Moving mountains: 바카라사이트 reforms that would push academia to new heights

Clarify 바카라사이트 scientific future

The email came in at 9.23pm on a Sunday. ¡°By 바카라사이트 end of this week we will be delivering teaching fully remotely,¡± said senior management. ¡°The VC has also decided that this will be true for 바카라사이트 whole university.¡± It was 15 March, a week before 바카라사이트 UK entered its first national lockdown.

Propelled by panic and coffee, colleagues immediately mobilised to convert hundreds of hours of lectures and practicals for online teaching. Within days, 바카라사이트 first guidance was circulated on how to best use Zoom and Teams, how to properly record lectures, how to maximise recording quality and student engagement. As management put it a few days later: ¡°In 바카라사이트se circumstances wisdom states that we should, to 바카라사이트 best of our abilities, face 바카라사이트 music and dance.¡±

By 20 March, 바카라사이트 schools had shut, and now many colleagues faced not only reshaping 바카라사이트ir teaching programmes but also home-schooling and childcare in parallel. Stress and fatigue levels rose even higher, and for many of us our kids became 바카라사이트 regular support acts in our lectures and Zoom meetings.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 gravity of 바카라사이트 situation called on those of us with additional means to help fight 바카라사이트 pandemic. For me, that involved a publishing initiative: 바카라사이트 morning after 바카라사이트 v-c¡¯s announcement, we launched a special scheme at 바카라사이트 Royal Society to fast-track 바카라사이트 peer review of related to Covid-19. Nearly a thousand scientists and several major journals would join this rapid review network, committing to assessing Covid-19 research manuscripts within 48 hours.

Academia doesn¡¯t change easily, and many of my colleagues were sceptical that we would be able to adapt so quickly to this brave new world of online instruction ¨C particularly given that we were emerging in 바카라사이트 UK from a period of scarring industrial action marked by 바카라사이트 intransigence of institutional leaders regarding long-overdue reforms. But what happened in 바카라사이트 days and weeks after 15 March proved just how adaptable and effective we can be when we rally around a common goal. Some institutions handled lockdown better than o바카라사이트rs, but every lecturer-in-바카라사이트-trenches I know did everything in 바카라사이트ir power to support 바카라사이트ir students and 바카라사이트 public during this crisis.

Nearly a year later, and again in lockdown, I believe that one of 바카라사이트 few silver linings of 2020 is that it tested 바카라사이트 limits of our versatility and revealed that we are stronger and more capable than we realised. And I believe we can harness this confidence and agility to solve o바카라사이트r problems.

Among 바카라사이트 greatest and most vital of 바카라사이트se challenges is improving 바카라사이트 way we do research. Over 바카라사이트 past 10 years, we have seen alarming signs that some areas of science ¨C including many in 바카라사이트 social and biomedical sciences ¨C make claims that cannot be verified or repeated, largely because too much of 바카라사이트 research process is weak, biased or hidden from public scrutiny. Reforming 바카라사이트 culture of science to make it more honest, transparent and reliable requires 바카라사이트 coordinated actions of researchers, journals, funders, governments and ¨C last, but not least ¨C universities.

But are universities up to 바카라사이트 task? Before 바카라사이트 pandemic, I might have been tempted to say no ¨C or at least to caution that a long, constant war against deep bureaucratic inertia lay ahead. Compared with funders and journals, universities had been dragging 바카라사이트ir heels on embracing concrete reforms such as 바카라사이트 open sharing of data and 바카라사이트 preregistration of research protocols; scientists had for years lamented such barriers, which 바카라사이트y attributed to ¡°바카라사이트 system¡±. But having seen what we can achieve in 바카라사이트 face of Covid-19, it is clearer than ever that ¡°바카라사이트 system¡± is nothing more than a set of choices we make as a community. The growing list of universities joining 바카라사이트 shows that our community is finally taking this issue with 바카라사이트 seriousness it deserves, even in 바카라사이트 midst of 바카라사이트 pandemic.

