🚀 go-pugleaf

A repost from alt.config:

Subject: Re: Please state problems  -  Reply to Mr. Adermann
Message-ID: <711444303snx@alfheim.actrix.gen.nz>
References: <A8GHHS@taronga.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 92 07:25:03 GMT

peter@taronga.com writes in article <A8GHHS@taronga.com>:
> 
> In article <34tmb1bg@cck.coventry.ac.uk> esz001@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Will Overington) writes:
> >I am sorry but I have no idea what a Gedank experiment is about.
> 
> I'm sorry, but if you have no idea what a Gedanken experiment is you don't
> have anywhere NEAR the background that an enterprise like this would require.

I do know what a Gedanken experiment is, however would a French language Major, 
a Commerce student, or even a lawyer need to recognise the term? Yes it is an
important term in some fields of learning, but possibly not in others.

> Please spend a little more time on the net, in academia, and in the real
> world before starting something like this.

Perhaps the person suggesting the idea is not the best one to run it. I'm intrigued
by the concept: Education to the world, almost free. 

Just imagine the possibilities: A biologist wintering over in some tiny outpost in
 Antarctica does a semester of a second degree (in economics?) to break the 
tedium of the long night. The children in a the poor village in India (just picked 
as an example - no slur intended) can persue studies for the cost of a second 
hand XT & a modem, studies which may give them and their children a better 
chance in life. Subsistance farmers in the rural heartland of America could escape 
the myths and legends of their local religious fanatics & study evolution. Urban 
poor in Los Angeles could study & learn the things that they were never able to 
learn in the gang controlled remnants of the public school system.

If the idea of the UU is to teach, for the purposes of teaching, and improving the
life of the students by giving them either more information on the world, or skills
which will enable them to improve their lives, then "Self awarded credits" are no
big thing.

If the idea of the UU is to give people recognised "paper" qualifications, then 
the discussion to date has made it obvious that  a better system of recognising
the quality of work is required.

Massey, one of our (State) universities allows study towards a Batchelors degree
to be done by mail. It works something like this:
-  Each student has an advisor (A university employee) who they can contact
   with questions about the course.
-  The student receives printed notes equivalent to one or more lectures, and an 
    assignment based on the part of the course covered by the notes. In language
    courses cassette tapes are often used. As with the British Open University, early 
    morning time is purchased on one TV network, and students tape "lectures" 
    relevant to their course for playback during waking hours.
-  The assignment is mailed back by a set date for grading
-  Once per semester, the students in a course report to the campus for classroom/lab/
    etc sessions.
-  Examinations are conducted at appointed examination centres around the country 
   (often at other universities).

Could UU be made to work along these lines? I can't see why not. Try the following.

- A server machine registers students for a course, and assigns an advisor (tutor) and
  a grader (marker) from a pool of suitably qualified instructors (where this pool originates 
  is discussed below).
- Course notes, important announcements and corrections are posted to the moderated 
  group for this course via the server (Which is listed as the moderator). The "lecturer" for 
  the course, and the Instructors are known to he server which diverts any other postings
  to an unofficial ".d" subgroup.
-  Students email their assignments to their grader.
-  Towards the end of the Semester, those students with course marks sufficently good
   to have a chance of passing take the exam. Previously they have agreed an exam
   supervisor with their tutor or the UU faculty (whatever that eventually becomes)- The
   local school's headmaster, the village elder, the Mayor, any verifyable recognised
   authority who is willing to make time available.

   The exam is emailed (encrypted via the supervisor's PGP public key) to the 
   supervisor, the answers are emailed to the examiner. A certificate testifying that 
   the student took the exam fairly is returned by snail mail.

   Students who pass the exam, have their grading registered on the server machine,
   and anyone who cares to find out about the student can get the information via an
   ARPA service (FTP until something better is available). "Degrees" issued by UU 
   would be recorded there, and if anyone needs certified paper copies, they could
   be created & snail mailed for a reasonably small handling charge.

There's quite a heirachy here. Lecturers, examiners, tutors, graders, etc. Where do all
these people come from? 

They could be employees paid from tuition fees, but that would defeat the concept of
educating the poor huddled masses. So lets try something radical ... your tuition fee
can be an agreement to work for UU (part time) at the end of your course. Once a 
student has completed the academic side of the course, to a certain point, their future 
enrollment, degree, certificate, whatever is held up pending their performing certain
agreed services for UU. Acting as an advisor/grader for students 2 + years behind
them is the obvious choice.

We would still need lecturers, examiners, administrators, etc. There are a number of
possible sources for them. Recently retired academics who still want to teach, or
perhaps just help; Some students might prefer to buy their way out of the payment
in labour requirement; perhaps some charity or foundation could be persuaded help.

Pehaps some Doctoral program in education would like to start the whole thing rolling
as an educational experiment ... imagine the theses that could be written from an 
attempt at doing this.
--
Bruce Clement    (frey@alfheim.welly.gen.nz   Waffle 1.64, 
                  frey@alfheim.actrix.gen.nz  SNEWS/2,  UUPC 1.11q)