AKA Review - 09.06.2024

From The Chronicle of Higher Education
Yup, liberal-arts degrees are “credentials of value”
By Goldie Blumenstyk

Texas’ new community college funding formula is striking for its designation of traditional liberal-arts degrees as “credentials of value” (COVs)—those that lead recipients to higher wages after 10 years than the wages of individuals with only a high-school diploma. One lesson here is that colleges should stop being defensive about the value of the liberal-arts. But given the public’s intense focus on the ROI of attending college, the author argues, it is essential to understand more broadly what affects differences in earnings outcomes. Read this article

From The New Yorker
What Does it Mean to Learn
By Joshua Rothman

Knowledge rarely arrives when one needs to use it. Whether CPR training or that unrelatable Henry James novel from sophomore year, it sits in our mental warehouses until we figure out what to do with it. Slowly and serendipitously, we gather diverse knowledge and knit ideas together into flexible theories that serve us in unanticipated circumstances. Such “educability” is a human strength. And as accelerating technological change means there’s always more to learn, we should figure out how to measure and teach it in ways that create a more educable society. Read this article

From The Economist
AI needs regulation, but what kind, and how much?

Globally, responses to the risks of AI today span a wide spectrum. At one end, led by the U.S., are countries that rely mainly on self-regulation, fearing that overly strict regulation will stifle innovation. At the opposite pole, China’s tough and numerous AI rules aim less to protect companies and citizens and more to control the flow of information. Europe’s product-safety approach, in the middle, regulates applications based on their risk level. Unsurprisingly, this messy picture has spawned several efforts to devise global rules and an entity to oversee them. Read this article

From The New York Times
D.E.I. Is Not Working on College Campuses. We Need a New Approach
By Paul Brest and Emily J. Levine

Referencing research that shows belonging is fundamental to the pursuit of knowledge and the preparation of citizens and leaders, the authors argue that many DEI programs fail because of how exclusionary they are. Better alternatives incorporate pluralism and universalism and are built on “empathy with others rather than competition among sufferings,” teaching students how rather than what to think. Success will look like a community of mutually respectful learners who use critical thinking skills to navigate challenging questions. Read this article

From Scientific American
American Science Slips into Dangerous Decline, Experts Warn, while Chinese Research Surges
By Saima S. Iqbal

The U.S. is losing the race for global STEM leadership to other nations, warns the National Academy of Sciences. This is especially troubling in that a country’s strength in science shapes its defense capacities and ability to spread its values abroad. NAS proposes several solutions but shrewdly avoids calling for more funding. Important as such support is, it is more pressing to create a strategic research vision that describes bold scientific goals for our nation; “…if we build it, [investors] will come.” Read this article