Summa cum laude

Engaging Minds - Symposium on engagement, participation and collaboration

2011-06-13T10:55:00.002+01:00

On Thursday and Friday of last week (June 10th and 11th), up to 200 people gathered in NUI Galway for the joint Galway Symposium-NAIRTL Conference on student engagement. With 6 keynotes, multiple parallel streams including workshops and 23 Pecha-Kucha style presentations, the programme was jam-packed. For thus of us in the think of things, rushing around behind the scenes, dealing with technical issues, chairing sessions and juggling with the complexities of car-parking, it is difficult to get a clear view of how the event is going, but from participant feedback it seemed to be an overall success with plenty of ideas being shared and debate taking place.

As is tradition with our events, the keynote presentations were recorded and we'll be posting up links to these in due course (after the video/editing team recover!). Amongst the issues raised, however, were the different conceptions and meanings behind the phrase 'student engagement' and what exactly it encompasses not just in practical terms but also its implicit pedagogical, philosophical and indeed political assumptions.

Lesley Gourlay (IoE, London) opened the event by raising such questions. She was followed by Derek Bruff (Vanderbilt) who demonstrated clearly how he and colleagues are able to stimulate student participation through the use of technologies including clickers (each person has one for live demonstration) and twitter. Elisabeth Dunne (Exeter) spoke of students as change agents and how student-led projects in her institution were used to reshape and reform curriculum and approaches to teaching. Mike Neary ended the first day with a rousing championing of a radical left approach that aimed to recapture the spirit of Humboldt's view of an active research-engaged form of learning but one that is driven in cooperation with students harnessing the types of creativity that emerged from activism of 1968 and illustrating with emerging examples in the UK in the past year or two.

On day two, Guy Claxton (Winchester) spoke of the formation of 'habits of mind' and the implicit, often unarticulated, aspects of what it means to be part of a scholarly community and engage in intellectual endeavour through the perspective of particular disciplinary traditions. Paul Kleiman (Lancaster) then reiterated the importance of communication and the development of student-staff relationships and partnership.

Higher Education as a global public good?

2011-02-22T14:23:00.003Z

Yesterday I attended the DRHEA-supported seminar given by Simon Marginson (Melbourne and great renown) which looked at the possibility of higher education being considered as a public good on a global perspective. It was certainly hugely different to the last HE policy seminar I attended in the Helix (DCU) in tenor, disposition and approach. A measured, considered and informed questioning of some of the assumptions about 'the university' and its relationship to society and the economy, there was plenty to digest in Simon's presentation and I look forward both to the recording and a text version to do it full justice. The panel of respondents was also well chosen and with only a few minutes each, they were put on their toes in trying to home in on a key point each, but did so.

The large audience partly reflects Simon's reputation but also the timeliness of such discussion here in post-Hunt Report Ireland. And of course, not atypical for such seminars within the Pale, there was a hefty turnout from the Department of Education and the HEA. A few brave souls had though glid across Ireland's new arterial motorway from the West, DCU now being so accessible to many of us (turn right at Ikea!).

To the substance of his talk. He started with a history of various intellectually driven institutions in times past in both the western and eastern hemispheres and reminded us of how flourishing institutions which have a seeming permanency can be readily dispatched by a political, financial or military blow from those in power: the dissolution of the monasteries in England, the decline of Alexandria and the Buddhist centres of learning across China, being the examples. Just to sober up any complacent university presidents!

He addressed the issue of private versus public goods, giving a brief overview of perspectives on these concepts, and referred throughout to the example being espoused in English HE at the present time, indicating what it implies about the perceived relative value of particular disciplines and the underlying conception of the purposes of higher education. He also wove in comparisons between the contemporary Western perception of individual gain and the more Confucian model as an alternative that would be more likely to accept a broader conception that perhaps lays a foundation of a notion of education as a 'public good' (or at least more collective than individual).

The self-serving nature of large and powerful organisations, such as universities, was also raised in looking at how complicit much of academia has been to the developments in HE policy, despite their avowed objections. For example, the drive for prestige despite distaste for league tables, the constant over-reaching in terms of mission and opportunistic responses to funding availability, the constant assertion of leadership and ownership of a whole range of activities and subjects and the competitive out-stripping the collaborative.

He called for a new vision, centred around a more global approach to the public good argument and championed the idea of flat networks, collaboration on issues of global concern and each playing a part, in a sense almost to decouple from small-scale local battles and seek (almost a moral) high ground in this global age.

Plenty of points were raised in discussion, not just by the panel but also audience members and although there wasn't sufficient time to go into most of these areas, he did make a brave attempt to respond and expand.

Much to think about and well worth the journey.

Offline education

2011-02-19T12:57:00.003Z

Yesterday's Irish Independent reports of Hibernia College's rising profits. The private, online training company has been providing courses in education and other professional development areas for some time now, expanding to cover teacher training in England as well as Ireland.

I recall the controversy when they first started offering teacher-training courses. I had just arrived in Ireland and there were protests by students in traditional teacher training establishments, disgruntlement amongst the faculty of same, about not just the notion of a private provider (a standpoint with which I would have some sympathy, as would many others, indeed even the US congress has taken note of the risks of such 'outsourcing' of education when dealing with large profit-seeking companies, such as the Apollo group, that can access state and federal funding) but the very idea that such subjects can be covered online.

In one case, I was asked to give a keynote talk at a conference held in Galway as part of Ireland's European Presidency (2004) and in the questions section afterwards a student from an Education department raised the issue of Hibernia, again not focusing on the private but rather the online dimension. What was frustrating for me was that I felt an empathy for the questioner, but couldn't possibly agree with the contention that this subject, unlike many others, could not be dealt with using online tools. In my immediately previous post prior to coming to Ireland, I had been in a Scottish university which had embarked on a significant project to provide online courses for school-teachers as a partnership with the main teaching union in Scotland (the EIS) and I had been successfully running a module on this programme using online lessons, video, reading lists, reflective journals, 'live' online tutorials and the like.

Evaluations recorded, unsurprisingly, that participants appreciated the flexibility as a practical alternative to traditional classes, but also that they felt that the courses were at an appropriate intellectual depth for postgraduate work (as validated by accreditation and support of the Teaching Council, the university quality frameworks, etc), that they had developed a close relationship with their tutor (despite never meeting face-to-face) and that their journal allowed them scope to reflect on implementing new ideas in their teaching practice.

For me, then, the whole angle of attack centering on supposed limitations of technology and distance education was misjudged and the fact that the traditional education providers (in this country) were not in the forefront of using technologies and supporting the unmet demand from those who couldn't possibly attend full-time classes but yet who had the skills and the passion for teaching, seemed a terrible shame.

Adding to the irony, this was also the time in which Irish higher education institutions were committing to Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, WebCT at that time) and many other disciplines were engaging in expanding distance and blended learning course provision. The numbers and range of such courses has expanded dramatically over the years and there are still plenty of opportunities for continuing professional development programmes. Fortunately, also, most institutional managers now realise that high-quality online education requires resources, not least of which are skilled and committed tutors, and cannot be delivered on the cheap. In my own institution, complete blended or fully-online programmes in Nursing, IT, Irish Studies, Medicine, Business, Biomedical science and a whole host of others are now available and popular amongst students and employers.

As for education and teacher training? Well, Hibernia is now continuing to expand, growing its profits. I know nothing about the courses themselves, the quality of the student experience or the details of the technology used, but they've had 10 years of the market for such provision left to themselves.

Teaching Awards.

2010-11-10T11:27:00.005Z

Yesterday morning, in the shelter of the Coach-house of Dublin Castle, over a hundred people shook off the rain and gathered to celebrate teaching in higher education. The National Teaching Excellence Awards (coordinated by NAIRTL) are an annual event now and although only 5 people are recipients of the prizes and honours they are indicative of the levels of commitment and enthusiasm that are on display every hour of every day in lecture theatres, tutorial classes and laboratories across the country. The convenient (for some politicians and journalists) myth of 'lazy' academics, droning incoherently as they dream of a life of pure research and ignore their students was never more soundly cast aside than by hearing the voices of the students and peers who had nominated these award winners (and indeed the other candidates in both national and local schemes).

Despite the challenges that Bruce Macfarlane draws attention to in a recent paper on the disaggregation or 'unbundling' of academic practice (to which I referred in my short presentation yesterday) -i.e. the increasing difficulty of succeeding in all three original domains of academic practice (viz, teaching, research and contributions to their community)- many of these recipients and their colleagues are examples of those who are bucking such a trend. Although, this is not to deny that the pressures and the developments that Bruce refers to are very real, nor is it meant to imply that such staff have found it easy to juggle these various roles, after all their working hours are excessive and only achievable because of deep wells of energy and the support of family.

For a more sustainable approach we need to look seriously at expectations of institutions and how they distribute their resources. But more than this, we also need to be clear about the ethos or values on which higher education institutions are based. Are we to be driven inexorably towards the rainbow's end of high international league table positions or take a more realistic perspective and recognise the riches that we already possess? Are the needs of our students, our society and our disciplines best met by subsidising multinational publishing empires with our labour, or spinning the latest grant award as a further step towards the curing of all major illness? Or perhaps there's more to be gained in nourishing what we have, in nurturing our local talent and building a solid, sustainable future, taking pride in a reputation gleaned from teaching of the highest quality, integrated with research and scholarship and with a long term vision.

Well done to all of you, winners and contenders. We know you're doing tremendous work, your students know that and hopefully the policy-makers will come to realise such also.

New start

2010-11-08T11:14:00.003Z

Well, it has been a while! Now we've restarted our commitment to blog on HE issues, despite the fact that there is a deluge of postings, comment site and new blogs chattering away about the crisis, or crises hitting our sector across the globe! Our aim though is to select a few issues/items and reflect on them from our own perspective as well as draw your attention to interesting papers and events.

The intention is to post something each week, so let's see how we go. In the meantime thanks for your patience and welcome back!

Culture as a Critical Ingredient in Innovation

2010-07-08T18:00:00.003+01:00

What's the role of culture in innovation? As I hinted in my previous posting on the TEDxGalway event, I firmly believe that we often underplay the importance on place within higher education. Whilst universities understandably struggle to position themselves according to league tables or to government priorities and funding regimes are they in danger of becoming more and more like each other and consequently less and less distinctively representative of their geographical, national and culture contexts? As a student or staff member wandering from lecture theatre to tutorial class how can you tell in which country you are based? Are we in danger of suffering from airport syndrome where all the world looks the same except for the bits beyond the runway and outside the terminal? In our practices and in our courses what distinguishes one from another? Is a Bologna-fied degree in Ulan Bator identical to one in Vienna?

Finbarr Bradley, one of the keynotes at the Symposium touched on similar issues in his lively closing presentation. For international readers the introductory few sentences are in Irish.

Galway- City of Ideas

2010-07-03T11:57:00.005+01:00

I've always believed that one of the areas in which many universities could improve is in greater recognition of the fact that they are essentially cities of ideas. What I mean is that the phrase 'scholarly community' is rarely realised in practice other than within individual academic disciplines. How many staff and students are aware of the interests and work of their colleagues in different disciplines? How many attend seminars and colloquia in different colleges or faculties? That's why I was pleased to attempt a small contribution towards this using the TEDx format recently. Sure, the audience at the event was limited and there were perhaps more people external to the university (also a good thing) than from around the schools and colleges, but the talks have been recorded and are gradually appearing on the TEDx youtube site. As each is viewed and links are passed on the idea is spreading and more and more people are talking to me about events of this nature, the focus on sharing and accessibility of ideas (rather than the traditional long lecture format) and (and this is what I think is important) the sense of celebration of passion and of enjoyment.

See what I mean, perhaps, in these first three to go online:

Louis de Paor, Director of the Centre for Irish Studies, in partnership with Ronan Browne and Naisrin Elsafty.

Lionel Pilkington, Head of the School of Humanities, on 'Performance, Performing and Ireland'

Abhay Pandit, biomedical engineer/scientist on 'Biomimicry' and biomaterials.

