It has been ten years since tuition fees for home-status students were raised to £9k, letting HE expand over the last decade to the point that half of school leavers now access it. How has Chemistry - as a subject - done in this time?
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Oxford currently requires its chemistry students to memorise the periodic table. I explore how this might weaken the rigour of assessments and argue that it should be provided to students.
Read MoreA cost-of-living crisis is looming, and chemistry degrees demand an extraordinary number of lab hours from students. What are the costs and consequences of 300 lab hours in 2022?
Read MoreA brief descriptive analysis of student:staff ratios in Oxford
Read MoreAn analysis of the new IFS/Sutton Trust data on social mobility, as applied to Chemistry degrees.
Read MoreReflections on how the people making curriculum decisions are not representative of typical students, and some ways this might influence curriculum decisions.
Read MoreA brief discussion of the student:staff ratios used in the Guardian League Table 2022, with a suggestion for using them to improve Chemistry degrees.
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A reflective review of Paul Ashwin’s recent book Transforming University Education: A Manifesto. The book is a thoughtful and coherent case for focusing on the interaction of the student with the discipline when we think about the value of Higher Education.
Read MoreReflections form the literature on how the form of the postdoc role might influence the way that doctoral students are socialised into academic Chemistry.
Read MoreThe RSC has policies to support LGBT+ scientists, yet accredits degrees in states where homosexuality is criminalised. This blog post considers the ethics of endorsing degrees in homophobic states, and argues that such accreditation is incompatible with the RSC’s stated ambitions to support LGBT+ scientists.
Read MoreOn-the-day reflections on the award of predicted A Level grades after the coronavirus prevented students sitting assessments.
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An argument for treating the UK HE Chemistry syllabus as a simulacrum of authentic chemistry, and a reflection on some consequences of this treatment.
Read MoreReflections on the literature on the specific task of cosupervising a doctoral student.
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A blog presenting descriptive statistics of ethnicity data in the UK academic Chemistry system
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