Prof. Deming - I was fortunate enough to be one of those students in "The Causes and Consequences of Inequality" in 2018. I can tell you definitively that I carry lessons from that course with me to this day, in my work on the city and state government levels, in the philanthropic world and in academia. Now that I'm on the other side of the ledger (a Visiting Professor teaching Quantitative Methods), I think a lot about the crisis of ChatGPT and how it actually indicates something wrong with academia, particularly at the undergrad level. Having students produce 20 page papers doesn't do much that will be replicable in any career field....except academia. I appreciated the marriage of theory and practice at HKS, but generally find it to be lacking by Professors who don't leave academia.
Presentations in general, and (dare I say) debates in particular, feel much more grounded in the work these folks will be doing.
"I might ask students to make short presentations to their peers on both sides of a controversial issue and grade them on their ability to be convincing from both directions."
Unless they have to come up with arguments on the spot, how is this AI-proof?
As a poor student-turned good professor (and now academic dean) the first part of this essay resonated well and leads to a perhaps richer train of thought. Indeed entertaining professors ask little of their students but to show up and be entertained. My best HKS (MPP '90) experiences were in classes where I learned to my chagrin my analyses were so much worse than my colleagues, at least during the first year. My grades weren't great but I remember every case study and every negotiation, every thought experience, and every student who said something unexpected.
Prof. Deming - I was fortunate enough to be one of those students in "The Causes and Consequences of Inequality" in 2018. I can tell you definitively that I carry lessons from that course with me to this day, in my work on the city and state government levels, in the philanthropic world and in academia. Now that I'm on the other side of the ledger (a Visiting Professor teaching Quantitative Methods), I think a lot about the crisis of ChatGPT and how it actually indicates something wrong with academia, particularly at the undergrad level. Having students produce 20 page papers doesn't do much that will be replicable in any career field....except academia. I appreciated the marriage of theory and practice at HKS, but generally find it to be lacking by Professors who don't leave academia.
Presentations in general, and (dare I say) debates in particular, feel much more grounded in the work these folks will be doing.
"I might ask students to make short presentations to their peers on both sides of a controversial issue and grade them on their ability to be convincing from both directions."
Unless they have to come up with arguments on the spot, how is this AI-proof?
As a poor student-turned good professor (and now academic dean) the first part of this essay resonated well and leads to a perhaps richer train of thought. Indeed entertaining professors ask little of their students but to show up and be entertained. My best HKS (MPP '90) experiences were in classes where I learned to my chagrin my analyses were so much worse than my colleagues, at least during the first year. My grades weren't great but I remember every case study and every negotiation, every thought experience, and every student who said something unexpected.