Skip navigation

April 2008

BY SUNNY MARCHE | March 10 2008

We all do, of course. But when it comes to teaching effective writing, we talk a better game than we play

BY LÉO CHARBONNEAU | March 10 2008

A Texas jury ruled that Canadian educational software firm Desire2Learn infringed on a patent from its large American rival, Blackboard Inc. In its Feb. 22 decision, the jury concluded that Desire2Learn’s software uses technology for which Blackboard received a patent in 2006 and awarded the American company $3.1 million US in lost profits and royalties. […]

BY DANIEL DROLET | March 10 2008

Gathering shares research showing even high achievers face problems in first year

BY SAMANTHA FEX | March 10 2008

Blending up fast food meals to find their fat content, programming a miniature remote-controlled Mars rover, making digital video programs – these are but a few of the activities that take place in the hundreds of science and technology programs sponsored by the national charity Actua and delivered by its 29 university and college partners. […]

BY HANNAH HOAG | March 10 2008

Home is where … we consume a lot of energy. Residential buildings account for nearly 17 percent of energy consumption in Canada, says Ian Beausoleil-Morrison, a mechanical engineering professor at Carleton University. Lights, appliances, heaters and air conditioners produce 80 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Energy is also wasted in the form of heat […]

BY LÉO CHARBONNEAU | March 10 2008

The 1995 film First Knight is not one of Cory Rushton’s all-time favourites, but the Arthurian scholar may be quietly hoping that the film attracts a big audience when it’s re-released this April in Blu-ray high-definition format. That’s because one of the special features of the new package will be a commentary track recorded by […]

BY NATHALY DUFOUR | March 10 2008

Université Laval plans to create 100 new research chairs over the next five years, with $100 million in funding from public and private sources. The program, called PAIR (for Programme pour l’avancement de l’innovation et de la recherche) is the most ambitious initiative of its kind ever launched in Quebec, according to Laval’s vice-rector, research, […]

BY LÉO CHARBONNEAU | March 10 2008

Restructured student grants program, international graduate scholarships, slight research boost among budget items

BY ALLISON LAWLOR | March 10 2008

Premier Shawn Graham plans to make sweeping changes to New Brunswick’s colleges and universities as part of the province’s most ambitious review of its postsecondary system in 40 years, but he insists that these changes won’t come at the expense of some university campuses. After months of uncertainty, Mr. Graham pledged in his State of […]

BY PHILLIP TODD | March 10 2008

Ask Lakehead University students if they’re happy with their school’s one-year-old Google-run e-mail service, and chances are you’ll get a positive response. “I love the new Lakehead gmail e-mail system,” said third-year political-science student Brianne Kirkpatrick. “Since the switch to gmail, I find it has replaced my hotmail as the e-mail of preference,” said David […]

BY SHELLEY POMERANCE | March 10 2008

Not long ago, Wanda McKenna, director of workplace health, benefits and pensions at McMaster University, was contacted by a department chair concerned about a colleague. The professor was spending a lot of time sitting in his office with the door closed and lights off. And students were beginning to complain about his teaching. Ms. McKenna […]

BY TIM JOHNSON | March 10 2008

University students are discovering the flexibility and accessibility of distance-education courses

BY LÉO CHARBONNEAU | March 10 2008

Actually, today’s students are often overwhelmed by multiple stresses. A nurse-educator and administrator explain how their schools are responding to the growing need for mental-health services

BY ROSANNA TAMBURRI | March 10 2008

Big-city universities try new strategies to keep commuter students on campus, so they’ll do better academically