Weird, random, interesting - now with 100% less diacriticals

[Guard Dog]

This is actually a pretty big thing with me: https://www.sciencealert.com/study-links-ultra-processed-junk-food-to-age-marker-in-chromosomes

 

 

[Raithe]

[Volourn]

Worse of police brutality and government corruption? 'Resurgence of hate violence' and 'worst of capitalism'? Are they high?  2020 1st world problems.

[Gromnir]

University of California System can't use SAT and ACT tests for admissions, judge rules

...

is a bit curious. at the very least we would expect the plaintiffs would need make a better show o' standing as nobody has yet been injured and the touchy-feely holistic approach for uc schools makes it difficult to claim they won't be accommodating o' applicants with disabilities w/o a test score. 

is also noteworthy how the court largely ignored the equal protection argument and focused sole on the ada (americans with disabilities act) angle. as such am suspecting the standardized test folks is gonna be extreme motivated to get creative and find a way to make testing more universal available in a covid-19 world, though the court didn't explain how the current testing situation disproportionate affected those with disabilities, not that we believe such hurdles is imaginary, but am nevertheless in the dark as to what has specific changed this year. 

regardless, is yet another blow to the standardized test scheme.

sat scores and sports is what provided us a shot at becoming edumacated in the UC system, so am kinda disappointed. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Volourn]

This is about punishing Asian students for working their butts off, and stereotypically being 'smarter' than white trash. 

[Amentep]

2 hours ago, Volourn said:

This is about punishing Asian students for working their butts off, and stereotypically being 'smarter' than white trash. 

Data has shown for some time that even with grade inflation, HS GPA is a better indicator of Freshman success than SAT or ACT.  The value, therefore, of SAT and ACT have been going down with many schools adopting multiple measures where SAT/ACT are only one part of the equation.  That there continues to be socio-economic differences in test scores has been a known problem for some time.  In many ways, this is an issue that has been many years coming.  SAT and ACT have revised their tests over the last few years (and continue to work on an electronic revision); I think they've recognized a need to adapt.

 

8 hours ago, Gromnir said:

as such am suspecting the standardized test folks is gonna be extreme motivated to get creative and find a way to make testing more universal available in a covid-19 world, though the court didn't explain how the current testing situation disproportionate affected those with disabilities, not that we believe such hurdles is imaginary, but am nevertheless in the dark as to what has specific changed this year. 

Not really sure.  I could guess that it might be down to mostly logistical issues. If the accommodations are for the same day testing, the students are usually going to get a separate room. Most SAT/ACT testing doesn't change year-to-year, there is a pool of proctors and a set of rooms that are usually used.  COVID requirements from The College Board and ACT are going to lead to needing more rooms, which is going to lead to more proctors being needed.  Existing proctors are skittish to come on campus under the existing guidelines (I know a number of proctors not happy that College Board and ACT are not mandating masks).  I imagine a lot of the places that offer SAT/ACT are looking at the separate rooms for accommodated students and thinking if they can use those rooms/proctors for the regular population, then they're going to be able to test more of their traditional population, but if they do that they don't have rooms/proctors to use for the accommodated testing.  And that's without the struggle to find enough space and people to meet the requirements to test even without any other consideration since again there usually isn't much change year-to-year in space or staff. 

On the extreme edge of accommodations are students who end up taking the test over multiple days which can be a challenge (and always has been - students will call around to every place that offers it to find someone willing to proctor it, with many unable to).  I don't think COVID impacts this much - it was always a struggle for students taking the exam in this case.  I suppose that institutions that are limiting in person contact may be less able to offer 2-3 days to test a student face-to-face. But that's a guess. 

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Amentep said:

But that's a guess. 

and that is what were odd 'bout the injunction and why we mentioned we were inexplicable in "the dark," as to the nature o' the ada obstacles.  judges, ordinarily,  is painstakingly specific 'bout injuries. 

also, the sat question is a bit less binary than suggested

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-22/grades-vs-sat-scores-which-is-a-better-predictor-of-college-success

Emily Engelschall, UC Riverside director of undergraduate admissions, says she sees the shortcomings of standardized testing but that the scores do help evaluate grades across vastly different high schools. She also worries that dropping the testing requirement could exacerbate grade inflation.

