Academics

Penn researchers and teachers are partnering to improve schools

The first meeting between the Graduate School of Education and the School District of Philadelphia was held yesterday as part of the Shared Solutions research partnership announced in September. The mini-conference held at the School District headquarters brought together about 100 teachers, administrators and community members to discuss current strategies and possible improvements for the district’s school reform efforts.

Obamacare architect's comments at Penn conference spur controversy

Penn was in the news this week after a controversial video at a University conference re-emerged featuring MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, who helped draft the Affordable Care Act, saying the law only passed because of the "stupidity of the American voter." The video, which was posted on Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics website, showed Gruber addressing an audience at a health economics conference in October 2013.

Wharton MBA program posts top employment stats

Duke took the top spot in Bloomber Businessweek's MBA rankings, but Wharton led the pack with the best employment statistics.

Plans for $75 million Perelman Center include auditorium, lounges

The new home of Penn's political science and economics departments is on track to be completed by January 2018, and as of now is almost halfway done being designed.

Want tenure at Penn? Be innovative

While the concept of innovation might evoke images of computers, start-ups and engineers, it increasingly impacts faculty in all disciplines at Penn.

Dani Blum | Unsmooth SAILing

For me, that’s the most troubling part of flipped classrooms — the idea that, with all the great faculty Penn has, they don’t spend time teaching. A freshman in an active learning Math 103 course told me that she is required to watch online lectures. Once she is actually in class, her professor puts her into groups and gives them worksheets.

Penn celebrates focus on online learning

Events this week include an open house, panels featuring Penn professors who teach online courses and discussions about the new education platform. The panels will be available online as webinars and one of them will take place in the Active Learning Classroom in the ARCH building.

'Wasting time on the Internet' — not your average course policy

While professor Kenneth Goldsmith's new course "Wasting Time on the Internet" will use digital distraction to inspire students’ creative writing.

West Philly experiences with race inspire ABCS course

“Writing Out Loud” – an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course – is prompting Penn students to write original theatre pieces based on relationships they form with West Philadelphia residents.

At Wharton, headhunting with a dose of ‘love’

Pursuing big-name professors is a massive effort with an uncertain payoff.

UA urges administration to change course credit policy

At their Nov. 2 meeting, the Undergraduate Assembly passed a resolution that urges the administration not to change the credit value of a course after the first day of classes. They also discussed making syllabi for all classes available on Penn InTouch.

Wharton is more than finance, says new dean

Among Geoffrey Garrett's top priorities for his deanship is his desire to communicate Wharton’s value in fields beyond finance. 

For computer science classes, growing enrollment but the same accommodations

While more and more Penn students enroll in entry-level computer science classes, the CIS department is struggling to find the resources to keep up.Penn has seen a

For aspiring doctors, it's application season

The fall season means many devoted hours reviewing applications for the Office of Admissions at the Perelman School of Medicine, which last year received 5,742 applications and interviewed 898 candidates.

Wharton student leaders suggest improvements for curriculum

As Wharton is poised to soon begin a review of it’s undergraduate curriculum, student leaders have taken the time to share their thoughts on the strengths and of weaknesses of the existing curriculum.

Penn to celebrate South Bank innovation at Friday forum

On Friday the University will be hosting an event celebrating the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Pennovation Center, Penn’s innovation center on South Bank Campus.

Teachers back in school at Penn

The Teachers Institute of Philadelphia brings together Penn faculty and public school teachers from West and Southwest Philadelphia to learn from each other and from Penn professors. 

For North Koreans, leaders are like idols, speaker says

Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, spoke on Tuesday at “The North Korean Conundrum,” hosted via the Korean Current Affairs Program.

Engineering students concerned by lack of study space

With the closure of the Towne library on May 20, Engineering students have been struggling to find study space within the Engineering quad.

Study: Parents care less about violence and sex in films after seeing it repeatedly

An Annenberg Public Policy Center study released Monday morning, showed parents are becoming less sensitive to sex and violence in movies the more often they watch films of that nature.