I spoke on grades and statistics education. I went to talks on statistics education and the “loss” of developmental education. The talks on statistics were good, but the presenters were preaching to the choir about using real data and projects in an entry level stats course. The talks on developmental education, and the general theme of the conference, I’m still processing. There were some good ideas (e.g., a tiered-approach to support) and then there were some disturbing ones (e.g., simply eliminate and the let students swim or sink). Being a product of the community college system, I’m all for the open enrollment mission, and I believe students must be held accountable, but I’m concerned that if we remove the scaffolding, then we are going to remove the opportunity for some people to better their lives – people like me.
Denise and I are both very introverted and don’t like crowds nor large cities, but if I had to live in a large city, then San Diego would be in the running. Although we weren’t there long and didn’t see the whole place, what we did see was impressive. So impressive that we felt safe enough to do something neither of us had done before; we rode a city bus and we downloaded and used the Uber app (twice). We stayed on Harbor Island, which I later learned from a colleague who knew the area that it is a “tourist trap,” and had all the makings for a great time: 1) beautiful weather, 2) panoramic views of the marina, harbor, and city, 3) plush accommodations, 4) cheap activities nearby, and 5) lots of great restaurants. It is an experience I would recommend.