It’s funny, yet sad, to watch the higher education system of the UK degenerate into the same abyss much of the US’ higher education has become. First, I point out that I’m extrapolating a bit: Around 85% of respondents in the Times Higher Education survey were from 130 UK institutions, though staff from regions including […] … learn more→

Open-access advocates have had several successes in the past few weeks. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation started its own open-access publishing platform, which the European Commission may replicate. And librarians attending the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in March were glad to hear that the Open Access Button, a tool that helps […] … learn more→

  There is a lot of good information about academic writing and publishing that is now out of print. It’s generally still accessible if you peruse the outlets that sell second hand books or remainders, so do check out the ‘other sellers’ link online. I’ve recently been accumulating older books about book publishing. One such […] … learn more→

I feel like having an easy day, so once again I’ll discuss the demented kangaroo campus court system. Quirks in how universities are created give them surprising leeway regarding disputes on campus. Their policy documents were established decades ago, when academics ran campuses, and so the system was set up to have disputes, scholarly disputes, […] … learn more→

The recent appointment of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education has brought rural schools into the national conversation in ways never seen before. At her confirmation hearing, DeVos said that guns might have a place in schools in order to protect from “potential grizzlies” in places like Wapiti, Wyoming. While the comments about grizzly bears […] … learn more→

One of the great myths about American higher education is that all colleges are wealthy. If most Americans have an mental image of a college, it’s often a bucolic bricks-and-mortar residential facility separated by rolling green lawns, entered through an impressive if forbidding-looking gate, and populated by attractive students who drive fancy cars. What they […] … learn more→

I have a friend doing his PhD, let’s call him Ronald. Ronald is clever, bright and diligent. He’s spent many, many hours in the lab building prototypes and producing copious amounts of data. He’s clearly on the verge of a breakthrough that would change his field (but has yet to publish anything for fear of […] … learn more→

It’s no secret that something’s gone horribly wrong in education. Despite over a century of careful study of how to teach human beings, it’s clear we’re not learning as much as we used to. A simple glance at a college entrance exam from over 100 years ago shows that today’s high school graduates aren’t even […] … learn more→

Think back to when you first started learning a foreign language. For many readers it was probably French, German or Spanish at school. I was one of those considered lucky enough to be “good at languages” and I studied all three. Like me though, I imagine you can remember friends who froze at the thought […] … learn more→

About this time every year I post something about the reading habits of thesis examiners. At the risk of repeating myself – again – it is worth knowing what they/we examiners do when they/we receive that big fat tome the results of your hard work. It’s helpful to know that examiners don’t often sit down […] … learn more→