Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Games Played by Len Fisher
The subtitle of the book is a variation on its "real" title: Game Theory in the Everyday Life of Len Fisher. While pleasant, and somewhat helpful as an introduction, a better book is struggling to get out.
Rock, Paper, Scissors is best read by reading the chapters in reverse order. Fisher really wants to write about trust and how to gain it, by realizing that game theory not only describes situations (the seven dilemmas identified by Nash equilibriums), but also identifies methods for breakthroughs. Various problems in everyday life (mainly Fisher's!) and some business/political ones can be identified, then addressed. This is good stuff. Knowing the Ultimatum and Centipede games provide value.
A reader upon completion will most likely believe that while the book was worth the time and effort, a better book should be available with more interesting examples, that would have been MORE worth the time and effort. It's as if Fisher "mailed" it in. He couldn't have spent more than a few weeks (if that long) writing it. It's merely a money-maker that doesn't show great depth of knowledge or effort by the writer, but it is understandable.
Rock, Paper, Scissors is best read by reading the chapters in reverse order. Fisher really wants to write about trust and how to gain it, by realizing that game theory not only describes situations (the seven dilemmas identified by Nash equilibriums), but also identifies methods for breakthroughs. Various problems in everyday life (mainly Fisher's!) and some business/political ones can be identified, then addressed. This is good stuff. Knowing the Ultimatum and Centipede games provide value.
A reader upon completion will most likely believe that while the book was worth the time and effort, a better book should be available with more interesting examples, that would have been MORE worth the time and effort. It's as if Fisher "mailed" it in. He couldn't have spent more than a few weeks (if that long) writing it. It's merely a money-maker that doesn't show great depth of knowledge or effort by the writer, but it is understandable.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Book Review - A Certain Ambiguity
A Certain Ambiguity was disappointing and bordering on the trivial, sadly. In 1919, a fictional, yet exceptional Indian mathematician, worthy of being invited to a US university after living in Great Britain, believes like a child, that Euclid wrote about truth, and of course, rigid Christians jailed him. The only thing missing from the test is an angry mob at night with pitchforks ready for a lynching. However, good leadership by the New Jersey governor saved the day. Thank God for educated elites!
In 1919, Riemann, Poincare, were evidently not known to all expert mathematicians as the conceit of this book. OK. A few physicists still believed in the ether also. To be fair, Riemann's 1854 lecture may not have been well known, but Poincare was pretty famous at the turn of the century. By the time of the setting of this story, topology, not geometry, was the focus of study, because formalism was well understood as the refuge for mathematics. See the fifth paragraph below.
Still, the first person narration by an intelligent Stanford grad student, who evidently didn't know anything about series from high school math, but is worthy of a full scholarship to graduate school in mathematics, was far more improbable. Maybe he took Calculus in summer school after being accepted.
The conclusion that happiness and contentment are found by knowing that absolute certainty cannot be proven may be a mantra for some, maybe a majority, of intelligent people, but patting oneself on the back, which seems to be the point of the book, is fairly self-serving at the very least. Cool people don't believe in truth, just games, evidently.
A more honest and useful book would have stressed that before Riemann, Western thought, buttressed by Kant, believed that "a priori synthetic" systems existed: that our mind by itself (a priori) could obtain real knowledge (synthetic) of the world. Euclidean geometry was the prime example of this. As a result, a proof of God, while not rigorously found, could reasonably exist. The main counter to this belief was found in "personal idealism," which Bishop Berkeley, along with many, many others lectured. At it's extreme, everything is in one's mind and it is difficult, if not impossible to truly know anything about the real world (if it even exists!). This is very unsatisfying. "A priori synthetic" was important psychologically to many people. Other philosophies, such as positivism in 1919 in Great Britain, arose to try to bridge the gap with dubious success.
