A single, pregnant rodent floating on driftwood across the treacherous waters between Asia and New Guinea 8.5 million years ago may be behind the eventual colonisation of native rodents in Australia, our new research suggests. Today, Australia has more than 60 species of native rodents found nowhere else in the world. When you count their close relatives […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
‘Impressive rafting skills’: the 8-million-year old origin story of how rodents colonised Australia
Top reasons why you should study digital marketing
Selecting the field to pursue could be one of the most challenging things for a student. This is true that students keep monetary opportunities in their mind while deciding about their career, but apart from that there are many other things that they should know while they are deciding about the degree which they should […] … learn more→
One way to help college students get enough sleep – pay them to go to bed
Small financial incentives can get college students to go to bed earlier and sleep significantly longer. That’s what my colleagues and I found through an experiment that involved 508 students at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Oxford. When the students were offered US$7.50 per night Monday through Thursday – a total of $30 per […] … learn more→
Motivated children, creative children: how to foster innovation in the classroom
Creativity is a demanded and valued quality in our society, both personally and at work. Problem solving and the ability to propose innovative solutions are essential in our need to adapt to a complex and changing reality. Creativity and innovation go hand in hand and for this reason there is always a demand for these skills […] … learn more→
Criticisms of academic freedom miss the mark and risk the integrity of scholarship
In the era of today’s heated culture wars, the concepts of academic freedom and freedom of expression have become increasingly conflated. Divisive political debates around critical race theory, Québec’s Bill 32 and talk of establishing “free speech guardians” are just some recent examples. Academic freedom is being subsumed into the oftentimes polarizing rhetoric concerning what is commonly referred […] … learn more→
Disadvantaged students starting courses in 2022 are worse off as a result of COVID – universities must support them
The A-level results received by students in 2022 should be celebrated as an example of resilience and hard work. The achievements of this cohort have been made despite a global pandemic which affected both their GCSEs and A-levels. They have faced government U-turns over assessment, and knowledge gaps in their learning. What’s more, a record number of applications to […] … learn more→
Teacher shortages are a global problem – ‘prioritising’ Australian visas won’t solve ours
Australia is facing an “unprecedented” teacher shortage. The federal government projects a shortfall of more than 4,000 high school teachers by 2025, but shortages are being felt across the board, especially in rural and remote schools, and in maths and science. One of the possible solutions being touted by politicians is bringing in more teachers from overseas. […] … learn more→
New teachers: those teachers who come from the business world
Staggered with uncertainties, isolation and teleworking, the Covid crisis has led a number of workers to question their life plans and increased a movement already well underway, that of professional retraining. The Unédic barometer of March 2022 mentions that 30% of working people are in the process of changing jobs or are planning to do so. For job seekers, […] … learn more→
Should twins be separated at school?
At each new school year, this is a question that arises for the parents of twins and their teachers: should the twins be left in the same class or is it better to separate them? On the basis of the so-called de-twinning theory, some schools impose an almost systematic separation of twins , with the aim of making […] … learn more→
Facing the risk of networks: ten ‘lifelines’ for digital orphans
Learning to navigate the digital environment and to socialize in it has been an intuitive process for the younger generations, digital natives. But they have done it, in most cases, without adults to accompany them in the process, so they can be considered “digital orphans” . For example: 53% of young Spanish people are unable to distinguish between facts […] … learn more→
