Monthly Archives: July 2019

Online versus traditional classrooms: an undergraduate’s take

Online versus traditional classrooms: an undergraduate’s take

I’m an undergraduate student currently studying two degrees: chemical engineering in a traditional classroom setting and business administration online. The experiences have shown me what works (and what doesn’t) in both settings when it comes to peer interaction, student participation and engagement. I’ve found peer interaction is far easier in a classroom than it is […] … learn more→

Talking about salaries

Talking about salaries

At universities in Australia, we get used to knowing one another’s salaries (in rough terms). Every university uses the same basic salary structure, and has relatively comparable pay rates within that structure. So, if someone is a Professor or a Lecturer, you know roughly how much they earn. This familiarity means that we often forget […] … learn more→

What school segregation looks like in the US today, in 4 charts

What school segregation looks like in the US today, in 4 charts

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a senator from California, has spoken about how she benefited from attending Berkeley’s desegregated schools. “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me,” Harris said in the […] … learn more→

Cambridge assigns Commissars to white academics

Cambridge assigns Commissars to white academics

In Soviet Russia, there was real concern that the guys with guns, i.e., the army, might someday turn on the ideologues who were running the show. One of the solutions (beyond the Leftist favorite of “mass murder”) was the new military position of Commissar, who kept a close eye on the officers and troops, to […] … learn more→

Dark matters of the university

Dark matters of the university

A former university colleague once remarked on his practice of copying emails to an administrative officer to encourage her to feel a sense of ownership for his work. When the officer began to devote increasing time to helping him, he complained that she was getting ahead of herself: from the way she wrote, he said, […] … learn more→

Washington state’s big bet on ‘free college’

Washington state’s big bet on ‘free college’

Washington state doesn’t have a problem finding educated people to work in its booming high-tech economy – it’s just most of those people come from out of state. This is why Washington enacted the landmark Workforce Education Investment Act into law in May 2019. The main idea behind the new law is to make college more affordable. […] … learn more→

Mathematics is about wonder, creativity and fun, so let’s teach it that way

Mathematics is about wonder, creativity and fun, so let’s teach it that way

Alice in Wonderland enthusiasts recently celebrated the story’s anniversary with creative events like playing with puzzles and time — and future Alice exhibits are in the works. The original 1865 children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, sprung from a mathematician’s imagination, continues to inspire exploration and fun. But is a connection between math and creativity captured in schools? Much […] … learn more→