I’ve spent the last few days away from computers and updates.  All very nice, but I’ve had to catch up again.  Now I’ve done that, what better time to share some EduLinks with you? Weekend reading ahoy!

From BPS Research Digest:

“people have an intuitive understanding of how a person’s thinking style affects their vulnerability to persuasion, known formally as ‘the elaboration likelihood model’. This is the idea, supported by research findings, that people who have a greater inclination for thinking things through tend to be less swayed by adverts that use superficial tricks like beautiful models and slick graphics, but are more persuaded by adverts that make an intelligent argument. The jargon for the character trait in question is ‘need for cognition‘.”

Hunter Nuttall – Delayed Gratification: Blessing Or Curse?

Would you take a smaller reward now, or a bigger reward later?

Mashable – How To Clean Up Your Facebook Profile

Facebook can get pretty cluttered if you’re not careful.  Get back that manageable look with these handy hints.

Sid Savara – The Definitive Guide to Organize Your Life And Get Rid of Clutter

I bet you’ll be in agreement with almost all the reasons Sid gives to why we keep hold of clutter.  Watch as you nod along to most, if not all, the reasons for not letting go of the junk.

Diary of a University President – The Campus Experience

Does living on campus help you integrate into the university community?  Does living off campus restrict you too much?

World of Psychology – 5 Reliable Findings from Happiness Research

I don’t believe that simply thinking positive or focusing on happiness will take you where you want to go.  But it’s a start.  Without a positive nature, you’re more likely to suffer blocks and not work to the best of your abilities.  Some keys to happiness, explored in this article, include: money doesn’t buy happiness but you may get a short burst of positivity, relationships are important to happiness, experience trumps belongings.

MakeUseOf – How To Use Delicious To Organize Your Student Life

If you’ve never used the social bookmarking service, Delicious, you’re in for a treat.  Not only is it a useful tool in general, it’s also a boon for your study links.  This clear and detailed ‘how to’ piece tells you what you need to know.

General Election 2010 – Manifesto pledges & policies for HE:

Labour
Conservative
Liberal Democrats

With an election campaign in full swing, the links above take you to what the three main parties say they want to do for HE if they come into power.  For a little extra, the Times Higher Education gives a brief rundown of the manifestos in two pieces. One covering Labour and Conservative together, with a separate piece on Liberal Democrat policies.

Insecurity can hit even the most confident person when they least expect it.  It’s more common than you probably think.

After I left a comment at the great business and branding blog, Conversation Agent, the author replied with something that covers all walks of life.

Valeria Maltoni said:

“Insecure people think that they can have more power when they stab others in the back. No room for empathy there and nothing you can do to help them see that they, in effect, shoot themselves in the foot. As humans we’re all connected. It all comes back.”

Valeria makes a great point.  I hadn’t considered it like this before, but I’ve noticed behaviour of this kind time and again.

So often, wonderful people change dramatically as a personal issue or setback tips them into insecurity.  Like a switch going off in their head, an accepting and caring personality is suddenly replaced by a cynical, less forgiving one.

I’m sure this is mainly down to a defence mechanism kicking in that becomes more attacking over time.  And it doesn’t take long.

This type of sudden insecurity, different to a general lack of confidence, is not easily fixed.  Since it takes a specific event to trigger this alternative behaviour, deeper problems will likely shield that person from general help.

Such a damaging change in a person causes equally damaging changes to other people’s opinions of that person.  Friendships break down and new problems arise.  It only takes one event to start a chain of reaction that’s far reaching.  Such upheaval can impact upon far more people than it directly occurred to in the first place.

I can’t help but feel sad for the person who’s been damaged.  They may cause numerous others (including previously good friends) great pain and anguish, but at a time when they need greater security and love, they force loved ones away.

As Valeria says, you can’t stop them “shoot themselves in the foot”.  And so the vicious cycle continues.  Such a tragedy.

What are your thoughts on this?

Top 10 Interview Tips – Times Online

It’s never too soon to think about how you’re going to shine in that interview.  Some solid tips here.

