It’s the end of #acwrimo!! Did you take part in Academic Writing Month this year? I certainly did. It was lockdown, so this year we made a big deal of it at ANU. Not to put too fine a point on it, I taught my ass off. You can see some of the workshops I ran on my Workshops […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Writing as an imaginary conversation with your reader
Students who cheat don’t just have to worry about getting caught. They risk blackmail and extortion
When students use a commercial contract cheating service, getting caught by their lecturers is just one of many serious consequences that could damage them and those who trust them. They also expose themselves to blackmail and extortion. Despite these risks, one in ten students at Australian higher education institutions have used a commercial cheating service to complete […] … learn more→
Drop in students who come to the US to study could affect higher education and jobs
Driven largely by the global pandemic, the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities fell by 15% – or 161,401 students – from 2019 to 2020. However, early data for 2021 indicate the number might bounce back soon. This is according to new data from the Institute of International Education and the U.S. State […] … learn more→
‘En plan…’: University students and expression beyond 280 characters
Let the teacher raise his hand who, after asking one of his students for an explanation of a problem or an argument in an oral presentation in class, has not ever heard this answer: “In plan … I just don’t know how to explain it …” The current educational system has a gap when it […] … learn more→
2 out of 3 members of university governing bodies have no professional expertise in the sector. There’s the making of a crisis
To say Australian universities are in crisis is to state the obvious. A common narrative suggests the most immediate cause of the current crisis is “reduced international student revenue and income from investments, such as dividends” during the pandemic. Some correlation is undeniable. However, many commentators have noted that the problems besetting our universities transcend financial issues alone and […] … learn more→
Writing – pleasure and/or satisfaction?
As AcWriMo 2021 finishes off, so am I. The self-imposed discipline of producing the first draft of a short book ( 50k words) in a month is just about over. I began the month with 14k words in hand and finished with just over 51K. A good effort. Better come clean though. 51k is not […] … learn more→
Australia’s strategy to revive international education is right to aim for more diversity
The Strategy for International Education released today by the federal government highlights the importance of international education to the Australian economy and community. But, with the arrival of COVID-19, commencing international student numbers fell dramatically by 22% in 2020. The impacts prompted the government to further rethink its ten-year plan for international education and exposure to risks in foreign markets, […] … learn more→
Best online degrees for stay-at-home Moms
Stay-at-home moms look after the kids when their husbands are busy hustling. These moms keep the family in unison, but many are not ready to give up on their dreams by staying idle at home. There were over ten million stay-at-home moms in 2015, according to a study. Most had personal reasons why they chose […] … learn more→
Check for the passive voice
Passive voice. Put simply, the active voice is when the actor, the person doing the action, is named. The writer does not name the actor when using passive voice. Ironically, the first sentence above does not name the actor – it is as if action of writing in the active voice just magically happens. However, […] … learn more→
Teaching university students to be ‘age-conscious’ could help address our elder care crisis
How does systemic ageism affect our society? A coroner’s inquest into COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes in Québec recently heard that ageism was a contributing factor. This is one of many recent examples of the ways ageism is entrenched into our institutional and social structures, and negatively impacts people and systems. The pandemic brought the critical […] … learn more→
