Best Undergrad Teaching

[doctorb]

<p>2010</p>

<p>Dartmouth
Miami (OH)
Princeton
Notre Dame
William & Mary</p>

<p>This is the list that deserves much more attention. Esp if you are high schooler considering colleges. What do you think about Cal, Michigan, Virginia, Purdue in the list? Surprising?</p>

[pierre0913]

<p>What about Clemson coming #12 on that list? Hell yeah! haha</p>

[ccuser18]

<p>and that’s why I’m applying to Dartmouth</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

This is the list that deserves much more attention.

</p>

<p>In theory, but the methodology is questionable.</p>

[kwu]

<p>"and that’s why I’m applying to Dartmouth</p>

<p>You sure it isn’t because it’s an IVY REAGUE school?</p>

[doctorb]

<p>Silver-</p>

<p>Agreed, it does have some odd results. What methodology should be used?</p>

[Alexandre]

<p>“What do you think about Cal, Michigan, Virginia, Purdue in the list? Surprising?”</p>

<p>Cal, Michigan and UVa were all in last year’s list too. I cannot say that I am surprised. Most Cal students I know rave about the quality of their professors and lecturers. I personally was impressed (and mostly satisfied) by the quality of instruction at Michigan. I imagine UVa is similar to Cal and Michigan.</p>

[ccuser18]

<p>and their emphasis on undergrad teaching is one of many reasons why I’m applying to Dartmouth*</p>

[SuperFanMike]

<p>“What methodology should be used?”</p>

<p>The only way you can really compare the teaching between two different schools… is to attend both schools and then compare. So unless you go to every school for an undergraduate education, you can’t really rank their teaching.</p>

[miss_murd3r]

<p>Nice spelling of “REAGUE,” kwu. Hahaha.</p>

[warblersrule]

<p>Undergraduate Teaching 2010

1. Dartmouth
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. Stanford
   = UMD-BC
5. Brown
   = William & Mary
6. Duke
   = Miami U
   = Notre Dame
7. Berkeley
   = Bowling Green State
   = Chicago
   = Howard
   = Michigan
   = Rice
   = UNC</p>

<p>Undergrad Teaching 2011

1. Dartmouth
2. Miami U
   = Princeton
3. Notre Dame
4. William & Mary
5. Berkeley
   = Brown
6. Michigan
   = UVA
7. Stanford
   = Yale
8. Clemson
   = Purdue
   = UMD-BC
   = U Vermont
   = Wake Forest</p>

<p>Miami U +6
Berkeley +5
Notre Dame +4
Michigan +3
William & Mary +1
Brown +0
Dartmouth +0
Princeton +0
Stanford -6
Yale -7
UMD-BC -8</p>

<p>This has the potential to be a Princeton Review type ranking. 60-65% of the list stays the same and gets jumbled, while other schools are added and dropped from the list each year.</p>

[rjkofnovi]

<p>^^Translation: Where is Duke this year? ;-)</p>

[ADHDFTL]

<p>well USNWR’s general rankings aren’t much better. WUSTL has proved it’s fairly easy to game if you want to, and all colleges participate in some form in boosting stats (except reed…look where that’s got them at around 54 I believe). If anyone believes reed really belong at 54 and USNWR is really that fantastic I’m interested in hearing your theories. </p>

<p>I think this list definitely makes sense, although I haven’t heard of Miami university in Ohio.</p>

[doctorb]

<p>Really?? Brown tied w/UC-B and one place above MI/VA who are ahead of Stanford and Yale? Seriously? Clemson way above Wake Forest??? </p>

<p>Well, at least USNWR is finally asking the right question. I hope they refine the answers over time. We shall see.</p>

[coureur]

<p>I have doubts about all this based on my own narrow experience. I have two daughters. One went to Harvard and the other is currently at Dartmouth. I’m happy that Dartmouth is the NUMBER ONE! university in the known universe for undergrad teaching. But the thing that gives me pause is that I can’t see a whole lot of difference between the teaching that D1 got at Harvard and what D2 is getting at Dartmouth. </p>

