By David Kent. Citations are the standard benchmark for scientists to assess the impact of their work. Highly cited papers have clearly influenced the field and few would dispute their importance. What citations do not measure, though, is the wider impact of a paper – do industrial projects build from these discoveries, are school children interested in them, will it inspire governments and funders to direct more resources into research efforts? Tools for measuring such impact are rare, but recently I was introduced to a quick and easy web-based program for getting a bird’s eye view of the non-academic impact of papers. Altmetric is very simple and can quickly help determine the wider impact of a paper. More...
01 octobre 2013
Pursuing higher education without a social security number
By Elisabeth Ponsot. When Hugo Nicolas was 11 years old and living in Veracruz, Mexico, his parents sold their possessions and told him they were leaving.
After nearly two days of walking through mountains and desert, he crossed the border into the United States with his mother. The pair met up with his father who had crossed earlier, and the family settled in Salem, Ore. More...
Higher education’s ‘tsunami’ moment
By Greg St. Martin. Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun told a group of higher education writers from around the country on Friday night that there is one fundamental change facing colleges and universities today. This “tsunami,” as he described it, is not technology. Instead, it’s the dramatic shift in student demographics. See more...
What the shutdown means for education - Elizabeth Warren’s higher ed agenda - California crackdown on truant parents
By Libby A. Nelson. WHAT THE SHUTDOWN MEANS FOR EDUCATION: A shutdown of the federal government now seems all but certain if Congress doesn’t come to an 11th-hour agreement today. And it will hit the Education Department hard. About 90 percent of the department’s 4,225 employees will be immediately furloughed, and most won’t come back until the funding crisis is resolved, even if the shutdown lasts longer than a week. But many schools and colleges won’t feel an immediate effect if the funding crisis is resolved quickly. Federal dollars will continue to flow to both K-12 and higher education. A longer shutdown, though, could lead to a big paperwork backlog and problems for schools, colleges and students that receive federal funds. More...
University is not about the subject, but about education
By James Skimore. Every new school year brings new questions about the value of an educational system that favours research over teaching. Teaching-focused professors help universities save money while meeting the public outcry that universities do more to prepare young people for the future.
These teaching-centered positions are just the latest development in the continuing efforts of universities to demonstrate their commitment to teaching and learning. My own university has both a Student Success Office and a Centre for Teaching Excellence. I bristle at the names, but I endorse their goals: improving student ability to navigate university life, and equipping instructors with better teaching skills. More...
Measuring the non-academic impact of your science
Funding repercussions of U.S. debt showdown – 2013 edition
By Jonathan Thon. In light of the present circumstances, I thought I would interrupt my ongoing series on federal funding of basic research in Canada and take the opportunity this week to update you on the current status of science funding in the United States amid another looming fiscal showdown. The 2014 fiscal year in the U.S. begins Oct. 1 and requires Congress to pass a spending bill to allow federal agencies to remain open. Later this month, on Oct. 17, Congress will be required to pass another bill increasing the American government’s $16.7-trillion debt ceiling to avoid default. More...
Down the research rabbit hole
By Melonie Fullick. “Everyone loves to identify things that have not been identified.
The rabbit hole, where ever I find it, symbolizes solitude.”
–Terrance Hayes, For Crying Out Loud
Recently I’ve been finding it much harder to blog because I’ve been homing in on certain aspects of my dissertation, which has taken up an ever-larger chunk of my focus and thinking time. This is a good thing of course, but it means I’ve also been more impressed than ever at how others are able to write excellent and timely article and blog posts on the latest issues, while I can barely keep up with the higher ed news. Read more...
… changing directions
By Jo VanEvery. In my last post, I talked about beginnings, the importance of looking up at the road ahead and then taking the small steps to move forward in that direction.
Implicit in that post is the sense that as we walk down a road we come to crossroads, forks, and half-visible trails through the underbrush. At every junction, we make a new decision either to stay on this road or to fork off onto that other path. More...
I defend your right to say it… well, sort of
By Léo Charbonneau. A group called the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has released its 2013 Campus Freedom Index, a report card of sorts on the “state of free speech” at Canada’s public universities. I was unaware this “freedom index” existed, even though it is in fact the third annual such exercise by this group.
It is a rather glaring understatement to say that the issue of free speech on campus is fraught with controversy. As institutions that are meant to foster open intellectual debate and promote the clash of ideas, universities are in a tricky position when it comes to dealing with speech that may be perceived by some as harmful or dangerous. As in the famous “yelling fire in a crowded theatre” metaphor, where do you draw the line? More...
The plight of the unpaid intern
By Moira MacDonald. Universities are getting more involved in monitoring unpaid internships when these are part of a student’s learning experience. It was being asked to clean up a bloody pig’s heart with her bare hands after the well-heeled “fashionista” crowd had filed out from a New York jewellery show that set Krista Brown against ever doing an unpaid internship again. More...
