The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

Tag: Curriculum

Effective Graduates

One of the most tiresome debates in post-secondary education is about whether or not students emerge from their studies “job ready”.  To which the answer, of course, is that for the most part they do not. Education – including vocational education – is meant to prepare you for a long career rather than an immediate job.  Training for specific jobs?  That’s usually a job for companies themselves, and the fact that they underinvest in this area – notably by cutting

Read More »
June 4, 2025 3 Comments

Coronavirus (12) – A National Effort in Online Education

Today, I want to issue a challenge to all Canadian universities.  I think a lot of universities are going to be in significant trouble come September.  I know everyone is working hard to avoid this outcome but fixing what needs to be fixed for September is simply too big a job for individual institutions.  And so, I am going to argue that the only way forward is for institutions is to do something which does not come naturally to them,

Read More »
April 7, 2020 15 Comments

Monitoring Trends in Academic Programming

Morning all.  We here at HESA Towers are launching a new publication series today, and we couldn’t be prouder.  Written by my colleague Jonathan McQuarrie, it’s called Monitoring Trends in Academic Programming, it’s fabulous, and it’s available here. The genesis of this project lies in the somewhat random calls we get from institutions every once in awhile to suggest ways of evaluating existing academic programs or to assist in designing new ones.  It’s a tricky job to do, because some of

Read More »
November 14, 2019 3 Comments

Curricular Change and The Decline of Poland

Sometimes Canadian universities drive me up the wall.  Mostly, it’s when they start lobbying for other people to take action in areas where the clearest problems lie within their own wheelhouse.  I speak in particular of Study Abroad and Work-Integrated Learning.  To be clear, I am all for more study abroad and more work-integrated learning. They’re both straight-up great ideas.  But it seems to me that if you’re going out to lobby for money to improve something, you might want to

Read More »
March 6, 2019 1 Comment

Designing a University from Scratch (III)

If you’re just joining us, on Wednesday I briefly reviewed some of the key aspects of the Minerva model as detailed in the book yesterday’s entry, as detailed in the book Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education.  Then yesterday, I examined what lessons the Minerva had for the rest of academia in terms of building curricula.  Today I want to turn to pedagogy and assessment. Assessment, in particular, is ripe for a deep re-think and overhaul. On the face of

Read More »
April 6, 2018 No Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

Subscribe

Search Posts

Search Publications

Social Media

Linkedin Youtube Spotify

Recent Posts

More thoughts on...