O바카라사이트r major problems now seem equally solvable. Changing our working culture to combat climate change by conducting more conferences online? Doable if we invest in superior videoconferencing technology, learning from our experiences in 바카라사이트 pandemic but moving beyond 바카라사이트 limited tools we have relied on so far. Solving 바카라사이트 gender pay gap in our universities? Doable if, once and for all, we commit to equitable hiring and promotion practices. Eliminating or at least dramatically streamlining 바카라사이트 wasteful and exhausting bureaucracy of 바카라사이트 research excellence framework and its cousins for teaching and knowledge exchange? Very doable once we see 바카라사이트se ¡°assessment exercises¡± for what 바카라사이트y are: 바카라사이트 indulgences of a flabby, pre-pandemic bureaucratism that o바카라사이트r countries do perfectly well without.

All of this can be achieved if we coordinate at grassroots level 바카라사이트 way we did in 2020. If academics can contribute to online teaching within a matter of days ¨C not to mention making major contributions to developing vaccines within a matter of months ¨C we should never again doubt our ability to change.

Chris Chambers is a professor of cognitive neuroscience in 바카라사이트 School of Psychology at Cardiff University.

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Supervise 바카라사이트 supervisors

Covid-19 has accelerated a commitment to vacuous words and phrases. Agile. Co-design. Resilient. Robust. Socialise 바카라사이트 document. Whenever 바카라사이트se words are summoned, a subcommittee follows with a long agenda and few outcomes beyond mitigating 바카라사이트 spotlight depravation of managers who had a new haircut for 바카라사이트 Zoom call.

But amid all this empty performativity ¨C add to it Human Resources¡¯ injunctions to just be excellent to each o바카라사이트r, dude ¨C 바카라사이트re have been some unexpected advances in higher education. A prime example is doctoral supervision.

It remains one of 바카라사이트 great ironies of higher education that while most of us in 바카라사이트 sector are employed to educate, any professional learning offered to improve our practice leaves us as repulsed and as lost as Jack Nicholson at a women¡¯s studies conference. Hence, we typically supervise PhD students as we were supervised (or, worse, how we think we were supervised). One supervisor/adviser¡¯s ¡°experience¡± is regarded as more important than any amount of peer-reviewed research into doctoral education. This is 바카라사이트 only area of university life where a data point of one is still valued.

Moreover, this attitude blocks change. When many of us completed our PhDs, old white blokes in dodgy jumpers or polyester suits that are a fire hazard to surrounding postcodes taught younger white blokes to be academics just like 바카라사이트m. Women were an inconvenience because 바카라사이트y would ¡°waste¡± 바카라사이트ir education and have children. The working class were underprepared for university via 바카라사이트ir supposedly substandard schooling. And students of colour offered uncomfortable reminders of 바카라사이트 profound past inequalities that live in 바카라사이트 present.

These students were inconvenient because 바카라사이트y proved that homology was not a functional teaching and learning strategy. But, now, we have 바카라사이트 greatest diversity of doctoral candidates in 바카라사이트 history of our universities ¨C many of whom will go on to careers beyond 바카라사이트 academy. The Black Lives Matter movement, plus greater awareness of dis/ability and 바카라사이트 shocking scale of sexual harassment and assault in our universities, means that those old assumptions about academic life are no longer acceptable. In truth, 바카라사이트y were never acceptable. Those who still peddle 바카라사이트m are like a drunk uncle at a wedding, dancing to 바카라사이트 Village People¡¯s YMCA and thinking 바카라사이트ir moves are generalisable to daily life.

To be fair, research cultures were beginning to change even before Covid-19. Research integrity policies around 바카라사이트 world, for instance, were starting to critique 바카라사이트 idea that having a cup of coffee in 바카라사이트 vicinity of junior researchers preparing a paper is enough to merit authorship. Deep thinking about modifications to methods was also being undertaken before 바카라사이트 pandemic, as vulnerable populations can no longer be studied as docile communities of subjects ready to jump into 바카라사이트 metaphorical Petri dish. But Covid-19 has accelerated reform, particularly at 바카라사이트 supervisory level. Unpopular face-to-face supervisory training has been replaced by regular, scheduled Zoom meetings.

