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i was a university lecturer teaching a large foundation subject. at the start of semester i would show them how to plagiarise, summarise and obfuscate an essay — on-screen in real-time. it was lots of fun. we also showed them how our assessment practices were resistant to cheating (using a mixture of oral presentations, reflective writing, monitored testing and group moderation). it seemed to work well with very little plagiarism — except for those students who ignored (or missed) the message.

very similar experience with me. after frustration with medical treatment over many years into my mid-60s, i went gluten-free and symptoms cleared within weeks.

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Math

humans

yes, but almost any school subject can be intellectually-expanding ... if well-taught. however there are some pretty influential forces that result in poor teaching (overloaded curriculum, inadequate resources, industrial approaches to school management, etc).

for a simple overview, see also: https://www.rainforestrescue.org.au/save-the-cassowary/evolu...

Use the Regex Dictionary [0] in combination with word letter frequency lists [1].

[0] https://visca.com/regexdict/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency

I've been using the Regex Dictionary to refine my Regex search skills while solving Wordle problems. I also refer to Letter Frequency tables (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency) to make up likely candidate words. Are there any other sites that might help?

Just fix your mind on another Maria who isn't here, and tell the truth about her.

also "Evolution" by Steven Baxter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_(Baxter_novel)

good observation. i'm a director of a corporation that has "personhood", but my local creek is more alive, performs more important roles than the corporation (just a stack of paper in a safe or the bank account it controls).

i liked the bit at the end where the interviewer asked "Why do you think the original 65x series is still popular..." and Mensch replied , "...People want to work with the 65x chips because they are accessible. You can trust the technology." i wonder if its a bit more: that (unlike very complex architectures) the 6502 was simple enough to be understood, but powerful enough to do something interesting. in short, a cognitive sweet spot.

these issues should be addressed in reasoned debate if we're talking about a existential crisis.

a book based on satirising college administration is just too easy. i'd like to read a story lampooning the administration of a free-market think tank. perhaps involving a "woke" libertarian facing the real-world consequences of a populist policy agenda.

this is a great episode where the reporter a (Ann Jones) gets into an illuminating discussion with the researcher (Amanda Ridley) about local social behaviour, "language" structure and scientific processes involving west Australian magpies. i liked the way that sound clips were inserted to provide examples.

thanks, this helps. i've tried different search terms with little success (descriptors for resource-based independent learning in groups are hard to refine). i'm retired so my professional affiliations have lapsed. and, with the freedom to pursue my interests, the possible topics are all over the place. but i'll look for some SIGs that might work (cultivating Australian native plants, tiny compiler design, etc).

Off topic, but this looks like a well organised, independent learning network. Where can I find others, on serious topics, that are independent of platforms or publishers? Is there an 'awesome' list of topic-based reading groups (not book clubs) for interested learners?

someone who has the ability to model the naive knowledge of their student(s), has a good grasp of subject matter, and can orchestrate experiences to bridge the gap. empathy, a willingness to communicate and lots of patience are also pretty vital characteristics to have.

if you ever get the chance to visit this remarkable, isolated place, take it. i've organised a few trips to the island to explore the diverse wildlife and stunning habitats (coral reefs and cloud forests that are accessible). even more so as feral populations are controlled.

not just targeted at 'critical thinking' (so includes maths and Logo programming) is Barry Newell's book Turtle Confusion. long ago i used this book with kids aged 12. you can read about it here: http://constructingmodernknowledge.com/?p=1451

hmm. i just searched "best beach Sydney" in DDG and got Bondi Beach as my first result, followed by further sort-of informative sites (listicles). so the sample query differs markedly from what was claimed in the article. and it was a poor test anyway: a subjective, imprecise and silly query. anyway, there are good alternatives to Google Search in Australia, with hardly any effort.

because 'the foreigner' controls the media. it's a race condition.

There are ways for small classes (project based assessment), but these do not scale up easily.

yes, project based learning, even in groups, can make cheating irrelevant. and it can scale if you (the lecturer) put in the effort to design it that way. its possible to do this with hundreds of undergraduates if you provide clear guidelines and assignment examples (i used to have a mythical student who we 'watched' complete her assignment). you can also make available an archive of all past assignments (and shift the topics each semester). in short, i used to encourage my students to "cheat", but the project tasks were always (interestingly) different.

Preparing and orchestrating a syllabus for young learners is a very complex task. One lesson I learnt as a professional educator teaching programming to children was to design experiences around situations that were relevant and interesting to them. This guide is probably well-intentioned and locally successful, but the opening example appears misguided:

"... Suppose your boss wants you to work from 8am to 11am, and mop floors 8 to 11. Simple - it's one floor per hour, right?"

This appears irrelevant and uninteresting to the lived experiences of most children.

not sure how seriously to take the article given this mistake: "... when the World War II Allied Nations, including the U.S., Canada, Western European nations, Australia and Japan, negotiated the rules of the international monetary system ..."

Making claims such as "... decarbonising energy will avoid the chaos of unchecked climate change ..." is disingenuous given the inertia (politically and physically) of current fossil fuel use. Some would argue that the damage has already proceeded beyond human control and we (or the next generation) is in for a wild ride.

There's a short précis at his personal blog: http://sirkenrobinson.com

For speculative (near future) fiction, that uses a lightweight electrically-powered aircraft as a linking device, "News From Gardenia" by Robert Llewellyn, is a good read.

Thanks, I'll give it a go. My favourite historical fiction is Dan Simmons' novel, The Terror [0]. I think it stays pretty close to the known historical record and characters, but adds a fantasy element to glue the story threads together.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terror_(novel)

I did this in my university teaching with (in my estimation) some success, even with large cohorts (1000+). But it takes a lot of design effort and friction with university administration. One extra element was to incorporate reflection into the project specification, teach students how to write reflectively and to assess it.