However, the authors, Suri and Bal, could have taken another, less well known, but perhaps, more valuable interpretation of Godel's work and resolved the issue better; although not as correct politically. Godel proved that every logical system would have at least one truthful statement that could not be proved by the axioms of the system. In short, any system is not complete by axioms alone. This is supposed to destroy full certainty of knowledge. Maybe, but it provides one GREAT and AWESOME question: from where do the unprovable truthful statements arise? They have to come from something outside of the system! In other words, the real world isn't found in "a priori synthetic," but in "synthetic a priori!" There is something out there so to speak. What it is - is the unanswerable question! God may exist, or at least a reality, for that is now certain!
The greatest problems with the book are the two horrible math errors made by the authors that invalidate so much of what they wrote. Most critically, curved space doesn’t invalidate Euclid at all. Maybe Gauss initially thought so; but Riemann in 1854 showed that planar geometry was merely a special case of when a triangle had 180 degrees in space. Other spaces had either less or more than 180 degree triangles (like those on a sphere). There is NO CONTRADICTION of Geometry by validating Einstein, if anything, it increases Geometry’s validity. Duh! Second, and not critically, the fifth postulate is not evidence of a statement that’s true but unprovable after Godel as the authors claim. This is obvious since more than one fifth postulate is possible, not just one. Duh!
A Certain Ambiguity is novel on math written by poseurs without ambiguity - an embarrassment on many levels.
In 1919, Riemann, Poincare, were evidently not known to all expert mathematicians as the conceit of this book. OK. A few physicists still believed in the ether also. To be fair, Riemann's 1854 lecture may not have been well known, but Poincare was pretty famous at the turn of the century. By the time of the setting of this story, topology, not geometry, was the focus of study, because formalism was well understood as the refuge for mathematics. See the fifth paragraph below.
Still, the first person narration by an intelligent Stanford grad student, who evidently didn't know anything about series from high school math, but is worthy of a full scholarship to graduate school in mathematics, was far more improbable. Maybe he took Calculus in summer school after being accepted.
The conclusion that happiness and contentment are found by knowing that absolute certainty cannot be proven may be a mantra for some, maybe a majority, of intelligent people, but patting oneself on the back, which seems to be the point of the book, is fairly self-serving at the very least. Cool people don't believe in truth, just games, evidently.
A more honest and useful book would have stressed that before Riemann, Western thought, buttressed by Kant, believed that "a priori synthetic" systems existed: that our mind by itself (a priori) could obtain real knowledge (synthetic) of the world. Euclidean geometry was the prime example of this. As a result, a proof of God, while not rigorously found, could reasonably exist. The main counter to this belief was found in "personal idealism," which Bishop Berkeley, along with many, many others lectured. At it's extreme, everything is in one's mind and it is difficult, if not impossible to truly know anything about the real world (if it even exists!). This is very unsatisfying. "A priori synthetic" was important psychologically to many people. Other philosophies, such as positivism in 1919 in Great Britain, arose to try to bridge the gap with dubious success.
However, the authors, Suri and Bal, could have taken another, less well known, but perhaps, more valuable interpretation of Godel's work and resolved the issue better; although not as correct politically. Godel proved that every logical system would have at least one truthful statement that could not be proved by the axioms of the system. In short, any system is not complete by axioms alone. This is supposed to destroy full certainty of knowledge. Maybe, but it provides one GREAT and AWESOME question: from where do the unprovable truthful statements arise? They have to come from something outside of the system! In other words, the real world isn't found in "a priori synthetic," but in "synthetic a priori!" There is something out there so to speak. What it is - is the unanswerable question! God may exist, or at least a reality, for that is now certain!
The greatest problems with the book are the two horrible math errors made by the authors that invalidate so much of what they wrote. Most critically, curved space doesn’t invalidate Euclid at all. Maybe Gauss initially thought so; but Riemann in 1854 showed that planar geometry was merely a special case of when a triangle had 180 degrees in space. Other spaces had either less or more than 180 degree triangles (like those on a sphere). There is NO CONTRADICTION of Geometry by validating Einstein, if anything, it increases Geometry’s validity. Duh! Second, and not critically, the fifth postulate is not evidence of a statement that’s true but unprovable after Godel as the authors claim. This is obvious since more than one fifth postulate is possible, not just one. Duh!