Half-a -dozen Monkeys – 5 Tasks That Should Not Be On Your To Do List

If you want to read some funny, clear and direct advice about your to do list, look no further.  Rich has written an awesome post.  Put it on your to do list to read!

StudentSpeak – Daring to disconnect from social media (Video)

How would you feel without Facebook?  Could you be tempted away from Twitter?  How long would you last?  See how long two students lasted when they tried to shy away from the social networks.

Campus Technology – 8 in 10 Students Turn to Wikipedia for Research

…But it’s mainly just to get started.  So long as you do it in moderation and use plenty other starting points as well, there’s not so much harm in that.

Finding Dulcinea – Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely on Wikipedia

I say there’s not much harm in using Wikipedia as a starting point, but be warned!  For a fantastic set of reasons why you shouldn’t trust everything you read on Wikipedia, read this piece.  It’ll make you think twice.

From Student Direct – Decisions, decisions

“…in the Western world despite unprecedented material wealth, the majority of people are less happy than they were 50 years ago. There is too much choice, and because of this people struggle to uncover who they are and what they stand for.”

PickTheBrain – How to Stick to Your Study Plan

6 ways to a state of win.

From University of East Anglia – Young people, politics and popular culture

“If popular culture is to be used to engage young people in politics, it is crucial that young people are taken seriously as experienced consumers of media culture. This means taking their concerns and experiences seriously, but without packaging them in simplistic and patronising ways.”

Developing Stuff – Using Microsoft Word for long documents

Stu Johnson has put together a great resource that helps you easily deal with all sorts of matters in long documents.  Covering formats, tables of contents, automated processes, figures, captions, and a lot more.  The main document can be accessed directly here.

BBC News – Universities look into the future

The future looks very different.  And it may not be that far away…

The Simpler Life – 3 reasons we like to read common sense advice

One comment stands out in a massive way:

“Common sense is common.  Applying common sense is very rare.”

Remember this. It’s a hugely important point.

The student experience covers more than the degree that hopefully comes at the end of your time.  There’s the power of networking, there’s the entertainment, there are the friendships, there are clubs and societies, there are so many things that makes your time at uni beyond monetary value.

*But*…you do pay for a certain level of teaching and learning.  You expect access to the resources you need that make it possible for you to gain a First Class Honours.  Even if you don’t get that top grade, you shouldn’t be left thinking it was the institutions fault for not having provided you with all the tools to manage the highest grade possible.

Most aspects of learning are up to you.  It’s not always easy.  But teaching needs to be to a high standard and you have to develop learning processes in a way that complement the teaching.  That development can only come through effective guidance.  That guidance is something you’re paying for too.

You aren’t strictly paying for everything beyond teaching and learning, unless you’re charged for it elsewhere.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that you got your money’s worth in ways other than your learning experience.  You need to contact your Students’ Union and your uni’s student support service if:

• the teaching isn’t up to speed;
• you don’t get enough feedback;
• the feedback isn’t timely;
• you’re not given access to the tools that will further your learning;
• the tools are unsatisfactory or outdated;
• there’s something lacking that halts your progress;
• any circumstance that has a negative impact upon your learning.

None of this means we should adopt an approach where students are seen as ‘consumers’. HE is not a physical product, nor is it a service with a particular end result.  You’re paying for something subjective.

However, you should be able to freely pursue their education in the knowledge that the right resources are available to them and that any shortcomings can – and should – be challenged.

Wes Streeting and Graeme Wise of NUS wrote a paper on the values of higher education and I like the way they sum up what’s necessary:

“Students should be able to challenge the quality of the learning environment and the support they are getting, and should also be able to take intellectual risks and sometimes pursue interests at a tangent to the main curriculum. It should be obvious that students can’t really do any of these things unless they have been reasonably diligent, attended most of the classes, done the background reading, and tried to seek out help and advice. It should be equally obvious that to do this, students need access to well-funded and well-managed resources, and the support of expert and helpful teachers. When all these things are happening in concert, the result is higher education imbued with what we might call ‘quality’.”

Are you receiving sufficient ‘quality’?