Blog Archives

Air quality and brightness: what are the challenges for the class of the future?

Air quality and brightness: what are the challenges for the class of the future?

In France, it is still quite rare to consider school spaces according to their environmental qualities. This is a critical issue, with potential implications for educational success, such as children’s health. As early as 2005, several European studies presented at the symposium of the Réseau Recherche santé environnement intérieur (RSEIN) converged on the following observation: […] … learn more→

‘Farm-to-school’ movement takes root in Canada

‘Farm-to-school’ movement takes root in Canada

A “farm-to-school” movement is growing fast across Canada. More than 40,000 students were eating local fruits and vegetables at 150 Ontario schools during 2017-18, via the Tasty Ontario Tuesdays program. Led by the southwest branch of the Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP), supported by the Greenbelt Foundation and Foodland Ontario, this program has purchased and delivered over $55,000 of local […] … learn more→

Why I use knitting to teach math

Why I use knitting to teach math

On a snowy day in January, I asked students to tell me what was the first word that came to mind when thinking about mathematics. The two most quoted words were “calculus” and “equation”. When I asked the same question to a room full of professional mathematicians, none of these two words were spoken; they […] … learn more→

Gender quotas and targets would speed up progress on gender equity in academia

Gender quotas and targets would speed up progress on gender equity in academia

Recently, the University of Adelaide used a special exemption under the Equal Opportunity Act to advertise eight academic positions in the faculty of engineering, computer and mathematical sciences for women only. This raises questions about why a university might take this approach. While Australia has had gender equality legislation for 30 years, there has been very slow progress towards […] … learn more→

How parents could revolutionize education and boost results

How parents could revolutionize education and boost results

Repeated efforts to improve public school education across Canada — curricular enhancements, increased accountability, intensified literacy and numeracy initiatives — are failing to improve student achievement. In the province of Saskatchewan, student achievement results have flatlined and only 43.2 per cent of Indigenous students are graduating on time. Saskatchewan’s results are not atypical. In her analysis of Programme […] … learn more→

Class social sciences or why the word

Class social sciences or why the word “civilization” is no longer appropriate in foreign studies

Since foreign studies are no longer limited to the study of grammar, translation and literature of the foreign country in question, students enrolled in Licentiate LLCER and LEA also follow courses of “civilization”. LLCER actually wants to say, according to the official nomenclature, Foreign and Regional Letters, Literatures and Civilizations (and LEA, Applied Foreign Languages). […] … learn more→

How to beat the ‘freshman five’ weight gain

How to beat the ‘freshman five’ weight gain

There is a widespread belief that a young adult’s college years are accompanied by weight gain — the so called “freshman five.” This is not just an urban myth. Research shows that approximately 85 per cent of overweight adults were not overweight as youth. And, by studying changes in fat mass during the period between 18 […] … learn more→