A recent investigation into plagiarism in higher education by the Quality Assurance Agency found hundreds of companies are regularly producing papers for students to pass off as their own. And only last year, an advertising campaign saw posters for an essay mill prominently placed around the London Underground – particularly at tube stops near university […] … learn more→

Decolonisation and Africanisation may appear to be new ideas on South Africa’s higher education landscape. But a tertiary college established nearly 30 years ago shows that this is not the case. The story of Khanya College proves that decolonised learning – rooted in Africa but infused with global influences – is entirely possible. Khanya College […] … learn more→

Cast your mind back 20 years, to 1997. Tony Blair had just entered Downing Street and in the music industry CDs dominated and the A&R guy was king. Within a few short years, the internet had changed the music industry forever, through the music sharing site Napster. Today, Napster is dead and gone (although the brand name […] … learn more→

About 30% of my work week is classified as ‘service’: work that supports others in the community, such as sitting on committees, writing reviews and references, consulting on problems and so on. As a result of this higher than usual level of service work, the sheer number and range of things I do in a […] … learn more→

Hairdresser: “Didn’t you used to teach at that community college, about 10 years ago?” Me: “Yep.” Hairdresser: “I had a class with you there, even graduated. I hear it’s a scam now.” Me: “Yep. I’d like it short in the back, please.” –I had this conversation about a month ago. I hope she enjoyed her […] … learn more→

You have just sat down to mark that pile of student essays that have been glaring at you for the past two days, when – ping! – in comes an email message with a suitably distracting request. Of course you can resubmit your expenses claim from last month on a different form – those essays are just going to […] … learn more→

In a lifetime as a self-appointed “essayist” I have published more than 1,000 articles. There are all kinds of ambiguities about that figure, including revisions and syndications, but it is a good rough indication. Mostly, they were part of continuing series, and the vast majority fell “stillborn from the press”, to use David Hume’s rather […] … learn more→

When US education secretary Betsy DeVos announced in August that she would rewrite the Title IX rules on campus sexual assault, former education secretary Arne Duncan called foul. “Instead of building on important work to pursue justice,” he rebutted, “they are once again choosing politics over students, and students will pay the price.” Duncan was […] … learn more→

Higher education researchers and journalists often use the percentage of Pell recipients at a college as a proxy for the share of low-income students the school serves. But in actuality, the make-up of low-income students is more complicated than that. Students’ eligibility for Pell Grants is based on a range of factors: family income, benefits […] … learn more→

With the advent of technology and internet, students in the US have found a solution to writing their academic papers. Initially, there was a lot to work on while professors didn’t provide enough materials to help in the completion of the same. However, online essay services have become a real partner for students in their […] … learn more→