How important is it for teaching faculty to actually know how to teach (and to actually care about the success of their students)?

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesThanks Mark for once again posting something that makes me think (and that gives me an opportunity to tough on a favorite topic: the importance of teaching quality in higher ed). Boredom vs. Failure Part 2: The New Demographic From Mark’s … Continue reading →

Is it wrong to buy publications from grad students and pass them off as your own?

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteApparently it is in China – if you get caught. Chinese academia ghost-writing ‘widespread’ This BBC article claims that “More than $100m (£63m) changes hands in China every year for ghost-written academic papers, according to research by a Chinese university.” … Continue reading →

…a short and miserable life…

Approximate Reading Time: 13 minutesMy husband and I had dinner with a friend last night whom we both like and respect a great deal. We talked about many things, among them our attitudes about the human use of animals. My friend is a vegan, and we’re not.

I struggle with the moral issues involved and so I continued to think about this after dropping our friend off at his hotel. I try very hard to be logical and reasonable in my arguments. I suspect I may have not succeeded entirely on this one. But neither did my friend.

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And Still There’s Trouble in River City… sort of.

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s the same old same old – human cry from those that have because they fear they might have to share. A Well-written article worth the time to read. 100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words For … Continue reading →

Profiling via web presence (or, the company you keep tells us a lot about you.)

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteI’ve always told people that they should assume that anything they put on the web should be considered public, whether it is on a public site or not. If you don’t want the information known, then don’t put it out … Continue reading →

All Videogames, All the Time?

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteNow, I’m a big fan of Serious Games, but I’m also quite sure that this is one of those cases where more is not necessarily better. What is important is balance. I suppose it may be difficult to make sure … Continue reading →

Do Teachers Need Education Degrees?

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesSaw this on the New York Times (Opinion) today: http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/education-degrees-and-teachers-pay/?8ty&emc=ty Do Teachers Need Education Degrees? By The Editors Robert Stolarik for The New York Times In a Room for Debate forum in June on the value of liberal arts master’s … Continue reading →

More Trouble in River City

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteHere’s a well-written explanation for why most of the media-effects studies really don’t tell us anything: WHY VIDEO GAME RESEARCH IS FLAWED By CHRIS LAVIGNE Studies that spread the idea that video games are harmful to children are conducted by … Continue reading →