Colleges routinely assess faculty research, but few have thought carefully about why they want faculty to engage in research. They should. For 35 years, I was a student, postdoc and faculty member at top universities and research institutes, where “doing science” was at the top of the job description. Seven years ago, I switched gears […] … learn more→
Should research really be part of the job description at liberal arts colleges?
Australia’s graduate work visa scheme attracts international students to our universities. Is it enough?
The Australian government recently announced it will resume granting visas to international students in a move to push forward with international education. This means when borders reopen, many students will already have visas to come to Australia. Current and new students, studying online with an Australian university, while overseas due to COVID-19, will also be able to […] … learn more→
What did the first children’s books look like ?
Adults have been writing for children for centuries. Among the different forms that these publications have taken, there are few that can seem entertaining to us today. Indeed, the works intended for the youngest aimed above all at their moral and spiritual progress. Children in the Middle Ages learned to read on wooden tablets covered with parchment […] … learn more→
How to create an effective training program
Many workers can testify to the importance of workforce training programs. When carried out effectively, they increase your efficiency as a worker. This in turn leads to improvement in productivity, revenue generation, and profit margins. At the same time, cost and wastage can also be reduced. Even though the benefits of effective training programs are […] … learn more→
Universities must seize the opportunity to improve their online teaching
Universities have rightly won praise for moving their teaching online during the coronavirus lockdown. Switching from face-to-face lectures and seminars to classes delivered via Skype or Zoom meant that teaching staff had to acquire new technical skills in a very short period of time, while many spent long hours dealing with student concerns about completing […] … learn more→
Racist stereotyping of Asians as good at math masks inequities and harms students
Some people stereotype Asian students as the “model minority” in math achievement: they generalize attributes of a so-called “minority” (racialized) community in a way that just perpetuates racism disguised as a compliment. It is clear, however, that not all students identified as Asian are good at math. The word “Asian” is a category used to represent human […] … learn more→
That blogging thing
Blogs allow researchers to engage with a broad audience, including other researchers, in a less formal and more open way than traditional academic publishing. It provides an avenue to publish both research stories and expert commentary. Blogging in the academy is generally a labour of love. Most universities find it difficult to recognize blogging within […] … learn more→
The struggles of self esteem based on your Zodiac
The millennials have transitioned from one different phase to another. Before they could even understand the fast-changing times, they realized how fast the standards of everything were changing. Most of the millennials believe that they are the ones who have seen times shift at an exponential speed. For them, coming to terms for most of […] … learn more→
This, they, it, those, these – a revision strategy
One of my pet peeves is reading sentences which contain an ambiguous pronoun. The pronoun stands alone, isolated. The lonely goatherd on the hilltop. Sentences that start with, or contain, an unattached this, they, it, those, these seem to expect the reader to just know what the this, they, it, those, and these refer to. In reality, the singleton pronoun is […] … learn more→
A future without a past: The elimination of Latin and Greek in educational reform
As occurs every time a new bill for the reform of the educational system is presented in Spain, in recent weeks we are witnessing the emergence of voices in defense of classical languages as a fundamental pillar for understanding the roots of the Romance languages (between us, Spanish, Galician or Catalan) and scientific language. On […] … learn more→