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Education

How Much Math do we really need?

How much math do we really need? by G.V. Ramanathan Twenty-seven years have passed since the publication of the report "A Nation at Risk," which warned of dire consequences if we did not reform our educational system. This report, not unlike the Sputnik scare of the 1950s,

Where you Born on the Wrong Continent?

Good quotes from Thomas Geoghegan's new book, Where You Born on the Wrong Continent?, examining the continuing strength of the Germany economy. The Germans still manufacture a lot of things, and export a lot of things. They chose a different path than the US, and Geoghegan thinks we

University Rankings

Rankings are always fun, they generate lots of controversy, and sometimes they are even useful. Matt Briggs complied a set of college rankings that are all very different. There is a set by the Wall Street Journal about which schools recruiters use to reliably fill certain positions. There are a

Overview of Psychometrics

Steve Hsu gave a brief introduction to the science of psychometrics at Foo and SciFoo this year. He was kind enough to share his slides. This is a pretty good overview of the important bits. He also has some discussion of his slides here. Thanks for sharing Steve!

The Creativity Crisis

Newsweek's article on Creativity has been making the rounds recently. I had never heard of the Torrance creativity test, but it does seem like it would be interesting to take. The reason this article has been cited widely is this: Like intelligence tests, Torrance’s test—a 90-minute

The Superstar Effect

Cal Newport has a guest post on Tim Ferriss' blog about the Superstar Effect. When Michael, a student from Paradise Valley, Arizona, applied to Stanford, his G.P.A. put him in the bottom 10% of accepted students. His SAT scores fell similarly short. "Standardized testing isn'

Engineer Shortage?

An article was posted on the PhysicsForums recently about the lack of technically trained employees in the US. It was a good article that asked the important questions about H1-B visas, the overall job market, and hiring practices. ...John Tracy, vice president of engineering for Boeing Co.'s Integrated