This year’s school results in England have highlighted how a narrow focus on so-called academic standards can hide much greater issues of justice in how we assess student performance. The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare underlying problems – but these issues have existed for a long time. This is an opportunity to go back to some basic […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Learning from exam results crisis: the way students’ work is assessed needs to change
Opening up campuses is harder than closing them
No university leader needs me to tell them how challenging it was to suddenly switch to online teaching during lockdown. But our experience is that, if anything, it is even harder to get students and staff to return to the campus when the restrictions lift – at the same time as retaining the positive changes […] … learn more→
How the coronavirus pandemic is affecting young people’s career plans
The coronavirus pandemic has had a serious and potentially detrimental impact on the lives of young people in the UK. The disruption to A-level results is one significant example, but is not the only way the future career prospects of young people have been affected. Those aged 16 to 24 have been among those hardest hit by […] … learn more→
5 reasons to let students keep their cameras off during Zoom classes
As the 2020-21 school year gets underway – both at the K-12 and college level – many students find themselves attending online classes via Zoom or similar teleconferencing platforms. Although sticking with remote instruction may be the correct decision from the standpoint of public health, it is not without problems. As a researcher who studies behavior and the brain, I have found […] … learn more→
Big-book theses are failing PhD students
The traditional big-book thesis emerged in Germany more than a hundred years ago, in a cultural and temporal context in which such feats of scholarship were particularly highly valued. Yet it has been adopted fairly inflexibly across the world, with little attention paid to how it relates to the needs and interests of students – […] … learn more→
PhD students can benefit from non-academic mentors’ outside perspectives
A mentor is a professional who acclimates a protégé into a profession. In the Bottegas of Renaissance Florence, upstart Leonardo Da Vinci pulverized Tuscan stone and collected eggs to make tempera for mentor Andrea del Verrocchio, who might allow Da Vinci to assist Michelangelo with his paintings. Although this model was adopted by the research laboratories of the Enlightenment […] … learn more→
Young South Africans are shut out from work: they need a chance to get digital skills
Most young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa continue to be denied access to information and communications technology because of poor infrastructure and the digital divide. The cost of mobile data is part of the problem. For example, compared with its fellow members of the BRICS group of nations, South Africa has the highest average price for […] … learn more→
Should students get a discount if they won’t be on campus because of COVID-19?
Not long after the COVID-19 pandemic caused colleges to start teaching remotely, students balked at the idea of paying full tuition for online learning. It’s not hard to understand why. After all, they were not getting the football and basketball games, student clubs, access to labs and the library and the out-of-class conversations that are all part […] … learn more→
Australian Nationals revolt over the government’s proposed university fee changes
The Nationals are demanding major changes to the government’s controversial new higher education fee plan, declaring it would disadvantage regional communities and students as it stands. The Nationals party room on Monday discussed the JobReady Graduates Package draft legislation – which has now been released – and agreed to press for it to be altered. The party […] … learn more→
3 ways to study better, according to cognitive research
Whether you are a student or the parent of one contending with coronavirus school closures, this year “back to school” means studying under some unusual circumstances. Learning and teaching can provide great opportunities for academic and personal growth, but in the midst of stressors, it’s worth remembering that some ways of learning and retaining information are more […] … learn more→