Journal of Education Policy- 25th anniversary seminar

2010-06-26T13:33:00.005+01:00

Had a very enjoyable experience in room 828 of the IoE in London on Thursday at the gathering convened to mark the JEP's 25th year of publication with the discussion centred around responses to Andrew Gamble's book 'The Spectre at the Feast: Capitalist Crisis and the Politics of Recession' . Despite the baking heat of central London and a struggling air-conditioning unit, attendance was well worth while and provided if not a feast at least a series of intellectual tapas (less bloating, different flavours and textures, etc) from well-established members of the academic commentariat. Andrew's opening presentation (softly spoken, a challenge against that air-conditioner at times!) gave an overview of the political and economic context, before the others each made their own contributions all on the theme of multiple potential crises: existential, structural, political, and not just economic. The challenges of developing an alternative narrative against the dominant neo-liberal discourse are of course not underestimated, but suggestions regarding the exploration of understandings of 'crisis', of the disconnect from politics or at least the reframing of how political action is manifest, the rhetorics of regulation (particularly in education), the manufacture of public complicity ("how will you take ownership of the cuts you agree we have to make?') and the concept of the 'refraction' of neo-liberal ideas and the variation in responses by different national cultures (with some sad reflection emerging from broad European studies that show a dispirited detachment by English teachers, for example, when questioned about their beliefs about their work reply 'It's just a job, I'm waiting for retirement' contrasted with other countries where the ideas have either not being fully incorporated into national policies or where the local culture disregards policy statements as a matter of course) - these and many more ideas all floated through the room and triggered thoughtful reflection.

A particularly warm welcome was given to 'an accountant' (modest understatement) Pamela Stapleton who had forensically dissected the complexity of PFI in the English school building programme -the corpse laid bare with entrails attached to multinational corporations, shady think tanks, corrupt (only in the moral and not legal sense, you understand, but which counts most to you?) authorities and agencies, consultants and government - an all too illustrative example of the extent to which this fatal disease is eating away at language, logic and society.

Now we just have to wait until the papers themselves are published for the proper feast. As to where the barricades are to be set up, who's prepared to raise the flag first and when the precarious stuctures finally tumble Jenga-like? Ah, those are the eternal questions!

As for the Journal, itself, well going from strength to strength, the publishers have released their top ten downloaded paper list for free access for the rest of the year.

HE Academy conference day 2

2010-06-25T10:21:00.002+01:00

Some interesting sessions on the second day of the conference in a baking hot Hatfield Business Park. I attended presentations on the use of twitter by journalism students to establish professional connections, undertake fact-checking etc. Somewhat inevitably I suppose, the room was full of people staring at screens of various sizes and tapping away on virtual or real keyboards whilst the speaker tried to engage us. His presentation was good but I wonder, whilst twitter has its strengths whether the level of disengagement of the audience is not problematic. Yes, if a presenter is slow and repetitive, there's plenty of scope for taking some 'time out' to broadcast a summary of the main points, but when the speaker is good and attempting to engage with the audience there's a real sense of discourtesy and a likelihood, I would have thought, that the tweets being sent are quick transmissions of a somewhat superficial nature. Discuss.

The panel session, which was recorded and no doubt will appear on the HE Academy website, was interesting. One of the panel didn't show up (Bahram Bekhradnia). I take it there was a particularly serious reason and not as one attendee suggested that he must have got himself in a fankle (good Scots word that) with one of this bow ties . Mike Baker did an excellent job of chairing, but there were some scary comments on the future of the sector from the recently enobled Phil Willis.

Afterwards, yet again, I was in a session in which the presenter failed to turn up, this time from Reading. But subsequent presentations on the Learning Landscapes project and on student engagement in curricular design were excellent and provided considerable food for though, not just at the intellectual level but on a really practical basis and which can be translated into our local context here in Galway.

The conference fizzled out shortly before 3pm as many of the participants headed off to watch the World Cup match and I took that as an opportunity to travel into Central London in advance of my next meeting, the subject of which I'll post about shortly.

Higher Education Academy - Annual conference

2010-06-22T22:44:00.002+01:00

Day 1 at the de Havilland campus of the University of Hertfordshire. The opening keynote was delivered by the VC of Hull, Calie Pretorius, and in keeping with the standard set of talks new VCs seem to be provided with in their leadership training his theme was 'innovate or die'. He did deliver smoothly with anecdotes, analogies and occasional jokes but with little real content of any substance, despite the promising abstract. His slides were well done from a PowerPoint-of-view but curiously had a string of book covers to make his point - all of which were the sort of management trash you pick up at airports, you know the kind of thing 'Think Big not Small - how to outsmart your competitors before they outsmart you'. Clearly he does a lot of travelling. They weren't being used in any sort of ironic sense, sadly. Main message is that universities need to innovate, innovation means not just having ideas but delivering them (in fact in his presentation he extolled the virtue of stealing ideas from others and exploiting them - something that the concurrent conference on Plagiarism shouldn't hear about!), and we need to continually change, continually adapt, faster and faster (analogy of zebra on motorbike keeping ahead of a lion got a laugh from some of the audience and an inner scream from others). Anyway, his slides were quickly popped online by the Academy, but you had to be there...

The conference then broke into parallel sessions and when you see it fork into up to 13 simultaneous presentations, then you realise there has to be a better way. Many of the talks were related to one another but in direct competition for an audience. I know the numbers of participants are large, but it would be nice if perhaps talks could be shorter, clustered under a theme and then given scope for discussion. It might mean stricter selection or perhaps a more innovative (see I did learn) approach might be to showcase lots of the interesting practical work people are doing in something like a Pecha Kucha (20x20) session followed by panel discussion?

Anyway, the speaker for the session I (and a relatively big crowd of others) picked didn't turn up, despite being from Hertfordshire itself. No show, no explanation, so we all slowly filtered away.

The afternoon sessions I attended were very good. One by Elisabeth Dunne of Exeter University talking about some great work she has done with students as change agents in teaching and learning (really impressive scale of activity). After that Paul Kleiman spoke about some intensive discussion/focus group type analysis of HE from student perspectives centred around an awayday session. It was good, in both cases, to hear of student active engagement and indeed a real desire for such. We also heard that students really resent being treated as (and in some cases labelled as) 'customers'. (So if you want to cheese off not just your academic staff, but also your students, keep mentioning 'customer.')

The dinner was preceded by awards to students from the various subject centres and the dinner itself was the setting for national volunteering awards.

That's it. I could say more, but probably shouldn't. Hopefully an update tomorrow provided internet access available wherever I'll be en route to the Journal of Education Policy 25th anniversary meeting.

Creative Thinking - Doctors can Dance

2010-06-17T21:00:00.003+01:00

I'm delighted to say that the videos from the Galway Symposium 2010 and TEDxGalway are beginning to appear off the production line and as they do so, we'll link to them here as per our annual tradition.

The first recording is the keynote given on Friday morning by Anna Newell who has worked in Queen's Belfast in the Centre for Excellence in the Creative and Performing Arts (NI). Anna collaborated with Melissa McCullough in Medical Education on a fascinating project that brought together medical and drama students and explored issues in medical ethics, in this first case that of body donation. The performance they developed was called 'Dead Man Talking.'

Re-thinking Universities? ideas still being sought

2010-06-16T19:42:00.009+01:00

I attended the DCU/ASU conference on Re-thinking the University the other day and found it an interesting experience. I should first point out that I'm pleased that Ferdinand organised and hosted this event in an attempt to bring to a head some of the issues pertaining, in particular, to the remit of the Strategic Review of Higher Education. It's only a pity that the publication of this review has been so delayed that it wasn't available in time for this event and that also constrained what the review group's chairman, Colin Hunt could say. Similarly, it means there is still considerable uncertainty and a certain sense of trepidation within the sector.

Inviting a distinguished group of presenters, such as were listed on the programme, however still promised to lead to some interesting perspectives and discussion and a group of us from Galway travelled over to participate.

The first main keynote presentation was by Michael Crow, the President of Arizona State University (ASU) and I have to confess that his style clashed somewhat with my (perhaps over-wraught) sense of empathy for academic staff and that clouded my first impressions of him. Clearly he has achieved a lot, clearly he has significantly reshaped that institution and in times of financial stress it is always relevant to hear how others have adapted to harsher climates. The problem was, for me, in the tone and in the throw-away examples or remarks which I suspect would not have gone down terribly well with many academic staff not involved in institutional management. In retrospect of course one can see the point he might have been trying to make about the lack of flexibility and imagination as well as the intransigence of many traditional academic structures, but the approach sounded too much like a berating of 'academics' themselves rather than the structures and institutional cultures within which they are situated. Furthermore, he didn't detail the financial and policy environment of the university particularly but rather talked about closing down departments, sacking staff, etc, in a manner which was too offhand for those of us who spend a lot of time dealing with overworked colleagues many of whom are under considerable stress and despite which have deep commitment to their students and their institution. Yes, it is possible to recognise that not all staff in any organisation are putting in their full effort, but it is not recognised enough just quite how many are contributing way in excess of what would be a typical workload outside the sector. Contracts, the individual private negotiation of salary levels, uncertainty over long term prospects and the reshaping of research priorities might well be visions of a possible future for Ireland, but other futures are possible of course and the lack of a counter-balance was a shame. It would have been fascinating, for example, to have paired Michael with Kathleen Lynch for example. Then both sets of approaches would be contrasted and challenge one another, somewhat robust debate would no doubt have ensued and it is often from a clash of ideas and perspectives that new ideas can emerge.

Of course the fact that he used 'cosmologists' in his examples of not particularly 'use-inspired' research had no bearing on my opinion- it is after all many years since I worked in that field. ;-)

Most of the other presentations (with perhaps one particular exception) were relatively less provocative, though a common thread of support for fees was pretty evident throughout the day. Tom Boland spoke of his own views on the issues facing Irish Higher Education, echoing some of his earlier words in recent meetings. Colin Hunt spoke of some of the topics which the strategy group have been considering, raising questions about the number of providers in the sector, workload models, funding, etc. Though of course he avoided revealing in advance any of the recommendations emerging from the process and so we are still none the wiser on that level of detail.

Colm Harmon gave a clear and well structured presentation (using his new iPad) on some of the economic aspects of the current situation in Irish Higher Education and outlined some of the flawed thinking in recent public debate. At one point whilst elaborating on a potential combination of fees plus various bursaries for students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds he did imply that such could achieve similar outcomes to a fully progressive tax system ensuring that the poor were supported and the rich paid proportionately - this of course begging the question as to why the argument then shouldn't be for this progressive taxation structure in the first place. But, then that's politics...

Bill Harris, previously of SFI now with SF Arizona, gave an interesting personal perspective on how far Ireland has come in terms of research and held out hope for the future. His tone was slightly in the vein of a motivational speaker and there was a lot of focus on a recurring phrase of 'use-inspired research' since clearly people feel this has more cachet than 'applied research'.

John Hegarty spoke of the importance of the idea of the 'community of scholars' and illustrated how arts and technology are being brought together in an initiative focusing on aspects of performance and the creative media in work at TCD.

Debra Friedman, VP of ASU spoke of links with community, but again perhaps suffered from the trans-Atlantic translation deficit in which different presentation styles and nuances of terminology may cause some difficulty. Taking an example of a hispanic student from a faith-based organisation and working with him and eventually in partnership with the organisation was her narrative thread to outline their involvement with city districts and communities. Quite a different social landscape from that in Ireland of course, certainly also when one considers that the City of Phoenix gave the university over $200million to set up a city centre building/campus. Clearly, though the university still has some considerable work to do if their hispanic student population is as disproportionately low as she implied.

Other presenters included an offering from Graham May, a futurologist, who just said that the education system is an industrial model and needs to be changed - a point made many times by many speakers over the past several (at least) years, ironically. The spokesperson from IBEC argued that universities needed to meet the needs of business and that industry should have a role in determining course content and structure.

Prof. Sir Alan Wilson of UCL and the AHRC in England gave an interesting, brief talk initially about complexity of organisations with nice mentions of Boltzmann, entropy and other concepts that would appeal to the odd physicist in the audience (there were at least four of us, and I don't mean 'odd' in that sense!), but was a bit like a synopsis of a higher education management tutorial. There was a hint of inconsistency when asked to come up with an example of a university which perhaps was doing well in his terms he mentioned his own which has a 'fairly chaotic' structure.

The final presentation was by Steven Conlon a student who launched a bit of a diatribe against student leaders and representatives in Ireland, criticised those who were leaving the country to seek employment, argued for fees and for the abolition of the minimum wage. He also promoted the idea that tutorials in university should be given by unemployed graduates who would be required to work for their benefits (yes, he did use the word 'volunteer'). Bit of a far cry from the students of ‘68 perhaps.

So, all in all an interesting day and worth attending, but not necessarily if one was seeking to be heartened or enthused about future prospects. There was a lack of opportunity for discussion throughout, with a tight timescale, and the final session curiously was a breakfast panel the next day at 7:30-9:30 am. I'm not sure how many attended that particular slot, but would have been interesting to see how this late '80s early '90s corporate technique translated into HE.

Go raibh maith agaibh

2010-06-12T19:56:00.005+01:00

Phew!! That was an epic few days at the Symposium and TEDxGalway, but hopefully really enjoyable and stimulating for those in attendance. I got a huge buzz out of it and am now in recovery mode. Thanks to all the team here for organising and running the show(s) on both days. Specifically, Michelle, Sharon, Kelly, Aurélie, Fiona, Paul, Gráinne, Pat, Kevin, Bernie, Mary and the support team at the events including Owen, Steve, James and the gang.

