Tag Archives: Research

Pedagogy a poor second in promotions

Times Higher Education: Pedagogy a poor second in promotions

Study finds ‘hypocritical’ sector fails to practise what it preaches. Rebecca Attwood reports

Universities stand accused of hypocrisy this week over their claims to value teaching, after a major study of promotions policy and practice found that many are still failing to reward academics for leadership in pedagogy.

Research by the Higher Education Academy and the University of Leicester’s “Genie” Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning examines the promotion policies of 104 UK universities.

The Rise of the No-Show

The Chronicle: The Rise of the No-Show

At a conference I recently attended, a sizeable wave of paper presenters failed to attend. The papers were submitted back in February, but travel funds had since vanished and, in some cases, wages had been cut and the presenters could not afford to pay for the airfare/hotel out of their pockets. In the past, a no-show was the kiss of death toward future presentations, but I had the definite sense that most of the attendees felt genuine empathy toward the folks who were unable to attend.

Oberlin Adopts Open Access for Faculty Research

Inside Higher Ed: Oberlin Adopts Open Access for Faculty Research

Faculty members at Oberlin College voted last week to create an online and free archive to which they will add all work they publish in peer reviewed journals. The move, similar to those taken by faculties at several research universities, reflects support for the open access movement in which the paid subscription model for journals is being challenged. Sebastiaan Faber, professor of Hispanic studies and chair of the General Faculty Library Committee said in a statement: “The current system of journal publishing, which largely relies on subscriptions and licenses, limits access to research information in significant ways, particularly for students and faculty at smaller and less wealthy institutions, as well as for the general public. Access is also seriously limited around the world in countries with fewer resources.”

When in doubt, sue

Inside Higher Ed: ‘The Trials of Academe’

When in doubt, sue. That philosophy has become an expected part of American society and (to the frustration of many in higher education) academe as well. A new book — The Trials of Academe: The New Era of Campus Litigation (Harvard University Press) — combines humor and history to examine the impact (most of it negative) of academic disputes landing in court. Amy Gajda, the author, is assistant professor of journalism and law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She responded via e-mail to questions about her book.

Call for manuscripts: Critical Education

Critical Education is an international peer-reviewed journal, which seeks manuscripts that critically examine contemporary education contexts and practices. Critical Education is interested in theoretical and empirical research as well as articles that advance educational practices that challenge the existing state of affairs in society, schools, and informal education.

Critical Education is an open access journal, launching in early 2010. The journal home is criticaleducation.org

Critical Education is hosted by the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia and edited by Sandra Mathison (UBC), E. Wayne Ross (UBC) and Adam Renner (Bellarmine University) along with collective of 30 scholars in education that includes:

Faith Ann Agostinone, Aurora University
Wayne Au, California State University, Fullerton
Marc Bousquet, Santa Clara University
Joe Cronin, Antioch University
Antonia Darder, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
George Dei, OISE/University of Toronto
Stephen C. Fleury, Le Moyne College
Kent den Heyer, University of Alberta
Nirmala Erevelles, University of Alabama
Michelle Fine, City University of New York
Gustavo Fischman, Arizona State University
Melissa Freeman, University of Georgia
David Gabbard, East Carolina University
Rich Gibson, San Diego State University
Dave Hill, University of Northampton
Nathalia E. Jaramillo, Purdue University
Saville Kushner, University of West England
Zeus Leonardo, University of California, Berkeley
Pauline Lipman, University of Illinois, Chicago
Lisa Loutzenheiser, University of British Columbia
Marvin Lynn, University of Illinois, Chicago
Sheila Macrine, Montclair State University
Perry M. Marker, Sonoma State University
Rebecca Martusewicz, Eastern Michigan University
Peter McLaren, University of California, Los Angeles
Stephen Petrina, University of British Columbia
Stuart R. Poyntz, Simon Fraser University
Patrick Shannon, Penn State University
Kevin D. Vinson, University of the West Indies
John F. Welsh, Louisville, KY

Online submission and author guidelines can be found here.

The Experience of Working Class Students at a Research I University

From Michael Zweig at SUNY Stony Brook:

Please see a new study, “The Experience of Working Class Students at a Research I University,” by Veronica Gonzalez, a recent intern at the Center for Study of Working Class Life. Gonzalez compares the academic experiences of students from working class families with those from middle class famllies who entered the State University of New York at Stony Brook between 2001 and 2003.

Go to the study from the link at the upper right of the Center’s home page

http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/publications/VGonzalez09.pdf

or go directly to the .pdf at

http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/publications/VGonzalez09.pdf

Lab worker hoped to beat ‘bad karma’ by destroying research

Palo Alto Daily News: Former SLAC worker hoped to beat ‘bad karma’ by destroying research

A former SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employee hoped to reverse her “bad karma” by destroying what amounted to $500,000 worth of research at the facility earlier this month, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit released by the FBI on Tuesday.

NEW ZEALAND: Research performance moves worry union

World University News: NEW ZEALAND: Research performance moves worry union

The next assessment of research in New Zealand’s tertiary education sector is three years away but preparations for the event by some institutions already have the country’s university staff union worried.EW ZEALAND: Research performance moves worry union

The next assessment of research in New Zealand’s tertiary education sector is three years away but preparations for the event by some institutions already have the country’s university staff union worried.

