When MOOCs ( massive open online courses ) first appeared in the early 2010s, some thought they were the death knell for some of the institutions of higher education. Clayton Christensen has, among other things, predicted the impending bankruptcy of many universities. This professor at Harvard Business School is primarily known for developing the theory of breakthrough innovation, often better known […] … learn more→

The first time that Nyah visited the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for a campus tour, there wasn’t much of a chance to see what takes place inside the classrooms. “We just walked by buildings and the guide talked about what goes on inside,” Nyah recalls of the campus tour this past spring. But […] … learn more→

I said, you said. Is conflict resolution about one side winning? It’s not. Usually, a good resolution involves identifying how parties have a concern for both self and others. Social psychologists Dean Pruitt and Jeffrey Z. Rubin discussed this as the “dual concern” concept of conflict management. The best resolutions involve this balancing of needs. I had […] … learn more→

I’ve written before that college graduate IQ is in freefall; within a decade it’s quite possible that the IQ of a college graduate will be below average. But what happens if “average” a decade ago is higher than it is today? The Great Endumbening IQ scores look to be on the decline. Is there a […] … learn more→

“We would like to wholeheartedly invite you to give the introductory keynote speech at our conference,” said the message on Research Gate. “Oh yeah,” I thought, “Another scam conference invitation!” But one that was not scheduled for Las Vegas or Bangkok. Working from the cautious maxim that I should not be so cynical, I decided […] … learn more→

Congratulations on PhD graduation! But what’s next? To be frank, I do not know. Don’t take me wrong, I’m not saying I do not have life goals. In fact, I am very clear about the kind of person I want to be. I’m driven by curiosity, I like listening to people’s thoughts and ideas, and […] … learn more→

It took a Nobel Prize before Canadian physicist Donna Strickland got promoted to a full professorship. As anecdotal evidence that women have to prove themselves even more than men to earn a job promotion, her story is hard to beat. Looking deeper, it’s more complex than outright sexism. Strickland herself dismissed suggestions her career had ever been stymied […] … learn more→

Children are involved in scientific thinking and activities before they even enter the classroom. They seek knowledge in various ways: stabbing, pulling, tasting, hitting, shaking and trying. This shows the natural needs in each child to learn and find problems to solve . By creating opportunities to observe and move through games, children’s scientific thinking can be aroused. Playing offers a valuable […] … learn more→

Theory is explanation. Last post I suggested that this understanding might help to reduce fear of theory. This week, another piece in the fright reduction puzzle. Something else that might help reduce fear of theory is the understanding that not every piece of research uses theory. But all research, regardless of its aims and objectives and […] … learn more→

Around 50,000,000 people have student loans (more official numbers are like 45,000,000, but I dispute their accounting methods). The bulk of these people have taken these loans in exchange for worthless college credits, while perhaps 20% actually managed to get a degree, with the value of such a degree varying from $0 to, well, something […] … learn more→