“If you don’t have some sort of standardized tests to balance out grade inflation,” she said, “then that does take one piece of the puzzle away from an admissions professional to help make a decision about a student.”

Jessica Howell, the College Board’s vice president of research, has said that a greater reliance on high school grades in the name of equity would be “misguided” because grade inflation is associated with wealth.

The College Board points to a 2018 study of North Carolina public school students in grades eight through 10 between 2005 and 2016. The study found that median GPAs rose across the board over time, but did so more in affluent schools than in low-income ones.

The study also raised questions about the reliability of grades in measuring mastery of content. It found that only 21% of students who received A’s in algebra I achieved the highest proficiency level in end-of-course exams and 57% of those who received Bs failed to score marks indicating college and career readiness.

end excerpt.

as such, is arguable good grades, even more than test scores, is skewed by those socioeconomic factors the sat score is s'posed over reliant 'pon w/o having the benefit o' showing mastery o' content. regardless, given the complexities and social issues, this is not the kinda question which is ordinarily addressed in a court o' law and is exact why the "holistic approach" has been so effective in the past when schools attempt to avoid government entanglement with affirmative action or testing schemes. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Hurlshort]

Yeah, not going to miss standardized tests one bit.

We need to re-think how we assess learning in the modern world. It's way too easy to regurgitate information nowadays. In the past you had to hit the card catalogue, do some in depth reading, and really dig. Now we have easy access to all the information. I'm way more concerned with how a student processes that information than how much of it they've memorized.

So yeah, we need modern assessments that value processing and critical thought over access to information and test taking skills. 

[Amentep]

Unfortunately I can't remember the organization whose data was used when the governing body redesigning Learning Support; its over 5 years old and perhaps supplanted by the suggested studies from the quoted article.  But at the time the data showed even with grade inflation, GPA alone was a better predictor than SAT/ACT alone.  Also tests can be used in ways they can't really support - the old ACT COMPASS test was used for admissions decisions by a lot of universities when its stated intended use was to fine tune placement decisions for students that the institution already knew where their skill range lay.

The best methods, from the data at the time, were always one that took into account many factors about the student, to get as much data about the student to make decisions.

 

 

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

Yeah, not going to miss standardized tests one bit.

We need to re-think how we assess learning in the modern world. It's way too easy to regurgitate information nowadays. In the past you had to hit the card catalogue, do some in depth reading, and really dig. Now we have easy access to all the information. I'm way more concerned with how a student processes that information than how much of it they've memorized.

So yeah, we need modern assessments that value processing and critical thought over access to information and test taking skills. 

might be too early to plan the wake. as noted, the injunction granted were based on the ada in light o' covid-19 realities. that said, even before covid-19, sat and act were becoming less essential.

am not a fan o' standardized tests, as have tried to make clear more than once on these boards. however, from a practical pov, is much more difficult to implement national scale tests o' those aspects o' bloom other than knowledge and comprehension. 

is abominably difficult to achieve grading consistency where evaluation and synthesis is being measured. as a person who brief graded the bar exam (we got paid based on the number o' tests graded, so speed were functional encouraged,) am recognizing just how difficult it is to train individuals so that they all evaluate analysis and synthesis same, or same enough. 

throw out tests all together and leave to grades results in the issues mentioned in the linked articles, with socioeconomic factors playing an even more pronounced role in perceived success. 

keep some kinda test but fail to achieve any genuine consistency in grading and you will face legal challenges.

https://admissions.berkeley.edu/student-profile

is an obvious problem o' using grades as the primary measure if the average o' weighted gpa is 4.0-4.26?

is why the holistic approach is so popular... don't have some kinda formula based on grades or tests or whatever. but again, the Court which granted the injunction were functional dismissive o' holistic. little practical guidance for universities.