What Counts for Tenure

Inside Higher Ed: What Counts for Tenure

For all the talk about how research universities place an increasing value on teaching, a survey on tenure standards in political science departments finds not only that research remains dominant, but that poor teaching may be tolerated at doctoral-granting universities.

Medical School Says Research Hid Corporate Ties

The New York TImes: Medical School Says Former Army Surgeon Hid Ties to Medtronic

A former military doctor and Medtronic consultant at the center of a research scandal did not tell his medical school employer for a year about his Medtronic ties even as he was conducting company-sponsored research, according to that institution, Washington University in St. Louis.

Sartorial Study Suggests Professors Should Wear What They Want

The Chronicle: Sartorial Study Suggests Professors Should Wear What They Want

How academics dress for a lecture doesn’t affect how students perceive them — at least in the long run.

Who Profits From For-Profit Journals?

Inside Higher Ed: Who Profits From For-Profit Journals?

WASHINGTON — It’s time to shake loose from commercial journal publishers. That was the message here Thursday at the meeting of the American Association of University Professors, which urged academics to seek nonprofit venues for their work.

The proliferation of nonprofit publishing options should be driving down submissions to corporate journals, according to Salvatore Engel-DiMauro, professor of geography at the State University of New York at New Paltz, who, along with Rea Devakos, information technology services coordinator at the University of Toronto library, discussed the “Corporate Appropriation of Academic Knowledge” at the annual meeting of university professors yesterday. But that’s not happening.

For Adjuncts Only: A New Literary Magazine Denies Tenure

The Chronicle: For Adjuncts Only: A New Literary Magazine Denies Tenure

For once, it pays to be an adjunct. Well, wordriver, a new literary magazine, doesn’t actually pay its contributors, but tenured or tenure-track professors need not apply.

Beth McDonald an adjunct professor of English at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, has spent years trying to think of a way to spotlight the literary work of adjunct instructors. She and Susan Summers, a member of the English department’s support staff, found a way this April, when the first issue of a magazine they expect to publish annually came out.

Split Over Open Access

Inside Higher Ed: Split Over Open Access

In the debate over “open access” to scholarly research, the Association of American University Presses has weighed in on the “anti” side of things, backing legislation that would end a federal requirement that work supported by the National Institutes of Health be available online and free within 12 months of publication.

Captive knowledge: The funding for academic research has been taken over by business

Guardian: Captive Knowledge

May 12, 2009 By George Monbiot

The funding for academic research has been taken over by business

Why is the Medical Research Council run by an arms manufacturer? Why is the Natural Environment Research Council run by the head of a construction company? Why is the chairman of a real estate firm in charge of higher education funding for England?

Because our universities are being turned by the government into corporate research departments. No longer may they pursue knowledge for its own sake: now the highest ambition to which they must aspire is finding better ways to make money.

UK: Red-light work a grey area for universities

Time Higher Education: Red-light work a grey area for universities

Stance on staff or student links to sex trade centres on reputation, not welfare, writes Rebecca Attwood

UK universities do not have policies prohibiting staff or student involvement in the sex industry, but many hold “unwritten assumptions” that could be used to penalise “legal but stigmatised” sexual behaviour, according to new research.

Canadian innovators told to heed the circus

Toronto Star: Canadian innovators told to heed the circus

Ottawa’s big thinkers say Cirque de Soleil a role model for others

OTTAWA – To lead the way on science and innovation, Canada should be looking under the Big Top.

A federal advisory panel yesterday offered up Quebec’s famed Cirque du Soleil as a role model for blending innovation, talent and technology to become a world leader.

Canada needs more of that, members of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council said as they unveiled a mixed report card on the country’s innovation record and a warning that it must improve.

2 Professors Rock Out Online to Study Fame — and Us

The Chronicle: 2 Professors Rock Out Online to Study Fame — and Us

Most people who stumble across the YouTube video of the self-proclaimed rock star Gory Bateson singing to a scantily clad prostitute in Amsterdam’s red-light district probably have no idea that the work is part of a research project — or that the man holding the guitar is a tenured professor. The video has attracted more than 12,000 views and won a few online fans. But it has upset some of the professor’s colleagues, who say that whatever this two-minute clip is, it is definitely not academic work.

End the University as We Know It

The New York Time: End the University as We Know It

By MARK C. TAYLOR

GRADUATE education is the Detroit of higher learning. Most graduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market (candidates for teaching positions that do not exist) and develop skills for which there is diminishing demand (research in subfields within subfields and publication in journals read by no one other than a few like-minded colleagues), all at a rapidly rising cost (sometimes well over $100,000 in student loans).

Canadian Researchers Protest Budget Cuts in Open Letter to Prime Minister

Globe and Mail: PM urged to restore science funds
More than 2,000 scientists galvanized into ‘Don’t leave Canada behind’ campaign

More than 2,000 researchers, including some of the country’s most respected scientists, have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister calling the funding cuts in the January budget “huge steps backward for Canadian science.”
The Chronicle News Blog: Canadian Researchers Protest Budget Cuts in Open Letter to Prime Minister

More than 2,000 Canadian scientists have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper decrying budget cuts in science, especially at a time when President Obama is bolstering research in the United States.