A Certain Ambiguity is novel on math written by poseurs without ambiguity - an embarrassment on many levels.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Outliers - William Gladwell - Review
The Outliers was presented to teachers at Estancia High School. It has lessons that apply to education from both student success and organizational perspectives. While motivational and entertaining, it's problems are many. It's reviews are spotty. The New Republic spent several pages on it.
_____________________The Outliers delivers one incredibly strong lesson in its first chapter: beware of the effect of arbitrary decisions on people's lives. Beware cut-off dates on ages for example. This is admirably shown in William Gladwell's first chapter. Hockey players in Canada are chosen on teams based on their talent, but also based on their age on January first. Those born on December 31 are effectively one year younger than those born on January second. Obviously many younger players won't be as adept as older ones, but so it goes. This means it may be advantageous to have two start dates for Kindergarten in schools.
A second strong lesson of the book is that timing, out of one's control, matters. People born in the middle 1830's in history were the most successful people in history. Cute stuff, but not too usable.
The third lesson is somewhat unremarkable; although vital: social background and elite status matter in success. Children of dedicated, usually wealthy, parents who are flexible in their own accomplishments do better than those from rigid, poor families. Duh.
The point of the three lessons is that people don't succeed by themselves, but their location in time and place determines the limits on their success. This point is told in very engaging ways by Gladwell. It is worth the time to read his text, but there are some caveats.
____________________
Isaac Chotiner's valid question (The New Republic, February 04, 2009) on why the chapter on airlines and culture was included in The Outliers can be answered with these three related points.
First, Mr. Gladwell did not want his book to justify racism. If wonderful family and social support is necessary for success, then a variation of William Shockley's argument that affirmative action is of no practical value to people doomed to failure would be true: why help a poor black student with a single parent, when he or she could never be a great success like Bill Gates or Bill Joy.
Second, the Korean chapter suggests that a few tweaks to culture can fix a problem and allow reasonable success. Similarly, affirmative action for law students seems to work out OK, as long as IQ is above 120. Please note that this is questionable research.
Third, Gladwell above can be seen as differentiating great success, ability combined with wonderful circumstances and timing, from "good enough" success, which society can support at certain intervals such as during schooling.
Unfortunately, Gladwell made three choices that undermine his likability and discernment. He's simply not self-reflective in his editing. Gladwell seems so full of himself and has simple politics.
First, his excessive demeaning of Langan was coarse, bordering on mean. Langan is such a buffoon that he doesn't know there is no "thumb right on you (p. 96)" at Harvard. However, readers of TNR's article on Zeke, Rahm's brother, may have noticed his words "But it was Harvard that was most oppressive (The New Republic, July 1, 2009, p. 27)." Maybe Langan, wasn't all that wrong. Furthermore, Reed College and Montana State should have been slapped by Gladwell. They failed disgustingly; almost inexcusably. Instead, Gladwell blesses their bureaucratic ineptness and laziness in dealing with Langan, because liberal Reed doesn't have a rigid (i.e. bad) bureaucracy. Reed, a small liberal college, simply let go one of its most promising students. As a student at Stanford, with parents having limitations, at the same time as Langan, I struggled to get my financial paperwork delivered months after it was due each year. I was never shown the exit - I was given emergency loans to pull me through. One of the 'red state' arguments against affirmative action is that it's affirmative only for preferred (i.e. liberal) people. Langan's situation makes ones wonder: is social support reliable as policy to help all people succeed?
Second, the most beautiful chapter in the book concerned how Gladwell's mother didn't claim racist discrimination in England after realizing that she and her ancestors had enjoyed generations of success because of the light tone of their skin. Sweet. Her blessed son disparages an abused man Langan (who has overcome a great deal) in print and left a pointless sentence in his book "Kiddo, when you leave New York, every place is Bridgeport. (p. 138)" Yes, Mr. Gladwell may be on the A-list of the chattering class and power clique at Harvard, but his framework is immature.
