Category Archives: Higher Education

October 8, 2009 · 8:22 pm

Is this a normal distribution?

Stats 2009One of the challenges I have taken on is that of trying to make statistics and quantitative methods interesting to Master’s students, most of whom are highly committed to qualitative and ethnographic approaches.  This must imply that either senility, or madness, has taken hold a little early…

So, in an effort to enliven things today, I thought that we would use ourselves to illustrate a frequency distribution…

Judge whether this is normal or not – and then pick out who is enrolled in the Master’s course on Practising Sustainable Development, and who on the Course on Cultural Geography!

Thanks Bjorn for the photo…

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October 7, 2009 · 3:36 pm

London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange – The Inside Out Festival

The London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange (LCACE) is organising a one week festival – the Inside Out Festival – from 19th-25th October, highlighting the contribution made by nine London university institutions to the arts and to culture.

The Festival will showcase the exciting, unexpected and sometimes unsung contribution made by nine London universities to the arts and culture. A packed programme of public events will include film, music, theatre and visual art, exhibitions and screenings, workshops and debates, with great thinkers of the day, high-profile figures and well-known academics, as well as up-and-coming undergraduate and postgraduate students. The events will take place all over the city both on university campuses and at leading cultural venues such as Kings Place, the National Portrait Gallery and Somerset House.

Highlights of the Inside Out Festival will include

  • a hard-hitting and controversial debate Art: What’s it good for? chaired by Michael Portillo at Kings Place with panellists including Evelyn Welch (Dean of Arts at Queen Mary, University of London), The Guardian’s Economics Editor Larry Elliott and contemporary artist Nasser Azam
  • ‘Colour, The Big Draw’ a fun, free, family drawing event at Goldsmiths, University of London
  • a performance by the improvising ensemble the Laptop Orchestra with experimental musician and sound curator David Toop from the London College of Communication

There are currently some 41 events listed in the programme, including student film screenings, Tudor and Stuart Southwark, a series of concerts on the theme of Impressions of Spain, a Gamelan concert, Andrew Motion in conversation, a creative writing workshop, and lots more

LCACE is a collaboration promoting the exchange of knowledge and expertise with the capital’s arts and cultural scholars. The partners are: University of the Arts London; Birkbeck, University of London; City University; Courtauld Institute of Art; Goldsmiths, University of London; King’s College London; the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; Queen Mary, University of London; and Royal Holloway, University of London.

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September 1, 2009 · 12:51 pm

Google books – philanthropy or piracy?

In the Observer on 30th Augsut, William Skidelsky has added a contribution to the debate about Google’s plans to create the world’s biggest online library.  As he comments “Google has already scanned 10 million books in its bid to digitise the contents of the world’s major libraries, but a copyright battle now threatens the project, with Amazon and Microsoft joining authors and publishers opposed to the scheme”.

As he points out, Google claims that they are doing this for the good of society.  However, he notes that opponents have been critical on the grounds that:

  • “First, they have questioned whether the primary responsibility for digitally archiving the world’s books should be allowed to fall to a commercial company”, and
  • “The second, related criticism is that Google’s scanning of books is actually illegal”

As he concludes, “No one knows the precise use Google will make of the intellectual property it has gained by scanning the world’s library books, and the truth, as Gleick points out, is that the company probably doesn’t even know itself. But what is certain is that, in some way or another, Google’s entrance into digital bookselling will have a significant impact on the book world in years to come”.

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June 11, 2009 · 11:50 am

… on serendipitous rigour

Rhinefield-House-smallFor a while now, I have been thinking around the notion of ‘serendipitous rigour’ – which might at first sight appear to be a contradiction in terms.  However, sitting in the luxurious wasteland of the New Forest at the EPSRC Think Free retreat, I have discovered that others are also grappling with this notion.

