Category Archives: Education

Shuffling Forward in Education

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Athene Donald

This week has been full of surprises in Whitehall. The departure of David Willetts was foreseen. Indeed, it has been predicted just about every time there has been a ministerial reshuffle in the recent past. He will be missed by … Continue reading →

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Well-rounded Students – What does it Take?

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Athene Donald

WS Gilbert thought it was ‘comical…that every boy and every gal… is either a little Liberal or else a little Conservative’ in the words expressed by that bored sentry PC Willis. The politics would be different now, but we in … Continue reading →

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An Education in Education (and Policy)

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Athene Donald

For the last three and a half years I have been chairing the Royal Society’s Education Committee. Under Secretary of State Michael Gove, education in England has been going through a tumultuous time (other parts of the UK have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Science Policy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Student Satisfaction Good, Student Learning Better

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Athene Donald

Reading the responses from students to one’s teaching is all too often painful. Even for a course that has gone reasonably well you will probably get as many panning you for making it too simple as complaining it was impossibly … Continue reading →

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What Can You Do in a Minute?

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Athene Donald

Responding to the simplest questions about life as an academic scientist seems to pose me serious problems. I have written before about the difficulty I have in answering the straightforward question ‘who inspired you?’ because I don’t feel as if … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Education | Tagged , , | 4 Comments