Photos available at:

(1) Symposium http://www.flickr.com/photos/celt/

(2) TEDxGalway http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxgalway/

Week of the Symposium

2010-06-07T16:44:00.003+01:00

It might be raining in Galway at the moment, but that's just because it's a bank holiday Monday! The sun is predicted to reappear as the 8th Galway Symposium on Higher Education begins on Thursday. This event sees an action-packed programme of keynotes, workshops and, importantly, huddled chattering on the stairs, in the foyer, bar and restaurant. Over 200 participants have registered, filling the venue and using up all the conference packs we could muster. Great to see such interest and I hope that all will find it worthwhile. We have a fascinating mix of speakers from near and far, with visual artists, theatre producers, business consultants, educational researchers and psychologists adding to the academic milieu.

On Thursday evening, once again the Symposium dinner is in honour of those colleagues who have been nominated for the President's Award for Teaching Excellence and we are delighted that so many have accepted our invitation.

We've tried to introduce a number of moderately innovative approaches this year with, for example, more Pecha Kucha (20 slides x 20 seconds) and an 'unconference', which is basically a room set aside for self-organised discussions based around some key questions on the theme of creativity. The keynotes will be recorded both in video and by means of our 'visual scribe'. An 'ideas board' will start off blank - but we expect it to fill as the days progress! And we'll be using the latest of technologies to beam in live discussion from across the Atlantic.

So, if you've booked your ticket, come along and join in and if you haven't, don't worry, we'll let you know how things went via this blog.

Oh, and by the way, whilst we were organising the symposium we also decided to host TEDxGalway (http://www.tedxgalway.ie) on the Friday afternoon!

Time is ticking....

Humboldt and Bologna: two great European ideas?

2010-05-26T13:13:00.002+01:00

The latest issue of the journal Higher Education Policy explores the relationship between what the editors call 'two great European ideas': Bologna and Humboldt. If you are interested in the papers, they have been made available for free online by the publishers during the month of May. Available here:

Higher Education Policy (2010) Vol. 23 Issue 2.

You will see there is a modest contribution to this volume from CELT (Frolich, Coate et al). It has been a challenge to think about the Irish context in relation to both Bologna and Humboldt. In many countries in Europe it is becoming clearer that the Bologna process is being used as a form of leverage for quite radical reforms in higher education systems. In Ireland it seems to be mainly associated with issues to do with teaching and learning rather than changes in, for example, the way universities are funded. And I'm not sure whether Irish academics on the whole would feel that Bologna is a 'great European idea', so it is fascinating to see it linked to Humboldt in this way.

conversations

2010-05-25T23:51:00.002+01:00

Now that Ning has gone all fee-paying and google wave has opened to the public, guess which platform has been suggested for conference related discussions? Yup, you can find it starting on the wave entitled "Creative Thinking - re-imagining the university". See if you can find it and feel free to join in, it's an empty canvas, fill it!

Spinning plates

2010-05-18T18:57:00.002+01:00

I know, I know...the more you try to do at the same time, the greater the chance things go awry, but what the heck.... Not only will our Symposium be running on June 10th and 11th (and many thanks to all those who have registered - great to see such interest) but as soon as it ends, the same venue is transformed for a different manifestation of creativity - the first ever TEDxGalway. Long promised, postponed, rescheduled, it finally is happening as a first attempt on the afternoon of Friday 11th June between 2:00pm and 6:00pm. So, if you are around in Galway at the time and want to join in the fun, feel free to sign up. According to the requirements of our licence, though we can only provide tickets for 100 people, so book now!

Online event registration for TEDxGalway

Autonomy, accountability and neoliberal subjects

2010-05-04T13:41:00.004+01:00

Ferdinand von Prondzynski has sparked a lively debate on his blog here and here which I have enjoyed following. The crux of the matter is whether academic life and its intellectual pursuits are being eroded by the managers who wish to ensure that academics can justify how they spend their time. Is it really the case, as some seem to suggest, that the 'bean counters' have taken over the establishment and have imposed an unprecedented system of accountability and control which has destroyed the capability of academics to pursue knowledge autonomously?

While Ferdinand points to the important work of Mary Henkel on autonomy and accountability, there is a more recent article by Louise Archer in the Journal of Education Policy which sheds light on the different perspectives between generations of academics. Titled 'The new neoliberal subject?', she interviewed younger academics who started their careers in UK universities where, as we know, the neoliberal agenda has become fully entrenched (unlike in Ireland, where it seems to be creeping in quite tentatively in comparison). Archer suggests that younger academics understand the 'game' they are meant to play, and even enjoy certain aspects of it. They are also able to remain critical of those aspects of managerialism which can damage morale and which they find pernicious. Archer remains cautiously positive that enough spaces for critical resistance are possible so that academics can negotiate the contradictions of 'doing neoliberalism' without 'becoming neoliberal' in the process.

An older generation of academics managed to escape these contraditions and it is understandable why many of them lament the changes. But it seems important to point out that for new academics, the rules have changed and therefore the challenges are different.

Louise Archer (2008) The new neoliberal subjects? Journal of Education Policy 23(3).

missing voice?

2010-04-09T08:41:00.004+01:00

Duna Sabri has a fascinating paper in the latest edition of the Journal of Education Policy, which probes the role of (or, rather, lack thereof) academics in the developing policy discourse in higher education in England. In particular, the paper demonstrates (on the basis of interviews and document analysis) that there has been a move towards 'genericism' whereby academics are conceived of as 'practitioners' and who require training in their role in delivering teaching in order to provide a high quality 'student learning experience'. The notion of the 'academic' as a role is undermined.

"The effect is to deny any special features of being an academic, an expert in a discipline or cross-disciplinary field, a researcher and a teacher."

Combined with the increasing assumption that students are either consumers or 'technical learners,' policy is being developed in the absence of a voice for academics and there is little sympathy for the historical notion of 'professing' one's subject (in the sense of making 'explicit one's beliefs and to leave it to others to critique them').

The author though also raises a question about some other studies of academics' sense of identity that are based on interview which may often read as ' attempts to perpetuate a sense of affinity and shared values within an imagined community.' So, plenty of food for thought and topics for discussion in the context (perhaps) of our Symposium.

Reference:

Duna Sabri* , "Absence of the academic from higher education policy", Journal of Education Policy, Vol. 25, No. 2, March 2010, 191–205

What should everyone know?

2010-03-29T22:33:00.006+01:00

The RSA recently asked a bunch of famous folk and others hanging around in their building in London what they think 'everyone should know' and should be included in a common curriculum. What do you think?

SRHE Policy Network Meeting

2010-03-25T12:59:00.011Z

Yesterday I attended an event organized by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) in London. The topic was 'Higher Education in Recessionary Times' and the format of the day was that a panel of speakers made brief presentations, the audience broke into small group discussions, and then questions were fed back to the panel in a plenary session. This process worked particularly well and the quality of the discussion was very good. I'll just provide a few points that were made by each speaker.

Professor Mary Evans from the LSE (you can watch her giving a keynote at a CELT conference here) argued that the recession will be experienced differently by different institutions. Some universities are well resourced and will ride out the recession, whereas others will be pushed into concentrating on providing 'value' for the economy which may be difficult to undo in future years.

Professor Louise Morley, director of CHEER at the University of Sussex, talked about the shift in blame from the private to the public sector and the narrative of underperformance which is currently bombarding those of us in universities. She asked us to do some creative imagining of the universities of the future (nicely linking in with the theme of our upcoming CELT Symposium) in order to change some of the 'tired' discourses that are circulating around the problems in higher education.

Wes Streeting, the President of the National Union of Students, noted that there are many different (and sometimes contradictory) voices speaking up for HE at the moment, and he called for a more united front between some of the organizations which speak on behalf of universities.

Finally, Professor Sir David Watson from the Institute of Education, London, remarked that although universities in the UK have enjoyed a relatively large amount of academic freedom, they had been suffering lately from a spell of 'initiative-itis' during which time they were busy responding to a range of initiatives with earmarked funding. He wondered whether there might be even greater autonomy of universities when the recession is over, or perhaps when the problems in higher education are seen by the government as too hard to solve.

Some lively discussions took place afterward, particularly when someone asked whether, if there is a crisis in higher education, the 'blame' should rest squarely on the managers of universities. The divided opinion in the room was rather evident at that point. There were some key questions raised during the day which would be usefully aired in a similar forum in Ireland. Let's hope we have provocative discussions around some of these issues here in Galway in June.

Seasonal shift

2010-03-20T10:53:00.004Z

Now with the passing of the vernal equinox, the daylight hours begin their stretch and the sun shines more kindly on the land, with flowers budding, leaves re-covering the trees, growth, hope and optimism building towards the peak on June 10th and 11th - the Creativity Solstice where at 9am the rays of the sun shine directly through the open doorway of Aras Moyola here in the west of Ireland, a place of pilgrimage and inspiration since 2003 when the faithful first gathered to.....OK, enough of that! You get the picture, I'm sure. Progress towards the symposium moves up a gear with the review and selection of submitted abstracts, the finalisation of the programme and the launch of our podcast series and pre-event discussions later this coming week.

In the meantime, enjoy the equinox, clear all that winter fug from your brain and get those neurons ready to fire like crazy in June.

Publication

2010-01-29T08:17:00.005Z

The latest edition of Arts & Humanities in Higher Education is a special edition containing a number of papers by keynote speakers at the 2008 Galway Symposium. These papers were developed from their presentations. It's great to see that we can share our discussions and debates with a wider audience and in such a fascinating journal.

Kelly Coate: Forum Critical Thinking: Symposium on the Future of Universities: Introduction
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 2010 9: 9-12. [PDF] [References] [Request Permission]

Mary Evans: The Universities and the Challenge of Realism
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 2010 9: 13-21. [Abstract] [PDF] [References] [Request Permission]

Michael Shattock: Managing Mass Higher Education in a Period of Austerity
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 2010 9: 22-30. [Abstract] [PDF] [References] [Request Permission]

Ronaldo Munck: Civic Engagement and Global Citizenship in a University Context: Core business or desirable add-on?
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 2010 9: 31-41. [Abstract] [PDF] [References] [Request Permission]

Alison Phipps: Drawing Breath: Creative elements and their exile from higher education
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 2010 9: 42-53. [Abstract] [PDF] [References] [Request Permission]

Kathleen Lynch: Carelessness: A hidden doxa of higher education
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 2010 9: 54-67. [Abstract] [PDF] [References] [Request Permission]

discuss, debate, pontificate

2010-01-22T08:32:00.002Z

If you would like to discuss aspects of creativity in education then feel free to sign-up for our new ning-based social network and start posting!

Galway Symposium - First call for papers

2010-01-19T10:48:00.000Z

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the 8th Galway Symposium on Higher Education which will be held on the 10th and 11th June, 2010. This year’s theme is “Creativity in Higher Education” and our conception is broad, encompassing creative approaches to teaching, curricular design and the nurturing of students’ creativity. Our notion of creativity is not one which is just concerned with what are traditionally known as the ‘creative arts,’ but rather creativity in its many forms across the sciences, engineering, arts, humanities, medicine, social sciences and commerce.

We have an exciting line-up of keynote speakers and workshop facilitators from the US, UK and Ireland and will be in a position to confirm the final listing in the coming weeks. In the meantime we would like to invite submissions of papers, posters or other forms of presentation. In addition, suggestions of workshops or other facilitated sessions are also welcome. Given the theme of the event, we are also open to innovative approaches to presentations, provided of course, such address relevant topics and are appropriate to the participants (academic and support staff in higher education).

Topics for submissions may include:

· novel approaches to curricular design

· constraints and opportunities in developing new curricula and structures

· innovative approaches to teaching and the fostering of active learning

· the role of creativity in teaching, learning and research

· nurturing creativity in students

· imaginative approaches to the student learning experience

· creativity myths and reality

For those who want to tell their story or present a paper in an innovative and fun way we will also be organising a ‘Pecha-Kucha’ style session. In this, presenters are allowed 20 slides, each of which displays for only 20 seconds. Presenting in this way can be particularly effective, ensures a large number of contributions and presents a challenge to authors to come up with imaginative and attention grabbing images or designs. Practice is essential though because the timing is automated! However, those who have participate in such sessions in the past have found them to be very enjoyable and there is a camaraderie shared with the others in the session. So if you want to be bold, please consider also this option!

