Sometimes it’s really hard to believe the academic word works the way it does, and I’ve highlighted many of the surreal aspects of higher ed. A recent article highlights just how bizarre the endless emphasis on “must have more females in STEM” obsession in higher ed today is: Young Girls Creeped Out By Older Scientists […] … learn more→
Girls creeped out by old scientists luring them to STEM (?)
Battles over patriotism, Pledge of Allegiance in schools span a century
When a California school principal called controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick an “anti-American thug” for his protests during the national anthem at NFL football games, passions were inflamed anew over whether patriotism should be taught in America’s schools. As our new book “Patriotic Education in a Global Age” demonstrates, such debates are longstanding in American history. Posting schoolhouse flags Seventy-five years ago, […] … learn more→
Debate: Mobilizing collective intelligence in the service of ecological transition
Faced with the all-out degradation of our environment, society is struggling to mobilize. Paradoxically, education is rarely seen as a way to respond to the issues. However, many initiatives know how to make children and students actors of the ecological transition. The march for the climate will have gathered tens of thousands of people. It is both a lot and […] … learn more→
Open access will curtail profits but not quality or freedom
Subscription publishers’ responses to last week’s landmark announcement on open access by a dozen major European research funders was nothing if not predictable. Doom and gloom forecasts abounded about the end of quality science publishing, coupled with protestations that funders have no right to mandate author choices. All this is recycled nonsense. The funders – […] … learn more→
Dhaka: how speeding bus drivers sparked a student insurrection
Traffic jams – or “janjot”, as locals call them – are a fundamental part of life in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Sometimes the slowness of the traffic can give you a sense of claustrophobia, as you’re trapped between vehicles that have become immovable objects. It’s easy to see why there is a growing ride-sharing business […] … learn more→
Lessons from White House disinformation a century ago: ‘It’s dangerous to believe your own propaganda
One hundred years ago, the U.S. government published documents that fueled the mounting Red Scare, helped justify the American military invasion of Russia and poisoned American-Russian relations for years to come. Newspapers across the United States began to publish the fake papers on Sept. 15, 1918. Unbeknownst to the government, the documents were forgeries. They were created by Russian […] … learn more→
The essay is failing us. Discuss
The suggestion that we should ditch assessed essays would once have been decried as heresy. Essays have been the mainstay of higher education assessment for many years, especially in the humanities, and have traditionally been thought of as the best way to assess a student’s ability to digest the literature on the topic in question […] … learn more→
Let’s teach students why math matters in the real world
“When will I ever use this?” It’s a question math and science teachers hear all the time from their high school students. Teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills is more important than ever, but it’s often difficult for students to understand the practical applications of such fundamental learning and how it will help […] … learn more→
What college rankings really measure – hint: It’s not quality or value
Each year various magazines and newspapers publish college rankings in an attempt to inform parents and prospective students which colleges are supposedly the best. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” – perhaps the most influential of these rankings – first appeared in 1983. Since then, many other rankings have emerged, assessing colleges and universities on cost, […] … learn more→
Christians stand up to University bullying
As schools become converged, taken over by this bizarre hate ideology, they remove everyone who doesn’t agree to it. They’ve already locked down the faculty on campus, but that was easy to do: faculty are only too happy to write and talk about their beliefs…those who didn’t virtue signal with sufficient sycophancy were easily identified […] … learn more→