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Re: Students and Tests - Kyle and business models



The sleaziest part of higher education is when we take money from
underprepared students and tell them they can make it when in fact they
cannnot (without more preperation). This practice in my mind is linked
strongly with a business attitude on the part of administrators. Caveat
Emptor is the motto of the modern business world and I think it has no
place at all in education. (Unfortunately many school administrators are
less scrupulus about taking money from students and insist on increasing
enrollment, regardless of quality.)

The main problem with thinking of education as a service industry is that I
can think of no other service where the quality of the service is almost
totally determined by the provider rather than the customer (no matter if
you think the customer is the student or the company that hires him or her,
or the tax payer). For better or worse, we, as "providers" set standards
and monitor our own quality. I really don't see how it can be otherwise.
Supposidly we are the most knowledgible about our particualr subject and
therefor best capable of determining what someone else (students) needs to
know about that subject and I don't see a way around that.

I agree with Karl and Allen, the closest a buisness model comes to applying
to education is as a contract between teacher and student; formed to
participate in something similar to a fitness center where the teacher
provides equipment and coaching and the student does the work. In the
contract idea, however, I don't see any way to break the contract if the
student does everything in the contract and still just isn't cut out to do
physics. We do not give an A for effort. Likewise I don't see coaches in a
gym telling clients that they aren't preforming well enough and they should
quit. Sometimes as teachers we have to do that because WE are the ones who
determine quality.

kyle


I view teaching as a "contract" whereby a "school", on the basis of
"enrollment" by a student commits to pay for specific "services"to be
delivered by an "instructor."

Because the tuition bill often reflects contributions other than that of
the student, I remind the students that their portion of control should not
exceed their contribution, ie, specifically, since the State taxpayers pay
for all but a small % of the costs, the student cannot justify "cutting"
class on someone else's money! And they are not too bright to cut class on
their OWN money!

Likewise, the instructor cannot "excuse class" in order to do some other
activity, no matter how worthy (such as meeting an important visitor,
taking important research data, or because its the last day before spring
break, or the big school football rivalry, etc).

Further, alternate class dates and alternate/supplemental study sessions
are NOT acceptable unless every single "student contractor" is able to
attend, and agrees to it! Otherwise, some student contractors receive a
different product (under the same label) from their classmates who may have
believed the terms of their contract (course syllabus/course announcement).

**Anybody recognize abuses of the system when viewed this way?**

Karl

____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Karl I. Trappe Desk:(512)471-4152
Physics Dept-Mail Stop C1600 Office: (512) 471-5411
The University of Texas at Austin FAX: (512) 471-9637 (other building)
Austin, Texas 78712-1081 E-Mail:trappe@physics.utexas.edu
____________________________________________________________________________

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! kyle forinash 812-941-2390 !
! forinas@indiana.edu !
! Natural Science Division !
! Indiana University Southeast !
! New Albany, IN 47150 !
! http://Physics.ius.indiana.edu/Physics.html !
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