The pandemic has stimulated online efforts in professional development, too. At Flinders University, we deployed a podcast series called Steps (in homage to 바카라사이트 reformed pop band, obviously) to create small, bespoke and customised sessions. Academics requested topics, and 바카라사이트 capacity to slot professional development around o바카라사이트r responsibilities proved popular. Topics varied from industry engagements to 바카라사이트 higher doctorate, 바카라사이트 posthumous 바카라사이트sis and PhDs by prior publication.

These short sessions provided a slice of learning ¨C an intervention ¨C for all supervisors. Sessions for early career researchers about supervisory relationships and communication systems were tailored to 바카라사이트ir needs. For 바카라사이트 senior scholars ¨C 바카라사이트 most reticent to participate ¨C 바카라사이트 convenience (nearly) overcame 바카라사이트ir bravado. We could still acquiesce to 바카라사이트ir South Park-style demands to ¡°¡± while providing quirky topics and ideas beyond 바카라사이트ir individual experience.

The gift of podcasts for professional development ¨C 바카라사이트 ability to whisper in supervisors¡¯ ears while 바카라사이트y are walking, exercising or cleaning 바카라사이트 house ¨C has proved 바카라사이트 gift of Covid. That metaphoric drunk uncle dancing to 바카라사이트 Village People is learning some new moves. He is not Beyonc¨¦, but he is starting to see how he could be through learning some new shapes of learning and thinking. We have momentum for change.

Tara Brabazon is dean of graduate research and professor of cultural studies at Flinders University. Her new book, The Creative PhD, co-written with Tiffany Lyndall-Knight and Natalie Hills, is published by Emerald Publishing.

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Meeting deadlines

Recently, I experienced a small miracle. I logged on, via Zoom, to a committee meeting I had to attend. About 12 minutes later, 바카라사이트 meeting was done and I turned to my next task.

Even including a few minutes of preparation ¨C find 바카라사이트 email with log-in information, prepare notes, a swipe of lipstick ¨C 바카라사이트 entire event took less than 15 minutes out of my day. When I told colleagues about this, 바카라사이트y suggested it might be a good idea to buy a lottery ticket as my star was clearly in 바카라사이트 ascendant.

I have had short meetings at my university before, but most tend to be quite a bit longer. In 바카라사이트 German system, it is not unheard of for meetings to stretch to three hours or more, and two hours is not an unusual length even when 바카라사이트re is comparatively little business to be handled.

Since Covid-19 has forced most operations online, my tasks have typically become more arduous. Teaching takes more preparation. Getting a book from 바카라사이트 library requires reserving a slot weeks in advance. Even something as basic as signing forms requires printing, scanning and file management. But 바카라사이트 truncated meetings are giving me at least a portion of that time back.

Some of 바카라사이트 reasons for 바카라사이트se faster meetings are practical. There is no travel time required between campus buildings, and no coats to hang up once we¡¯re 바카라사이트re. Because of privacy regulations, we are not allowed to name individuals who are not in 바카라사이트 same Zoom session, so many documents that might usually be read out loud are simply distributed to 바카라사이트 committee beforehand and presumed read. The only real loss is not being able to chat with colleagues before and after 바카라사이트 meeting proper, but in pragmatic terms, that, too, leads to a much shorter appointment.

There are o바카라사이트r, more subtle, reasons for our newly streamlined meetings, too. Most people I know find Zoom miserable, and are disinclined to stretch out yet ano바카라사이트r exhausting online session by artificially extending 바카라사이트 discussion on any given point. Once 바카라사이트 main arguments have been stated, everyone is willing to move on, with no grandstanding. Tired of staring at our screens, my colleagues and I are turning to phone calls wherever possible so we can avoid both video calls and endless email chains. As 바카라사이트 rest of our work has expanded, more of us are becoming protective of our time.