Registration and further details regarding the event are at:

http://creativegalway.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn

You can submit your proposal online at

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFRXUHVLMmxMVlpBcnFEc1JrX2JnTUE6MA

stirrings

2010-01-15T18:41:00.003Z

The Registrar at Warwick University has a piece in the Times Higher arguing for the universities to stand up for themselves in the face of HEFCE and government attempts to micromanage as well as the recently announced cutbacks. One commenter raises the point that after years of compliance with the RAE and the QAA it seems a bit late in the day to start opposing the natural continuation of this ethos. However, there is a sense certainly in the author's tone, combined with other recent statements that things have of late gone too far. Even those who have been championing the whole compliance culture, restructuring, the imposition of 'new managerialism', etc, are beginning to balk at what's happening.

One problem is that its not clear how much public sympathy there is for a sector which has not just supported the imposition of fees but pushed and pushed for them to be increased whilst at the same time producing more and more graduates with firsts and upper seconds, something on which Jon Baldwin comments in his article (albeit from the perspective of student expectations rather than institutional practice). If the sector is to start shaping its own future it needs to be prepared for the backlash from politicians and the press as well as developing a coherent plan that is based on principles that are convincing and just. But its certainly good to see debate taking place.

Twitter and the Higher

2010-01-11T13:55:00.009Z

You know how everyone says that you shouldn't post anything online that you would not want to see published in a national newspaper? Well, I do try to keep that handy advice in mind, but it works both ways. There are times when you might want to post something online in order to get it into the papers.

Last week, a short article appeared in the Times Higher which was the result of a conversation on Twitter. The conversation occurred during a paper session at the Society for Research on Higher Education's annual conference in December. Professor Leathwood was presenting a paper in which she showed examples of photographs used by the Times Higher to illustrate their stories. She effectively argued that photographs of young, pretty, female students are more noticeable than pictures of academic women looking authoritative and, well, academic.

A very lively discussion ensued in which the audience members largely agreed that the Times Higher might pay more attention to how they portray women (especially after they published that awful piece on 'Lust' by Terence Kealey). During this discussion I sent a 'tweet' to the Times Higher, knowing that they are keen Twitter users and would be interested to hear that we were discussing them. They engaged in a brief conversation with me and as this all occurred during the paper session I was able to feed back to the audience their comments.

Much laughter was generated by the following tweet from @timeshighered:

@kellycoate: can you tell us what you think a serious authoritative academic woman looks like? The editor is happy to give you comments

It was fun engaging with the paper this way (and fortunate that they were game) but it also helped attune many conference attendees to the potential uses of Twitter. Two of the audience members in the session were keynote speakers at the conference, and they were sufficiently impressed to mention the tweeting as a highlight of the conference during a final panel session. I had been hoping that the resulting article would at least mention the Twitter conversation, but maybe the Times Higher is saving that for their big feature story on the uses of Twitter in academic conferences. I must just go tweet @timeshighered my ideas for that story . . .

Future of higher education in England

2009-12-24T10:20:00.004Z

A debate is raging in the newspapers, blogs and the twittersphere over in the UK about Peter Mandelson's sneaky tactic of announcing surprise extra budget cuts to English universities in a letter sent just before Christmas. The cuts are added on top of already signaled reduction in funds for research and fines for universities who over-enrolled on their programmes. Also mentioned in the letter, however, are a number of points which have even greater significance than the reduced funding levels. The suggestion that degrees could be accelerated from the already short 3 years of a typical English degree to only 2, using summer periods for example, has raised its head again. In addition, institutions have been told to respond to the cuts by reallocating resources towards subjects which have direct relevance to economic needs.

Of course much of this flies in the face of Bologna and is bound, if carried out, to reduce the international standing of English HE, providing opportunities to other countries (Scotland, Ireland?) perhaps to attract foreign students. However, the picture is likely to be a mixed one, with elite and older institutions no doubt retaining their structures but many of the less well-endowed newer institutions turning towards such training-oriented programmes. Of course the question then is what is a degree and why should quite different sets of experiences have the same designation?

In Mandelson's world, some commenters argue, there will be a separation in opportunity and provision based on socio-economic class in that those from less advantaged backgrounds will be steered towards the cheaper local institutions to take 'degrees' that are essentially employment skills training, despite the fact that unemployment is likely to remain high, and paying for the privilege through fees. For others, the issue of whether the name 'university' is appropriate in such circumstances and whether a return to 'polytechnic' is on the cards.

Fascinating discussions, unfortunately however not being discussed in the abstract but in the cold reality of cutbacks. Those university leaders who championed stronger links between universities and the government department which deals with business have now got their Christmas present, unfortunately for them its worth considerably less than they had hoped.

Links

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=409707&c=2

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=409705&c=2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/23/academics-vice-chancellors-universities-mandelson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/dec/22/fast-track-degrees

taking shape

2009-12-22T10:45:00.003Z

Just as the midwinter sun broke through the icy sky and shone deep within Newgrange (no, I'm not a 'new-ager' just an ex-astronomer!) confirmations started to trickle in for conference keynotes and facilitators. It's beginning to look quite interesting with a number of well-known names in the field of creativity research and some interesting practical sessions being lined up, since, as you know, we also like to explore the reality of practice in higher education as well as the more profound philosophical issues!

ペチャクチャ Chit-Chat

2009-12-20T15:11:00.006Z

One of the problems with any conference, is trying to manage the numbers of submissions for presentations which tend to pour in. It's always difficult to find enough space in the programme to allow many voices to be heard without spawning multiple parallel threads. One way of at least partially overcoming this, and of injecting a little more fun and 'performance' into the proceedings is to use one of the popular short format presentation styles such as 'Pecha Kucha' or 'ignite' (or I guess the longer 18 minute TED style). What's weird about many of these is the way that they have been trademarked by publishers and other organisations - nothing it would seem these days is immune from commodification and IPR! This is despite the fact that similar activities have long been used in various research and business communities. Anyway, that notwithstanding, we'll probably adopt a pecha-kucha or 5-minute marathon style for some parts of our Symposium to spark a bit of imagination amongst presenters about how to get their message across convincingly and in a more entertaining style than is typical of many traditional academic conferences.

The Galway Symposium 2010

2009-12-19T20:37:00.002Z

Well, time is marching on and we're beginning to make progress in the organisation of the next Galway Symposium on Higher Education, scheduled for June 10th and 11th. The official design, poster and call for submissions aren't quite ready yet, but should be released in January. In the meantime this blog will gradually change its focus towards the key themes and topics that we will be addressing at the event: creativity, imagination, innovation and new approaches to curriculum and learning.

Registration and abstract submission for those who are keen are available here using the eventbrite online booking system.

And now for the photo . . .

2009-11-26T12:07:00.003Z

Following on from the last post, a very nice picture of Dr Aisling McCluskey receiving her National Teaching Excellence Award from President Mary McAleese is now featured on the NUIG website.

Recent NAIRTL Events

2009-11-17T11:54:00.004Z

It's been a busy time for NAIRTL, the National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning. Last week, the NAIRTL annual conference was held at Trinity College Dublin. Quite a few of us traveled from NUIG to be there, including Professor Nicholas Canny who can be seen here participating in an excellent panel discussion amongst the major research funding agencies in Ireland. It was very encouraging to see the research funding agencies so well represented at a conference mainly devoted to teaching, and they all provided valuable insights into the ways in which each organisation views and promotes the integration of research and teaching activities.

On Weds 18 Nov, the NAIRTL National Teaching Excellence Awards will be presented to the winners by President Mary McAleese at a special event in Dublin Castle. We would like to congratulate all of the award winners, but especially our own Dr Aisling McCluskey from NUIG's School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics. Well done and please bring us back some photos to put up on our blog after the event!

Publishing and Open Access

2009-10-21T11:57:00.002+01:00

CELT hosted an informative seminar this week on Open Access publishing, facilitated by the research support staff from the library. The seminar focused on the development of ARAN, NUI Galway's open access repository. More universities are developing these types of repositories in order to facilitate access to the publications of academic staff, and it seems as though many publishers and funding bodies are in favour of them.

The main reason that they are seen as a good idea by everyone (and not just those in favour of open access on principle) is that they increase citation counts. Citations are of course fast becoming the key performance indicator for academic researchers. Some of you who work in fields where publishing manuscripts or books used to be the more traditional route through an academic career may well be wondering whether it is time to stop writing books and start publishing journal articles. This is the topic of a discussion happening now on the THE website and it is worth a look if you are interested in this question.

Academic Workloads

2009-09-30T14:42:00.003+01:00

I've been watching a debate hot up on the THE website in response to an article about academic workloads. The research for the article suggests that academics' working hours (in the UK, where the study was done) have remained fairly stable over the past few decades, averaging about 55 hours per week. What has changed is the proportion of administrative duties that academics undertake (up now to just over 30% of their workload).

These findings are interesting and are certainly generating much discussion on the website. What is somewhat depressing is to see the old chestnut of the administrative/academic divide generating some sarcastic comments again. There is obviously distrust on both sides with some academics suggesting that an unnecessary layer of middle management is causing the burden, while others are taking pot shots at academics as whinging skivers. You would think there would be some way to help bridge this perception gap.

from the papers

2009-09-20T11:54:00.002+01:00

Iain Macwhirter, Rector of Edinburgh University, highlights the need to keep firm on free higher education.

NUI Galway is this year's Irish University of the Year.

Clear your desk and head for the airport.

2009-09-19T18:44:00.009+01:00

Ok, it has been quite some time since we posted here. This is in part a reflection of the frenzied activity that takes place in universities in late August/early September, wrapping up the newly ended academic year, supervising and marking projects, rushing to complete research commitments, upgrading facilities, hosting summer-schools and conferences and then the final burst to get ready for a new cohort of thousands of new students in September. Date-wise of course it coincides with politicians' holidays and so it permits the continued persistence of the long-summer-vacation myth of the ivory tower. Not all of us have the contractual conditions of parliamentarians or some others, but despite the pressures we do the work, and often in blatant disregard for the European working directive (particularly when the new semester kicks in).

For some though, this particular new academic year marks a devastating period in their professional lives as with contracts due for renewal, the public sector moratorium tramples on their hopes, disregards their experience, their productivity and their talent and brutally casts them aside to join the ranks of the unemployed and the world of mortgage arrears. Its scattergun approach across the whole sector shows a complete lack of foresight, strategy and logic. The 'smart economy' is unlikely to be built on dumb decisions.

This may sound like a somewhat bitter posting, but its high time someone acknowledged the work of contract staff and their situation puts in perspective some of the fretting of those of in permanent posts about relatively minor issues (as frequently voiced at academic meetings and elsewhere), with the scale and impact of the recruitment freeze perhaps not yet fully appreciated.

If only it was in our power to do something about the situation. Of course there is talk that the moratorium may be challenged given that it is counter to the 1997 Universities' Act in denying autonomy to the institutions, but whether such will have any real traction remains to be seen.

In the bleak midwinter..oh no hang on it's summer...

2009-08-13T20:04:00.003+01:00

As the recruitment moratorium begins to bite in Irish Higher Education, with no new contracts allowed and potential staffing shortfalls in academic and support posts looming; the news from across the water in the UK (particularly England in the devolved structures) is also gloomy. The recent edition of the Times Higher warns of impending bankruptcy of some institutions as well as detailing the crassness of someone's approach to dealing with staff dismissals at Imperial College.

Mad Genius or Bad Science

2009-07-29T19:28:00.006+01:00

As we build up towards next June's Symposium we'll be running a number of occasional posts on the theme of 'creativity'. To kick the series off, where better to start than with one of the most prevalent myths, that of the "mad genius"?

In a paper published in May's edition of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, Judith Schlesinger (psychologist and Jazz afficionado - there seems to be a distinct subgroup of such people) exposes the weaknesses of this idea by tracing back recurring references to their original source. It's a well written and biting piece and shows the real dangers of using secondary references/sources with some extremely dodgy original material becoming cited widely with little question. Perhaps because it fits our stereotype of creativity and genius (as Keith Sawyer emphasises in his book "Explaining Creativity") the citation has just been copied into a wide range of subsequent publications with no critical review.

It is certainly worth reading Schlesinger's article just to get a feel for how extraordinarily bad the original 'evidence' actually is: trying to diagnose mental health based on newspaper obituaries; noting in diary entries that a great composer sometimes seems a bit low and yet other times happy; having conversations with writers at a country retreat and discovering that someone in their family had a mental health issue! Oh and lovely statistics such as an effect being demonstrated by 12.5% of the sample and in case that number rings an alarm bell, yes it really did correspond to a single person out of a group of only eight that were interviewed.

This is the kind of work that would be a field day for Ben Goldacre in his crusade against 'bad science'.

