Some student organizations have endorsed the social media campaign #textbookbroke to draw attention to the burdens placed on students by the high cost of learning materials. A solution to this problem exists: open educational resources. These are textbooks and other teaching materials produced by academics or instructors and distributed free of charge. Such resources could be a greater part […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Textbooks could be free if universities rewarded professors for writing them
South Africa takes steps to assure the quality of its doctorates
Around the world there has been a massive increase in demand for doctoral education. This mostly stems from the idea that the “knowledge economy” requires high-level skills. The claim that there’s a correlation between a country’s economic stability and the proportion of its population who have doctorates has led to national targets being set for doctoral graduation. In […] … learn more→
Before you decide to work in college, ask yourself these questions
For many undergraduates, working for pay during the academic year is a necessary part of the college experience. If they don’t work while enrolled, they may not have the money needed to pay tuition and other fees, keep a roof over their head or buy things like books and food. But, working – especially working […] … learn more→
Girl rejected by top Schools takes her case to the Supreme Court
There was a time when getting into college wasn’t a slam dunk. Even your local state university still had standards, still requested a prospective student to show that he really was interested in learning. Of course, in those days having a university degree meant something, but with the loss of standards has come the loss […] … learn more→
What universities can do to keep students from dropping out
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that in 36 countries, only 39 per cent of bachelor’s degree students graduate within the expected duration of their program. Another 28 per cent do so in the following three years. According to the World Bank, students abandoning advanced or “tertiary” studies — everything from university to […] … learn more→
PhD – plan B
Before I came into higher education I had a brief stint as a civil service strategic planner. I got pretty interested in the process of scenario planning – that’s where you develop a narrative about something that could happen in the future. Or better still multiple narratives. The point of scenario planning is to identify ways […] … learn more→
University slashes programs due to budget, also hires a new Vice President
Tuition continues to skyrocket, and always this is justified because the schools need more money to educate students. For most schools, the lie here is transparent for a variety of reasons: If the student base is increasing, economies of scale should drive overhead per student down…but it does not. If the school has been around […] … learn more→
Superscoring standardised admission tests will supersize advantage
On US students’ college-prep checklist, nothing looms larger than college admission tests. That’s why recently announced changes to the ACT might seem like a windfall to students who are concerned that a single test score could determine their whole futures. Starting next fall, students will be able to retake any of the ACT’s five sections […] … learn more→
PHD bamboo
When I started my PhD, I was full of enthusiasm, excited by this new opportunity and period of growth. I read a blog by Jodie Trembath about having a PhD symbol (she originally called it a PhD totem but changed this on the request of several First Nations scholars in the US). I bought an Asian bamboo […] … learn more→
Professor: Grading and grammar are racist
Our institutions of higher learning are massively oversized. While in general I disagree with the levels of growth which allowed this to happen there is one benefit to a large institution: resistance to change. Back when our institutions were merely huge, this benefit occurred quite often as the universities tended to not fall into fad […] … learn more→