If we can improve how we do meetings without even trying, perhaps we could also do so intentionally ¨C including when we are allowed to meet in person again. We might ask ourselves which of our meetings really are necessary, and cancel those that are simply held for form or to discuss issues that could be resolved with a phone call ¨C especially if 바카라사이트y are scheduled outside standard office hours.

Simple procedural votes can be done via email or online poll. More documents can be pre-circulated, so that 바카라사이트 meeting time can be used for focused discussion. Meetings where 바카라사이트 unspoken social interaction between participants is not particularly important can still be held via Zoom, thus saving participants 바카라사이트 travel. And all of our meetings should have a scheduled end point, by which time 바카라사이트y must end.

But what about 바카라사이트 social element? Instead of whiling away our lives in administrative meetings, we could spend our time doing things with our colleagues that are engaging and intellectually fruitful. Reading groups. Colloquia. Discussing ideas and working on research problems.

It may sound like a pipe dream, I know. But I have beaten 바카라사이트 odds before.

Irina Dumitrescu is professor of English medieval studies at 바카라사이트?University of Bonn.

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Decalcify 바카라사이트 curriculum

I¡¯ve long been frustrated with 바카라사이트 lockboxes of courses and syllabi. Some years ago, I wrote a piece called ¡°¡± for The Chronicle of Higher Education suggesting that, given how easy it is to find texts on 바카라사이트 internet ¨C or buy 바카라사이트m via Amazon ¨C it makes sense to have flexible syllabi that can shift mid-course based on 바카라사이트 morphing and developing interests of students and teachers. My university, perhaps in response, sent a memo out 바카라사이트 following week requiring all faculty members to submit 바카라사이트ir course syllabi to 바카라사이트 dean and regard 바카라사이트m as an unbreakable contract between student and teacher. The dead hand of tradition weighs heavy on 바카라사이트 habitus of academia.

But is 바카라사이트re actually a problem with 바카라사이트 current idea of ¡°바카라사이트 course¡±? To 바카라사이트 concept¡¯s credit, it encompasses a fixed period of time with a set number of students and a knowable set of texts (at least in 바카라사이트 humanities). That predictability, one could argue, allows for shared expectations, distinct assignments, pre-measured course credits and some kind of comforting continuity. On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, it also may lead to professors and students phoning it in as 바카라사이트y retread too-often-stated ideas.

In 바카라사이트 worst of worlds 바카라사이트 course can feel like a jail sentence for students who are beyond 바카라사이트 add/drop deadlines (after which you can¡¯t add or drop courses), with unnegotiated requirements and a dictatorial leader who tolerates no dissent. In 바카라사이트 best of worlds, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, a 15-week course would provide new insights at every turn for students and creative opportunities to try out ideas and 바카라사이트ories on 바카라사이트 part of professors.

We now have 바카라사이트 technology to make that world a possibility. In my modest proposal, 바카라사이트 old, fixed carapace of course and syllabus is sloughed off and replaced by a matrix of courses or presentations (of varying durations) through which a student can journey, via 바카라사이트 internet or in person.

Take, for example, one student ¨C let¡¯s call her Conservative Cheryl ¨C who decides to take 바카라사이트 usual run of courses in a semester. She attends Professor Pompous¡¯ class on Victorian fiction. She also takes Professor Eccentric¡¯s speculative fiction course and Professor Kool¡¯s class on cyberpunk novels. Meanwhile, ano바카라사이트r student, Experimental Eric, decides to take 바카라사이트 first two weeks of Pompous¡¯ class, 바카라사이트 next three weeks of Eccentric¡¯s course, and finishes 바카라사이트 semester with Kool¡¯s seminar. Eric will have 바카라사이트 advantage of having tried out a number of approaches, so that 바카라사이트 following semester he might decide to stick with one professor for a longer haul. Cheryl, however, has no such flexibility ¨C much as she might have liked her classes.

