On the subject of inserting pop culture references into exams and other academic material, noted libertarian author Tibor Machan, who teaches business ethics at Chapman University, writes:
Although I do not know enough pop culture to reference it routinely, I wish I did. At 65 I need every pedagogical device available to connect with my students. Fortunately, I am cool enough as is but in part it comes from being familiar with their lives through my 20, 25 and 26 year old kids. When one teaches not at the elite places where students have been prepped to be involved since their crib days, it is desirable to find some way to motivate them, to show them the stuff you are teaching is not unrelated to their lives. Ergo, I assume, the pop references.
No doubt this is one reason some professors do it.
Update: Of course, trying to demonstrate one’s “hip” quotient can pose risks as well. One professor e-mails this amusing anecdote:
Using pop culture can backfire too though. I gave a multiple choice bonus in an undergrad criminal law mid-term. One of the answers was 50 Cent (the rapper – very hip natch). After the test, one of my students came up and said he liked the reference, but he could tell it was out of my daily experience. Apparently, this highbrow “artist” is 50 Cent – I put 50 Cents. I was too cool by half. 10 minutes watching MTV2 would’ve saved me a few moments of slight embarrassment. Now I stick to things I know – movies, the Simpsons, and the occasional Monty Python cast of characters for a hypo (but that’s mostly just for me I fear).
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