By . The start of the academic year is looming in South Africa. The student protests that rocked most public universities’ campuses in 2016 – the second consecutive year of protests – died down long enough for most institutions’ exams to go ahead as usual. But the fundamental conditions that led to the protests are still largely unresolved. More...
25 janvier 2017
What the government’s plans for a hard Brexit mean for the UK’s universities
By . Theresa May’s confirmation that Brexit means leaving the single market has been met with anxiety in many UK universities. The sector currently contributes £73 billion annually to the economy (2.8% of GDP), 757,000 jobs (2.7% of the labour market) and brings £10.7bn in export earnings. Less than half of univerities’ income is from public sources. Graduate unemployment is half that of non-graduates and salaries are 43% higher among graduates. More...
Five things to consider when designing a policy to measure research impact
By and . This year will see the Australian government pilot new ways to measure the impact of university research. More...
Why do we still make girls wear skirts and dresses as school uniform?
By . In an attempt to support girls exercising more, the Australian government launched a campaign in February 2016 called “Girls Make Your Move”. More...
How virtual reality technology is changing the way students learn
By . For many years, schools and universities have had to change the way they work and teach in order to fit in with technology. More...
University completion rates won’t be improved by looking at isolated causes
By . News media are widely reporting on new data released by the government showing that one-third of students starting university in 2009 had not finished their studies within six years. More...
Should gifted students go to a separate school?
By . Despite two Senate inquiries in 1988 and 2001, it has taken 15 years and a state parliamentary review for the Victorian government to decide to build a specialist high school for students who are gifted, specifically targeting those from rural and regional Victoria. More...
How plugging into well-connected colleagues can help research fly
By and . Informal intellectual collaboration is crucial for good social science research. This includes interactions with colleagues to improve a paper before it is sent to a journal. More...
South African universities won’t change unless mindsets start to shift
Mobile phones offer a new way for Africa’s students to learn programming
By . It’s not easy for Computer Science students at most universities in Africa to practice and develop their programming skills. They have the ability to program, but access to desktop or laptop computers might be a problem. I experienced this first-hand while teaching programming at a Kenyan university. More...
South Africa’s universities can do more to make disabled students feel included
By . It’s been a decade since South Africa signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The convention is an international human rights treaty that’s supposed to protect the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. But not much seems to have changed for South Africans with disabilities since 2007. More...
