Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post "Re: Zemsky's 'Making American Higher Education a Sustainable Enterprise' " [Hake (2013)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Chris Parr (2013) in a report "Robert Zemsky's solution for US problems" at <http://bit.ly/1eLyoZn> wrote:
"In 'Checklist for Change' [Zemsky at <http://bit.ly/188VYrx>] starts with the academics themselves . . . . 'faculty just aren’t persuaded that they know what to do. They don’t want to make the mess worse, so they’re waiting.' "
I've heard Zemsky's derogation of faculty before. In "NRC's CUSE: Stranded on Assessless Island?" [Hake (2013a)] at <http://bit.ly/184OVC4> I wrote:
"[Zemsky] has missed the boat with respect to the potential reform of undergraduate education through education research by disciplinary experts as monitored by rigorous pre/post testing. . . .[He] is in the good company of CUSE and its workshop participants, who appear to be STRANDED ON ASSESSLESS ISLAND with no way to gauge the need for, or effect of, educational reform strategies."
"And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain of success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience with them. Thus it happens that whenever those who are hostile have the opportunity to attack they do it like partisans, whilst the others defend lukewarmly...."
REFERENCES [URL shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 20 Sept. 2013.] Hake, R.R. 2013. "Re: Zemsky's 'Making American Higher Education a Sustainable Enterprise'," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/1a189YT>. Post of 17 Sep 2013 14:02:46-0400 to AERA-L, NetGold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/1emuTHK> with provision for comments.