“Here is a really interesting post on medieval cosmology: Cosmology: Unearthing a 13th-century metaverse | The Economist, which shows that really, the two sides of modern universities can’t work in isolation …” (more)
[Brian M Lucey, 30 April]
“An unpaid work placement in Newport Pharmaceuticals Ltd advertised by the Trinity Law School has been cancelled following requests for information from The University Times …” (more)
[Leanna Byrne, University Times, 30 April]
“Ploughing through more lab reports today, I find myself going from frustration to anger to bafflement. Why do students so consistently omit units when they draw their graphs? …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 30 April]
“DCU’s merging process with Mater Dei and St Patrick’s College has taken a hit after the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) expressed their concerns about the plans …” (more)
[Michael Shiels McNamee, The College View, 30 April]
“The use of English as the language of instruction is a ‘galloping phenomenon’ across the world, according to a report …” (more)
[Chris Parr, Times Higher Education, 30 April]
“The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD and the Minister for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock TD today announced €47 million in funding for pioneering research initiatives …” (more)
[SFI, 30 April]
“A radio comedy drama set in the crazy world of a ‘pile ’em high university’. The episodes are set in the chaos of Karen Poynter’s Geography Department at Hayborough University – ranked 132nd in the academic league table, where, if you have a pulse, you can have a degree …” (more)
[HT: Áine Ryall]
[Radio 4 Comedy Drama – British Comedy Guide, April 2014]
“The rise of internationalisation has been a prime focus of bibliometric research for years. Most of the studies so far have analysed the increasing occurrence of multi-national co-authorships of journal articles …” (more)
[Frederik Verleysen and Tim Engels, Impact of Social Sciences, 29 April]
“I had to take a bit of a hiatus for the last two weeks to finish up the semester and to give and grade exams. Now that this is over, I wanted to come back and address some of the comments in these two posts …” (more)
[Robert Talbert, Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 April]
“There is a warning from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland that a lack of graduates in the construction sector could threaten the housing recovery. The society has published a new report which shows that, even with modest economic growth, more than 1,100 posts will be created …” (more)
[Irish Examiner, 29 April]
“I may have been a very insensitive person back in the 1970s when I was a student, but I have to say honestly that I cannot remember any of my fellow students suffering any form of psychological distress …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 29 April]
“Junior-cycle reform remains a contentious topic. For many history teachers it represents a threat to the subject they love. Some have voiced concerns about the removal of history as a core subject, suggesting students will be left without a sense of the story of our past and a means to put current social and political events into context …” (more)
[Danielle O’Donovan, Irish Times, 29 April]
“The 21st-century challenge is to prepare all our children to assume a meaningful place in a high-knowledge economy and society. Our main engine of development, the public education system, was geared in the 20th century towards a different job …” (more)
[Cliona Hannon, Irish Times, 29 April]
“Sir, – ‘Correlation is not causation’ was the first important principle of good research we learned in college. Thus, to associate the taking of ordinary level maths at leaving certificate with poor outcomes in primary school is not just offensive, it’s ridiculous …” (more)
[Anne McCluskey, Irish Times, 29 April]
“The weather has been so good recently you’d almost think the Leaving Certificate came early. And at the latest teachers’ conferences, there were plenty of high points …” (more)
[Una Mullally, Irish Times, 28 April]
“As the advance of women through academia continues there are a few stubborn pockets of non-compliance. It appears that one is Oxford, where in some schools men are more likely to get first class degrees than women …” (more)
[University Ranking Watch, 27 April]
“Research metrics are fraught with danger. Usually they are dangerous when they are abused. We can measure the citation history of a paper but that tells us little beyond its citation history …” (more)
[Brian M Lucey, 26 April]
“I attended the National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning seminar on plagiarism organised by Kevin O’Rourke at DIT’s Learning Teaching and Technology Centre. The meeting was interesting as it covered three aspects of plagiarism …” (more)
[Michael Seery, Is this going to be on the exam?, 25 April]
“Sir, – I wish to support general secretary Pat King’s condemnation of a minority group at the ASTI convention who barracked, heckled and abused Mr Quinn throughout his speech …” (more)
[Colette Phillips, Irish Times, 26 April]
“Academics have internalised research assessment to such a degree that the effects may be irreversible, fears Thomas Harrison …” (more)
[Times Higher Education, 24 April]