Third, Gladwell acts like a 'fellow traveller.' The chapter on KIPP read like a propaganda piece by Shaw when visiting Stalin in the 1930's, where his railroad car attendants had read his work! Yeah, sure. My high school junior read the chapter and asked "Is KIPP for stupid people? They work so hard, but only 83% are proficient." Gladwell may be smart, but you could sell him some swampland near Forrest Gump.
Ten Commandments for Teachers - George Polya
I. Be interested in your subject.
II. Know your subject.
III. Know about the ways of learning:
the best way to learn anything is to discover it by yourself.
IV. Try to read the faces of your students,
try to see their expectations and difficulties,
put yourself in their place.
V. Give them not only information, but "know-how," attitudes of mind,
the habit of methodical work.
VI. Let them learn guessing.
VII. Let them learn proving.
VIII. Look out for such features of the problem at hand as may be useful
in solving the problems to come -- try to disclose the general
pattern that lies behind the present concrete situation.
IX. Do not give away your whole secret at once --
let the students guess before you tell it --
let them find out for themselves as much as feasible.
X. Suggest it; do not force it down their throats.
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Monday, April 27, 2009
PLC - Extensions to Education Central Office - Comparison to JiT Quality Circles
Prior Background
Starting in the early 1980's, US manufacturers implemented Just-in-Time (JiT) and Six Sigma data-driven strategies. One of methods employed was named Quality Circles. Professional Learning Communities, PLC's, can be considered variations of Quality Circles. Analogously to a Quality Circle, a PLC focuses a school on identifying problems and responding to (student) needs quickly by using data and teams. Furthermore, the twin overarching goals of JiT are reducing cost and increasing responsiveness by eliminating waste - waste of time, waste of effort, and the waste of resources and materials. In short, distractions and disruptions kill profit and responsiveness. The overarching goal for schools is student learning. All activities that detract from this goal are waste.
It should be realized that Quality Circles have a exceptionally high failure rate in business. They need a sustained level of support and guidance. PLC's are no different.
Lack of Real Support is a Reason for Failure
While most Quality Circles fail because the teams don't function well; others fail because they need real support, in the change of administrative functions, from superiors. Real Support can be unpleasant. Consider a manager getting a request from a Quality Circle: "Your policy is stupid... Do it this way... Now!" Consider pilots, graduates of military academies, listening to poorly educated soldiers: "you missed again" or "you just targeted us, you @#$@##@$@." Support means many things, including a change in methods by the boss. Letting Quality Circles die can be pleasant!
As long as PLC's don't ask the central or district office for bureaucratic change, PLC's can be very popular with central offices. This can be seen by the paucity of research and boilerplate statements on what district offices do in increasing student learning. District offices can easily forget that their role in increasing student learning must include eliminating their waste: waste of time, waste of money, and waste of focus on bureaucratic impulses.
Typical PLC-Generated Concerns for a District Office
2008's Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work dedicates 40 of its 519 pages to the role of a district. Key points include:
Conclusions
Starting in the early 1980's, US manufacturers implemented Just-in-Time (JiT) and Six Sigma data-driven strategies. One of methods employed was named Quality Circles. Professional Learning Communities, PLC's, can be considered variations of Quality Circles. Analogously to a Quality Circle, a PLC focuses a school on identifying problems and responding to (student) needs quickly by using data and teams. Furthermore, the twin overarching goals of JiT are reducing cost and increasing responsiveness by eliminating waste - waste of time, waste of effort, and the waste of resources and materials. In short, distractions and disruptions kill profit and responsiveness. The overarching goal for schools is student learning. All activities that detract from this goal are waste.
It should be realized that Quality Circles have a exceptionally high failure rate in business. They need a sustained level of support and guidance. PLC's are no different.
