A week after the Nick Xenophon Team called for a new review of higher education, the Productivity Commission has provided one, of sorts. The report, titled “Shifting the Dial”, covers higher education as well as health care, schools, cities, government and energy. It is part of much broader five-year productivity review and covers topics from recent policy debate on higher […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Performance funding is not the way to improve university teaching
The predatory MFA
“I’m going to be an engineer! I get free tuition for taking the classes!” –So many female students walk on campus saying something like this. I have no problem with scholarship, but there’s a trap here many “female engineering students” fall into… Every year, students come to campus, and many are clever enough to understand: […] … learn more→
Money woes force South Africa to revisit how it rewards researchers
It’s been 30 years since South Africa first introduced a rating system to incentivise the country’s academics and scientists. This system was built on the principle that funding should be awarded to those researchers with a proven track record of scientific excellence. This is a unique approach among global rating systems: it rewards individual researchers […] … learn more→
Explainer: preparing to be professionally edited
Every document deserves an extra set of eyes! Some students ask a friend or relative to proofread their thesis for them, some cross their fingers and hope for the best, and some use a professional editor. Most of the students who use my editing services are from non-English language backgrounds, and in some cases the […] … learn more→
How to master time management as a student
Time management is one of the biggest challenges for students who are trying to strike the right balance between university life, home and work. Without a proper plan to arrange your priorities, it’s hard to stay on track and be organized, especially during the exam period. Whether you’re a full-time, part-time, online or on-campus student, […] … learn more→
Telling Chinese students to conform won’t fix cross-cultural issues
Incidents of Chinese students being offended by Australian lecturershave become a heated topic in the media. Some reports blame lecturers for mentioning sensitive matters (such as the status of Taiwan), others express concerns about preserving the freedom of speech in Australian campuses, and some attribute the students’ reaction to deliberate influence from the Chinese government. Government influence or not, these […] … learn more→
Don’t try to write “classy” – starting the phd
One of the earliest books on academic writing in the social sciences is by Howard Becker. Or Howie as I gather he likes to be known. As I don’t know him, I’m compelled to call him by the full name on his books. No Howie for me. That might seem like a silly thing to […] … learn more→
The academic economics war
I know I pick on Women’s Studies often; I have many issues with this particular field of “study,” namely that it isn’t one. There’s another field that sure looks like it should be a legitimate academic topic, which nevertheless bears even more claim to absolute scorn: economics. It isn’t simply because economics departments succumb to […] … learn more→
Memo to the IPA: history teaching is driven by student demand, not ‘identity politics’
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has released a survey of history subjects at Australian universities, arguing that “identity politics” (subjects related to race, gender, class and the environment) have increased at the expense of subjects related to “Western civilisation”. The report, authored by Bella d’Abrera, has found that of 746 history subjects on offer, 241 […] … learn more→
A conference paper? it may be five texts, not one…
Conference season begins again. Well it certainly seems that way – there are lots of calls around for papers, workshops and posters. A conference paper seems like an easy thing to do. Just write the abstract, then write the actual paper, and then present it. Not too hard. And not high stakes at all. A […] … learn more→
