It’s a been a while since I’ve explained the “bread and butter” of community colleges. While their primary victim is the remedial student, the big source of money for many community colleges is the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant is basically free money for college. You show up and say you need money. The college […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Community College and poverty
How I overcame rejection to turn my love of ‘poi’ into research
Ten years ago, while moping around circus practice with a torn rotator cuff, boredom and curiosity led me to try the most unimpressive prop under the big top: a sock filled with rice. It didn’t involve flipping and flying through the air. It didn’t involve extraordinary strength or speed. It didn’t appear to involve much […] … learn more→
From rural Kenya to a PhD in astronomy: how partnerships made it possible
I grew up in a Kenyan village with dark skies and vivid stars. We admired the sky and listened to stories about it told by the elders. There were few expectations that the children in our village would ever understand the sky’s secrets as this was unimaginable at the time. I excelled at maths and […] … learn more→
Helping universities combat depression with mobile technology
Depression is the leading mental health issue on college campuses in the U.S. In 2015, a survey of more than 90,000 students at 108 American colleges and universities found that during the previous year, more than one-third of them had felt so depressed at some point that it was difficult to function. More than two-thirds […] … learn more→
Student debt doubles since 2008…”Fake News” spins it
My blog’s only been around a couple years now. When I started, student debt was under a trillion dollars…now it’s more like $1.4 trillion dollars. Our higher education system has been transformed from a system of education and research for humanity, into a system of massive wealth transfer into the pockets of higher education administration. […] … learn more→
What did that peer reviewer actually mean?
We all know that real estate agents write in code. Renovation potential means it’s a dump. First home buyer’s dream means it’s a dump. Original condition means it’s a dump. Now, journal reviewers have codes too. You may find that sometimes you get reviews where it isn’t immediately obvious what you are being asked to […] … learn more→
From whence the danger? Left? Right? Both?
Today the Washington Post published an important op-ed piece, “If colleges keep killing academic freedom, civilization will die, too,” by José A. Cabranes, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Cabranes, a Bill Clinton appointee and highly respected jurist, previously served as General Counsel for Yale University (1975-80) and on […] … learn more→
Warning: conmen and shameless scholars operate in this area
As I wrapped up a research sabbatical in Canada in March 2015, I started searching for conferences to present my research at. A quick Google search highlighted a shocking number of events and organisations that I had never even heard of – and an even more shocking list of conference fees. But perhaps I shouldn’t […] … learn more→
How virtual reality technology is changing the way students learn
For many years, schools and universities have had to change the way they work and teach in order to fit in with technology. Software like PowerPoint, for example, which has long been used as an education tool, wasn’t designed for education. Nonetheless, it has been a staple tool in education settings, used as a way […] … learn more→
Trump to stop Campus Sex Police?
Towards the end of the last election, the fake news machine unleashed a torrent of allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump; at least 10 women came forward to say they were attacked by Trump. Now, because we do have independent as well as mainstream media, a bit of investigation quickly revealed most of the claims […] … learn more→
