Top Starting Salaries Out of College

A recent survey by National Association of Colleges and Employers showed that top earning professions for those straight out of college were:

Petroleum Engineering: $93,500

Computer Engineering: $71,700

Chemical Engineering: $67,600

Computer Science: $64,800

Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering: $64,400

Mechanical Engineering: $64,000

Electrical/Electronics and Communications Engineering: $63,400

Management Information Systems/Business: $63,100

Engineering Technology: $62,200

Finance: $57,400

Buzzword: Engineering

See more at the Wall Street Journal.

ELA Tests 2013 – Common Core

The long awaited and much feared (by students and teachers alike) new English Language Arts Tests were taken by 3 – 8 graders in NYS. The new standardized tests of the seemingly sweeping changes to national education standards known as Common Core were the buzz of the teaching community for months. If at all possible, guidance to educators on the content of these tests was at once plentiful and scarce. The thing with standardized tests, as anyone who has studied for the SAT can attest, test practice is just as, if not more so, important as study of the material. Unfortunately, despite the massive effort, funds, and resources that were invested into this vast change of national standards, not one complete sample test was provided to classrooms.

Test guidance came in the form of this. A few sample exercises that highlight the change in direction. The passages for the ELA were dry, boring, and quite complicated. The math questions were long-winded.

From the NYSED State Assessments Website:

The sample questions are teaching tools for educators and can be shared freely with students and parents. They are designed to help illuminate the way the Common Core should drive instruction and how students will be assessed starting in the 2012-13 school year.

These sample questions set just about every middle school teacher and consequently their students into prolonged anxiety.

So how did the real test turn out?

Thus far I only had had access to the 7 & 8 grades’ ELA test and even there just the Book 1. The test did not in my view turn out as scary as the sample questions suggested. The texts were accessible, somewhat engaging. They were on average longer than in the past, but all in all appropriate.

The questions were varied and, at this first glance, pretty well crafted. I will need a time extension to “compare and contrast” each question with those in the previous years. 😉

3D Printing Meets Robotics

The field of education is truly exciting in today’s everchanging world. Technological innovations are almost commonplace; nascent technologies appear one after another. Technology doesn’t just affect itself; new technologies often change the paradigm completely. Things that may have been impossible just a few years ago are coming within reach at lightning speeds. New and ongoing discoveries provide perfect breeding grounds for education that is exploratory, creative and fun. Students (and not only students) have opportunities for real global impact. Now isn’t that exciting?

Recent inventions such as 3D Printing are still in early developmental phases. These technologies are open to new ideas from anyone who’s got some. Here’s a recent one that caught my attention:

Barobo– a spinoff from UC Davis – developed a modular robot – Mobot – for use in K to 12 education. The latest update to the kit is to give the user the ability to 3D print the plastic components. A powerful combo for STEM education: cutting edge tech such as 3D Printing and Modular Robotics.

In a recent article, an 11th grade Calgary high school student, Sarthak Sinha, offers advice to other high schoolers on how to succeed in school. Sarthak Sinha has been doing graduate level stem cell research (another powerful innovation) since 9th grade. He writes: “We live in some of the most exciting eras of human history and itʼll be a shame if we walk away by saying that we couldnʼt contribute to the fast pace of progress.”

Discovery as well as self discovery makes learning really exciting.

NY FIRST Robotics Competition at Javits Center

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The thirteenth annual FIRST Robotics competition took place this weekend in the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, and there was a bit of rescheduling as a result. The competition was a three day event, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The photos below are from Friday March 8, 2013.

The FIRST Robotics program is divided into three parts: LEGO Robotics Challenge for middle school students, FTC – FIRST Tech Challenge for beginner high school students, and FRC- FIRST Robotics Challenge for the more advanced high school teams.

There was plenty of team spirit and team colors at the event.

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Tech Knights got creative with NYC metrocards. With the MTA starting to charge for metrocards, this costume is soon to become quite pricey.

Only one Jewish school was spotted at the competition – MTA high school – who participated in the FIRST Tech Challenge.

Originally the FTC (as well as many other exciting programs and competitions) was scheduled for Saturday which makes it impossible for Jewish orthodox schools to participate in these important events. As a result of some rescheduling, the FTC competition was moved to Friday giving their team a chance to compete against 78 other teams which turned out for this year’s event.

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The team discussing some issues with Ruvein Levy, their mentor.

Unfortunately the MTA team had a few glitches and didn’t do that well but it’s the experience that is really valuable.

