“I’ve posted before about the teaching of mathematics, and the question of teaching ‘problem solving’ versus teaching basic mathematical skills, like how to add numbers, add fractions, or solve quadratic equations …” (more)
[The World According to Gar, 31 March]
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week’s programme I speak to the general secretaries of the three teaching unions to preview their respective conferences which take place this week …” (more, mp3)
[Inside Education on 103.2 Dublin City FM, 31 March]
“The shock, horror and plain sexist abuse that greeted the revelation that the talent and brains behind one of the world’s most popular science websites were those of a woman prompted Elise Andrew to wonder whether she had suddenly travelled back to the Dark Ages …” (more)
[Paul Gallagher, Independent, 31 March]
“Any undergraduate student scanning the various university website pages listing postgraduate courses or giving advice on further study will probably notice one consistent statement running through each, namely that it is ‘hard’, ‘challenging’ or ‘difficult’ to finance a Masters or PhD …” (more)
[William Lord, New Statesman, 30 March]
“Cork and Tralee institutes of technology plan to begin work on merging into a multi-campus college before applying for technological university (TU) status in a year’s time …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 30 March]
“Education Minister Ruairi Quinn is threatening to ‘name and shame’ primary schools that persist in employing retired teachers. Mr Quinn told the Irish Independent he was concerned some schools were engaged in the ‘cosy practice’ of giving preference to retirees because it suited them …” (more)
[Independent, 30 March]
“In a recent Equality Decision Tribunal case DEC E2012-160 (A Complainant v A Third Level Institution) the Complainant contended that she was discriminated against by the Respondent on the grounds of gender, family status and disability …” (more)
[Wendy Doyle Solicitors Blog, 29 March]
“The political class of the student movement was rocked last night with news that DCU Students’ Union had declared the results of its recent referendum on USI membership null and void. The affiliation referendum, passed last month by a margin of 768 votes to 642 votes, had been hailed as a major coup for USI …” (more)
[Owen Bennett, University Times, 29 March]
“The High Court has ruled that protesters should be evicted from part of the University of Sussex …” (more)
[BBC News, 29 March]
“A growing number of schools, districts and countries are attempting to understand the lack of interest in hard sciences among women. Jon Cartwright, writing for The Daily Telegraph, reports that in Britain only about 20% of students taking physics GCSEs are female …” (more)
[Julia Lawrence, Education News, 29 March]
“As universities raise alarms about the potentially devastating effects of more than $1-billion in looming cuts in federal research spending, a leading credit-rating agency issued a report on Thursday that seemed to say: ‘Calm down. This will sting for just a moment’ …” (more)
[Don Troop, Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 March]
“Almost 7% of likely student grant recipients have yet to finalise their claims, as a review into the failings of the new application system nears completion. Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) said it had awarded a grant or paid fees for 37,623 applicants up to last Friday …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 29 March]
“The country’s largest nursing union has asked the former chief executive of the Equality Tribunal to examine whether the Croke Park II proposals are anti-family and negative towards women …” (more)
[Stephen Rogers, Irish Examiner, 29 March]
“A delegation from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) will travel to Bahrain next week to meet government officials following the resignation of its Bahrain campus’s president over the cancellation of a conference on medical ethics he helped organise …” (more)
[Mary Fitzgerald, Irish Times, 29 March]
“The President of the Union of Students (USI) in Ireland has blamed a ‘small cohort’ in DCU for the decision of the university’s students’ union to declare a recent referendum affiliating it to the USI ‘null and void’ …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 28 March]
“But when will it be released in the UK? There really just aren’t enough HE related movies about. And even fewer which cover professional services rather than academic or student matters (which are, let’s face it, much more likely to be entertaining) …” (more)
[Registrarism, 28 March]
“Moocs offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a truly European university, says Alex Katsomitros – and might be the only means of survival for smaller universities …” (more)
[Guardian Professional, 28 March]
“Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students whose grant applications have been awarded, refused, paid, awarded and awaiting payment, and awaiting further documentation; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil Éireann Written Answers, 27 March]
“Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of the way the decision to award the administration of student grants to Student Universal Support Ireland was made in 2012; if any outside consultancy firm was asked to review the systems proposed for administering grants in each tender; if any independent agency gave a value for money review of each tender received; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil Éireann Written Answers, 27 March]
“A significant reduction in degree programmes and an end to ‘problematic predictability’ in the Leaving Certificate have been announced as part of a major overhaul of the final State exam at second level and the third-level admissions system …” (more)
[Louise Holden, Irish Times, 28 March]
