With the confinement and restrictions linked to the Covid-19 crisis, many students and parents have become accustomed to interacting by interposed camera, with a computer, tablet or smartphone. The challenge is usually finding a good place to settle down so that you can calmly ask questions, provide answers and share opinions with an online audience. Initially, […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Online courses and meetings: how to overcome your fear of speaking
5 ways the COVID-19 pandemic could affect your college application
The coronavirus pandemic has intensified college application anxiety. I make this observation as an admissions dean who, as of late, has not just been answering emails and questions from parents. Instead, I’m also responding to media inquiries about how my school plans to manage our selection processes in this crisis. All of these questions hint at an […] … learn more→
Struggling to exercise upward toxicity? Try toxic hypocrisy
Last year I wrote a handy guide for scholars wishing to reach the heights of academe through upward toxicity. I showed aspiring leaders of their fields how to forge powerful alliances, abuse their underlings mercilessly and weaken their rivals. The emails I received – from their victims – confirmed for me that toxic scholars the world over […] … learn more→
Why is Germany not embracing the Humboldtian university?
Scientists in Germany publish more articles in leading journals than those in any other nation except the US and China. But unlike academics in most countries, Germany’s scientific community is significantly split between universities and independent research institutes. Under the country’s dual-pillar approach, universities are supposed to specialise in training new scientists; leading research is […] … learn more→
Is your woke academic friend actually a manipulative ‘sock puppet’?
In late July, the academic Twitter community was rocked by the tragic death of an Arizona State University professor who went by the alias @sciencing_bi. She had reportedly died from Covid-19 after being forced to teach in-person well into spring. Only days later, it was revealed that @sciencing_bi – who had, over several years, posted […] … learn more→
Starting a part-time doctorate? Three top tips
Doing a doctorate later in life is more likely to be a part-time affair. In the UK, the majority of the part-time postgraduate research students are over the age of 30. Despite 27,000 people undertaking this mode of study in the UK alone, it is less commonly addressed in guides to success in doctoral research. In this […] … learn more→
Russia’s limits on critical thinking are hitting its academic performance
Recent months have seen heated debates in Russia about the limits of faculty and students’ rights to undertake public speaking and engage in political activism. Lecturers at the prestigious Higher School of Economics (HSE), once considered Russia’s most liberal university, have spent the summer worrying that their criticisms of the political status quo might put an end to […] … learn more→
An industry-style focus on teaching costs is vital to survive the pandemic
After a year of unprecedented disruptions and change, it is clear that, as the new semester approaches, students need better experiences, universities need better business models and staff need better workloads. I split my career between industry and academia, encountering the academic world at many levels and locations and learning pedagogy from scratch at 41. […] … learn more→
Why Australian unis are worried about a federal power to cancel their foreign ‘arrangements’
A proposed law would give the federal government power to cancel arrangements between foreign governments and Australian states, territories, local councils and public universities. At first glance, it’s not meant to cover universities’ arrangements with all foreign universities. However, the practical reality is that it could impact all sorts of Australian university arrangements with foreign entities, including […] … learn more→
Two avenues for reinventing MOOCs
When they first appeared in the 2010s, MOOCs raised a lot of hopes. From there to constituting a revolution in teaching, there is a step that has not been taken as already noted in 2018 in these columns Mathieu Cisel, teacher at CY University. But containment has brought these tools back to light, reminding us of how beneficial […] … learn more→
