Australia’s problem is that we have stopped producing major intellectual figures. Where is today’s Friedrich Hegel? Even more telling, where are the physicians like Edward Jenner, biologists like Alexander…
Much has changed from the first Colombo plan, but Australia’s engagement with Asia should start at home.
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Now it’s in government, the Coalition says one of its top priorities is international education. Along with policies to encourage international students to study here, Australian students, too, will be…
New education minister Christopher Pyne wants to review the Australian university system because of concerns about declining quality.
AAP/Julian Smith
On the surface, Australia’s fourth and fifth ministers for higher education for 2013 - Labor’s Kim Carr and the Coalition’s Christopher Pyne - have political views that are many miles apart. Even by the…
Studying law can be confronting and can lead some students to depression or anxiety. But what can be done about it?
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As law teachers, we have plenty of hopes for our students. Upon graduating, we want them to have a good grounding in legal knowledge and to be creative thinkers. We also hope they will come out of law…
Students who have a gap year achieve more highly at university than students who enter university straight after school and mature age students, the study found.
Frontierofficial
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Sophie Boyd, The Conversation
Students who take gap years are more successful in their university studies than mature aged students or students who enter university straight from high school, according to a new study. Professorial…
Are mature students being put off study by higher fees?
uonottingham
A report published today by the Independent Commission on Fees shows that the number of mature students applying to study at university has fallen by 14% since the introduction of tuition fees of up to…
From massively open to really massively open.
oxyman
The entrance of Google into the Massive Open Online Courses market this week has the potential to reignite the spirit of openness that saw these alternative routes into higher education emerge in the first…
Unfair working conditions are nothing new in academia.
chancellorgriffin
Further and higher education institutions have a long and ignoble history of employing staff on zero-hour contracts, so figures released last week by the University and College Union come as no surprise…
What’s in store for the higher education sector under the new coalition government?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As the higher education sector begins to look to life under the 44th parliament, it might pause to consider the words of prime minister-elect Tony Abbott upon claiming victory last Saturday night: “The…
Do the math. Higher education is important to Australian voters.
University image from www.shutterstock.com
There are no votes in higher education, right? One former cabinet minister would refer to universities as “the dogs” - because if you kick ‘em, they just roll over. Conventional wisdom has long told us…
With independent journalism increasingly under threat, will academics be the next set of critical voices to be targeted? A report calling for research and evidence to have a reduced role in public policy…
Teaching skills: 5, Lab facilities: 3. This is no way to choose a university.
stevedotcarter
The idea that we should audit universities is, in many respects, a good one. It can be used to keep them accountable and it can be a driver of change. University rankings – such as those offered by Times…
The cost of a degree depends on the colour of your cash.
Nick in exsilio
The different countries of the UK have very different ideas about a lot of things, and university fees are no exception. With the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees in England, Wales and Scotland both…
The stress of results day.
City of Stoke on Trent Sixth Form College
The last-minute hunt for places on university courses that we call “clearing” begins today. The name takes on a particular irony this year for both school leavers and universities, because the situation…
As A-level results day approaches, students and universities alike are gearing up for the most frantic period in the academic year - the short window during which results are issued and offers of places…
The humanities are in trouble - but what can be done about it?
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A recent article in The Wall Street Journal titled Humanities Fall From Favour reveals a further escalation in the crisis affecting the humanities. Harvard University, “a standard-bearer of American letters…
The governent must reduce duplication across the various Acts governing regulation of the university sector, the report said.
Theen Moy
The higher education sector’s main regulatory body should have its functions reduced, according to a new government report that has called for a reduction in red tape for universities. The Tertiary Education…
More students are attending university, but how many drop out?
“Today’s drop-out rates are higher than ever before, 20% across-the-board, and in some cases one-in-two. And that’s just one side effect of the demand driven system.” National affairs correspondent Heather…
Australia has had a grand experiment in providing greater university access to disadvantaged students.
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With a new leader at the helm, a new higher education minister and an election not too far away, university policy seems to be up in the air. Since starting his new portfolio, minister Kim Carr has floated…
We need to ask more questions before we plunge academia into a world of free and open journal research.
Golden book image from www.shutterstock.com
A recent article on The Conversation, “Busting the top five myths about open access publishing” is a spirited defense of open access (OA) publishing. The article, by ANU’s Danny Kingsley, outlined “myths…
Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies and Donald A. Campbell Chair in Fundraising Leadership, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University