Ted Weiland
@tedweiland.bsky.social
Community College Chemistry Prof and outdoor enthusiast. Believer in community service. Occasional poster of long thoughts. Captive Iowan who hails from Wisconsin.
Pinned
Ted Weiland
@tedweiland.bsky.social
· Feb 3
Taking the Most from those who have the Least.
It finally happened. The choices made by the Trump Administration had finally reached me, in my little corner of academia. Community colleges aren't always considered part of that o...
write.as
The decisions in DC finally found their way to me.
Worst of all, it's likely to impact my students.
write.as/tedweiland/t...
Worst of all, it's likely to impact my students.
write.as/tedweiland/t...
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Last sentence from the discussion: “In this sense, one might view learning through LLMs rather than traditional web search as, at times, analogous to being shown the solution to a math problem rather than trying to solve it oneself.”
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Last sentence from the discussion: “In this sense, one might view learning through LLMs rather than traditional web search as, at times, analogous to being shown the solution to a math problem rather than trying to solve it oneself.”
I have watched this happen in my own courses over the last ~10 years.
Cue @infinitescream.bsky.social.
Cue @infinitescream.bsky.social.
Trump's campaign to kill an industry where America runs a massive trade surplus is succeeding
New foreign student enrollment in the US fell 17% this fall www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
November 17, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I have watched this happen in my own courses over the last ~10 years.
Cue @infinitescream.bsky.social.
Cue @infinitescream.bsky.social.
One of the ways I started shifting my thinking on the revolution came from @sceneonradio.bsky.social's season 4: The Land That Never Has Been Yet.
@chenjerai.bsky.social doesn't miss.
Worth the listen, and captures the essence quoted here.
sceneonradio.org/the-land-tha...
@chenjerai.bsky.social doesn't miss.
Worth the listen, and captures the essence quoted here.
sceneonradio.org/the-land-tha...
November 16, 2025 at 6:46 PM
One of the ways I started shifting my thinking on the revolution came from @sceneonradio.bsky.social's season 4: The Land That Never Has Been Yet.
@chenjerai.bsky.social doesn't miss.
Worth the listen, and captures the essence quoted here.
sceneonradio.org/the-land-tha...
@chenjerai.bsky.social doesn't miss.
Worth the listen, and captures the essence quoted here.
sceneonradio.org/the-land-tha...
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Some say we shouldn't take actions we know will be met with legislative disdain. I say: do not comply in advance.
November 11, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Some say we shouldn't take actions we know will be met with legislative disdain. I say: do not comply in advance.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
It goes even deeper than this. The vast bulk of red state agriculture is corn, soybeans or seed crops.
And most of it is not for US human consumption! We export 20% of our corn, half of our soybean and seeds. The rest?
Most of it becomes oil, animal feed or….ETHANOL.
The subsidized fuel additive.
And most of it is not for US human consumption! We export 20% of our corn, half of our soybean and seeds. The rest?
Most of it becomes oil, animal feed or….ETHANOL.
The subsidized fuel additive.
Half the fruits and vegetables in the US come from California, 75% of the nuts. The flyover states like to pretend they do much
November 11, 2025 at 1:26 AM
It goes even deeper than this. The vast bulk of red state agriculture is corn, soybeans or seed crops.
And most of it is not for US human consumption! We export 20% of our corn, half of our soybean and seeds. The rest?
Most of it becomes oil, animal feed or….ETHANOL.
The subsidized fuel additive.
And most of it is not for US human consumption! We export 20% of our corn, half of our soybean and seeds. The rest?
Most of it becomes oil, animal feed or….ETHANOL.
The subsidized fuel additive.
The bar is in hell.
Donald Trump’s approval rating has tanked and Republican suffered heavy losses in last week’s elections. There’s never been a better time for Senate Democrats to cave on the ACA extension.
November 10, 2025 at 3:32 AM
The bar is in hell.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Man, do you know what rules? Actually loving other people, reminding us that we deserve a government that cares for us, and inspiring us to meet our neighbors.
November 5, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Man, do you know what rules? Actually loving other people, reminding us that we deserve a government that cares for us, and inspiring us to meet our neighbors.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Dick Cheney lived long enough to witness the horrors he had unleashed.
November 4, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Dick Cheney lived long enough to witness the horrors he had unleashed.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
A linguist at UMN shared this with me today, which I thought was a really helpful discussion of genAI in the classroom as a conversation around consent.
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
November 4, 2025 at 1:08 AM
A linguist at UMN shared this with me today, which I thought was a really helpful discussion of genAI in the classroom as a conversation around consent.
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Breaking: The Darkness Returns
Breaking: The Darkness Returns
WASHINGTON—With deep unease and outright horror haunting millions of Americans as a great shroud enveloped the land, late-breaking reports confirmed Monday that the darkness had returned. Bystanders f...
theonion.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Breaking: The Darkness Returns
Some great news to wake up to on a Friday!
