The widespread and uncritical adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), with large language models like ChatGPT and others, can degrade the university experience and undermine the mission of the university. While this technology offers interesting applications, when used without reflection or pedagogical integration, emerging studies indicate that it tends to empty learning of content, undermine academic work, […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
AI in universities, a bombshell for critical thinking: how can we prevent it from exploding in our faces?
6 Reasons why it’s not too late to get your Bachelor’s Degree
Life has a way of getting in the way. Maybe you started college and had to stop. Maybe you went straight into the workforce and never looked back. Or maybe you always meant to go but never quite got there. Whatever your story, one thing is clear: it’s not too late. Earning a bachelor’s degree […] … learn more→
What an ancient Chinese philosopher can teach us about Americans’ obsession with college rankings
Each March, many of the country’s most selective colleges and universities release their admissions decisions, reviving debates over the roles of race, wealth and privilege – and putting Americans’ cultural obsession with rankings back in the spotlight. Meanwhile, a more personal set of questions will emerge in many homes and schools. Who got into a “better” school, and why? And […] … learn more→
Almost 80% of Australian uni students now use AI. This is creating an ‘illusion of competence’
In Australia, artificial intelligence is becoming a near-universal feature of education. As of 2025, nearly 80% of university students reported using AI in their studies. Overseas, reports are even higher. This year, a UK survey of undergraduates found 94% were using it to help with assessed work. This has ushered in widespread concerns about students using AI to cheat on their […] … learn more→
A PhD is an apprenticeship in research – we can’t let AI take that away
When OpenAI launched ChatGPT-5 in August of last year, many academics scoffed at the tech company’s claims its new artificial intelligence (AI) model possessed “PhD-level” intelligence. After all, how could systems so prone to hallucination, flawed reasoning, and sycophancy compete with the world’s brightest young minds? Yet academics are now routinely using tools such as ChatGPT to assist them in their research in much […] … learn more→
Higher education: the trap of low-cost massification
In France, the expansion of higher education has contributed to a kind of race against time in academic pathways, intensifying the influence of the initial degree on careers. How can we reduce this irreversibility of trajectories and propose a new pact for the democratization of higher education? An examination of public policy over the past […] … learn more→
Teaching mathematical statistics: one lecturer’s way of testing what students understand
It’s getting tougher to assess how much university students have learnt. In his work as a Mathematical Statistics lecturer, Michael von Maltitz has tried a new way of getting students to learn, and of assessing what they’ve absorbed and retained. Students have to show and discuss how they arrived at their understanding of the subject. They can’t […] … learn more→
Should unis ditch group assignments?
Is it time to get rid of group assignments at university? Federal Opposition education spokesperson Julian Leeser thinks so. On Thursday, he called for universities to drop group assessments entirely, arguing they are fundamentally “unfair” and “cheapen” degrees. In a speech to the Universities Australia conference in Canberra, Leeser said: Students feel, instinctively, that in […] … learn more→
From moral authority to risk management: How university presidents stopped speaking their minds
Throughout the 20th century, college and university presidents spoke out on everything, from wars to civil rights struggles, with a sense of moral authority attempting to guide the course. Their language was typically direct and free of jargon. “Democracy is the best form of government. It is worth dying for,” Robert M. Hutchins, president of the University of […] … learn more→
How can unis balance academic freedom with the need to protect against antisemitism?
Australian students are returning to university campuses for the start of the academic year. They do so amid highly charged debates around racism and antisemitism. Australian universities have been accused both of failing to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom, and failing to protect the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students and staff. A new Australian Human Rights […] … learn more→
