The LSU Top 5 #12
This is the twelfth of our weekly links to the top 5 interesting bits and pieces we’ve found from around the internet.
(Linking doesn’t mean we necessarily agree with these articles!)
Survey reveals UK study benefits for Chinese – Times Higher Education
A recent report found that Chinese students who studied in the UK and returned home were more open-minded and tolerant than those who did not study overseas. Michele Schweisfurth, reader in comparative and international education at the University of Birmingham said that students had “accepted the diversity of the world and, as a result, had become more flexible and open-minded than they were previously, with increased tolerance for different ideas and behaviour.”
However, some in the comments section expressed doubt at the survey.
Cheating Goes High Tech - The Chronicle
This article was featured back in June, but seems especially relevant since the launch of MOOCs such as Coursera (where cheating has also been found to be more common than anticipated). There is a ‘gamification of cheating’ happening across a range of online courses and platforms (including Blackboard) and there are some in the field of detecting test fraud who are aiming to stay ahead of the curve. The article highlights some of the patterns of behavior and how they might be addressed.
Vietnam university gets green light from Laos to build campus – Tuoi Tre
FPT University has been granted 30 hectares of land in Laos to build a satellite campus. Principal of FPT University Le Truong Tung said that this is an opportunity “for Vietnamese education to reach out to the international environment.”
Graduate apprenticeships for the professions introduced - UK’s Department for Business Innovation and Skills
Professional apprenticeships in law, accountancy and advanced engineering will soon be offered. The apprenticeships will be equivalent to bachelors and masters degrees and, according to Director of BPP Professional Apprenticeships James Hammill in this press release, will increase access for different types of students:
“We are committed to improving social mobility and diversity in the work place by opening up some of the most prestigious professions and employers to school leavers as an alternative to the traditional route.”
Neil deGrasse Tyson on Scientific Literacy, Education, and the Poetry of the Cosmos – Brain Pickings
Stephen Colbert talks with Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and advocate for public scientific understanding, in a sometimes irreverent and sometimes profound discussion on the public understanding of science and the role and effectiveness of education in this.
Bonus – because I couldn’t bring myself to cut it!
An 1895 8th Grade Final Exam: I Couldn’t Pass It. Could You? – The New Republic
Here, an eighth grade final exam is reproduced and readers are challenged to see how well they would have done. Most interesting to me isn’t that few of us would pass, but the totally different types of questions being asked.
We love hearing your thoughts on these articles, so feel free to comment below!
Vietnam exporting education could be equated with Vietnam teaching other countries about conservation. It needs to get it’s own house well in order before presuming to inflict a system on neighbors.
Re Asian students on their mind-opening overseas jaunts: I’m amazed there was a comment thread at all, other than people pointing out that a survey was not necessary as the results simply stated the bleeding obvious. If people growing up in an information-free zone are exposed to open education for long enough, of course they will develop a higher degree of freedom of thought.