A Response to "How to Sacrifice Academic Quality"
Abstract Editors' Note: The above article is a re-joinder to “How to Sacrifice Academic Quality,” which appeared in the Spring 1979 issue of Improving College and University Teaching. The editors welcome thoughtful responses to any article appearing in the journal.
How to Sacrifice Academic Quality
easy to imagine modern scientists echoing this declaration with equal conviction. But is it possible that we are so obsessed with our pursuit of truth that we have forgotten about wisdom? Is it possible that our pride has destroyed our wisdom just as surely as M?bius' pride destroyed his wisdom? Will our search for the truth turn up answers as terrifying as those that Oedipus receives? These are the large issues that can be raised toward the end of the course after specific ideas have been examined in literary works. And these questions will emphasize again the central theme of the course: attitudes toward knowledge are mutable? they have changed greatly in the past, and they are likely to alter still more in the years to come. NOTES
Teachers and teaching.
In this section I explore two domains I believe to be important for theoretical and applied network research for rural education. First, the study of networks for teaching must establish the conditions and features of educational practice in which the networks get used. Focusing on rural education offers an opportunity to create a research agenda around a specific group of teachers who teach in a particular educational setting. The second domain is the knowledge of the kinds of network use, within the set conditions and in relation to the issues considered important by users. Once the important factors for rural teachers have been established , researchers have to determine whether or not networks support rural education, or whether new educational issues emerge as a result of network use. The five preceding cases are used to demonstrate the construction of such a research design, and to establish an agenda for future research. Understanding these two domains is part of a necessary general transition in network research. And it also makes sense to connect current network research with the growing body of studies of situated technology use in the work site on the use of networks for educational purposes faces a greater challenge: To determine more precisely the contributions network use can make to teaching After all, contribution to teaching is the ultimate test for any technology-based teaching aid. Similar results of past research on network use also come out of our own study of LabNetwork. Our research, for example, shows that the number of network users decreases as demand for participation in network discussions grows. More teachers "listen" to (i.e., only read) network messages than those who contribute messages. For example, Tom Thompson writes: I would frequently monitor discussions on the network, contributing where I felt I could and seeking ideas when I needed to. I wasn't a frequent contributor to the network, but it did rapidly become a valuable source of information. According to most current network research that judges active network use by the amount of mail being sent, monitoring network discussions is often a less valued response. However, monitoring network messages can be an active type of network use that is extremely valuable to participants for their particular purpose. Should we be surprised? We do not think so. But what this example suggests is a revision of network research agenda from focus on patterns of network use per …