Surprise — Katie and Allison Crutchfield's new band with MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook is called Snocaps, and their debut album is out now:
Katie & Allison Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, & Brad Cook Are Snocaps — Hear Their Surprise Debut Album
We knew something was afoot, we just didn’t know we’d be getting so much of it so quickly.
www.stereogum.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Some great news to wake up to on a Friday!
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Honestly, I'm thisclose to ending lectures with "all right, smoke 'em if you got 'em"
October 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Honestly, I'm thisclose to ending lectures with "all right, smoke 'em if you got 'em"
Reposted by Ted Weiland
No neede for expensyve consultinge firmes. Heere ys a planne for excellent higher education:
1) Hire manye facultye
2) Small class syzes
3) Emphasyze engagemente & delighte
4) Sustayne & cultivate a varietye of fieldes and disciplines, even currentlye unfashionable ones -- thys ys ed, not retail
1) Hire manye facultye
2) Small class syzes
3) Emphasyze engagemente & delighte
4) Sustayne & cultivate a varietye of fieldes and disciplines, even currentlye unfashionable ones -- thys ys ed, not retail
October 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
No neede for expensyve consultinge firmes. Heere ys a planne for excellent higher education:
1) Hire manye facultye
2) Small class syzes
3) Emphasyze engagemente & delighte
4) Sustayne & cultivate a varietye of fieldes and disciplines, even currentlye unfashionable ones -- thys ys ed, not retail
1) Hire manye facultye
2) Small class syzes
3) Emphasyze engagemente & delighte
4) Sustayne & cultivate a varietye of fieldes and disciplines, even currentlye unfashionable ones -- thys ys ed, not retail
This is going to be terrible for Jamaica.
With a central pressure down to 892mb as of 10am EDT, #Melissa is moving up the ranks in the elite sub-900mb group of Atlantic hurricanes -- one of just seven.
Wilma 2005: 882mb
Gilbert 1988: 888mb
Melissa 2025: 892mb
Labor Day 1935: 892mb
Rita 2005: 895mb
Milton 2024: 895mb
Allen 1980: 899mb
Wilma 2005: 882mb
Gilbert 1988: 888mb
Melissa 2025: 892mb
Labor Day 1935: 892mb
Rita 2005: 895mb
Milton 2024: 895mb
Allen 1980: 899mb
October 28, 2025 at 3:06 PM
This is going to be terrible for Jamaica.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
It's like the War of 1812 but this time the President is doing it himself
October 20, 2025 at 7:02 PM
It's like the War of 1812 but this time the President is doing it himself
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Maybe #chemsky should revive #realtimechem week?
It would be this upcoming week, with mole day on Thursday, right?
It would be this upcoming week, with mole day on Thursday, right?
October 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Maybe #chemsky should revive #realtimechem week?
It would be this upcoming week, with mole day on Thursday, right?
It would be this upcoming week, with mole day on Thursday, right?
Reposted by Ted Weiland
October 18, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Traveling around Japan is so much easier compared to the first time I went in 2008, and it's purely due to how well the metro systems are integrated with an app.
Living in the Future benefit: the combination of Google Maps public transit directions and phone-tap onboard payment makes it SO EASY to take public trams/buses/metros when traveling now. It’s fantastic not to have to resort to taxis just for lack of easy access to the local transit ticketing system
October 17, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Traveling around Japan is so much easier compared to the first time I went in 2008, and it's purely due to how well the metro systems are integrated with an app.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
YES!
And also... ChatGPT makes stuff up all the time, so it's also not giving real information.
And also... ChatGPT makes stuff up all the time, so it's also not giving real information.
If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education.
We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
Wow. Just wow.
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
October 16, 2025 at 4:07 PM
YES!
And also... ChatGPT makes stuff up all the time, so it's also not giving real information.
And also... ChatGPT makes stuff up all the time, so it's also not giving real information.
Definitely @infinitescream.bsky.social material here.
my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)
www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)
www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports
CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.
www.consumerreports.org
October 15, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Definitely @infinitescream.bsky.social material here.
Reposted by Ted Weiland
I put this to the test with Copilot and yeah, I think it's fair to say that it struggled with the structure of caffeine
October 15, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I put this to the test with Copilot and yeah, I think it's fair to say that it struggled with the structure of caffeine
Reposted by Ted Weiland
Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately https://theonion.com/nation-s-indigenous-people-confirm-they-don-t-need-spec-1839033177/
October 13, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately https://theonion.com/nation-s-indigenous-people-confirm-they-don-t-need-spec-1839033177/
It helped me connect with people in my local community.
This led to finding a new group of friends, joining their running group, and participating in a relay run across my current state.
This led to finding a new group of friends, joining their running group, and participating in a relay run across my current state.
Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?
October 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
It helped me connect with people in my local community.
This led to finding a new group of friends, joining their running group, and participating in a relay run across my current state.
This led to finding a new group of friends, joining their running group, and participating in a relay run across my current state.