In the US there have been many attempts to expunge evolution from the school curriculm or demand that creationism – the idea that all life was uniquely created by God – is given equal treatment in science textbooks. While all these have failed, the government in Turkey has now banned evolution from its national curriculum. […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Turkey bans teaching of evolution – but science is more than a belief system
New legislation may make free speech on campus less free
Around the country, state lawmakers have been talking about – and legislating – ways intended to protect free speech on college campuses. The Wisconsin State Assembly, for example, recently passed a campus speech bill that would require public colleges and universities to punish students who disrupt campus speakers. The legislation is now heading to the […] … learn more→
Ultra spiritual parody: Higher Education
Ah, it’s summer time, the days when the perpetual deadlines during the semester don’t exist. It also means the insanity slows down a bit, so I have time for less serious things. Ultra Spiritual Life is a series of parody videos by a YouTube user with account name AwakenWithJP. The videos vary from beyond hysterical […] … learn more→
The vagueness problem in academic writing
Dear Readers. Shaun Lehmann, Katherine Firth (of the Research Voodoo blog) and I are currently in the process of writing a new book for Open University Press called ‘Writing Trouble’. The proposed book evolved out of our work on the Thesis Bootcamp program, a writing intervention originally designed by Peta Freestone and Liam Connell. Over […] … learn more→
Modern languages: four reforms to reclaim the future of our discipline
Recent measures taken at a number of UK universities – including cutbacks on modern languages staffing, redundancies and in some cases the closure of courses – show the unprecedented pressures that UK universities are facing (and the serious implications these pressures have for an already embattled modern languages community). Modern languages disciplines can exercise some control […] … learn more→
Three things examiners look for in methods chapters
Once upon a time, when I worked in schools, early childhood teachers routinely issued young children with a ‘pen license’. A pen license was much sought after as it meant that a child could ‘advance’ to using a pen instead of a pencil. Using indelible ink meant that the child was able to write legibly […] … learn more→
A head start with mindfulness
Mindfulness is a hot topic these days, but its potential importance to higher education has not yet been broadly recognised. It can be described as a form of meditation and a way of living. It is a mental discipline that involves not only sharpening present-moment attention but also cultivating the attitude with which we pay […] … learn more→
‘This life isn’t worth a damn’: the precarious existence of Czech intellectuals
Bad working conditions in the field of academia are gaining attention across the world. In the UK, researchers and university staff have launched campaigns to fight labour casualisation. In the US, graduate assistants are seeking to unionise for fair pay and benefits. In the Czech Republic, however, the subject is practically non-existent. The Czech government […] … learn more→
Coding the curriculum: new computer science GCSE fails to make the grade
Despite computing education in UK schools going through a massive revolution over the past few years to try and make it more relevant to our increasingly technology driven lives, the new GCSE in computer science has failed to attract much interest from students. Figures from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) show only […] … learn more→
Professor to be fired for being white?
It’s no secret identity politics is a big factor in success these days; I mean, we’ve people “self-identifying” as black or American Indian, and scoring pretty good jobs just on the basis of that identification. Granted, this only holds until the “true” identity, whatever that means, is found out, but not every such faker is […] … learn more→
