Aim and fire - always a gentle hit
This is Craig Brown
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First Impressions
This week's competition, in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, is from a novel that consists entirely of letters and journals: "My dear Father and Mother, I have great...
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Black comedy, blue helmets and red-faced shame
We Did Nothing
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Laurie Taylor Column
From: The office of the vice-chancellor. Subject: Course closures. I am writing to let you know of some recent decisions taken by the new Course Closures Committee (me and the bursar). As you will...
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Leader: Academics in no doubt over price of mass system
Some apparently mixed messages have emerged from our teaching poll. Almost 60 per cent of academics believe that courses have been "dumbed down" so that ill-prepared students can cope; yet more would...
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Leader: Should we help rebuild Iraq's universities?
As conflict in Iraq recedes into memory, the country's universities are, nominally at least, open to students once more. But in an echo of Sarajevo, Pristina and Kabul, the system is in tatters, its...
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Armed for a multitude of tasks
Employers bemoan graduates’ lack of skills, but Paul Kleiman believes that the performing arts are proving that they can provide students with the variety of 'soft' skills coveted by CEOs “If I want...
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Students get personal
With the introduction of personal-development planning looming, Jonathan Baldwin sees learning agreements as the way forward When a colleague cornered me about the increase in the number of students...
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The strongest links
As the government continues to promote its widening-participation agenda, further education colleges are trumpeting their ability to tailor study to individual needs. But not everyone is wholly...
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Foggy ideas made clear
Be they brilliant or mediocre, students often have little notion of what they want or why they want it. But, says Stella Cottrell, there are ways to clarify their approaches to studying Marsha, the...
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Style over substance
What is employability and how do we measure it? Philip Martin et al argue against the bullet-point bullies and for a more holistic approach to reflecting on achievement PHILIP MARTIN Skills has...
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Making it all add up
Maths, science and engineering students are arriving at university with poorer mathematics skills than ten years ago. With two-thirds of departments providing extra tuition, there should be a unified...
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Visual interference
Dyslexia is not simply a spelling issue, it can also cause visual distortion when looking at pages of text. Olga Wojtas discovers a new website for dyslexic art and design students at the Robert...
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Misfit for a purpose? 1
Alison Utley looks at controversial findings that raise doubts over the success of problem-based learning Problem-based learning is hugely popular in many fields - medicine, nursing, dentistry,...