Although going to college offers the promise of engaging with new ideas and learning new skills, when it comes to math, the experience can sometimes be like high school all over again. In a new study of more than 5,000 students in two- and four-year colleges across the nation, I found that roughly one in five took a math course […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
1 in 5 college students takes math courses that repeat what they already know
One skill that doesn’t deteriorate with age
When Toni Morrison died on Aug. 5, the world lost one of its most influential literary voices. But Morrison wasn’t a literary wunderkind. “The Bluest Eye,” Morrison’s first novel, wasn’t published until she was 39. And her last, “God Help the Child,” appeared when she was 84. Morrison published four novels, four children’s books, many essays […] … learn more→
Parcoursup, a GPS post-ferry orientation not so easy to handle
These words, the under-20s may not know them. But like Francis Cabrel sang in a 1981 title, bachelors who do not yet have a post in higher education for the fall of 2019 seek to take “their place in the traffic” … And this before the Parcoursup site , whose complementary phase opened on June 25, will close on September 11th. This countdown […] … learn more→
7 tips on how to take better notes
In a graduate-level educational psychology course at Florida State University, my professor didn’t allow students to take notes. He reasoned that taking notes prevented students from reflecting on the lesson. Yet, the professor also thought students needed a good set of notes to review later for exams. So he provided students with complete notes following […] … learn more→
On finishing early
Engaging with #phdchat on Twitter and other platforms is equal parts terrifying and hilarious for a new PhD candidate (see @legogradstudent and @GameofAcademics as evidence). The internet can quickly become a vortex of stories of bad supervision, huge writing deadlines and long journeys through the Valley of Shit. It seems that stories of happy, early completion […] … learn more→
Funding an encyclopedia
One of my favourite Kickstarter campaigns is The Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes by Jess Nevins. In 2013, Jess raised $15,671 from 444 backers to publish an encyclopedia. Imagine, for a moment, that this was part of a research program. It wasn’t, but it could very well be. Encyclopedia are collections of knowledge, and provide fundamental information […] … learn more→
Australian Universities as battleground for HK protests
As I recover from lung surgery #2 (and a new 9″ scar), a somewhat shorter post than usual. A while back I wrote about Chinese influence on our campuses; I still believe it’s an infinitesimally small problem compared to other issues in higher ed, but a reader took me to task for it, believing I […] … learn more→
How to get kids talking about their school day
“How was your day at school?” “Fine.” Does this sound familiar? This is the dreaded response to a well-intentioned question that parents might ask. The robot-sounding response is what parents hear when their child limits the information they share with parents, or has stopped sharing information, about their school day. When parents hear “fine,” they […] … learn more→
Cops skip class, still get A’s. Any questions?
One aspect of fraud in higher education I seldom touch on is the credential fraud of graduate school. To clarify, to advance in a position, often a worker needs to have some sort of a graduate degree. Trouble is, if you have a job, you really don’t have time to go to grad school…but if […] … learn more→
How to address college dropout
The publication of the updated edition of the U-Ranking Report , carried out by the BBVA Foundation and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research, has once again focused on the university system, apart from the accurate analysis established on the basis of objective indicators , has included in this occasion data on a complex and worrying phenomenon, […] … learn more→
