Comments on: Rigor and testing in higher education praised in Texas http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/02/20/rigor-and-testing-in-higher-education-praised-in-texas/ Weblog of Wesley Fryer Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:55:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Casting Out Nines / Rigor and remixing http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/02/20/rigor-and-testing-in-higher-education-praised-in-texas/comment-page-1/#comment-31115 Casting Out Nines / Rigor and remixing Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:51:18 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/02/20/rigor-and-testing-in-higher-education-praised-in-texas/#comment-31115 [...] Wes Fryer’s blog is a regular read of mine — typically a place to find consistently wise, realistic discussion of Web 2.0 as it relates to K-12 education. But I had to disagree strongly with the ideas in this post. Snippet: There isn’t much to be enthused about in Sunday’s report from Austin on Texas governor Rick Perry’s proposals to further regulate higher education. According to the article, “Perry’s higher education plan praised: A senior federal official calls governor’s plan for more aid, incentives and accountability ‘a bold step,” academic “rigor” is again being held up as a fundamental educational goal. […] [...] [...] Wes Fryer’s blog is a regular read of mine — typically a place to find consistently wise, realistic discussion of Web 2.0 as it relates to K-12 education. But I had to disagree strongly with the ideas in this post. Snippet: There isn’t much to be enthused about in Sunday’s report from Austin on Texas governor Rick Perry’s proposals to further regulate higher education. According to the article, “Perry’s higher education plan praised: A senior federal official calls governor’s plan for more aid, incentives and accountability ‘a bold step,” academic “rigor” is again being held up as a fundamental educational goal. […] [...]

]]> By: Robert http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/02/20/rigor-and-testing-in-higher-education-praised-in-texas/comment-page-1/#comment-31114 Robert Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:23:02 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/02/20/rigor-and-testing-in-higher-education-praised-in-texas/#comment-31114 Wes - It would appear that nobody has a real understanding of what rigor actually means in a higher education setting. It most certainly does not equate to high scores on standardized tests. But rigor does actually mean something -- something very important to the world of higher education, and I think saying we need to reject it shows an equivalent but differently-directed misunderstanding of the concept of academic rigor. We here in higher ed think of academic rigor in terms of high expectations for performance and of personal discipline and responsibility. A "rigorous" course expects students to have mastered prerequisite knowledge (or at least commit to ongoing mastery), to take on the responsibility of doing work outside of class, and to submit work that is of a high level of quality in a number of discipline-appropriate terms. This sort of thing is not in opposition to the kinds of things you envision for "School 2.0". Indeed, I think these things are necessary in order for "School 2.0" to devolve into mere indulgence -- ie. just letting students do what they feel like doing, or doing what makes the school look good. Actually, I take that back somewhat -- rigor and the concept of "remixing" are often incompatible. Students will not "own" anything by remixing if they have not got a foundationally solid, "rigorous", handle on the basic ideas. You can't expect a good improvisational solo from a musician that hasn't spent hours drudging through learning scales backwards and forwards. Right now I am teaching a precalculus course in which 80% of the students cannot add fractions or multiply signed numbers together. They don't need remixing -- they need to go to the woodshed! Wes – It would appear that nobody has a real understanding of what rigor actually means in a higher education setting. It most certainly does not equate to high scores on standardized tests. But rigor does actually mean something — something very important to the world of higher education, and I think saying we need to reject it shows an equivalent but differently-directed misunderstanding of the concept of academic rigor.

We here in higher ed think of academic rigor in terms of high expectations for performance and of personal discipline and responsibility. A “rigorous” course expects students to have mastered prerequisite knowledge (or at least commit to ongoing mastery), to take on the responsibility of doing work outside of class, and to submit work that is of a high level of quality in a number of discipline-appropriate terms. This sort of thing is not in opposition to the kinds of things you envision for “School 2.0″. Indeed, I think these things are necessary in order for “School 2.0″ to devolve into mere indulgence — ie. just letting students do what they feel like doing, or doing what makes the school look good.

Actually, I take that back somewhat — rigor and the concept of “remixing” are often incompatible. Students will not “own” anything by remixing if they have not got a foundationally solid, “rigorous”, handle on the basic ideas. You can’t expect a good improvisational solo from a musician that hasn’t spent hours drudging through learning scales backwards and forwards. Right now I am teaching a precalculus course in which 80% of the students cannot add fractions or multiply signed numbers together. They don’t need remixing — they need to go to the woodshed!

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