Irish HE funding crisis - reported in THE

2009-07-23T09:55:00.001+01:00

The Times Higher this week has a brief item about the situation in the Irish HE sector. One of those rare forays across the water but great to see the issues being brought to a wider audience.

so that's why I'm not a Judge or Major General

2009-07-21T19:29:00.005+01:00

The BBC and Guardian are reporting on Alan Milburn's new report on class division and access to the "higher" professions in England and Wales. The fact that the social division in Britain is now greater than when Labour first came to power raises the question as to whether we can really expect them to tackle the issue effectively now. There is much talk of universities being required to commit more effort to widening access, etc. When reports like this come out, I'm always tempted to think back on my own experience (I know, anecdotal!) and wonder to what extent such proposals would actually have had any influence on my wider peer group. I came from what today would be called a "socio-economically disadvantaged" group in the Glasgow area with noone else in my family having had experience of higher education. Certainly, one of the key factors that even made contemplation of university a possibility was the grants system, but some of the biggest obstacles I faced in terms of attainment and success were encountered at secondary school level where teachers had low expectations for people from my background but encouraged those from wealthier areas. We had a comprehensive state system with pupils from mixed backgrounds, which I also believe was important since I was at least exposed to people for whom higher education was a presumed entitlement, even if teachers didnt presume it was a legitimate aspiration for some of us.

Many teachers tried to steer me and others into seeing working in the local rocket factory (honest!) as being a worthy ultimate goal. Concentrate on science and you'll get an apprenticeship molding solid fuel tubes for missiles! When I did my exams and scored highly I remember my registration teacher being bemused and somewhat flustered about someone in that group looking for university application forms. Careers offices, teachers and the Rector (headmaster) all worked hard to limit our ambitions as best they could and sadly I let them all down by studying hard and moving to Edinburgh where despite it being overwhelming middle (and upper!) class, not a single lecturer ever made any comment about class or background - so long as you enthused as much as they did about quantum mechanics, general relativity and star formation you were in!

graduate (un)employment

2009-07-20T09:37:00.002+01:00

At the weekend it was reported that the latest graduate employment statistics for England make some grim reading, despite the fact that the figures pertain to the period just before the current economic slump. Only 61% of graduates were in employment six months after graduation according to figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Meanwhile, other papers also predict that up to 40,000 of this summer's graduates will be jobless. The graduate salary advantage that has been used so often in the past to justify fees is beginning to look somewhat tarnished.

summer breeze

2009-07-17T14:20:00.002+01:00

Once again the Galway Arts Festival is underway and there's a pleasant summer's breeze with dappled sunshine across the city - all in stark contrast to the hovering clouds of the Bord Snip Nua report that many are still digesting. For those on contracts up for renewal the "Employment Control Framework" is also adding to the uncertainty - peer-reviewed high-impact journal papers, patents and research grants one month, dole the next - not exactly the knowledge economy we were all promised. But then things could be worse...

Or will the soothing rays on the beaches of Europe (or the gentle rain of Donegal?) ease away the pain and inspire more creative responses that dare to imagine an Ireland in recovery, a country with the fleetness of foot, social cohesion and sense of common purpose that all small nations have the potential to possess? Let's see what mood our political leadership is in when it returns from its long holidays while the rest of us keep things ticking over in their absence.

Suggested cuts in the Public Sector

2009-07-16T17:09:00.003+01:00

Well, as everyone will know by now, An Bord Snip Nua, has published its report indicating a range of suggestions to cut government spending. For the higher education sector the details are spelled out in pages 63-71 of Volume II. Key points include mergers, abolition of PRTLI V and job cuts. Volume 1 and Volume II are downloadable for all to see.

CELT in Paris

2009-07-16T08:17:00.002+01:00

The Times Higher has been reporting on the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education which took place last week in Paris. One of the many interns supporting this conference was our very own PhD student, Aurélie Boulos.

Her infrequent missives from inside UNESCO headquarters gave us a small insight into the mammoth task of organizing a global conference at such a high level. We will look forward to hearing more about it when she returns to Galway. In the meantime, we feel comforted by the fact that she is now well-placed to help us organize next year's Galway Symposium on creativity in higher education (also the topic of her PhD thesis).

Keynote lectures

2009-06-24T17:43:00.001+01:00

Thanks to Gráinne's hard work behind the scenes, the recordings of the keynote presentations at the Symposium are now becoming available online. You can access each of them at our public webcast page.

Congratulations!

2009-06-16T20:38:00.004+01:00

Just a little interruption to the Symposium reporting to highlight some great achievements. Today was the conferring of the MA in Teaching & Learning in HE/ Academic Practice and we were delighted to celebrate the event with Dr. Dagmar Stengel, Dr. Frances McCormack and Dr. Tim Higgins all of whom completed a series of taught modules and undertook significant research projects on topics such as: the Bologna Process; Academic Identity/Practice; Assessment.

Well done to all three of you, particularly given that all of you are active in research and teaching in your original academic disciplines - no mean feat.

emerging issues #1....

2009-06-13T11:39:00.004+01:00

Some of the topics that came up at the discussions/workshop sessions included a renewed interest in what sort of degree structures would be most appropriate for the new era of mass participation in higher education and the needs for graduates to be flexible in their employment prospects, but also to have acquired some greater awareness of cultural and civic values. Suggestions include a rationalisation of the plethora of programmes and a focus perhaps on a modern equivalent of a 'liberal arts' curriculum (remembering that such includes science as well as humanities and social sciences) or degrees based on themes. Of course, these are not new ideas and we have commented many times about these in this blog, drawing attention to Harvard's revised themes and the similar approach in Melbourne. Nonetheless, in the hectic and relentless pace of semesters and academic years it is not often that we find the time to gather our thoughts collectively on these broader areas, so the discussions were very worthwhile.

The thorny topic of commodification and whether it is legitimate to talk of 'customers' of higher education and if it is, then who are the customers, also arose. Some concerns that modularisation might even encourage students to think in these terms and result in pressures to deliver products rather than transformative experiences and individual personal growth. Some suggestions were that we could embrace the ECTS and Bologna principles to turn the situation on its head by communicating more effectively to students that the implication is that a full-time student must commit to spend an appropriate 'full-time' on study and learning, guided and aided by lectures, tutorials, materials and resources but that they must play the active role in the learning process. The fragmentation of quasi-standalone modules, often with one lecturer per module and the lack of opportunity to engage with curricular development at a higher, more integrated manner were seen as barriers to sending out consistent messages and indeed providing gaps through which students might slip in terms of monitoring their own performance.

We saw some excellent examples of efforts to support students in their learning through peer-assisted learning and were delighted to have students from the pilot project on this theme in AIT and GMIT deliver a workshop at the symposium. Of course, there are many variants of such schemes in place around the world, many of which are seen to be effective, but resourcing, planning and organisation demand not just time but institutional commitment and there is always the danger that such endeavours are viewed as another additional initiative on top of everything else, rather than the glue that links the various components together. The related concept of 'learning communities' is something that we will return to and in which I have some personal interest.

Other themes emerged in the various workshop and discussion strands, and more of them in our next few posts. We'll also let you know as soon as the keynotes are available online and we'll pop copies into the National Digital Learning Repository.

Winding down

2009-06-12T17:45:00.005+01:00

Well, we just ended a great Symposium. Lots of buzz and conversation around the place and some good keynote presentations. We'd like to thank all of you who participated and particularly to those who have become regular attendees! Thank you all so much for your support and many apologies that we were unable to blog live from the event. We were so busy behind the scenes, but thanks to Sharon for heroically trying to at least send out some tweets!

Reports of the various sessions and themes covered will appear here in due course, along with links to keynote recordings, but in the meantime, it's time for the organisers to lake a little rest for a few days at any rate.

Fáilte!

2009-06-10T14:21:00.002+01:00

Welcome to the 7th Galway Symposium on Higher Education!! There's been a lull in the city since the Volvo Ocean Racers left us at the weekend, but now the next big event is about to start - "Design for Learning - Curriculum & Assessment in Higher Education".

Taking place in Aras Moyolla on the north part of the main university campus, it promises to be an opportunity for debate, intellectual stimulation and jolly banter around the key themes of learning outcomes, Bologna and assessment.

We will also be celebrating the President's Awards for Teaching Excellence at the Symposium Dinner, inviting those who have been nominated to join us at the event.

All change in England

2009-06-05T18:42:00.002+01:00

In Gordon Brown's cabinet reshuffle today, he abolished the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and passed over responsibility for all of higher and further education to Lord Mandelson's newdepartment for Business. This has led to a quite negative response from some academic quarters since it further embeds universities as essentially business training organisations and cuts them off from wider education and culture. You can read the Guardian's report here and the official government statement here.

Symposium Countdown

2009-06-04T11:22:00.005+01:00

Yes, it is hard to believe, but the 7th Galway Symposium on Higher Education is almost upon us. In just one week's time we will be immersed in debate and discussion around the themes of 'Curriculum and Assessment in Higher Education'. For those of you who just can't wait to see what's in store, click here for the full symposium programme.

And as if that wasn't enough, our Symposium dinner on Thursday 11th June is set to be extra special this year, as we celebrate those academic staff in NUI Galway who have been nominated for the President's Teaching Awards.

Let's hope the weather holds up for us!

http://designforlearning.eventbrite.com

Your future in your hands??

2009-05-27T23:06:00.003+01:00

Slipped into the Department of Education and Science's website on Friday, is a call for submissions to the group charged with developing a National Strategy for Higher Education. The deadline for such submissions is the 19th June. This may well provide an opportunity to make your voice heard. The invitation is summarised below and can be downloaded from here.

The Higher Education Strategy Group has been established by the Minister for Education and Science with detailed terms of reference. The Group is expected to report to the Minister by year end.

The Group wishes to take account of the views of all stakeholders as it prepares its report and proposes to undertake a two phase process of consultation. Accordingly a structured process of consultation will take place in August/September. This will take the form of a consultation document on the major issues arising from its terms of reference.

In addition at the first stage of the process, the Group is now inviting submissions in respect of the development of the vision and objectives for Irish higher education. Accordingly, stakeholders are invited to submit

- the three most significant changes that they would wish to see made to Irish higher education,
and
- the barriers or obstacles which they would identify to the achievement of those objectives.

In light of the above, you are invited to submit your views on this first stage of the process using the Guidance Document. You can download this document by clicking here.

The Terms of Reference document is available for download here.

Where submissions are being made, the Group requests that they would be limited to no more than 2,000 words. Submissions should be made electronically no later than Friday 19th June 2009, to hestrategy@education.gov.ie

Indicators rather than metrics?

2009-05-21T18:43:00.005+01:00

One of the comments I heard at the Edinburgh Colloquium the other week was "As we move into a 'post module descriptor world' and leave over-specified learning outcomes behind...". Interesting comment and one that perhaps could be contextualised by the fact that Universities there went through the whole modular, credit accumulation, learning outcomes, assessment grid stuff years (over a decade now) ago. Similarly, the proposed new approach to Quality Enhancement (having decided against "Quality Assessment") summarised in this document (Indicators of Enhancement) from last November paints a very different picture to that which is in process elsewhere. At least there is a recognition that numerical indicators and tracking of details of outcomes, processes, etc, are all very well when you have nothing in place, but as time goes by their limitations can become quite apparent. So the argument is about developing a culture that embeds evaluation, review and to some extent hopes to encourage innovation.

"The indicators are not quantitative. They have been phrased and presented to avoid any sense of compliance with a checklist. They have also been developed in a context which recognises that supporting and enhancing learning in the twenty-first century is a difficult and challenging process. They recognise that the very nature of enhancing the student learning experience is extremely complex and unlikely to be able to be reflected in simplistic statistics or metrics which would be meaningful across a very diverse sector and student population. However, the areas which they cover might all respond to quantitative indicators should institutions (as some currently do) wish to develop key measures which are particularly appropriate to their own context, mission, and strategic aims and objectives."

More Symposium Workshops

2009-05-20T15:32:00.004+01:00

Just another taster of what we have on offer at our upcoming Symposium on June 11th and 12th:

Colleagues from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) and Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) will be facilitating a Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) workshop, to run on both days of the Symposium.

The PAL programme has just recently been implemented in GMIT and AIT and this workshop will feature an outline of the implementation steps, results of the first set of evaluations, and a simulation PAL session (by PAL (student) leaders).

More information on the PAL programme in GMIT can be found here.

Megaversity?

2009-05-13T19:54:00.002+01:00

Can't make it to the RSA tonight to hear the VC of Warwick talk about the future of higher education, but the Guardian sneaks a preview of his suggestion that top research institutions should merge to produce some sort of mega-university. Hmmm...Not sure of the economics in the argument quite apart from the logistics.

