Belguim: how to find accommodation for students?

Belguim: how to find accommodation for students?

23 September 2009 at 15:12

Student Katie Read found that her first big test came before she had even left the UK - finding an affordable roof over her head.

Unless you’re one of the lucky few who get their accommodation provided by their college or university, you may or may not have stumbled upon the following dilemma. “I am about to go abroad.

I do not know a soul and I haven’t a penny to my name. I heard a rumour that students do not sleep but I myself find lecture theatres too uncomfortable for a snooze. I must find somewhere to live, somewhere cheap, within crawling distance from a bar, close to university I suppose, and preferably not falling apart. I’m sorry, did you just ask me to organise this before I’ve even got there?”

A few research tips:

• Belgium is not a big country, and its cities, even Brussels, are surprisingly small. Thus GoogleMaps may make the walk to university look like you might need well-fitted hiking boots and a stick, but in reality you’d be close enough to warrant attending all classes on a regular basis.
• Be really careful about renting from abroad. Many of the websites listed in this article are well-established with hundreds of previous student tenants, but many of the private forum posts will need to be checked. If you agree to ten-month tenancy without seeing a property you have no choice but to accommodate the pre-established ant asylum in your living room.
• Many universities suggest that you come to Belgium a week or so before term starts to find accommodation.

Accommodation in Holland

Read the whole article: Expatica.com

Conference on artificial intelligence

Conference on artificial intelligence

13 September 2009 at 02:05

With the themes “People and Machines,” “Robots,” “Computers and Emotions” and “Games and Interactivity” all expected to be more deeply explored, experts at the University of Paderborn are gearing up for the KL2009 conference. The conference will run between Sept 15 and 18 and is being organized by the university’s Heinz Nixdorf Institute.

The annual KL conference, according to the university, is one of the most important international meetings on artificial intelligence and has met consecutively for 32 years. Just after the USA, Germany devotes the largest amount of scientists to the study of artificial intelligence, according to the university. Artificial intelligence isn’t just something that interests a small circle of scientists: it affects the lives of everyday people, too, and has wide social implications. The KL conference is open to the students, economic and science professionals, industry experts and anyone who just may be curious. 

Study in Germany

Maths 'no better than in 1970s'

Maths 'no better than in 1970s'

7 September 2009 at 01:09

Pupils are no better at maths now than they were 30 years ago - despite a rise in exam grades, a study suggests.

Researchers asked 3,000 11 to 14-year- olds in England to sit maths exams taken by pupils in 1976, and compared their scores with the earlier results. Analysis suggested there was little difference between the two generations.

But among pupils from the previous generation taking O-level maths, less than a quarter gained a C or above, compared to 55% in GCSEs last year.

 

'Teaching to the test'

Dr Jeremy Hodgen, of King's College, London, who led the research team, suggested the disparity between unchanged ability and the increase in grades was partly down to schools' obsession with Sats results and league table positions.

He said: "There's a great deal of teaching to the test, so that in trying to increase scores, schools develop an understandable focus on the test, so there's a narrowing of the curriculum".

 

BBC News

Germany’s most beautiful campuses

Germany’s most beautiful campuses

4 September 2009 at 10:00

Last spring, the student Web portal UNICUM and the architectural website BauNetz teamed up to create a contest called “Germany’s most beautiful university campus.” This August, they announced a winner: the University of Passau.

Judges particularly liked the Bavarian school’s architecture, location and a student lawn named Innwiese. Clinching the second place slot in the contest was the University of Magdeburg-Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt. Third was the private Business and Information Technology School in North-Rhine Westphalia. Students, experts and website visitors judged 21 German universities. Categories in which universities could earn points included beauty and architecture, soundness of infrastructure and building furnishings.

Study in Germany

Ireland: Over 20% drop out of university science and technology courses

Ireland: Over 20% drop out of university science and technology courses

2 September 2009 at 15:11

Huge numbers of university students in Ireland are dropping out of science and technology courses after their first year in college, according to new figures obtained by The Irish Times.

At Dublin City University, regarded as the State’s leading “hi-tech” university, 39 per cent of students who began a science and technology degree course failed to progress to second year in their chosen course.At UCD, the non-completion rate in science and technology courses was 26 per cent.

The drop-out rate from science/technology/engineering and maths courses was high across the seven universities in the State, averaging more than 20 per cent. Ahead of the Leaving Cert results on Wednesday, the high drop-out rates among first-year university students will raise fresh questions about the so called “dumbing down” of the exam.

While grades have improved dramatically in the past decade, Tom Boland, chief executive of the Higher Education Authority, recently voiced fears of declining standards, with what he called “spoon-fed” second-level students struggling to cope at third level.

Last night, Tony Donohoe, head of education and social policy for employers’ group Ibec, said these “extremely disappointing” new drop-out figures highlight “the worst effects of the points system.”

It was inevitable, he said, that the declining number of students taking science/technology courses – and their lower Central Applications Office (CAO) points – would “result in entry by some students who were ill-equipped to take these courses. These figures also raise serious concerns around the teaching of mathematics and science at second level.” CAO points for a huge range of science and technology degrees have fallen dramatically in the past decade, as colleges struggle to fill places in these courses.

Last year, students could gain entry to many science and technology courses with less than 300 points. This compares, for example, with the 470 points required for primary teacher training.

The Government has identified science and technology as a key building block for economic revival, investing heavily in research.

But in international assessments, Ireland ranks 14th and 16th respectively out of 30 OECD countries in terms of the science and mathematical literacy among 15-year-olds. In 2008, close to 5,000 students failed ordinary-level maths in the Leaving, making them ineligible for most third-level science courses.

Last night, DCU president Ferdinand von Prondzynski said the university has been working hard to improve retention, but he acknowledged that non-completion rates are still unacceptably high.

“DCU has recently been looking more generally at retention, and we have introduced a new framework of student support which should ensure further significant improvements. We accept, however, that every non-completion is a serious problem.”

UCD said its relatively high student numbers in the science and technology area should be taken into account when comparing non-completion rates across the sector.

Irish Times