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The team working fast to fix a problem with their robot.

At the same time the FIRST Robotics Challenge was taking place on the other side of the room. Only some six weeks earlier were the teams notified of the actual challenge for this year.

Dear Mr. President, Do You Know Much About Physics?

Minute Physics – a popular video channel where short animated videos delve into such questions as “why is the night sky dark?” or “what is he difference between past and future?”, released an open video letter addressed to the president regarding the future of high school physics education. In his letter the author calls upon the president consider the fate of physics when choosing a new Education Secretary. The video laments the current state of physics education in that the curriculum concentrates mostly on mechanics, while the new and exciting discoveries that took place in the 20th century and that continue to evolve even today are almost completely ignored.

Survey: Parents Say Math is Critical to Children’s Future Success

Raytheon – a major US defense contractor and an industrial corporation, released findings of a survey of parents regarding their views on which of their children’s studies and skills will help them most in the children’s future careers.

As statistics show American students lagging behind their international peers in math performance, Raytheon commissioned a survey of 1,000 parents of children between the ages of 6 and 15 aimed at further understanding their perspective on their children’s math-related study habits, attitudes and priorities.

“The United States faces a national STEM crisis that affects our country’s economic prosperity and national security. We believe capturing the interest of students in their formative years is key to engaging them in a lifetime of STEM learning and career pursuits — and parental involvement is vital to shaping their children’s attitudes,” said William H. Swanson, Chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company. “For the past seven years Raytheon has directed significant resources toward inspiring students to make the connection between math and the wonders of the world around them.”

Key Survey Findings

Among the key survey findings:

  • More than half of parents say that being good at math will help their children achieve future success – and they see a promising future for their children in science- and math-based industries.
  • When asked to select an industry that would offer their children the best career opportunities, 3 out of 4 parents chose STEM-related fields.
  • On the other hand, when it comes to free time, close to half (46 percent) of parents prefer to have their children playing sports than engaging in other types of activities, including math- and science-related pursuits.
  • The survey found parents believe their children are on the right track: more than 8 in 10 parents (86 percent) said their children love school, and 7 in 10 (72 percent) said their children love math.
  • However, parent responses show there is a drop in math interest as children move from elementary to middle school (from 77 percent to 67 percent).
  • Parents were aware of opportunities to help their children with math: 4 out of 5 parents believed hands-on activities such as cooking, sewing and building projects can make math fun.

There is, however, another reason to study math, and it has nothing to do with one’s career or financial future. Math is beautiful! Math is elegant! It is the only universal scientific language, and it is the underpinnings of all pursuit of understanding the universe in which we find ourselves. It is one of the defining human activities, and does not need to translate into dollars and cents to be studied. But hey, it doesn’t hurt if it does.

Going Digital

Gutenberg’s invention has served us well for nearly six centuries. Now with an abundance of digital readers, has the time to say goodbye to the printed word arrived? At this point, it’s not a question of “if”, it’s a question of “when”.

During a recent address before the National Press Club, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for printed textbooks to be replaced by digital learning materials. Soon “You can not bring a phone to class” will be replaced by “Don’t forget to bring your iPad to class.”

At this time, however, the software environment is not fully ready for the total integration of tablets into the classroom; not all the challenges and potential pitfalls have been addressed. Although many schools have begun the switch to the iPads, the experience was not without some drawbacks. Perhaps in the coming months and years more solutions that look at the compete digital classroom experience will come to market. The future of the classroom indeed looks quite interesting.

On Literature

Recently, I purchased a few volumes from the Funk and Wagnalls Pocket Library of the World’s Essential Knowledge published in 1929. Published prior to the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights movement and other major events of the 20th century, I was curious about the flavor of ideas that were contained therein. To my surprise, on many points it sounded as if it may have published yesterday. But that’s for a different post or posts.

I’d like to quote here just a few sentences from the volume on Literature that summarize its very fundamentals and its value.

Literature is a record of thoughts and feelings of our predecessors and contemporaries in the world. It is the intensification and clarification of the experience of the human race by those possessing unusual insight and power. … Authors have been particularly gifted men, who have seen more clearly and felt more deeply than their fellow men.

Literature touches life at all points, for it presents a cross-section of the society of a period. It brings back the glory of Greece and the grandeur of Rome; it revives the spirit of the Middle Ages; and it reveals the trend of modern thought.

A mirror of human nature – can the value of literature be possibly overestimated? How is it that so many young people under-appreciate it?

An English teacher must not only teach but inspire.