21st Century Graduate

2009-05-11T22:01:00.004+01:00

At a colloquium in Edinburgh University on this particular topic as part of QAA Scotland's new set of "Enhancement Themes". An interesting range of presentations and some discussion, but interesting to see that there is little student voice in this. Or indeed even recent graduates. The idea that students' expectations of what the 'university experience' is about doesn't fit with either that of academics or indeed employers or the state was raised and it is an important point.

Mainly talks from people who were very much graduates of the previous century and distinguished as they are, one mischevious thought that did pass through my mind was the extent to which their wisdom, acquired through experience and decades of study of HE is actually being transmitted to the newer generation of students and staff. I guess that's part of the role of events such as this and the dissemination work of the centres for Teaching and Learning.

Ron Barnett brought up his 'will to learn' thesis and some mutterings at coffee were a reaction to the corollary of his suggestion that this is a defining factor in 'success' A point that at least one audience member also raised in a question. In other words, how realistic is it to focus on that aspect when there are many other, stronger factors that in reality prevent students from succeeding and rather than a 'lack of will,' they might suffer from overwhelming economic circumstances, or other factors. Non-completion should be an administrative concept rather than a judgement on personal commitment. I know that he wasn't advocating that particularly, but that was what the folk having coffee and pastries with me got from it. Somewhat cheekily perhaps, Ray Land also, in questions, brought up the fact that Dr. Goebels had a strong will to learn and earned three degrees but it didnt exactly imbue him with particularly desirable values, which in a sense led into the later presentation by Bruce Macfarlane on values and how some of the attributes identified in the Dearing Report are actually statements of values. He showed practical examples of university descriptors that highlighted such values rather than just listing 'learning outcomes'.

Jon Nixon gave a rather personal reflection and tried to explore what sort of society we might like to see by the end of the century and whether university education was able to imbue appropriate values and attitudes to achieve this. Although he didn't himself refer to this, I was reminded of the old Antonio Gramsci quote "pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will."

Carol Bond (Otago) described some of her work based on interviews with students in New Zealand where she tried to explore changing student conceptions of higher learning as they progressed through their degree programmes as part of a longitudinal study. Of course, one could ask that although she demonstrated that they seemed to have a more sophisticated and deeper perspective in later years, to what extent might they also have been affected that by that time she'd have interviewed each of them extensively three times ?! just a thought.

Lori Breslow of MIT gave an entertaining presentation on the background to the Spellings commission and the politics of accreditation in the US.

Afterwards, a very pleasant reception/dinner for the presenters and the teams who are presenting tomorrow at the Learning & Teaching Forum for which I'm staying over. Edinburgh, as always, looking lovely, a grander capital I can't think of, though Paris comes a close second!

Should a university be allowed to fail?

2009-05-11T11:14:00.002+01:00

A very depressing discussion that is taking place about the problems at London Metropolitan University on the Times Higher website is prompting me to consider what failure might mean for a university. Would the government close down a university in the same way that, for example, a hospital might be closed? The problems at London Met are complex, and there is no doubt it is in serious crisis.

I studied the history of the Polytechnic of North London as part of my PhD thesis. PNL had a rather lively and brief existence before it was merged with London Guildhall (formerly City of London Poly) to form the rather unwieldy and troubled university that is now London Met. There are no doubt many lessons here to be learned about mergers and mission drift, but also more generally about the massification of HE (and the ways in which widening participation has been managed and funded), and university governance.

But I'm still wondering, at what point should mistakes and mismanagement become fatal?

Symposium Update

2009-04-27T12:42:00.004+01:00

The 2009 Galway Symposium on Higher Education is drawing closer, and details are being finalised.

Just a few of the workshops that will take place over Thursday and Friday will centre around the theme of Bologna. The NAIRTL Bologna working group have kindly agreed to facilitate three discussion stimulating workshops:

Workshop 1: Knowledge Transfer – Tuning in to Generic Competencies
This will be chaired by a representative from the Knowledge Transfer SIF project in WIT. It will include two invited presentations from the Tuning Project which will give case study examples from the European context of embedding generic competencies in curricula. After the presentations the audience will be divided into groups of five and each group will be given key questions and issues to discuss. The final section will involve a sum up of the small group discussions and a large group discussion.

Workshop 2: Integrating Generic Competencies into your Curriculum
A survey regarding generic competencies is currently being compiled which will be disseminated in the coming weeks to the 38 HEI associated with the NAIRTL initiative. The survey results will be presented by the Bologna Working Group and the audience will be invited to further discuss and contribute to its analysis.

Workshop 3: Building Ireland's Smart Graduate {Stakeholder Perspectives: policy and practice}
Two representatives from industry, one student, and one policy maker will be invited to present their perspective on generic competencies. They will address questions like: What skills do graduates require? Who should prepare students for the workforce? What is the role of Higher Education? What can we do better?

To register for the Symposium, navigate to http://designforlearning.eventbrite.com. Podcasts on the event will be posted here very soon.

you mean you pay to go to university??!

2009-04-23T12:09:00.003+01:00

Whilst once again we hear in Ireland that "proposals are to be submitted to cabinet in the near future" regarding fees for accessing higher education, in Scotland (I know, I can hear you think, "groan, here he goes again" -but indulge me, please!) things are different. Yes, for many years University principals (ie Presidents or Vice-Chancellors) have been seeking fees to bridge a perceived gap in funding compared to English universities, but their opinion is not shared at all by the wider public or by the SNP government, who insist that they are taking a principled stand that education should be free to all. In a world where much of politics is devoid of principles and commitment to an ideological standpoint, it makes an interesting test case.

More recently, the universities have come to recognise that such arguments will get nowhere and in an article in the Times Higher accept that the issue is way off the agenda in that country. With increasing divergence from England being reflected even amongst those previously most avowedly unionist institutions (indeed prior to the last Scottish election many university principals and distinguished academics wrote letters to the press arguing against voting for the party that ultimately won - not clever) it is an interesting development. The fact that English academics are starting to preach patronisingly on the theme is hardly likely to win converts.

The other major development in recent years, and which we've blogged about in the past, is that of the collaborative ventures across institutions in Scotland. This 'research pooling' model really has taken off and in some cases has led to tremendous success. The same issue of the Times Higher reports that interest in this approach is also growing south of the border (the Scotland-England one that is!) although I know from speaking to colleagues involved in these developments, it is a little more difficult there to establish coherent clusters of institutions, something much easier to do in a smaller country.

The Bear Grylls Approach to Research

2009-04-17T10:27:00.003+01:00

An impressive-sounding new programme of research has been announced by the Research Councils in the UK: 'Digital Economy Research in the Wild'. This is apparently a call for multi-disciplinary research 'aimed at realising the transformational impact of ICT' (love this amazing use of jargon).

I think what they are getting at here is that there are users of technology 'out there' (beyond the walls of academe), whose lives could potentially be changed through a different sort of technology, and they want researchers to go out there and find these people and change their lives. It's all very worthy. But calling it 'digital economy research in the wild' is a stroke of genius. Those of us who research higher education itself will struggle to find such a sexy way of describing what we do. We are instead relegated to the sidelines, making sarcastic comments about the terminology being generated by other academics who fancy themselves as some sort of technologically-advanced Survivorman.

Recruitment freeze

2009-04-02T08:19:00.002+01:00

Some grim news reported in today's Irish Times that the HEA is insisting on a recruitment and promotions freeze across higher education, even in those universities which are operating well within budget. Quite what the implications of this are is not fully clear, particularly given the situation of contract staff up for renewal upon which so many courses and services are dependent. As for the fact that so many of us have spent the last few months slaving away to complete applications for the PRTLI process much of which depends on new recruitment - who knows?

Activism and Academia: G20

2009-03-31T07:40:00.002+01:00

It's interesting (or disheartening, depending on your view) to see in the Times Higher today that the University of East London has cancelled their planned 'Alternative G20 Summit' on Wednesday this week. Is this an understandable reaction to the comprehensive media coverage of the protests planned throughout London this week? Or should the university management team have continued to support the event?

Universities will undoubtedly be pulled in different directions throughout the economic downturn. As we have seen in the Irish media in recent weeks, they are viewed as both saviour of the economy but also bloated, inefficient institutions. They are necessary for generating wealth but also full of dead wood that needs chopping off (apparently). With the Alternative G20 Summit, their potential role as offering a public space for critical commentary on the economic problems have not been supported. Where will spaces be made for this potentially crucial role of universities?

crossing disciplinary boundaries

2009-03-18T21:51:00.002Z

Many institutional strategies these days talk of inter-disciplinarity and moving outside the traditional 'silos' of academic subject areas. A fascinating recent publication has used logs of interactions on over 97,000 online publications (processing over 300 million clicks/interactions) in science to identify examples of when someone reading an article in a particular subject domain then moves onto an article in a different discipline. Using this approach, then, it is possible to see where the overlaps and cross-over points between subjects lie. The final result is plotted as a network map in this diagram.

supply and demand

2009-03-17T09:06:00.002Z

Ferdinand von Prondzynski of DCU has an article in today's Irish Times, making the point that attempts to 'rationalise' the university sector run the risk of creating a hierarchy of institutions, something that would be much more damaging in such a small country than any supposed 'over supply' of providers. Indeed, as mentioned before, despite the constant refrain from politicians and journalists, Ireland does not have an atypically large number of universities. If anything it is in the low-middle range of most small countries, with those often identified as particularly successful having more per head of population. The issue of the IoTs and other colleges, particularly those with low enrolment programmes is of course another issue as is the particular Irish trend of each institution copying the courses developed by others if they look remotely successful in attracting student numbers.

create, innovate, disemminate

2009-03-12T19:41:00.004Z

Following on from the earlier piece, there's a book review in the same edition which looks at "Tapping the riches of science". A nice throw-away quote summarising the authors' research on the real effectiveness of technology transfer initiatives in the US is

"The most effective vehicle for technology transfer is still the moving van."

Whether the story in Ireland will be the same or not, we'll see in the fullness of time.

Pockets, Islands and Corridors

2009-03-12T10:30:00.003Z

Lately, it's been getting harder to take anything happening in higher education seriously. This article in the Times Higher today gives us yet another reason to chuckle: the funding council in England has changed the term 'pockets of excellence' to 'islands of excellence'. Those of you following the allocation of research funding from the RAE2008 will know that teaching-oriented universities were delighted to have some of their 'pockets' of research excellence recognized and funded. Now the funding council would like to make it clear that these pockets are actually islands, because islands can be connected to the mainland.

This news comes at the same time as Dublin is busy establishing a super-innovative and enterprising 'corridor' of high-tech excellence. If we've got some islands or pockets of excellence beyond the pale, how far will this corridor extend? Wait . . . can a corridor actually reach an island, or do we need a hand reaching out towards our pocket . . . or . . . hmmm.

Innovation Academy (TM)

2009-03-11T16:40:00.006Z

Trinity and UCD have officially launched, with government backing, their new joint research venture, the "Innovation Academy." As is increasingly the norm with these sorts of initiatives, claims are being made about huge numbers of spin-out companies and jobs that will result. Of course, in such a goal in the current economic climate everyone in the country would wish them well. However, these kinds of statements are based totally on guesswork (if even that) and the numbers that do result will be judged in the fullness of time.

Hopefully it won't follow on from previous initiatives in Dublin that failed to live up to expectations despite large amounts of hype and funding, eg the Dublin Media Lab and the Digital Hub. But this one is different because it is essentially a means of the universities concerned competing with others in the country to win the lion's share of research monies. Of course doing this at the time in which the PRTLI call is out and proposals are being worked on, is to say the least, inappropriate.

The Irish Times reported the thoughts of other university Presidents on the matter this morning, particularly the lack of collegiality that has been evident in the IUA of late.

from small acorns grow...

2009-03-10T19:53:00.003Z

Interesting report in the latest edition of the Chronicle which highlights one university which, rather than investing a donation in the stock market (as in most other endowments) or other similar traditional approaches, used it to invest in micro-lending.

"When the founder of eBay gave $100 million to Tufts University in 2005, it came with an unusual stipulation: the money was to be invested in the burgeoning field of microfinance and used to provide small-business loans and other financial services to poor people around the world."

Interestingly, the strategy has paid off, not just in terms of providing much-needed credit, but also a return to the university, with $6.6 million being earned last year. Some of this return has also now been used to pay off loans of students who go on to work in public service on graduation.

stitch up part two

2009-03-07T10:40:00.003Z

The UCD+TCD saga continues with a report in today's Irish Times discussing the reaction to the news and hinting at possible delays in any merger. However, given that the head of Trinity is on the review team looking at the future of Irish HE, there are surely some serious questions regarding conflict of interest and inequity in the whole approach.

