Academics
It’s infuriating. Here at The Punch, we regularly call all sorts of academics for their opinions on various things. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get through.
Seriously, their phones just ring and ring and ring. And if you leave a message, good luck hearing back from them before next week. By which time the issue du jour will be well and truly fish and chip wrapping.
Why is this the case? Surely academics have fewer meetings than the rest of us. Surely they are at their desks more, right by that clunky old landline. They have mobiles too, right? With that newfangled voicemail stuff, and all.
Continue reading "Friday dilemma: Why don’t academics answer the phone?" »
There’s a hidden epidemic of bullying in Australia – and it’s not in the schoolyard. The corporatisation of universities has led to an increase in students bullying their lecturers for better marks.
“It’s often the international students, whose families have sacrificed so much to send them to university,” says one lecturer in the arts and social sciences faculty at the ANU.
Dr. Janet Shepherd* admits bumping up one student’s Credit to a Distinction, because he stalked and harassed her daily via social media.
Continue reading "Fee-paying uni students bully academics for good marks" »
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These Days says:
My experience as a tutor was similar. Few students received As, but no one who submitted something that looked vaguely like work failed. It was even worse in grad school. Read more »
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Toothfairy says:
Rod Rye you are so right! This is happening right now at the University fo Sydney Faculty of Dentistry - where many students have been failed by lecturers who just decide they don’t like students. I’ve come across so many lecturers with dysfunctional personalities. They may know their subject but… Read more »
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marley says:
I'm one of the older ones, so I've certainly seen a few changes in my time. When I started school I learned to write with a nib pen, dipped in an inkwell (no, I'm not kidding). My mother became a dab hand at getting inkstains out of my clothes. Flicking ink at one another in the classroom was an essential… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
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