Blogs Posts on "University Life"

The Open University: First Impressions of a Unique Institution by The Pequod on Nov 12, 2009Over the summer, I was (more by luck than skill, I suspect) appointed as an Associate Lecturer for the Open University. This is the first of two posts contrasting the OU with the more conventional university at which I have taught part-time for sever...

University Contact Hours by The Pequod on Nov 10, 2009A.C. Grayling has just written a comment piece in The Guardian complaining that more "contact hours" do not equate to a better education. This is the belief apparently held by Peter Mandelson, who in calling for universities to become more commercial...

oof by wordcurrents on Nov 4, 2009A little violence in my tale today. (#963)...

Peanuts and Monkeys: Why Students Will Not Drive Better Teaching Along with Higher Tuition Fees by The Pequod on Oct 21, 2009In a thinly disguised attempt to prepare the ground ahead of raising the cap on university tuition fees (which seems inevitable no matter whether Labour or the Conservatives win the next general election), the business secretary Peter Mandelson has s...

The Twittering Tutor by The Pequod on Oct 16, 2009One of the pleasures of university life is the three months in summer when students depart, and rather than having to swim against a tide of preparation and marking, one actually gets to tread water, reflecting on what has gone before, and planning n...

On Paying More and Getting Less by The Pequod on Oct 2, 2009Now although I regularly talk about my subject or teaching, I do not very often blog about policy at my university. I do not want to end up like Night Jack, the not-so-secret policeman blogger. But having already been made hot under the collar by the...

Grumpy Young Man by The Pequod on Sep 7, 2009Although it has had many casualties, last night I realised at a comedy gig that the recession has been great for comedians, providing a rich vein of material. One comedian joked that in the present crisis, the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, lo...

WE PY5 ON TVE - 3R by ♥WMEISAN87♥♥LiFe JoURney EvEnTs HaPPEnings♥♥ on Sep 3, 2009Li Leng is the representative to shoot on 3R, she needed our help to have a short shoot for this show... ^ ^We are so happy to get together on TV for real... hohoho...Li Leng posted the video for us on facebook... i only could see myself once... and...

WE PY5 ON TV3 - 3R by ♥WMEISAN87♥♥LiFe JoURney EvEnTs HaPPEnings♥♥ on Sep 3, 2009Li Leng is the representative to shoot on 3R, she needed our help to have a short shoot for this show... ^ ^We are so happy to get together on TV for real... hohoho...Li Leng posted the video for us on facebook... i only could see myself once... and...

Getting Feedback on Teaching Effectiveness by The Pequod on Aug 19, 2009Last week, the UK's postgraduate support body, Vitae, published a survey of distance learning and part-time doctorates. The next day in the UK, universities and the higher education press were pouring over the results from the annual National Student...