HA! Good Fun!

[Sarex]

 

[Raithe]

https://kotaku.com/halo-fan-builds-25-000-brick-frigate-out-of-lego-1845006422

Steve Witt has spent the last five years building a Paris-class UNSC heavy frigate from Halo that is over seven feet long.

 

[ComradeYellow]

 

[Malcador]

Surprised DARPA isn't all over that.

[Azdeus]

@BruceVC

 

[BruceVC]

On 9/12/2020 at 6:04 AM, Azdeus said:

@BruceVC

 

That was a really good video and was perfect timing for our recent discussion around the Nordic countries. It was really funny and made me laugh several times, what is really clear is all the people interviewed are nice people, well meaning and there opinions of the other countries are not  malicious or personal. I particularly laughed at there views on Finland " a weird, older sibling that we need to take care of "  but actually meant in a nice way 

[ShadySands]

Because

[Raithe]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/first-nations-archaeology-in-canada?

All too often, and for much of the 20th century, archaeology inflicted harm in the name of scientific knowledge. And it's this history that made archaeologists unlikely allies in the fight to reclaim First Nations lands in British Columbia.

[Malcador]

https://gizmodo.com/anti-maskers-forced-to-dig-graves-for-covid-19-victims-1845046526

At first I read that as dig their own graves.  Thought that was harsh even for Indonesia.

[Gromnir]

5 hours ago, Malcador said:

https://gizmodo.com/anti-maskers-forced-to-dig-graves-for-covid-19-victims-1845046526

At first I read that as dig their own graves.  Thought that was harsh even for Indonesia.

US Constitution, 13th Amendment

neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

you might be surprised by the labor-as-punishment allowed by the Constitution. then again, maybe not.

regardless, am suspecting more than a few American readers disturbed by the linked article would be shocked to learn what is routine in US prisons, particular those privatized prisons which has become so popular o' late. is yet another reason why leaving oversight to free market forces is unwise and often inhumane. as bad as is the current prison labor situation in the US, one can only imagine if free market decided what were and were not permissible.

heck, we saw one o' those wacky pro-china brand o' totalitarianism fans in another thread commenting on the story you linked... though perhaps we misread their emoji and they were actual applauding indonesia's efforts, which would be more consistent and in character. 

is a disturbing story, but what makes noteworthy for us personal is that while there is many state laws which would make the indonesia situation illegal, such laws ain't universal and there is no Federal law which would prohibit prisoners o' the United States from facing similar punishments. one wonders how many American patriots would protest if one o' the punishments for domestic terrorists were digging graves for covid dead.

HA! Good Fun!

[Guard Dog]

I joke about the term quite a bit but it would not be a stretch to call me a "prepper". I do check off a few of the boxes. Particularly the antisocial and firearm boxes. But actual bunkers are a bit much for me. Some of these are nice though. The Bunker Magnates Hate to Say They Told You So

I don't know that I would call "prepping" a paranoia based life style. But I WILL agree there are some seriously paranoid MF's on the FB pages and Pinterest pages where tips and tricks are discussed. But it isn't paranoid to want a life jacket in your boat before you go fishing. Or a fire extinguisher in your kitchen. 

But, when it comes to bunkers even the best won't sustain more than a few months. Most only a few days. If there is an event that can only be survived by going underground things will not be OK in that short a time. If there was a nuclear war would you really WANT to survive it?

So an actual bunker kind of sounds like a waste right?

[Gfted1]

The US Air Force has built and flown a mysterious full-scale prototype of its future fighter jet.

[Malcador]

 

[Gfted1]

Could a Car-Sonar Perimeter Shield Police From an Ambush?

/excellent

[Malcador]

4 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Could a Car-Sonar Perimeter Shield Police From an Ambush?

/excellent

Wonder what "potentially threatening" behaviour is that will trigger the system.