Two U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would make it easier for international students studying science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to stay in the United States after graduation and earn permanent residency. The SMART Jobs Act would create a new student-visa category for graduate students pursuing degrees in the so-called STEM disciplines. Students would be…
Creativity enhances life. It enables the great thinkers, artists, and leaders of our world to continually push forward new concepts, new forms of expression and new ways to improve every facet of our existence. The creative impulse is of particular importance to scientific research. Without it, the same obstacles, ailments, and solutions would occur repeatedly…
People with higher levels of education and higher income have lower rates of many chronic diseases compared to those with less education and lower income levels, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Highly educated people tend to have healthier behaviors, avoid unhealthy ones and have more access to care.
One day after new test results showed that only 32 percent of U.S. 8th graders are proficient in science, a group of 26 states has helped draft a document that may bring about a major overhaul of science education in this country. Known as the Next Generation Science Standards, the draft sets ambitious new expectations…
As universities move from being national institutions to international ones, they shift from managing national reputations to seeking international identities. Reputation management may not be at the forefront of many academics’ minds, but when professors go abroad and meet colleagues who have no idea what kind of institution they come from, their interest may pick…
U.S. eighth graders did slightly better last year on a national science test than did their counterparts in 2009. But what that result says about the state of science in U.S. schools is open to debate. A 2-point rise to 152 (on a scale from 0 to 300) is part of what Jack Buckley, head…
In Tennessee a new law took effect last month that allows teachers to discuss creationism as an alternative to evolution. The Volunteer State has now given us both the Monkey Trial and the Monkey Bill. But it’s not just one state. Polls show that fewer than half of Americans accept evolution. Most of us still…
The past five years have seen a proliferation of social networking sites designed specifically for scholars, like Academia.edu, which, with 1.2 million registered users, is one of the heavyweights in the field. The free sites, which also include Mendeley.com, ResearchGate.net, Zotero.org, and a number of discipline-specific platforms, typically offer users a way to organize their…
Anthropology is an inherently interdisciplinary field. Drawing from evolutionary theory, feminist theory, critical race theory, it compares within and between primates. Anthropologists exist in biology, sociology, psychology, community health and education departments; in businesses, hospitals, museums, zoos, and non-profits, and countless other places. There are four fields within anthropology: biological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology, and…
Conventional wisdom deems smaller classes superior. John Boyer a professor at Virginia Tech and a self-described “Podunk instructor,” calls that “poppycock.” He’s exploring how technology can help engage students in face-to-face courses that enroll from 600 to nearly 3,000 students. It’s a timely project that may suggest tips for others. In a recent survey of…