Further, I wonder, seriously whether the other institutions would be bold enough to demand minutes of any meetings that have taken place with government departments, UCD and TCD under the FOI and indeed challenge the eligibility of these two institutions to even bid for PRTLI funding in the current round given that the process has surely been compromised. No normal competitive tendering/bidding type process would tolerate separate meetings with prefered bidders.

PRTLI stitch up?

2009-03-06T07:40:00.003Z

As the Irish Times reports today, and those involved in the current PRTLI process will be aware, TCD and UCD are moving to try and convince government that they are the only serious international players in higher education in Ireland and that they are positioning themselves to try to secure the bulk, if not all, the funding from PRTLI 5. What is more disturbing however is the allegation of secret meetings with the Minister for Education and the Taoiseach's Office. When commercial tenders are out to application such discussions would not be permitted in the interests of fair competition, but it seems things are different in this sector.

fees, taxes, mergers - who knows?

2009-03-05T07:36:00.003Z

Once again a statement from the Minister for Education along the lines of "proposals will be before Cabinet in a number of weeks" regarding fees. He's been saying this since last year, so it will be interesting to see when we finally get the announcement. Now of course everything is contingent on the raft of new taxes and public sector cutbacks that will be imposted in April's emergency budget. Things are certainly looking grim on all fronts and fees will probably seem like the least of people's worries. With increasing unemployment, reduced graduate employment and a higher tax regime it's not exactly the best time to also bring in a fees scheme and the income certainly won't benefit the universities since they'll barely cover the cuts presumably.

The new taskforce was formally launched yesterday too with a remit of determining the shape of higher education over the next 20 years, apparently. I commend the group if they are capable of making accurate long term predictions, something I'd have thought recent developments suggest that economists of all people are barely capable of. The group is headed up by a key player in the drive towards financial deregulation and privatisation of public services.

Report in today's Irish Times.

Yesterday, at the launch of the new UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement, President McAleese reminded the audience that the reason for much of Ireland's progress over recent decades was the provision of free education at secondary and third levels. Interesting comment in the context of the debate.

Student Visa Fee Hikes

2009-02-23T16:28:00.003Z

I don't want to detract from the very important post below (hope you are all signing up for the conference), but given my interest in international students I wanted to comment on this article in the Guardian.

The Vice-Chancellors of UK universities are critical of recent increases in international student visa fees, and are worried that the UK will 'lose out' in recruiting international students who will be put off by the expense and new immigration procedures. Now surely is the time for Ireland to exploit what could be a gap in the market. International students bring an enormous amount of benefits: financial, academic and cultural. Unfortunately, the visa requirements and fees leave much to be desired here (and the fee keeps increasing), but if they could be made simpler and cheaper why wouldn't students come here instead?

Registration now open for Galway Symposium 2009

2009-02-20T16:16:00.005Z

We are delighted to announce that the registration for our Symposium "Design for Learning: Curriculum and Assessment in Higher Education" is now open.

Navigate to designforlearning.eventbrite.com or click Order Now below to register.

Online Event Registration - Powered by www.eventbrite.com

Endowed with generosity

2009-02-15T12:50:00.003Z

As if oblivious to the crisis gripping US universities' endowment funds, victims of low interest rates, speculative investments and the current global recession, Batt O'Keefe is recommending that his new strategy group look towards encouraging endowments for Irish universities, asking them to seek out some more "Chuck Feeneys". Certainly something for the longer term but in the current climate might be difficult to pull off and financially questionable in terms of revenue generation rather than funding for one-off projects. One could argue that a higher level of taxation for those on high incomes more in keeping with the European norm would greatly assist much of public services in this country, whether universities or the dilapidated school buildings into which our children are herded, but that's a political decision .....

The advent of fees meanwhile seems a certainty, but the constant refrain that it is in keeping with other countries' approaches to funding HE is not correct. There are plenty of other countries which maintain, and indeed some that are reverting to, free higher education. Indeed we only need to travel a short distance from this island's northern shores to see such a neighbour in Scotland, which incidentally has more universities per head of population than Ireland, something else which also seems to be ignored when discussing the sector here. Of course all are struggling in the current situation but the 'Anglosaxon' model is only one option and as we've seen with its hallmark deregulation and financial shenanigans, not necessarily the optimum means of delivering sustainable economics.

It's the dearth of imagination and the clutching at old mantras to somehow save a crisis for which they are responsible that is perhaps the most depressing aspect of the current situation. But perhaps we should hold off on judgment until we see what emerges in the much vaunted April statement from the Minister.

Reinventing the Liberal Arts

2009-02-12T10:21:00.002Z

Echoing some of the discussions we've had on this blog about the purposes of higher education, and anticipating some of the discussions we will have at our upcoming Symposium, it is interesting to note that an article in today's Times Higher states that the University of Winchester in the UK is planning to launch a liberal arts degree programme.

The aim is to provide a broad education which encourages critical thinking in an interdisciplinary context. The programme is being developed by an educational philosopher, Professor Nigel Tubbs. He says:

"Today the term 'liberal arts' can mean lots of different things. I'm interested in the original intention, about what happens in the search for first principles that express the conditions of the possibility of the human intellect and the natural universe."

For those of you who are wondering, Winchester is a small, new (2004) university with foundations in the Church of England. The core values listed on their website include a 'celebration of Christianity'. The historical links between religion and liberal arts still seem to permeate this particular educational ethos: is it not yet time to reinvent the liberal arts?

Task-force on HE

2009-02-06T11:25:00.003Z

The Minister for Education has finally unveiled the HE Taskforce that is being asked to draw up a strategy for the next 20 years of higher education in Ireland. The chair is a banker which is an interesting decision in these particular times. The full details of the group, which is largely made up of civil servants and government officials is listed in today's Irish Times.

We will be avidly following their work in this blog and no doubt lots of interesting issues will be raised in any discussions or open sessions if they choose to host any such.

What is a University?

2009-01-28T10:07:00.002Z

Some very interesting questions are being raised by Ferdinand von Prondzynski in his University Blog about how we might define a 'university'. The questions he is posing are similar to the questions we posed in our Galway Symposium last June. Ferdinand was unable to make it to that event due to his back problems (which he subsequently blogged about), but we are looking forward to hearing him speak at our upcoming event on 12 June 2009.

At the heart of his questions are fundamental issues about the core values to which universities might make some claim. Other, more eloquent commentators than me have written long monographs on the importance of these core values. A few quotes stand out for me: if anyone knows the authors or has some pithy quotes of their own, please chip in:

'The idea of an idea of a university is important'

'A university is one of those precious things which can be destroyed'.

Keeping Students Awake - one approach

2009-01-27T10:30:00.003Z

This week's Chronicle of Higher Education has a number of interesting items, amongst which is an article describing Texas A&M's introduction of bonus payments based on teaching quality based on student evaluations. Needless to say this has not been lacking in controversy.

The other, slightly lighter item is that one US professor has a novel way of keeping students awake in class. He has replaced the chairs in class with exercise/pilates balls! Nodding off could result in a severe headache as you crash to the floor.

The Other Event of the Year 2009

2009-01-20T10:28:00.004Z

Obama's inauguration today is perhaps eclipsing some other newsworthy events, and the excitement around it is hard to resist. The Times Higher has published an article on their website marking his inauguration, and speculating on future HE policy under his administration.

It is certainly intriguing that a former professor of consitutional law from one of the best universities in the US will become president today. He has also appointed former academics to posts in his administration. Although he has not said a great deal about the future of HE in the US, he has made mention of a possible scheme of tax credits for tuition fees in exchange for community service.

And Obama's presidency is a signal to many (to paraphrase someone quoted in the article) that 'social justice is back on the agenda'. That, for me, is the perhaps the best reason to be excited about the events of today.

The Event of the Year - June 2009 !

2009-01-16T11:55:00.005Z

Apologies for the long gap in postings on this blog. A sign, not of relaxing holidays (well, not entirely) but rather frenzied 'behind the scenes' activity as we begin the preparations for this year's Galway Symposium on Higher Education. This June the 11th and 12th will be our 7th such event and we are pleased to announce the title and theme will be:

Design for Learning: Curriculum & Assessment in Higher Education

Topics will include:

general debate on the nature of 'curriculum' in HE and the factors which shape and influence the development of programmes and courses, the tensions between competing visions of what a higher education should mean;
an overview of the Bologna process and its implications from the perspective of individual academic subject disciplines as well as from an educational perspective, rather than just the bureaucratic burden!
an exploration of the issues around assessment, challenging the often narrow and limited approaches in routine use and thinking about assessment as aiding learning;
practical aspects of designing modules and courses, linking together approaches to design that promote active learner engagement and participation, which can also be handled in the 'real world' of large enrollment classes!

Some of the keynote speakers are still be finalised but we are very pleased to be able to announce that amongst these we will be welcoming Prof Kathy Isaacs, from the University of Pisa (History Dept), who has tremendous insight into the Bologna process and its opportunities. On the topic of assessment, we will welcome Prof. Liz McDowell, head of the CETL for "Assessment for Learning" at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle. Whilst introducing some ideas of curriculum will be our own Dr. Kelly Coate who co-authored a fascinating book entitled "Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education".

So, please mark (in thick black ink) June 11th and 12th 2009 in your diaries and start making your travel arrangements to Galway! We'll be posting up a link to the conference registration site sometime in the next couple of weeks - so stay tuned for more. And please, spread the word amongst your colleagues.

STOP PRESS: the NAIRTL Bologna Working Group have agreed to jointly support this conference as part of their activities, so there is likely to be a great opportunity to explore many of these issues in workshop sessions including their particular implications for Ireland.

The RAE's impact - what cost?

2008-12-21T16:07:00.001Z

Simon Caulkin, the Management Editor of the Observer has written a scathing report on the RAE and its effects on UK Higher Education in today's paper. Interesting because, in contrast to the 'usual suspects' of critics in academia itself, he speaks from a business/management perspective and concludes:

Finally, the RAE is a potent symbol and vehicle for the bullying top-down managerial culture that has steadily eroded both the quality of working life and results in much of the public sector. This management style has given us Baby P and HM Revenue and Customs on the one hand, and General Motors and the financial collapse on the other. Universities should be part of the search for alternatives, not a reinforcement for today's bankrupt model.

RAE 2008

2008-12-18T09:00:00.003Z

The results of the UK's Research Assessment Exercise have been released today and can be accessed directly from the RAE 2008 website. The Times Higher has a detailed analysis and commentary and in summary concludes:

while there are no massive changes to the overall research landscape - the biggest research-intensive universities are still clustered at the top of the table of excellence, followed by the smaller research-intensive institutions - there is certainly some significant individual movement

The rankings show league tables for institutions and for individual academic disciplines. Of course the data itself is considerably flawed on a number of counts, not least of which is the strategy adopted by various institutions in terms of the numbers of staff to submit to the exercise. Somewhat ironically, perhaps, the subject with the highest overall score is "economics and econometrics" - apparently the UK is a world-leading expert in statistical measures and economic modelling. Ironic, since the outcome of the RAE metrics is funding allocation to individual institutions.

Universities helping local business through the downturn?

2008-12-15T20:24:00.003Z

In the UK, some universities have been quick off the mark to demonstrate their support for local (particularly SMEs) businesses in these straitened economic times. Certainly the PR aspect has worked in terms of winning accolades from government ministers. The perception that they are prepared to roll up their sleeves and play their part in the economic well-being of local communities certainly won't do them any harm in the continuing debate over the relevance of HE, funding cuts, etc.

Award winning teaching

2008-12-15T09:26:00.004Z

En route to Cork for the first national awards for Teaching Excellence, organised under the auspices of NAIRTL (http://www.nairtl.ie). Whilst nominations this time around were largely restricted to the partner organisations (three universities and two institutes of technology), next year's will be open to all Irish HE institutions. This year, however, we can bask in the glory of having 2 out of the 5 awards going to NUI Galway staff! Although, congratulations to all winners. It is nice to see such recognition and a high profile for teaching. Of course the award winners are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the scale of good work being undertaken across the sector by dedicated and passionate staff. Something that is little remarked upon, particularly by those in the media and politics who peddle crass stereotypes of academic staff and universities.

Ich bin in Berlin

2008-11-30T21:25:00.003Z

Well it's that time of year when learning technology addicts from across Europe embark on the pilgrimage to Berlin for Online Educa. This conference and trade show typically has over 2,000 participants and is the place to be to learn about emerging technologies and practices. As usual, I'll be blogging and hopefully also podcasting about it on our associated blog over on http://learntechgalway.blogspot.com/ (Photo (CC) by Mangan2002)

Petition to the PM

2008-11-24T13:52:00.003Z

I blogged a few weeks ago about the new immigration rules in the UK which will require universities to monitor the attendance of international students and report to the Border Agency so that they can keep track of people on student visas. Now it has been drawn to my attention that a Petition has been officially registered with Downing Street against this legislation as a breach of human rights.

