China’s new silk road could be the biggest Asian economic project in history. As a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s effort to continue China’s 30 year economic acceleration forward, a new and improved Silk Road (a modern day rendition of the ancient trade route), known as One Belt, One Road, is in the works. […] … learn more→

You’re in the middle of working with literature. You find that you have to bring several texts together and compare them. Why? Well, you might be trying to establish points of difference and similarity between several papers. Or maybe you are illustrating a chronological line of thinking, or you’re establishing a conceptual family tree. Any […] … learn more→

South Korea is often upheld as a model of educational success by policymakers and commentators in the United States. This is not without reason. Korean students have consistently performed well on global standardized tests, while US students fall somewhere in the middle. The question is whether South Korea is a good model to emulate? With […] … learn more→

The query took me by surprise. A few weeks ago an editor who was reviewing a piece I had submitted (for a publication other than this one) wrote: You start one paragraph: “There’s good reason we associate. … ” It caught my eye — and I figured I better check! It’s such a subtle little […] … learn more→

Early May would be incomplete without some NAPLAN controversy. This year’s comes from the announcement last week that the national exam sat by students across the country in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 is to be marked by computers in 2017. Part of the argument for moving to online marking is that it will […] … learn more→

Absolutely there are legitimate institutions of higher education (most states have a “flagship” university that is allowed to be legitimate). Outside of these special places, however, standards went into freefall years ago. This has led to many community colleges being unhinged, with what actually goes on in the classroom unrelated to what, on paper, is […] … learn more→

The Great Wall isn’t the only thing China has with that superlative. Though the country’s censorship and cyber capabilities have been well documented, one specific tool — called “The Great Cannon” by researchers — transforms web traffic into a powerful weapon. Here’s what to know about the Great Cannon, and what it means for China […] … learn more→

The fanfare over the 2015 National Football League (NFL) Draft in Chicago can trick one into believing that playing college sports is a ticket to a professional career and a multimillion dollar payday. But we know it isn’t. The reality is that few college football players will be drafted and the overwhelming majority of student […] … learn more→

Not so long ago I did a bit of academic spring-cleaning and got rid of all of my photocopies. I’d been carrying them around with me since I did my PhD. Neatly organised in alphabetised files, they occupied three drawers of a filing cabinet. I didn’t feel too bad about dumping them. I reasoned that […] … learn more→