Science Education & Policy

Don’t Dismiss MOOCs – We Are Just Starting To Understand Their True Value

By Neil Morris, University of Leeds Over the past couple of years, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have taken the academic world by storm. Despite much debate about whether the idea of running free online courses for everyone is both a good and cost-e ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 4 2014 - 10:32am

AAAS Chooses Not To Advance Open Access

By Jon Tennant, Imperial College London Access to research is limited worldwide by the high cost of subscription journals, which force readers to pay for their content. The use of scientific research in new studies, educational material and news is often ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 4 2014 - 1:30pm

Debate Education Efficiency, But Don’t Rank Countries On It

Finland is the country to beat. Kimmo Brandt/EPA By Daniel Muijs, University of Southampton There has been a recent explosion of interest in the effectiveness of education systems around the world, largely driven by international studies that compare the ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 5 2014 - 9:40pm

4 Things You Should Know About Gene Patents

A gene patent means only the patent-holder has the right to undertake research and development involving that gene.Credit: Shutterstock By Rodney Scott, University of Newcastle The Federal Court’s decision that gene patenting is permitted in Australia wil ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 6 2014 - 8:00am

Health Insurance Expansion Led By Young People- But There Is No Increase In Health Care Or Affordability

Nearly 1 in 3 young adults ages 19 to 25 years lacked health insurance in 2009- in most cases, they didn't want to incur the cost but one of the goals of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was to get all young people or their parents p ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2014 - 10:40pm

Bring Back No Child Left Behind? Common Core Standards, Lack Of Voice, Driving Teachers Out

After the last wave of 'American children don't perform well on international standardized tests' articles in news media, the Obama administration gutted No Child Left Behind, the program approved with overwhelming bipartisan over a decade ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 9 2014 - 11:00am

U.C. Berkeley Tops Public University Rankings Again

If you want the best education and you are rich or are a non-Asian minority born with your heart outside of your body, go to Princeton. If you are Asian and rich, go to Caltech. If you are none of the above, but still smart enough to get into a top school, ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Sep 9 2014 - 7:39pm

6 Percent Or 12? Will The Real Unemployment Rate Please Stand Up?

The Obama administration recently began claiming that the unemployment rate had dropped to 6.1 percent, evidence that its economic policies were working. Yet over 90 Americans of working age are unemployed or working at low paying jobs outside their field ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 10 2014 - 7:00pm

China Shows There's More To Renewable Energy Than Fighting Climate Change

The Tangshanpeng Wind Farm in China. Credit: Flickr/Land Rover Our Planet, CC BY-SA By John Mathews and Hao Tan, University of Newcastle ...

Article - The Conversation - Sep 12 2014 - 7:00am

Drugs For Mild Hypertension In Low Risk People Questioned

There was a time when medicine was considered 'at all costs' but the costs were a lot lower. With malpractice attorneys on call and 'defensive medicine' to include every test so that during fact-finding all of the bases are covered, co ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 15 2014 - 9:52am