Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Université de l’Ontario français: Here’s what it could become

The Université de l’Ontario français: Here’s what it could become

The Government of Ontario’s hasty decision to cancel plans and funding for the Université de l’Ontario français recently generated an outpouring of protests and a surge of solidarity with the university founders, with close to 13,000 signatures being added to one of several online petitions. In French-speaking media, journalists explored what it could mean for francophones to establish a hub in Toronto and […] … learn more→

Why do we like to evaluate and be evaluated?

Why do we like to evaluate and be evaluated?

I call to perform a management to a call center. The person with whom I speak warns me that, at the end of the call, I will receive another to assess how I have been treated. When finishing any menu in a restaurant, the waiter, with kindness, asks me if everything went well. Then, he suggests that […] … learn more→

Five top tips to succeed in your first year of university

Five top tips to succeed in your first year of university

This week, thousands of new students from around the country will be starting their first year at university. For many students and their parents, transitioning to university is an exciting but daunting experience. Here are five tips to help students succeed in their first year. 1. Find support services All universities offer student counselling, mental […] … learn more→

21 reasons why Higher Ed is bs

21 reasons why Higher Ed is bs

The Chronicle of Higher Education is a mainstream website for higher ed. They generally don’t cover serious criticism of their bread-and-butter, but recently they covered a mostly empty rant by a tenured professor. Since he’s tenured, he can get away with using his real name instead of a pseudonym (most faculty, tenured or not, generally […] … learn more→

3 tips: How to teach children to watch commercials more closely

3 tips: How to teach children to watch commercials more closely

With all the time that young people spend in front of screens these days – from TVs to laptops, cellphones and iPads – children are bound to see a lot of ads and commercials. On average, American children spend anywhere between three to nine hours of time on screen. This includes TV, DVD, mobile, computer and video games. To […] … learn more→

An epidemic of perfectionism falls on young people

An epidemic of perfectionism falls on young people

The phenomenon of perfectionism has grown considerably over the last twenty-five years, affecting men as well as women. That’s what we learned from recently leading one of the most important studies ever done on perfectionism . And we have also learned that perfectionists become more and more neurotic and unstable, and less reliable and organized over time. Perfectionism […] … learn more→

Britain already disengaging from Europe as UK government pulls funding from unique European research institute

Britain already disengaging from Europe as UK government pulls funding from unique European research institute

You may not have heard of it, but students from across Europe have been studying at The European University Institute (EUI) since 1976. Situated in the Tuscan hills overlooking Florence, the idyllic setting plays home to a unique institution dedicated to training PhD students and enhancing Europe’s research capacity in economics, history, law, and social sciences. Although […] … learn more→

What’s behind the teacher strikes: Unions focus on social justice, not just salaries

What’s behind the teacher strikes: Unions focus on social justice, not just salaries

For the past few years I’ve been studying teacher unions and teachers strikes throughout the Americas. My research has taken me from the Mexican state of Oaxaca – where teacher protests in 2006 led to both violent repression and a broad-based social movement for direct democracy – to the streets of São Paulo, Brazil, to coal-mining towns in West Virginia. I’ve […] … learn more→

Decrease anxiety about learning English with mobile gaming

Decrease anxiety about learning English with mobile gaming

It’s normal to experience some anxiety when speaking a second language. When paired with large class sizes and limited opportunities for practice during class time, however, this anxiety can limit a person’s ability to perform in the language classroom. In order to become proficient in a second language, learners require extensive practice with the language such as with new vocabulary […] … learn more→