Lack of Real Support is a Reason for Failure
While most Quality Circles fail because the teams don't function well; others fail because they need real support, in the change of administrative functions, from superiors. Real Support can be unpleasant. Consider a manager getting a request from a Quality Circle: "Your policy is stupid... Do it this way... Now!" Consider pilots, graduates of military academies, listening to poorly educated soldiers: "you missed again" or "you just targeted us, you @#$@##@$@." Support means many things, including a change in methods by the boss. Letting Quality Circles die can be pleasant!
As long as PLC's don't ask the central or district office for bureaucratic change, PLC's can be very popular with central offices. This can be seen by the paucity of research and boilerplate statements on what district offices do in increasing student learning. District offices can easily forget that their role in increasing student learning must include eliminating their waste: waste of time, waste of money, and waste of focus on bureaucratic impulses.
Typical PLC-Generated Concerns for a District Office
- Instead of tracking cuts in attendance; track and act on absences; since an absence is an absence (lost time) to student learning.
- The same course number used for two different classes violates the most basic data organization rules. A year long class with the same course number where each semsester is graded independently confuses everyone in remedial course assignments, credit issuance, and transcript analysis.
- Combining district data-analysis software with mandatory test-design software may actually inhibit collecting local data. Integrated databases are a priority, but its the responses to the questions, that require analysis and tight integration. Flexibility in question design (not just multiple-choice) and the student front-end are separate concerns that are about ease-of-use. Neglecting these limits data collection.
- Separating a district SIS from an external grade book, when both are frequently integrated, is the denial of necessary database integration. The structure of PLC's and the routines of RTI coexist poorly with a whimsical district-centered approach to student data.
- Keeping outdated student software, such as six-year-old web browsers, as standard inhibits technology implementations. Stating that this is for security, when the district office uses newer software, creates distrust and signifies that PLC is merely a sideshow at the district level.
- Standardizing textbooks across the district for all skill levels and expecting differentiated instruction to compensate is actually a non-PLC focus. Standardization within a school or school zone takes priority. District driven standardization is a distraction from the main goal of student learning. Student learning for all does not mean the same modified teaching for all. The stereotypical assembly line became obsolete 50 years ago. It serves poorly as a metaphor for education today. Claiming that a court settlement forces this is not true and lessons respect for the district.
2008's Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work dedicates 40 of its 519 pages to the role of a district. Key points include:
- Remove competing programs and requirements.
- Do not leave school improvement to the schools alone.
- Install systems to ensure priorities are addressed in schools.
- Focus on improvement, not on rankings.
Conclusions
- It's important for district personnel to be seen as working intelligently toward the goal of student learning, not going through bureaucratic motions. This isn't just for PLC morale, but for enhanced student learning.
- From a PLC perspective, the units of interest are the individual child, the school, and for vertical articulation, the school zone. Surprisingly, other school zones in a district really are no different than school zones in other districts. Districts are legacy agencies, LEA's-only, in a world of state standards and state money.
- Districts need to be lean and mean. Delays in providing services, due to only internal district issues, are truly unacceptable. Any district usage of funds denies funds needed for student learning; unless spent carefully. Expending money on schools is the default.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Living By Chemistry - Key Curriculum Press - Ninth or Tenth Grade Chemistry for Everyone
Background
The University of California/Lawrence Hall of Science/NSF ESI-9730634 generated curriculum Living by Chemistry, with Dr. Angelica M. Stacey as the lead writer raises inquiry-based, high school Chemistry to an incredibly accessible level. It simply allows more students with different backgrounds time to practice being a scientist while learning standards. Obviously, it can be adopted as an alternative text at many schools, but its greatest impact could be felt by convincing many students to take Chemistry in ninth or tenth grade, and, possibly, reducing the number of dropouts.
ACT research clearly shows that taking Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in high school correlates well with graduating college. Leon Lederman has convincingly argued that a sequence beginning with Physics First works best. However, with Biology being the 10th grade NCLB test in California, a sequence of Chemistry - Biology could serve students and that state adequately. From an opportunity-cost standpoint, the current practice of ordinary students taking ninth grade Earth Science or Integrated Science does not correlate with college graduation. In effect, ninth grade non-core science requires that students complete four years of science. Yeah, that happens. Bluntly, students in non-core ninth or tenth grade courses do not graduate college from a statistical basis. However, the core science alternative is beset with problems; since many students have weak backgrounds that preclude success using conventional Chemistry texts. Living by Chemistry offers light, engaging paperbacks with numerous experiments to drive students into classes. It helps solves the rigor/engagement problem.
