terencehebert

I m a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University.
Universities Today

Robotutor marking student homework

Finally something (someone) who can teach thousands of students at a time. I give you… Robotutor! Is this where our flirtation with MOOCs will lead? What are we trying to achieve with MOOCs anyway? That has never been made clear to me. I could imagine MOOCs as a way to prepare students FOR university but I still have grave concerns about what they mean for the future of universities if we remove the real interactions between professors and students and we stop pushing both to be their best.
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From Wikipedia: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Argonne_lab_education.jpg
Universities Today

Twenty top tips for interpreting scientific claims from University of Cambridge

We talk about giving students the tools to evaluate research in their disciplines critically. These tools can also be applied to their roles as citizens as well. We are sold a lot of things now- it is more important than ever to judge the claims of our colleagues, our leaders and even ourselves honestly and critically. Here are some really good tips for developing that critical spirit from the University of Cambridge. Read more –>

Students Today

Is Intellectual Curiosity a Strong Predictor For Academic Performance?

Here’s an article I received from the “Tomorrow’s Professor Blog” run by Rick Reis. Getting students to invest in their educations intellectually is an excellent predictor of success. Who knew? Maybe this is the best argument I’ve seen for why we should get students interested in research as soon as possible. Show them that the edge of human knowledge is the best place to be if curiosity is the driver of educational excellence. Not sure how MOOCs will do this- but face to face this works wonders. Read more –>