accredited school. Accreditation doesn't solve everything (or even most things) but at least it helps identify which schools <B>might</B> be worth the time and money to attend.<BR/><BR/>I would like to point out that employers are just as much to blame for these degree mills as greedy administrators and overly-optimistic students. In the engineering fields I met a lot of engineers and technicians (especially those in their 40s and 50s) who were very knowledgeable, competent, and had a good work ethic -- but who wouldn't get looked at even once by HR because they did not have a degree. I heard similar stories in the Portland area from people trying to get into other non-technical positions: proven experience or work history counts for little when the college degree is all-mighty. <BR/><BR/>The truest words I've yet heard about a college degree came from my dad, who has a BS, and he said as far as he could tell a college degree indicates (1) that you are teachable, and (2) you possess a certain bullshit tolerance; ideally it also indicates you are familiar with the basic concepts of your field of study, but based on what he saw both in school and in the real world, that ideal is not always met.<BR/><BR/>So, until employers quit using a college degree as an implied warranty for their new hires, I think these degree mills will continue to proliferate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-70075626580337450312009-01-15T08:45:00.000-08:002009-01-15T08:45:00.000-08:00Your story is a fascinating odyssey. I teach, and...Your story is a fascinating odyssey. <BR/><BR/>I teach, and I find plagiarism another strange and frustrating issue: Students don't get it, that when they take quotes and ideas verbatum from a web site, they have to give credit to their sources. One semester, I had two students who plagiarized; I gave them both an extra chance, and they both plagiarized on the next essay. Amazing. <BR/><BR/>Your story reminds me of a turning point: When I started teaching, I assumed that if I gave an assignment, I'd grade it, and the grade would count toward the student's course grade. Only years later, while attending a workshop on formative and summative evaluation, did I realize there was another way. This changed my approach: Now I give some early assignments that are scored, but the score doesn't count toward their grade: Rather, the "formative evaluation" goal is to find out student knowledge and skill level, and to let students know the areas they need to work on in their study. It lifts much of the pressure and frustration students feel about assignments and grades; if they KNOW they need to study certain things to get a higher score, and if they don't, then they know it's their own fault. Then "summative evaluation" comes later, and measures whether they made the needed progress. The formative evaluation can also help identify students who need extra tutoring and help to pass the class. In a state university they get such services free from certain on-campus centers, but in a 2- year program, those services are often reduced and not as available to many who take night classes, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-36036954776454969702009-01-14T18:44:00.000-08:002009-01-14T18:44:00.000-08:00Great story...PS: "By this time my repoire with th...Great story...<BR/><BR/>PS: "By this time my repoire with the students" <BR/>You probably meant "rapport". It's a French word...EarlWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01754418455716860034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-80003188517687472562009-01-14T16:13:00.000-08:002009-01-14T16:13:00.000-08:00"The Mismeasure of Man" was of course, written by ..."The Mismeasure of Man" was of course, written by a Marxist. IQ is still a very valuable tool with predictive qualities. No doubt many of the pioneers in psychology were racist (Dalton for one), but the same could be said about most fields (ever read Aristotle?).<BR/><BR/>Thanks to new methods, cultural differences and education/literacy differences can be normalized in IQ tests thus removing any race based bias.<BR/><BR/>IQ correlates well to academic achievement, income, job performance and even morbidity.<BR/><BR/>The following is from the wikipedia article on IQ:<BR/><BR/><I>"In response to the controversy surrounding The Bell Curve, the American Psychological Association's Board of Scientific Affairs established a task force in 1995 to write a consensus statement on the state of intelligence research which could be used by all sides as a basis for discussion. The full text of the report is available through several websites.[93][14]<BR/><BR/>In this paper the representatives of the association regret that IQ-related works are frequently written with a view to their political consequences: "research findings were often assessed not so much on their merits or their scientific standing as on their supposed political implications".<BR/><BR/>The task force concluded that IQ scores do have high predictive validity for individual differences in school achievement. They confirm the predictive validity of IQ for adult occupational status, even when variables such as education and family background have been statistically controlled. They agree that individual differences in intelligence are substantially influenced by genetics and that both genes and environment, in complex interplay, are essential to the development of intellectual competence.<BR/><BR/>They state there is little evidence to show that childhood diet influences intelligence except in cases of severe malnutrition. The task force agrees that large differences do exist between the average IQ scores of blacks and whites, and that these differences cannot be attributed to biases in test construction. The task force suggests that explanations based on social status and cultural differences are possible, and that environmental factors have raised mean test scores in many populations. Regarding genetic causes, they noted that there is not much direct evidence on this point, but what little there is fails to support the genetic hypothesis.</I><BR/><BR/>Hopefully the anonymous commentor goes elsewhere to spread their ignoranceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-45003737869998009552009-01-14T01:04:00.000-08:002009-01-14T01:04:00.000-08:00Thanks, for noting that junior colleges aren't tha...Thanks, for noting that junior colleges aren't that bad. Finally something to right size the self-esteem based education of K-12. Now, I know why the establishment hates them. I tried to take an IQ test once, but noticed it was really a vocabulary test.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-42337961246598090012009-01-13T23:30:00.000-08:002009-01-13T23:30:00.000-08:00These morons are about to be taught the best lesso...These morons are about to be taught the best lessons ever, by the best teachers ever.<BR/><BR/>Those teachers are hunger and deprivation.