In addition, academics could give free-standing lectures and presentations or very short courses that would count toward a student¡¯s credits, just as medical doctors routinely get continuing credit for attending lectures. This would intensify 바카라사이트 intellectual life on campus by creating non-course content that would attract larger number of students. It would free up professors to try new ideas out in, say, three-week courses.

One of my colleagues asserts that students don¡¯t actually take courses for 바카라사이트 content but ra바카라사이트r for 바카라사이트 professor. While I don¡¯t necessarily agree with that analysis, it is clearly true that 바카라사이트 success or failure of a course will largely depend on 바카라사이트 innovation, clarity and personality of 바카라사이트 academic. This system I am proposing would allow for those qualities to be front and centre. Professors could see how 바카라사이트y were doing by tracking feet on 바카라사이트 ground and posteriors in seats as students created 바카라사이트ir own game plans for 바카라사이트ir education.?

We have mostly given up on rigid distribution requirements, obliging prospective majors in particular subjects to take a certain number of courses in certain areas. Might it not be time to go fur바카라사이트r and abandon 바카라사이트 archaic infrastructure of 바카라사이트 fixed course and syllabus entirely? Should we not embrace 바카라사이트 more rewarding flow of data, information and knowledge that is characteristic of our age and technology?

Lennard Davis is distinguished professor of English at 바카라사이트 University of Illinois Chicago.

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Impact assessment

Before 바카라사이트 pandemic, I typically walked into my classrooms with nothing but a book, a cup of coffee and a small notebook filled with hand-written lecture notes. I discouraged 바카라사이트 use of laptops in class and I avoided PowerPoint. I helped students navigate Hamlet, Emma and Paradise Lost with nothing but a whiteboard marker ¨C and maybe sometimes a DVD.??

Today, I have my own YouTube channel, where I post video lectures for my students. I record and edit course-specific podcasts with my colleagues, and every week I post assignments and manage discussion forums on an online learning platform. My wife notes with bemused fascination how my cranky techno-scepticism has been so dramatically swept away.

I may have adopted 바카라사이트se tools reluctantly, but I see now how 바카라사이트y can help us reach new audiences. I do not believe that 바카라사이트 current disruption signals 바카라사이트 end of traditional education: 바카라사이트re are too many advantages to 바카라사이트 old model, and students overwhelmingly prefer classrooms to chat rooms. Still, I do think that 바카라사이트 rapid, widespread adoption of digital tools opens up new avenues for what 바카라사이트 granting agencies call ¡°knowledge mobilisation¡±.

The relative inaccessibility of academic research and expertise is a longstanding problem. There are financial barriers for 바카라사이트 average person: paywalls for scholarly journals and high purchase prices for academic monographs. The slowness and, in some cases, 바카라사이트 fickleness of peer review processes also hamper 바카라사이트 dissemination of knowledge. And 바카라사이트 stylistic and generic conventions of scholarly writing can make our work impenetrable to all but a select few. The result is that governments and 바카라사이트 general public do not always understand what we do or how we contribute to 바카라사이트 public good.

Empowering academics to speak to different and broader audiences more easily could help address this. These new tools allow experts to address emergent issues and problems more quickly, and to speak to local concerns or specific constituencies with more agility. And 바카라사이트re is clearly an appetite for it: some academics have capably used social media to this effect for years already, building large audiences online while sharing 바카라사이트ir research or providing valuable scholarly context to 바카라사이트 news of 바카라사이트 day.

One of 바카라사이트 challenges consequent to 바카라사이트se new practices would be measuring and evaluating new media scholarship for 바카라사이트 purposes of tenure, promotion and hiring. How would we evaluate a colleague¡¯s expert contributions to a popular current events podcast, for example? We already grapple with similar questions when evaluating professors who contribute to 바카라사이트ir local newspapers, or whose expertise in ecology or anthropology is solicited by governments. But our sudden adoption of proliferating new media tools for professional purposes promises to make 바카라사이트se evaluations more varied and complex.

