We are in full enrolment mode at the moment – for some reason a lot of students have left re-enrolling &/or seeking advice until the Very Last Moment – so I have little time for serious blogging. (It’s always the same at this time of year, only this year more of the same.) But I […]
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what might a ‘science for citizens’ curriculum look like?
That’s the question blog-buddy Michael Edmonds asked some of us last night, & it got me thinking. Sir Peter Gluckman raised the idea of a ‘science for citizens’ curriculum back in early 2011, in his report Looking ahead: science education for the 21st century. Included in that report was a brief list of some skills, […]
Continue readinga lovely friday photo
I am a sucker for lovely photos of the unexpected. And here’s a real beauty: water droplets caught in the splash 🙂 Macro-photography images of water in motion, photography by Heinz Maier.Via Analytical Chemistry Techniques.
Continue readingkissing cousins with kennewick man?
While away on holiday (gloat!) I got the opportunity for uninterrupted listening to podcasts 🙂 One of these was a July episode of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe, which included a discussion of the (in)famous Kennewick Man remains. These 9,000-years-old bones have been the focus of considerable controversy in the US, where they were […]
Continue readingwhy kids should grade teachers
Next week my first-year biology students will be doing an appraisal of this semester’s paper, & of those academic staff involved in teaching it. They’re asked about the perceived difficulty of the paper, the amount of work they’re expected to do for it, whether they’ve been intellectually stimulated, the amount of feedback they receive on […]
Continue readingsweet memories
I’ve just found a new blog that is a must-follow: Becky Crew’s Running Ponies. Run, don’t walk, over there – and read wondrous posts such as her discussion of a study that found chocolate** appears to enhance snails’ ability to form lasting memories. I wonder what will happen to chocolate sales at the uni shop, […]
Continue readingfostering is the cause…
… of a lack of time for other things. (Like writing ‘proper’ posts.) On Friday we became the foster parents of a tiny 4-year-old black toy poodle male (who’d previously been a stud dog). At least, we think he’s about four; could be a bit less or a bit more. Kanji (his new name) is […]
Continue readingsingapore’s stupendous supertrees
I’ve just got back from the 2011 International Biology Olympiad. Our team did well – Richard Chou received a silver medal; Sumin Yoon & Evelyn Qian won bronzes, & Eddie McTaggart was awarded a Certificate of Merit. So well done, all round! It was a testing time for our students, who were competing against the […]
Continue readinga good old debunking – flatulent dinosaurs & aquatic apes
I took a little time over lunch to catch up with the work of various science communicators, most notably that of Brian Switek, whose blog Laelaps is carried by the Wired website & who also writes Dinosaur Tracking on Smithsonian.com. I’m now regretting my long absence, for not only is Brian an excellent communicator of […]
Continue readingevery major’s terrible (apologies to gilbert & sullivan)
I have spent a lot of time lately advising students on their programs of study. (This is one of the reasons my blogging has been sparse of late: I have been filling in while we are ‘between’ registrars & as a result have almost nil ‘spare’ time.) One of the things we often talk about […]
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