It’s a marathon, not a sprint, says an expert
For many students and teachers, the start of the new school year has added a new set of challenges to the big ones they’ve already been dealing with for nearly two and a half years. And though it may be simple enough to “switch on” motivation to get things done in the short term, sustaining…
We need to learn to live with the now endemic coronavirus
The Canadian Academics for Covid Ethics (CA4CE) is a group of researchers and scholars from fields spanning the natural and social sciences and humanities. It is concerned with the mismanagement of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response in Canada and around the world. The following commentary was written by Drs. Claus Rinner, Claudia Chaufan, Jennifer Tilk,…
Need better education to keep up with the fast pace of innovation
Canada’s nursing school graduates are not as ready as they should be for the digital transformation happening in health care, according to a University of Alberta researcher. Nurses need better education to keep up with the fast pace of innovation – from robots at the bedside to virtual care and virtual reality treatments to electronic…
All students deserve a learning environment that is free of political indoctrination
If you’ve been around for a while, you probably remember the phrase “politically correct.” Being called politically correct was not a compliment. Instead, it meant that you had an unhealthy obsession with not offending anyone, even if you had to say some rather silly things in the process. For example, instead of saying husband or…
A secretariat to oversee equity officers won't empower students from disadvantaged backgrounds
Earlier this year, a group called Equity Matters asked the province of Manitoba to establish an education equity secretariat to oversee equity officers working in Manitoba schools. Equity Matters wants to ensure that all Manitoba students are reflected in the curriculum and at all public education system staff levels. They don’t want any student to…
The human body needs the right fuel for optimal performance
When it comes to learning, registered dietitian Heidi Bates likens humans to “high-performance sports cars” that need injections of just the right fuel throughout the day. “If you’re not fuelling the body at regular intervals, the amount of sugar in your blood – which is really the fuel for your brain – will go up…
AI researchers may have found a method for removing bias in natural language processing
A better way to reduce gender bias in natural language processing models while preserving vital information about the meanings of words may have been found, according to a recent study. The research could be a key step toward addressing the issue of human biases creeping into artificial intelligence. While a computer itself is an unbiased…
America is taking a tentative step to help students. Canada needs to do the same
American President Joe Biden is wiping US$10,000 in federal student loan debt for those with incomes under $125,000 a year or households that earn less than $250,000. He is also cancelling an additional $10,000 for students who received federal Pell Grants to attend college. For context, more than 45 million Americans collectively owe over $1.7…
Another sign of out-of-touch elitism
Proof of vaccination is required for students who want to reside at the University of Toronto. No, this wasn’t cut-and-paste from a 2021 article – it’s an actual requirement for the fall of 2022. Anyone who plans to live in residence at the University of Toronto must show proof of vaccination. Not only that, but…
Tying funding to parental choices generates strong incentives for schools to provide higher-quality customization
When Canadian schools suffer from poor track records and students fall behind, provincial governments always favour the same response: throw more money at the problem. New crises prompt political actors to request further rounds of new investments, reinvestments, refinancing, and improved financing — the slogans change, but the strategy is always to try to secure…
Regulatory bodies should stick to their core purpose and stay out of politics
The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) serves as the regulatory body for public school teachers in Ontario. When a complaint comes in, the OCT is obligated to investigate and, if the teacher is found guilty, decide on an appropriate consequence. By investigating complaints against teachers in that province, regulatory bodies such as the OCT play…
Business administration, engineering, nursing, and biological and agricultural sciences ranked in top three in Canada and top 50 worldwide
University of Alberta programs in business, engineering, nursing and agricultural sciences rank among the top three in Canada, according to new global rankings. The U of A’s business administration program was ranked the best in Canada and 30th in the world, according to the 2022 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, or GRAS, after climbing steadily in…
It simply offers a lens to look honestly at the reasons disparities exist
Given the criticisms of Critical Race Theory (CRT), I set out to understand this controversial approach to viewing our world. What does it actually say? The first point of CRT is to question the narrative told by our dominant society. Few would argue that “History is written by the victors.” In the quest for truth,…
Students learn best when immersed in a content-rich learning environment that builds up their background knowledge
Instead of making students memorize a bunch of useless facts, we need to help them think like scientists and historians. Does this make sense to you? It probably does if you’re a curriculum consultant or an education professor. After all, that’s what’s being pushed in faculties of education. The problem is that this approach is…
New program allows students to create their own skateboard brand and business for high school credit
University of Alberta grad Kristian Basaraba, ’01 BEd, has been skateboarding for over 30 years. But the high school teacher never thought he’d be leaning so heavily on the sport in the classroom. In 2019, he started the Sk8trepreneur program at Salisbury Composite High School in Sherwood Park, Alta., challenging students to create their own…