In the 18th century, the "rule of thumb" referred to the maximum diameter of a stick a husband could use when beating his wife. Nowadays, of course, it has no such meaning; rather, it refers to a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable in all situations.
Still, "rules of thumb" are useful, even in education. Here are some that I like:
~ The value of a PhD is directly proportional to the size of the library maintained by the granting institution. Note: the library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has over 10 million volumes; not surprisingly, its PhD degrees are world-class.
~ The value of the education provided to lower-division undergraduates (freshmen and sophomores) is inversely related to the number of Teaching Assistants (TAs) that are employed by the university.
~ Persons in the field of education who hold doctorates, but who refuse to do any worthwhile research, are frauds. They are obviously using the title of "doctor" merely for prestige and to advance their careers.
~ The value of instructors in business administration is directly proportional to the time that they actually worked in business before turning to college teaching.
~ In schools of business, CPAs should teach accounting classes and attorneys should teach business law classes.
~ Community colleges and small four-year colleges usually provide better instruction to lower-division undergraduates than big-name universities.
Do you agree or disagree with my "rules of thumb"? Do you have any you would like to add? Scroll down to the comments section and share your thoughts.
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