By John Gill. Giving evidence to a BIS committee inquiry on assessing the quality of higher education provoked questions about how teaching might be measured, writes John Gill. More...
Teaching metrics: what on earth will anyone learn from them?
By Athene Donald. An aggregated university score would be designed to serve government bean counters, not students, says Athene Donald. More...
Spending review: research deal bodes well for UK science
By Malcolm von Schantz. Global Challenges Fund could be enabler of world-class science tackling global issues, says Malcolm von Schantz. More...
Don’t throw out the baby with the metrics bathwater
By Euan Adie. Peer review is the least bad system we have for assessing quality, but metrics can help to determine attention and impact, says Euan Adie. More...
The OU’s leaders are betraying its history
By Geoff Andrews. The Open University’s regional centres, set to be closed next year, are at the heart of its cultural legacy and local links – but they definitely aren’t standing still, says Geoff Andrews. More...
Could computer modelling help to build a better career structure for postdocs?
By Eric Silverman. Clearly describing the inefficient and damaging situation might point the way to better alternatives, says Eric Silverman. More...
Call the world outside university anything you like, just don’t call it ‘real’
By Alison James. There are few things in life that really get my hackles up. Queue-jumping. Litter. Invasion of personal space. But in education, four little words are guaranteed to send me into orbit. More...
When we label students by ability, we limit their potential to learn
By Claire Taylor. University educators have a responsibility to debunk the myth that intelligence is fixed, says Claire Taylor. More...
Early career researchers: the difficulty of saying ‘no’ as a newbie
By Richard Budd. Juggling multiple departmental roles on top of teaching and research can leave new lecturers feeling ‘punch-drunk’, explains new appointee Richard Budd. More...
It’s time to ditch stale perceptions of university hierarchies
Catherine O’Connell responds to a recent study that identified four ‘tiers’ of universities in the UK. More...