Academic Jargon without Kool Aid

Accuracy in Academia ^ | May 25, 2017 | Malcolm A. Kline

[Academiadotorg]

Elizabeth Corey walks us through the wonderland that is academic vocabulary.

[Petrosius]

This idea of the need for "original research", which was introduce with the Ph.D., is a poison for academia. It has value for advanced hard sciences at the doctorate level but is misguided when applied to the humanities or undergraduate programs, or even for the master's degree. Here what should be looked for is mastery of subject matter. Likewise, the requirement for Ph.D's for college undergraduate instructors is worthless. All it does is advance the prestige of the university. It does nothing to ensure competent undergraduate instructors.

[Fhios]

< b>"A technique called 'rapid prototyping,' pioneered by computer engineers, advocates quickly moving from initial idea to implementing without agonizing over perfecting anything at all."

Back in my day we called it "shoot the engineers". We let them engineer the prototype and when they slipped into the 'agonizing over perfection' mode, we took 'em out back and shot 'em.