“Your academic writing trouble and how to fix it” was born of our frustration at reading the strange comments supervisors sometimes write on thesis drafts. Sometimes academic feedback makes even less sense than the text that inspired it. In this book we work backwards from these hard to interpret supervisor comments to tell you want […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Why it’s important to be exactly certain about how much you don’t know
A PhD’s ‘grit’ credential shouldn’t be undervalued
I recently had lunch with a colleague who had been my interviewer when I applied for my current job a few years ago. When this topic came up, she recalled, “I saw ‘PhD’ on your application, so I knew you would be smart.” While flattered by the compliment, I found myself questioning her inference: was […] … learn more→
What is the Chinese government doing to improve education?
It is easy to think of China in the terms of government, business opportunities and special economic zones. However, it is – above all – a country of more than a billion individuals. Among those are millions of children, teens and adults seeking education. This education, however, requires an overhaul to create a better system […] … learn more→
University to hire social sentinel to watch students (off Campus)
It seems every month I see our campuses take a major step towards the socialist utopia so accurately depicted in 1984. Normally I focus on how our campuses mirror the “fabulous wealth and power for the people at the top, poverty for everyone else” aspect, but today I want to talk about something that, until […] … learn more→
What happens when you put African philosophies at the centre of learning
What happens when African philosophies and practices are placed at the centre of learning? How can teachers and students on the continent use the concepts of ubuntu (human interdependence) and ukama(relationality) to come up with homegrown solutions for societal and educational concerns? These were two of the questions we sought to answer when we set up a Massive Open Online […] … learn more→
Journals censorship is not bowdlerisation
The statement on censorship recently published by the Association of University Presses deserves wide support. It affirms opposition to “all restrictions imposed on the dissemination of [scholarly] work” and raises important questions about censorship in China and the changing nature of researching and publishing. But we must get our facts straight on both of those. […] … learn more→
Why some students are excluded from university later in their degree, and how to remedy it
Student attrition is of concern to universities and to politicians and, most importantly, costly for the students concerned, both financially and emotionally. Voluntary attrition – “dropping out” – has been studied extensively, and can be broadly correlated with measures of disadvantage. We looked at the under-researched area of students who face being excluded from university for […] … learn more→
Slow Academia is for the privileged – but then, isn’t all academia?
During my PhD at Cambridge, I developed the nervous habit of tying knots in my hair. Sitting in the library, I’d twist clumps of it around and around my fingers into a tight, fist-sized tangle. The procedure was very satisfying – until the knot wouldn’t undo and I’d have to cut it out. At the […] … learn more→
3 vital ways to measure how much a university education is worth
The past several years have seen increased calls for colleges and universities to demonstrate their value to students, families and taxpayers. And the pressure has come from both sides of the political spectrum. Barack Obama, for example, didn’t mince his words when he spoke a few years ago on the University of Michigan campus: “We are putting […] … learn more→
The evil Uni-Bank alliance
The student loan scam only creates the potential for evil. We would not have over 20,000,000 citizens trapped in a deadly debt spiral if our higher education system had not exploited that potential as ruthlessly as possible. Technically, this scam is an unholy alliance between our Federal government, which backs the loans and enforces collection, […] … learn more→