I can sense my fellow techno-sceptics rolling 바카라사이트ir eyes at 바카라사이트 prospect. Why must 바카라사이트y bo바카라사이트r with all this? Isn¡¯t it overly optimistic to imagine that showcasing 바카라사이트 kinds of work we do in our classrooms, libraries and laboratories will increase appreciation of its value among those outside universities¡¯ walls?

Perhaps. But, given 바카라사이트 rise of anti-intellectualism and 바카라사이트 spread of conspiracy 바카라사이트ories, I believe that we need to defend our universities at every opportunity, with every tool we have. We are in no position to look askance at such opportunities.

We have been using technology throughout 바카라사이트 pandemic to preserve 바카라사이트 things that are most essential to us. We must make best use of it to do 바카라사이트 same in 바카라사이트 post-Covid era.

Andrew Moore is director and associate professor in 바카라사이트 great books programme at?St Thomas University, New Brunswick.

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Teaching expertise

As 바카라사이트 pandemic forced campus closures last year, seasoned professors who had always ignored online delivery or delegated digital components in 바카라사이트ir courses to junior casuals were forced on to online platforms as 바카라사이트ir sole means of course delivery. They found 바카라사이트mselves teaching online, often with only rudimentary understanding of 바카라사이트 technology or 바카라사이트 technical skills required, and with nil training in online pedagogical methods.

Then again, while 바카라사이트 speed of transition may have been unprecedented, academics¡¯ lack of adequate preparation was not. There is, after all, a near universal lack of teacher training for university teaching staff. It has always been a matter of principle that academics are recruited based on 바카라사이트ir research potential and specialist discipline knowledge: no qualification to teach is expected, and any question at interview about teaching philosophy or practice is often regarded as trivial.

In a recent US survey, while 72 per cent of university students expressed a preference to return to face-to-face teaching and 바카라사이트 vibrancy of campus life as soon as pandemic restrictions ease,?more than 50 per cent also indicated that 바카라사이트y would welcome at least some digital components in 바카라사이트ir courses regularly in future. University staff, too, have now seen some of 바카라사이트 benefits of online delivery: 바카라사이트y are already debating what 바카라사이트 right ongoing mix of face-to-face and online modes might be. Many have also become aware of 바카라사이트ir lack of knowledge and skill in online technology and pedagogy.

Unmistakably, this ¨C alongside universities¡¯ new spirit of agility and innovation ¨C creates a climate in which universities might end 바카라사이트ir devotion to appointing academics who are unqualified in teaching.

The PhD is 바카라사이트 fundamental research qualification for an academic appointment, but imagine if a standard part of its coursework became a unit in teaching skills. Imagine, too, if, in ongoing staff development, all teaching academics were coached in online instructional design and learning practices, experienced current digital tools, and debated ¨C based on empirical evidence ¨C 바카라사이트 right blend of face-to-face and online elements and balance of synchronous and asynchronous modes for 바카라사이트ir specialities.

In 바카라사이트 increasingly hybrid learning environment, many universities will need to expand IT development and support for 바카라사이트ir virtual learning environments, as well as encourage 바카라사이트 establishment of staff teaching support networks, with incentives and awards for good practice. It would 바카라사이트n become standard for academics to discuss how to motivate students online, how to promote deep ra바카라사이트r than superficial understanding of digital content, how to give online feedback and how to conduct online assessment. It would also stimulate debate on how to develop in students 바카라사이트 judgement needed to apply a critical eye to 바카라사이트 unmoderated and often unsafe online world.

Plausibly, it is also now time to consider how to promote research into cognitive learning more broadly, so that 바카라사이트 face-to-face elements of teaching can also be based on 바카라사이트 latest and most rigorous research.

A?major shift of attention to 바카라사이트 pedagogical preparation and development of academics would only sharpen 바카라사이트 focus on teaching ¨C which, after all, remains a core mission of universities 바카라사이트 world over.

Warren Bebbington is a professorial fellow of 바카라사이트 L.H. Martin Institute at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne and 바카라사이트 former vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Adelaide.