<p>Both get as much (or as little) attention from the profs as they want. If they want extra help or discussion the profs at both schools are eager to provide it. If they want to be left alone the profs will oblige that too. Both schools are loaded with talented profs who are highly-accomplished in their academic fields.</p>

<p>I’m still waiting to see what is the big magical difference that causes Dartmouth to be number 1 and Harvard to almost universally scorned as undergrad crap (by people who never went there), especially here on CC. You would think that the differences would be obvious between two schools so disparately ranked.</p>

[momfirst3]

<p>Regarding Cal, I think that move is notable. In a year where budget cuts were the focus (and there is a lot of chatter about that on these boards), it is important to note that those currently attending the university find the quality of the instruction to be superior. I would also like to point out that it is the only UC on the list which, in my opinion, solidifies it’s position as THE flagship university of the UC system. Yes, I do have a son attending Cal in the fall and I really don’t care about the rankings, but it is nice to see that the teachers are doing a good job there.</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>Why can’t the top publics provide great undergraduate teaching? Because they are large and impersonal? Because the best researchers are the usually the worst teachers? </p>

<p>Lots of stereotypes. I had great profs for all my classes. All were accomplished researchers as well. Every university will have some bad profs, some really good profs and a lot of average to good profs…that’s because professors are humans! </p>

<p>Top publics are on the list because they attract great teachers/researchers. Check out Berkeley’s Youtube Channel and see for yourself. As for the notion that distinguished profs only teach grad students, I can say that’s not true at Berkeley. A couple of examples:

1. Robert Reich taught an undergrad public policy course last semester.
2. George Smoot was teaching undergrad physics the day after he won the Nobel Prize…we even have photographic evidence of this ;): [url=&lt;a href=“http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/smoot-photo.html]George”&gt;http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/smoot-photo.html]George</a> F. Smoot - Photo Gallery<a href=“last%20picture%20on%20the%20linked%20page”>/url</a>.</p>

[standrews]

<p>Here’s the methodology, (if you can really call it that)

For the second consecutive year, in the spring of 2010, U.S. News asked top academics as part of the regular U.S. News peer assessment survey to name the schools that they think have faculty with an unusually strong “commitment to undergraduate teaching.” These new rankings are the schools whose faculty and administrators are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner. College presidents, provosts, and admissions deans were asked to nominate up to 10 colleges in their U.S. News Best Colleges ranking category with a “commitment to undergraduate teaching.”
[ snip ]
The “commitment to undergraduate teaching” rankings are based solely on the responses to this section of the peer survey.

</p>

<p>This would make the undergraduate teaching rankings purely subjective. Dartmouth didn’t score particularly well on overall peer assessment, 4.3 out of 5, lowest of the ivies. In addition, their percentage of classes with less than 20 students is a rather unremarkable 64%. Yet among their peers there is broad recognition regarding their “commitment to undergraduate teaching.”</p>

<p>In the end it is the actual teaching, rather than mere perceived commitment to teaching, that counts.</p>

[vonlost]

<p>“all colleges participate in some form in boosting stats (except reed…look where that’s got them at around 54 I believe)”</p>

<p>Yes, just look ([Reed</a> Magazine](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/reed_magazine/spring2008/features/many_apply/2.html]Reed”>Reed Magazine: Many Apply. Few are Chosen. (2/5))):

Since 2001, applications to Reed have doubled, and the acceptance rate has plummeted—from 74 percent to an all-time low of 32 percent [in 2007].

“In the end it is the actual teaching, rather than mere perceived commitment to teaching, that counts.”</p>

<p>How would we objectively measure actual teaching? One way would be to compare the difference of standardized testing scores at entrance (SAT, ACT) with those at graduation (GRE, MCAT, LSAT, etc.). I’ve never seen such a tabulation.</p>

[informative]

<p>Princeton
Dartmouth
William & Mary
Notre Dame
Miami (OH)</p>