By John Warner. Is there a more common lament among college instructors than, “Why won’t students just do the reading?”
It’s an important/difficult question. When I wrote last week about the problem of “boredom,” in the comments, a number of people remarked that one of the reasons they believe students say they are “bored” in class is because students often haven’t done the reading, and therefore lack context for whatever discussion is happening in front of them. No doubt this is true. Read more...

By John Warner. I like to talk to my students about boredom.
I hear from them that lots of things are boring – a course, an assignment, school in general – and when they say this I want to know why because boredom is a significant impediment to learning, the peak (or nadir) of non-engagement. Read more...

By John Warner. Imagine, if you will, that one day, every adjunct and contingent faculty member refuses to accept the positions they are offered. Read more...

By Matt Reed. I had sympathy pains reading Paul Fain’s piece last week about Western Governors University and the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Education. The piece does a nice job of outlining what amounts to a clash between a broad direction and legacy regulations. More...

By Matt Reed. I'm hoping to steal shamelessly from some wise and worldly readers at other places. 
Too many colleges treat faculty as a cost, rather than an asset. Professional development is often reduced to travel or webinars, and then cut when things get tight, which they nearly always do. More...

By Matt Reed. Yesterday’s discussion in the New York Times about free community college is well worth checking out, if you haven’t seen it yet. I was particularly taken by the contributions from Sara Goldrick-Rab and Nikki Edgecombe, who both recognize the key role of public higher education in providing opportunities for people who otherwise might not have them. More...

By Matt Reed. The quote from the president of Mount St. Mary's University about “drowning bunnies” went viral for the obvious reason that it’s almost cartoonish in its apparent villainy. For full effect, I have to picture him twirling the ends of his handlebar mustache and cackling as he says it. More...

By Matt Reed. Increased diversity among college students leads to decreased political and economic support for higher education, says a new study.
This is not news to those of us at community colleges. More...

By Matt Reed. People who know me know that one of my favorite phrases is “playing the long game.” It means favoring sustainable, gradual, long-term changes over Big Splash interventions that often leave destruction in their wake. That’s probably why this story made so much sense to me. More...

By Matt Reed. Musicians sometimes say that the hardest part of playing is listening. To be really good, particularly in a group context, you have to be able both to play well and to listen well.  You have to hear how you sound, how the others sound, and how things fit together. Some terrific players never make it to the top level because they’re so busy with their own sound that they don’t listen. More...