The best evidence I have seen about the value of a college degree is that
it correlates with voting against Trump.
On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 6:26 AM Vicky Zeamer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I agree with the sentiments you've outlined, Don.
>
> I want to ask the group, in particular the more senior folks in the
> group-- if you were an American student interested in human centered design
> research, would you still go into a PhD program, to begin in 2018?
>
> I am finishing my Masters now at a major US research university, and I
> feel as though it would be unlikely to have the same jobs upon completion
> of a PhD that my professors do today in my Media Studies department. My
> sentiments align with my fellow cohort and other friends in graduate school
> elsewhere (sans the ones focusing on HCI streams of Media Studies), rather
> than just this specific program.
>
> For one, the world is so uncertain, in particular funding schemes
> attitudes toward these systems in the US. Secondly, the skill sets being
> pushed in academia seem ill-aligned with real world impact. Pedagogy is
> also pushed, but as you point out, it is not always effective.
> Additionally, the world is interdisciplinary but trying to publish
> specialized "reputable” work in a "reputable" journal is like entering a
> minefield where you will come out with a few less limbs, you just aren't
> certain which ones. I mean with this analogy to demonstrate that there is
> oppressive force to publish and be productive, but without the necessary
> momentum and mentorship (both in terms of financial and intellectual
> bandwidth) to produce a favorable result.
>
> When all is said and done, no one really knows what “success” as a
> graduate student looks like and therefore, with unsurmountable pressure,
> one gets pushed to the limits and is quick to “break”. There is a general
> attitude that gets internalized by graduate students in the US that
> weakness and paper rejections are signs that one is ill-fitted for such an
> academic life. While Professors may try to assuage these feelings of
> insecurity in one’s own work and knowledge, as Don pointed out, "professors
> are obviously an elite: they are the ones that managed to get through
> school and are successful. They do not represent the vast majority of
> students.”
>
> Then finally, I'm just the tip of a greater population that is graduating
> from college with 10's of thousands of debt from undergraduate study, which
> therefore means many have not had a chance to save any money, let alone for
> retirement. Finishing up one's education finally at let's say 32
> ambitiously, one enters the tenure track market with 10's of thousands in
> debt, optimistically a thousand or two in emergency savings, and no
> retirement contributions. Did I also mention that in the US, social
> security is likely to be washed up before I get a chance to use it in a few
> decades, and every other day in the news we hear about how healthcare could
> just vanish overnight?
>
> Many of the friends I do know that have persevering through a PhD program
> now admit to having parental financial support for either rent or
> emergencies— but what about those of us that aren’t in a position to access
> that security fund? Getting a side job in order to be able to afford such
> luxuries as prescriptions or dental work is viewed as “cheating” the
> program when you are already given a “livable stipend.” I ask senior folks
> to please consider within their own programs, how does your own department
> support students in financial emergencies, and how do you establish a
> culture that does not leave students to feel guilty if they do not have
> familial financial support to help them “focus”?
>
> So who does the University serve? Or, dare I ask, who is serving the
> University?
>
> As for myself, I find that the most crucial key to “success” as a graduate
> student in America today is keeping an ongoing reflective dialogue with
> myself, and continuing to persevere towards my own vision of self and
> career rather than one outlined by the program I am working within.
> However, this is always easier said than done.
>
> Thank you all for your thoughts.
>
> Best,
> Vicky
>
> Vicky Zeamer
> Graduate Student in Comparative Media Studies
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> New Media Lab Complex
> E 15 - 320
>
> 20 Ames Street
> Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
> skype: vickyzmr
> e: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
>
> On December 17, 2017 at 11:08:44 PM, Don Norman ([log in to unmask]<mailto:
> [log in to unmask]>) wrote:
>
> The University is dying. Hurrah.
>
> How do I not love you? Let me count the ways
>
> - It talks about teaching when it should be focussed upon learning
> - It has an outmoded view of education:
> - That lectures are effective for learning whereas in fact, they are
> simply the easiest thing to do for instructors, but the worst
> way to learn
> for students
> - It believes that it must teach students ALL the essentials they need,
> whereas students forget most of the material as soon as the examination is
> over. And if they ever do need it, they have to learn it all over again
> - Which implies that students should learn how to learn as opposed to
> whatever miscellaneous stuff the class has presented to them
> - Education should be life-long, not just while young
> - The division of courses into hour-long sessions, three times a week,
> taught in quarters or semesters of roughly 10 or 15 weeks has no
> educational benefits (but simply makes room scheduling easier).
> Different material requires different educational structures and time
> frames.
> - Problem-based education (which is how many design courses are taught)
> is not well supported. Moreover, these courses usually require a higher
> teacher/student ratio than universities can afford
> - The university is pricing itself out of existence, especially in the
> United States, but in all countries (except that the cost is often hidden
> because of state subsidies, free tuition, etc.)
> - The internet makes impossible to learn anything you want, any time you
> need it.
> - <amy professors do not know anything about modern learning theory or
> about how students learn. What they know is folk knowledge, usually based
> on how they were taught. But professors are obviously an elite: they are
> the ones that managed to get through school and are successful. They do not
> represent the vast majority of students.
> - Schools do a horrible job of preparing students for the world after
> school. This is, in part, because most professors have never had a job
> outside of the university. So professors think they know what skills are
> needed, but they are provably wrong.
>
> see
>
> https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/whats-college-good-for/546590/
>
> Why do we have research universities?
>
> The standard answer is because universities are excellent at studying, deep
> profound issues. That used to be true. Is it true today?
>
> - Research costs money, and funding agencies (Foundations and
> governments) are increasingly unable to or unwilling to pay.
> - The pressure for academic publications to get a job and then, to get
> promoted, has led to an outrageous increase in low-quality journals,
> conferences, and publications. Many conferences are now dominated by
> graduate students who need conference presentations and publications in
> order to get jobs. The quality of the conferences is, as a result, low.
> - Fake journals, fake data in prestigious, important journals,
> duplication of publication ... all are common.
> - Many academics are ill-trained. They do not understand the nature of
> an argument, of logical thinking, of the role of evidence. This weakens the
> quality of instruction, of research, of publications, and of reviewing.
> - So much is being published that it is impossible to keep up, to
> discover the important pieces from the crap.
> - The increase in specializations means that the work is becoming more
> and more abstract, more difficult for people outside of the specialized
> area to follow, and less able for colleagues to evaluate.
> - Universities still prize abstract, in-depth studies over applied work.
> Applications, putting together the findings of the many disciplines, are of
> critical importance, but they tend to be shunned or given extremely low
> status by the University.
>
> The entire system is broken: Education and Research
>
> In my humble opinion
>
> Don
>
> --
> Don Norman
> Prof. and Director, DesignLab, UC San Diego
> [log in to unmask] designlab.ucsd.edu/ www.jnd.org <http://www.jnd.org/>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
> Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
> Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
--
Colleen M. Seifert
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
Dept. of Psychology
3042 East Hall
530 Church St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043
(734) 763-0210
[log in to unmask]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|