So, herewith some interconnected  thoughts:

  • there is value in bringing together the concepts of ‘serendipity’ and ‘rigour’ – and in encouraging research practices based upon their intersection
  • serendipity can be defined as the effect whereby someone  accidentally discovers something fortunate or beneficial, particularly while looking for something else entirely – it is therefore crucial for creativity and the advancement of knowledge [note the origins of ‘serendipity’ in the Peregrinaggio di tre figluoli del re di Serendippo published by Michele Tramezzino in Venice in 1557, from which Horace Walpole coined the word]
  • the addition of the notion of rigour to that of serendipity is important for two reasons in that
    • we rigorously need to create ‘places’ where we can actually foster such serendipity, and
    • we also need rigorously to take advantage and benefit from the opportunities that serendipity provides

By encouraging the promulgation of serendipitous rigour, we may be able to escape the shackles and confines of our sterile academic milieu, and develop new concepts and practices that could make the world a better place

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May 20, 2009 · 8:14 pm

WISE awards for outstanding educational achievement

LOGO WISEThe Qatar Foundation has recently announced the launch of its WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) awards for outstanding educational achievements.  In this inaugural year, the WISE Awards nominations will generate six prizes to existing projects aligned with the Forum’s three main themes: Pluralism, Sustainability and Innovation.  Two prizes will be awarded for each of these three themes. Each of the six laureates will receive a WISE Prize Award of $20,000 at the Gala Dinner on November 17th, 2009. Laureates will also be given the opportunity to showcase their projects during the WISE Forum.

The WISE Awards application process is open to individuals or teams of individuals from across the world and in all education sectors, to be supported by a letter of endorsement from senior management of their organisations. The closing date for applications is 15th July 2009.

Laureates will be selected by a pre-jury and then by an International Jury consisting of some of the world’s leading experts in pluralism, sustainability and innovation in education, drawn from public institutions, civil society, the private sector, international organisations, universities and social entrepreneurs.

Further details are available as follows:

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March 3, 2009 · 8:01 pm

National Science Competition

The 4th-6th March sees the UK’s National Science Competition and the “Big Bang Fair” for UK Young Scientists and Engineers taking place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London.  This forms the launch pad for National Science and Engineering ‘Week’ (6th-15th March) which is coordinated by the British Science Association, funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Engineering Technology Board (ETB).

As the organisers say, “There are many existing celebrations of young people’s achievements in science and engineering across the UK. The most established are the British Science Association CREST awards celebration and the Young Engineers’ final event. Spearheaded by Sir Anthony Cleaver, Chair of ETB and Sir Tom McKillop, Chair of the Science Council and with support of ETB and the science and engineering communities, these celebrations are now being brought together under the umbrella of The Big Bang. It aims to promote UK science and engineering generally, and inspire all students”.

img_0716The Big Bang saw 183 competitor stands and student projects, including winners from the more than 28,000 participants in the CREST scheme. Hopefully, events such as these will encourage many more of the UK’s most able young people to participate in the pursuit of high quality scientific research and practice.  For those attending, make sure you visit stand 132 (about modelling flood protection in Oxfordshire) in the competition hall!

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January 30, 2009 · 1:24 pm

OECD report on demography and higher education

The OECD has recently (2008 ) published an important monograph entitled Higher education to 2030 (Volume 1): demography (read only version)  In summary, this assumes that:

  • There will be continued expansion of student participation, with majority female participation, greater variation in student profiles and increased emphasis on issues of access and equality.
  • The academic profession is to become more internationally oriented and increasingly mobile. There will also be greater variety in academic employment contracts and a movement away from the traditional concept of a self regulated community of professionals.
  • Society will contain a greater proportion of graduates which will have implications for social well-being and economic growth, the gap between the number of graduates from OECD area and from emerging economies (especially China and India) will be significantly reduced and issues around the social exclusion of those without HE qualifications will rise.

It is a long – but interesting – read, and includes syntheses of much useful data.  It is good to see a chapter by Serge Enersold on ‘Adapting higher education to the needs of disabled students’.

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