3rd Level Article

bduffy

Recent article on IT here on 3rd level Lecturers getting some predictable responses given the article....
Plenty of debate on the subject but maybe the argument could have been better structured initially?

Ostrom

Ireland Inc...

Limited insight into the day to day on his part, and the same tired (unfortunate) definition of research value. I'm not sure how he reasoned that 'a good percentage' are completing PhD research during work hours.

2Scoops

Looks like he ruffled the feathers of quite a few academics! They're taking a break from their important research to write strongly-worded letters to the Irish Times. Must have touched a nerve...

opinion guy

Can't believe that article was written by a former uni head. Reads like it was written by a badly informed journalist.

Edit: Although thinking about it - a former uni head being so badly informed may be part of the drop in Irish university rankings

djpbarry

opinion guy wrote: »

Can't believe that article was written by a former uni head. Reads like it was written by a badly informed journalist.

It's very heavy on opinion, very light on facts and figures and really doesn't tell us anything we don't know; that is, as with every profession, there are good academics and there are bad ones.

Furthermore, his reference to a "notion that academics are focused on a couple of key topics that will promote Ireland Inc." is a notion purely of his own creation to support his own argument. If Irish academics focus solely on research that could be translated into measurable economic outputs for Ireland, then the quality of research output from Irish third-level institutions, in terms of scientific impact, will plummet. To quote Marie Curie:

We must not forget that when radium was discovered, no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science and this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become, like the radium, a benefit for humanity.

All that said, he does admit in the last section that he’s deliberately being negative in an attempt to stimulate debate. I guess at a time when the subject of third-level fees is making the headlines, it’s not a bad time to start showing the public exactly what’s going on in Irish universities and IT’s and making improvements where necessary.

Tree

I think he was at national college of ireland, so not quite the same as a uni regarding the level of research carried out (not sure if they even cover science/engineering there).

opinion guy

Tree wrote: »

I think he was at national college of ireland, so not quite the same as a uni regarding the level of research carried out (not sure if they even cover science/engineering there).

Oh christ I had mistaken it and thought they meant the NUI!:o

Just googled national college of Ireland:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_College_of_Ireland

Wow. Move on people. Nothing to see here.