Blogs

Like many academic librarians, a major piece of my job is helping students find their way around information they might use for course assignments. This fall I met a few times with a class full of smart, curious first year students who were quick to grasp their course content, quick to pick up on ways of finding out more, quick to follow leads into odd corners of the library, and wonderfully articulate when asked to reflect on what they observed. But when asked to write a modest paper using at least one primary and one secondary source, they seemed suddenly insecure and anxious.

In case you're still doing your holiday shopping or, like many of us grad students, haven't even thought about it yet, here is part one of our handy gift guide for graduate students. Graduate students can be difficult to shop for- often our needs can be different and we don't have too much time to make extensive lists.

Hotels share some things in common with higher ed. They are both bundled businesses, combining a range of functions and services at one location. They are both high fixed cost industries, where the economics only work if the high costs of the physical structures and staffing expenses must be distributed across many customers. They both offer differentiated services by price, with both luxury and no-frills brands competing in the same marketplace.

I spent the weekend thinking about Christmas cards, and Christmas presents. Not the ones that I have not yet bought, or sent, but ones that were postmarked Newtown last week, or purchased in Danbury a week or two ago, already wrapped and ready to be put under a Christmas tree. Cards with pictures of children on them, children who will not see the Christmas the cards celebrate; children who will not open the gifts purchased for them. I cannot think about these gifts, these cards. I cannot imagine the grief of the families.

I may be the only person in Backboro who likes Limburger. (Maybe not, of course. It's unlikely that the local grocery stocks it just for me, but for sure there's aren't very many of us around here.) Smelly. Very smelly. But a lovely flavor, and you get used to the aroma after a couple of decades.

The latest in my year-end series on the most important trends in ed-tech. Part Four: The Flipped Classroom

My break is filled to bursting with work -- and you?

Liberal arts colleges that subscribe to the Division III philosophy enable students to integrate—and balance—their athletic experience with academic interests and other co-curricular activities. Student-athletes compete not because they expect a financial reward or because booster clubs and alumni have a vested interest in their performance, but because they are driven to excel.