Goal
Keeping students in school with interesting academics and supporting teachers with easy-to-use materials are the purposes behind the Living in Chemistry curriculum. Typical students and science teachers can thrive on the small texts, detailed teacher guides, and exercise kits. More interestingly, practicing Chemistry is real and different from other courses. It gives students a flavor of real academic work. It's risk entices. More students in Chemistry may correlate with the holy grail of increased rigor concommitant with a higher graduation rate.
Implementation
Designate one teacher to offer one to two sections of Chemistry with ninth graders having priority. Make sure texts are approved for full year piloting or satisfy whatever rules are necessary. Try not to issue a new course number - Chemistry standards are Chemistry standards. The next Chemistry class to students would be AP Chemistry anyway.
Debug the course over the year. If successful, add additional sections as more teachers and classrooms become capable of teaching the course. In California, an Earth Science teacher has to pass on Chemistry CSET, but this isn't about eliminating Earth Science, but increasing the number of students taking the core science courses. Remember, ninth grade Biology was rendered obsolete with the advent of molecular Biology 50 years ago. It's time to change. The world has. Taking Chemistry before Biology enriches the curriculum for all.
The University of California/Lawrence Hall of Science/NSF ESI-9730634 generated curriculum Living by Chemistry, with Dr. Angelica M. Stacey as the lead writer raises inquiry-based, high school Chemistry to an incredibly accessible level. It simply allows more students with different backgrounds time to practice being a scientist while learning standards. Obviously, it can be adopted as an alternative text at many schools, but its greatest impact could be felt by convincing many students to take Chemistry in ninth or tenth grade, and, possibly, reducing the number of dropouts.
ACT research clearly shows that taking Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in high school correlates well with graduating college. Leon Lederman has convincingly argued that a sequence beginning with Physics First works best. However, with Biology being the 10th grade NCLB test in California, a sequence of Chemistry - Biology could serve students and that state adequately. From an opportunity-cost standpoint, the current practice of ordinary students taking ninth grade Earth Science or Integrated Science does not correlate with college graduation. In effect, ninth grade non-core science requires that students complete four years of science. Yeah, that happens. Bluntly, students in non-core ninth or tenth grade courses do not graduate college from a statistical basis. However, the core science alternative is beset with problems; since many students have weak backgrounds that preclude success using conventional Chemistry texts. Living by Chemistry offers light, engaging paperbacks with numerous experiments to drive students into classes. It helps solves the rigor/engagement problem.
Goal
Keeping students in school with interesting academics and supporting teachers with easy-to-use materials are the purposes behind the Living in Chemistry curriculum. Typical students and science teachers can thrive on the small texts, detailed teacher guides, and exercise kits. More interestingly, practicing Chemistry is real and different from other courses. It gives students a flavor of real academic work. It's risk entices. More students in Chemistry may correlate with the holy grail of increased rigor concommitant with a higher graduation rate.
Implementation
Designate one teacher to offer one to two sections of Chemistry with ninth graders having priority. Make sure texts are approved for full year piloting or satisfy whatever rules are necessary. Try not to issue a new course number - Chemistry standards are Chemistry standards. The next Chemistry class to students would be AP Chemistry anyway.
Debug the course over the year. If successful, add additional sections as more teachers and classrooms become capable of teaching the course. In California, an Earth Science teacher has to pass on Chemistry CSET, but this isn't about eliminating Earth Science, but increasing the number of students taking the core science courses. Remember, ninth grade Biology was rendered obsolete with the advent of molecular Biology 50 years ago. It's time to change. The world has. Taking Chemistry before Biology enriches the curriculum for all.
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