Intelligence is a tough thing to measure. We have all sorts of tests, and all of them are subject to various criticisms, many valid. Despite this, it’s clear the tests are at least a little reliable, because one ethnic group consistently comes out on top: Asians (statistically, which means very little when addressing a specific […] … learn more→

If you are hoping to get a degree in a field that will allow you to get a job right away, you need to focus on the industries that are in desperate need of graduates. Five of those industries are listed below, so consider heading to school with the intention of diving into these areas, […] … learn more→

Many students and other young people are tempted to travel, either on a gap year before college, while they study, or before starting work once they have graduated. Unfortunately, many put it off due to the cost or fears that it may harm their studies and they never get that chance again. Studying while you […] … learn more→

Like Shakespeare, Charles Dickens liked to invent new words. Along with flummox, abuzz, and whiz-bang, he is also often credited with ‘the growlery’, which he mentioned in passing in Bleak House. There is some debate about whether this word is his creation, and most dictionaries suggest it is an archaic term he adopted but that […] … learn more→

We humans are swamped with text. It’s not just news and other timely information: Regular people are drowning in legal documents. The problem is so bad we mostly ignore it. Every time a person uses a store’s loyalty rewards card or connects to an online service, his or her activities are governed by the equivalent […] … learn more→

Mindfulness is a hot topic these days, but its potential importance to higher education has not yet been broadly recognised. It can be described as a form of meditation and a way of living. It is a mental discipline that involves not only sharpening present-moment attention but also cultivating the attitude with which we pay […] … learn more→

Bad working conditions in the field of academia are gaining attention across the world. In the UK, researchers and university staff have launched campaigns to fight labour casualisation. In the US, graduate assistants are seeking to unionise for fair pay and benefits. In the Czech Republic, however, the subject is practically non-existent. The Czech government […] … learn more→

Despite computing education in UK schools going through a massive revolution over the past few years to try and make it more relevant to our increasingly technology driven lives, the new GCSE in computer science has failed to attract much interest from students. Figures from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) show only […] … learn more→

It’s no secret identity politics is a big factor in success these days; I mean, we’ve people “self-identifying” as black or American Indian, and scoring pretty good jobs just on the basis of that identification. Granted, this only holds until the “true” identity, whatever that means, is found out, but not every such faker is […] … learn more→

For several years now, by many successive notes, I have considered the question of what I have decided to name now only “higher education”. This little oratorical precaution is really meaningful, since it forms the basis of the whole of my reasoning set out below. I am not saying “education”, I am not saying “education”, […] … learn more→