<BR/><BR/>This recession will crush many of them, and deservedly so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-16758037571548173042009-01-13T20:19:00.000-08:002009-01-13T20:19:00.000-08:00I think most "community colleges (formerly known a...I think most "community colleges (formerly known as junior colleges") are ok. Like anything, the students get out in the same measure that they apply themselves.<BR/><BR/>And then there are state technical colleges which are trade schools.<BR/><BR/>But I think you speak of some of the quickie private outfits like National American University, Globe Business College, Minnesota College of Business, etc. They provide a lousy education in a worthless "degree" that isn't transferable anywhere. You've got their number.<BR/><BR/>Captain - I bet your students for most part had just as poor study habits in high school.<BR/><BR/>I taught high school for a while and as teacher unions do, they give the worst assignments (the poor, dumb, unmotivated students and the disciplinary cases) to the teachers least prepared to deal with them - yes, the new teacher.<BR/><BR/>I had two sections of "adjusted algebra" - essentially dumbed down algebra for the poor, dumb, unmotivated students. Of the two sections totalling 45 seat occupiers, only about 10 would actually do the short homework assignments and half of them copied. I got zero help from the administration in dealing with this. I gave them time to do the homework in class. I did everything possible to get something to work in those classes.<BR/><BR/>Before the end of the year, I was told my contract would not be renewed which was fine with me because that schools was an extremely poorly run school. <BR/><BR/>It got to be the end of the year and I was directed to give them a final exam and I had to make sure that it took the full two hours to complete, because they didn't want any of the students raising hell in the hallways when they finished early. The other problem was that I had to have the exams graded, and the grades for the year submitted within in within two hours after the exam. Seems they give the rookie teachers to least amount of time to turn grades around.<BR/><BR/>So I built the test using the easiest problems from their homework assignments and the easiest examples of all the stuff we had covered during the year. Because I had to turnaround the results so fast, I made it a multiple choice test. I told them in advance exactly what was covered, where I'd get the test problems and how the test was a MC thing because of the time limits.<BR/><BR/>Well, the final exam results were consistent with the other test scores during the year and I ended up failing a bit more than half of them.<BR/><BR/>The Principal was disgusted. I showed him the exam, where the questions were from and how this is the natural consequences of doing squat in class. He understood, he wasn't happy, but he understood.<BR/><BR/>However, the chair of the Math department was livid - because I failed so many, they had to schedule another "dummy math" class for next year which he got the teach.<BR/><BR/>The chair of the science department after hearing the story, nodded his head and gave me a thumbs up. Perhaps I taught some of those students a larger lesson in life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-38091085087984896802009-01-13T19:05:00.000-08:002009-01-13T19:05:00.000-08:00The 'for-profit' school I worked for began as a 'f...The 'for-profit' school I worked for began as a 'for-profit' and operated that way for 100 years. Then it became 'non-profit' which is a nice way of saying 'not feasible.' They were losing tons of money.<BR/><BR/>So some angel investors bought the school and made it 'for-profit' again. The last time I was there, they had just broken into the black.<BR/><BR/>The school had WASC regional accreditation.<BR/><BR/>Universities are 'for profit' also, but they pretend not to be. They are professional beggars. They are barely confined to cost minimization and they receive government subsidies. No public or private college I ever went to cared whether a student came to class or not. The for-profit had strict attendance and resources for tutoring which are mostly only available to minorities and athletes at universities.<BR/><BR/>Yes, they are expensive and do cajole students into biting off more than they can chew, but at least some of them try to make a difference. And I hated my job there so I'm not blindly defending them.<BR/><BR/>BTW, plagiarism was rampant in my school too. Even after they get caught and you lecture them, they do it AGAIN. Incredible!<BR/><BR/>I'm glad I got out before I got shot.Hot Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10848778804406692799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-81034197077357501732009-01-13T16:53:00.000-08:002009-01-13T16:53:00.000-08:00"The IQ test is actually a worse scam ... blah bla..."The IQ test is actually a worse scam ... blah blah .. scientific fraud .. blah blah .. Eugenics movement."<BR/><BR/>Right. And AIDS is actually an evil NWO eugenics pogrom being perpetrated by money-hungry doctors. Go on, pull the other one.<BR/><BR/>I've heard your particular conspiracy theory before, and it's utterly idiotic, not to mention racist. Proponents of this theory basically argue that mathematics, pattern patching, and spacial orientation skills are somehow unique to white anglosaxon men, and that it's unfair to test those poor dark skinned fellers the same way. That's, in a word, despicable.<BR/><BR/>IQ scores certainly do give us a reliable indication about the general quality of that brain, as well as the <I>potential</I> of that individual. There are dozens of different ways to confirm the correlation, and it has been confirmed hundreds of times. A simple example would be comparing "success" statistics of MENSA members to the general population: they have an unemployment rate which is lower than the general average and their median income is much higher.<BR/><BR/>Of course, IQ only tells us about the potential of the individual, and not their performance in complex situations. There's even been some suggestion that people with high IQ's tend to be more susceptible to certain types of mysticism and conspiratorial thinking, due to their natural propensity for pattern matching. But IQ scores aren't meant to measure critical thinking skills or levels of credulity. IQ scores are very limited in what they tell us about an individual, but as long as they're used within those limits they are very accurate.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02683324200571312720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-32845076664590959752009-01-13T16:50:00.000-08:002009-01-13T16:50:00.000-08:00You forgot to mention the root cause of this evil:...You forgot to mention the root cause of this evil: government financial aid to students. Most of these places are nothing more than well-tuned machines for separating the student and his government enablers from their money.<BR/><BR/>If students had to pay out of their own pocket, they would, in my opinion, be a lot more interested in the quality of their courses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com