Blog Archives

Educational resilience: how to get good academic results when everything is against you

Educational resilience: how to get good academic results when everything is against you

Educational resilience is the ability of students to perform well despite adverse social, economic, or family circumstances. The key question is to find out which personal, family and educational context favor the resilience of students. Knowing these protective characteristics is essential to try to help the least resilient. In our recent article, Academic resilience in European countries: The […] … learn more→

The curse of science: many academics are more focused on 'sounding smart' than grounding science in society

The curse of science: many academics are more focused on ‘sounding smart’ than grounding science in society

The government often claims that Indonesia has been ranked the highest for the number of scientific publications in Southeast Asia. Data from the Scimago scientific journal ranking system, for example, shows that in 2020 Indonesia’s research productivity will be in the 21st position in the world – up 15 places from the previous three years. This ranking has the potential to continue […] … learn more→

A university course on pandemics: What we learned when 80 experts, 300 alumni and 600 students showed up

A university course on pandemics: What we learned when 80 experts, 300 alumni and 600 students showed up

When we decided last summer to create an undergraduate course about pandemics, we faced skepticism. Weren’t students and instructors tired of the COVID-19 pandemic? And would looking at pandemics from the perspective of numerous disciplines make it hard to address the topic with depth, or would we achieve a sense of cohesion? As an anthropologist, […] … learn more→

Banning mobile phones in schools can improve students’ academic performance. This is how we know

Banning mobile phones in schools can improve students’ academic performance. This is how we know

The effects of mobiles phones and other technology at school is a hotly debated topic in many countries. Some advocate for a complete ban to limit distractions, while others suggest using technology as a teaching tool. Kids in public South Australian primary schools started the school year without being allowed to bring their mobile phones to class, unless they […] … learn more→

Odds are against ‘first in family’ uni students but equity policies are blind to them

Odds are against ‘first in family’ uni students but equity policies are blind to them

It’s that time of year again when hundreds of thousands of Australian students start university for the first time. Commencing students account for about 40% of the more than 1.6 million Australians enrolled in university (as at 2019, the most recent available data). It’s an important step for many in pursuing their educational and occupational dreams. Those who are […] … learn more→

With young children, how to guide the use of screens?

With young children, how to guide the use of screens?

The exposure of children under the age of 6 to digital tools, and in particular to screens, worries as much as it questions. Families and professionals and professionals in health and education find themselves confronted with the same problems. Difficulties that were exacerbated in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis: what advice should be given to those […] … learn more→