I quite like the Petition for giving this summation of what is at stake:
"This police-like surveillance is not the function of universities and alters the educational relationship between students and their teachers in a very harmful manner. University staff are there to help the students develop intellectually and not to be a means of sanctioning them. Trust between students and staff is essential to the relationship."

Anyone, anyone? Student attendance and attainment

2008-11-17T19:43:00.004Z

A couple of years ago on this blog (yes, it has been that long!) we referred to the paper by Woodfield, Jessop and McMillan on student attendance levels at university. Interestingly, in the forthcoming (December) issue of Studies in Higher Education there's an article which uses a much larger and broader data set of student attendance at class and attainment (in terms of grades obtained in modules). This latest work is from Loretta Newman-Ford and colleagues at the University of Glamorgan which, as we also reported in this blog (don't we have our 'fingers on the pulse'?), uses an electronic fob device to record student attendance, allowing registers to be compiled automatically. This means that compiling data from 22 first year modules across the entire academic yearand correlating it with student performance is relatively straightforward.

Their conclusions? Well, in a nutshell, there is a strong correlation between attendance at class and attainment, not just in terms of pass/fail but in actual grades. They also noted the much suspected dropping off of attendance as the semester progresses, noting spikes in turnout when revision or information about assessments were the topics under discussion. Early morning lectures weren't as much an issue as Friday afternoons were!

Details: " A large-scale investigation into the relationship between attendance and attainment: a study using an innovative, electronic attendance monitoring system", L. Newman-Ford, K. Fitzgibbon, S. Llyod, S. Thomas, Studies in Higher Education, Vol 33, No. 6, December 2008, 699-717

Crossing to the 'dark side' or spreading enlightenment?

2008-11-09T14:31:00.004Z

As Barrack Obama considers his key political appointments (and the US has up to 7,000 posts in government which are on the basis of appointment) the Times Higher this week comments on the relatively close connection between academe and government in the US in terms of the recruiment of academics to official positions. Madeleine Albright, Robert Reich, Larry Summers, Condoleeza Rice and others were all senior academics prior to their appointment. Whilst the article is part of a wider reflection on this difference between the US and Britain, we in Ireland might also wonder at the apparently greater level of distrust of academics by politicians and vice-versa, something which has also been raised by Ferdinand in one of his earlier blog postings.

Next June's Symposium - pencil in your diary

2008-11-08T18:16:00.002Z

Well, it looks like we'll be aiming for June 11th and 12th for our Annual Symposium next year, though that might still be subject to change it's worth pencilling in the dates in your diary for the moment. The theme will be on issues relating to curricular design for higher education, including Learning Outcomes, ECTS, Bologna, Assessment and all that! However, if that listing makes you sigh with resigned despair - wait for a minute and take a deep breath! We're going to aim to take a refreshing approach to this whole business and look at it from a deeper, more reflective and critical perspective as well as looking at a pragmatic approach to each. We're currently drawing up a speaker/facilitator list and looking at the shape of the event. If you've any suggestions, feel free to get in touch, but we'll certainly keep you posted as the Symposium takes shape over the coming months. We aim to make it as stimulating and engaging as possible and to fully exploit the great location that Galway is in the early summer months, by being creative and developing a positive and intellectually stimulating atmosphere - and all that on a low budget commensurate with the times we're in!

Fingerprints and Points

2008-10-31T10:16:00.002Z

There was a time not too long ago in the UK when university administrators argued that they would not do the job of the Home Office in 'policing' the whereabouts of international students on student visas. It looks as though the argument has been lost.

New proposed regulations from the UK Border Agency are suggesting that student visa applications will be brought into the new 'points' systems for all migration applications. This will entail applicants going through a rigourous procedure including fingerprinting and providing evidence of sufficient funds to support themselves for the duration of their studies.

Universities that recruit international students will need a licence to do so, and part of the requirement of keeping that licence is that they provide information to the UKBA on the attendance records of their international migrants/students.

The UKBA claims that "We want good students. But we want to shut down bogus colleges operating ‘courses’ which are really a means to low skilled employment." So 'good' students do not enter into low skilled employment, obviously. What they neglect to mention is that first and foremost they want students who can pay a substantial amount of money for the privilege of studying in the UK, and who are willing to be treated as criminals before they even arrive.

Budget update

2008-10-14T19:31:00.006+01:00

Ferdinand has posted on the Irish Government's Budget announcements on his blog this evening. He doesn't give the details, but shares his fears of the implications. For those who want to see what the plans are the specific references to Higher Education in the Minister's statement today include the following.

The current estimates provision for higher education is €1,844m, compared with a 2008 estimate of €1,887m. The estimate allows for an increase in the student registration charge from €900 to up to €1,500 in individual institutions for the academic year 2009/2010. Third-level students entitled to a student support grant will remain exempt from paying the student registration charge.
The estimates provision will require restrictions in the implementation of approved projects under the Strategic Innovation Fund and will involve the deferral of planned 2009 increases in medical education places. It will also involve restrictions in the volume of awards made by the two Research Councils (Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology and Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences).
There is no provision for increases in student maintenance grants.
The Government decided in July 2008 that the payroll costs across Government organisations should be reduced by 3pc in 2009 and other restrictions should apply in order to effect cost savings in consultancy, advertising and other administrative areas. This is the background to some of the reductions applying in the Education Estimates for 2009. The estimates provisions under a range of headings will require careful management over the course of the year with expenditure control measures across all areas and possible further tightening measures may be necessary as the year progresses.
The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, HETAC and FETAC will be amalgamated. The new organisation will also take responsibility for the external quality assurance review of the universities - a function currently performed by the Irish Universities Quality Board and the Higher Education Authority. In seeking to ensure a coherent approach to qualifications and quality assurance, there will also be discussions with the National University of Ireland around the possibility of including some of the related functions of the NUI in the new organisation

Given that the IUQB is in the middle of its Annual Conference, the latter item might come as a bit of a blow to them. Additionally, the theme of the event is "Fourth Level Ireland" and with cuts to the State funding agencies (IRCSET and IRCHSS) resulting in a decrease in 'volume of awards', then the government target of doubling PhD graduates by 2013, presumably is also a thing of the past despite all the investment, restructuring and development of programmes that have taken place over the past couple of years to facilitate this (funded also by SIF, by the way).

Performance enhancing drugs in higher education

2008-10-14T14:29:00.002+01:00

Drug assisted examination performance seems to be emerging as an aspect of contemporary education according to a number of reports in the press recently, including this story in the BBC news site. Ritalin to enhance concentration seems to surpass the old faithful of coffee for 'night before the exam' alertness (though how much effect that really had is open to serious question!).

Should such performance enhancing drugs be a cause for concern? Is the fact that a survey indicates that 17% of students in 'some US universities' take such drugs for non-medicinal purposes an issue or not? The author of the survey/report has real concerns about the medical repercussions. These are topics discussed in a debate last night in London under the auspices of Nature magazine.

Space to think..'companionable silence'

2008-10-11T12:00:00.004+01:00

The Culture Secretary in England is proposing that libraries should become noiser places and apparently more 'joyous'. Mobile phones and loud conversations are the way of the future in his vision and silent reflection and contemplation too gloomy for him and his ilk. It seems a particularly odd view, particularly given the dearth of space and time for thinking in modern society with its constant and rapid-fire noise and hubbub. Maybe he's missing the point and should direct his attention to the lack of public/civic space in many towns and cities to support a range of activities and atmospheres. The commercialisation of town centres, the selling off of parks to developers and the lack of non-commercial social space in housing developments are perhaps better targets for his ire, rather than promoting the 'starbuck-isation' of libraries.

With baited breath...

2008-10-11T11:36:00.003+01:00

All on hold until the budget on Tuesday, after which the scale of the cutbacks will be evident to those of us in Irish Higher Education. No doubt, we'll see a quick first thought from one President in University Diary. But for those staff who slave away into the evenings and weekends writing grant proposals, marking essays and working at the laboratory bench on contract posts, it's particularly anxious times.

One contributor to Comment is Free, makes an interesting point that a potential outcome of the world economic crisis for education is the opportunity to reject all the forcing of private enterprise and business into schools and the curriculum. What schools needed, according to the mantra, was to adopt a business ethos, sing the virtues of private enterprise and encourage students to look to the free market for inspiration. The new private partnership Academies were the beacons for the way ahead in England at least. Reality however has bitten and its quite clear that when the going gets tough, the bankers come crawling to the state for assistance. (By the way, I'm deliberately trying to see how many clichés I can fit into one sentence, in true blogging tradition, lest you wonder!)

Meanwhile, the debate on whether MBAs and Business School programmes should take some of the responsibility for the current economic situation has continued, particularly in the US, with some pointing the finger at such courses for ignoring ethical aspects and focussing on complex financial instruments and get-rich-quick approaches. The Times Higher commented on this a few weeks back, but now it's still buzzing around the US media.

clouds on the horizon?

2008-09-25T08:53:00.002+01:00

As if to compensate for the lovely weather we've been having most of this week, two fairly gloomy reports of the meeting between the university Presidents and the Minister for Education have emerged this morning. One in the Irish Times and the other from Ferdinand the blogging President of DCU. The prospects for the short-medium term future don't sound particularly promising to say the least. Coupled with other reports regarding a redundancy scheme for the civil service, I guess we're being primed for the forthcoming budget.

Loans & top-up fees on the agenda

2008-09-23T07:24:00.003+01:00

Ned Costello of the IUA (Irish Universities' Association) has an article in today's Irish Times outlining the case for university fees to produce a 'top-up' income stream for the universities based on income-contingent repayable loans. At the same time another article argues the case for tax credits for those choosing particular subjects (mainly ICT related in which the numbers of students is catastrophically low for a supposed 'knowledge economy'). It seems that the 'Australian model' of personal debt/payment is the preferred route to challenging the 'avoidance' methods of the past, whereby those who were not on PAYE could simply declare their returns as below the threshold in the year in which their children applied to third level.

A still unresolved issue, however, is whether government will accept the 'top-up' aspect as opposed to using the fees to substitute for their core funding provision - in other words simply shifting the financial burden to (future) tax payers but not increasing the overall income to the universities themselves. Who knows? But the presidents of the universities meet the Minister for Education tomorrow.

What's half a billion euros between friends?

2008-09-19T09:33:00.004+01:00

An extremely embarassing story in today's Irish times about how the potential university fee revenue that the Minister for Education publicly announced yesterday, of some 520 million Euros, was in fact a major error and should have been 130 million Euro. Still he did graciously sympathise with the economist who made the error and pointed out that he was under pressure, doing the calculations whilst rushing to a conference. Oh well, that's alright, no harm done. Sure that's how government policy should be done, in airport lounges just before you board your plane. Quick back of the envelope sum, and last minute email setting the framework for the future of the country's entire higher education system for the next 10 years.

The best universities are private?

2008-09-16T11:07:00.003+01:00

An article in the Guardian newspaper last week reported that the only private university in the UK, Buckingham University, was the highest rated in the National Student Survey. Buckingham University also happens to be the smallest university in the UK, with under 1000 students.

The National Student Survey has been plagued with controversy ever since it was introduced in 2005. It asks fairly general questions about student satisfaction with teaching, assessment and support. You can make up your own mind as to whether it seems to be either a reliable or valid measurement of the quality of a degree programme.

Obviously, those who score well tend to think that it is valid and reliable. I very much like Buckingham's response to the news that they came out on top. The Vice-Chancellor remarked '"It is no coincidence that a private university has come top," he said. "The best universities in the world, the Ivy League and the liberal arts colleges in the US are private."'

I think some people would suggest that Oxford and Cambridge are amongst the best universities in the world, and they aren't quite private institutions . . . yet.

Supporting Postgrad Supervisors

2008-09-11T12:19:00.003+01:00

As most of you probably know, there is an emphasis in Irish higher education at the moment on 4th Level (which to the rest of Europe is the 3rd cycle, or postgraduate level of education). Partly this stems from the larger amounts of funding that universities receive from the government for PhD students; partly it is a matter of prestige for universities to churn out high calibre PhDs; and partly it is tied up in the knowledge economy with its focus on high-level skills. Oh, and yes, it is an academic activity that many researchers find enjoyable, engaging and helpful in potentially boosting the research output of the department.

Much of the discussion taking place in Irish universities is about supporting PhD supervisors, in terms of training and guidance. It seems useful to direct supervisors to already existing resources rather than reinventing the wheel. One useful resource is the UK Grad website and its section on supervising a doctorate. I am not suggesting that this is a substitute for training or workshops, but some of you out there who are new to the joys of supervising doctorates might find some of it useful. Have a browse.