Carved pumpkins are displayed as part of Pumpkin Mania on the Transylvania University campus in Lexington, Ky.Charles Bertram/The Associated Press
The best of the web on education from kindergarten to postsecondary, as chosen daily by Globe and Mail education editor Simona Chiose.
U.S. universities open their doors to Sandy evacuees
Sandy has left colleges on the U.S. East Coast closed, with power failures and downed trees while other campuses became home to evacuees from the storm's path. The City University of New York sheltered more than 1,700 people during the storm.
Is teaching undervalued for tenure decisions? Data says maybe
The perennial debate over teaching v. research has led Pamela Gravestock to probe whether the two really are counterposed in tenure decisions. Turns out that there are (almost) as many variations on how teaching is assessed at 46 different Canadian universities as there are institutions. While research has definite measures of success – number of publications, for example – teaching is more amorphously assessed, with the evidence for teaching excellence being inconsistent.
Mental health affects dropping out decision
Depression is the most common mental health issue for American university students, with many students not receiving (and perhaps not seeking) any help for their problems. Not getting help to deal with their workload or sagging marks led many to decide to drop out or lose scholarships that depended on maintaining a certain average.
Training the brain
Private tutoring services that claim they can train the brain to respond to academic challenges are catching on. Sometimes begun as a way to keep aging brains sharp, the companies now increasingly count students (and their parents) among their clients.
Haunted universities
The best place to go trick or treating and catch some thrills might be university campuses. In Canada, University of Toronto alumni share their run-ins with ghosts, while the U.S. has a list of top 10 campuses with non-paying spectral attendees.