Aligned assessment is a cornerstone of higher education curriculum design. Yet, it does not address the problem of how students learn "how" they should proceed when faced with a new assessment task. That teaching task is often left to the role of "feedback". This article examines changes to a first year law unit, introduced…

College students will face a workplace transformed even from the one that existed five years ago. Public and private organizations presently require employees to possess highly developed core competencies. This shift in expectations, exacerbated by high unemployment among recent college graduates, has made accountability a hot issue for higher…

In South Africa and in other parts of the world, many professions are bemoaning the poor ability of many graduates to communicate their skills and knowledge effectively once they enter the workplace. Increasingly, pressure is placed on higher education to do more in terms of equipping future professionals with the necessary critical reading,…

The Sultanate of Oman is a developing country that has accepted the English language as a significant tool for modernization. This was best interpreted in the opening of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in 1986, which has delivered its different academic programmes totally or partially through the English language. One of the colleges of SQU has…

Over the past twenty years phenomenal developments in technology have changed the nature of education. Students now have access to a vast range of resources 24/7. This instant access has created a certain expectation on the part of the student and there must now be very few, if any, courses taught in higher education where the lecturer does not…

After the demise of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, 11 languages (English, Afrikaans and 9 indigenous African languages) were given official status. In the higher education landscape, English remains the dominant language of scholarship. At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, English is the main medium of instruction but the institution's…

At the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa, professional development is characterised by its focus on the advancement of scholarly teaching in the disciplines. Practices followed are informed by the scholarship of teaching and learning movement. Within learning communities, special attention is given to the motivational conditions…

This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The findings support the assertion that Pathway students perform as well as or better than students who enter university directly from secondary school. This finding is…

An increase in students who enter higher education in Australia following their studies in the vocational education and training (VET) sector has led to heightened national interest in the transition experiences of these students. This paper reports on the experiences of students who, as a result of their VET studies, entered a relatively new,…

There is wide agreement that problem-based learning is a key strategy to promote individual abilities for "learning how to learn". This paper presents the main contributions that reflective journals and the problem-based learning approach can make to foster professional knowledge and quality learning in higher education. Thirty-six…

Since the late-1990s, the University of South Australia has embedded seven Graduate Qualities across all programs. Subsequently, the higher education landscape has changed dramatically in terms of national policies and standards, as well as technologies available to support learning and teaching. Most higher education institutions now have their…

In a comprehensive empirical investigation (N = 71,405) we analyzed the development of legal expertise in a critical 1-year period of academic legal training in which advanced law students start practicing to solve complex cases. We were particularly interested in the functional form of the learning curve and inter-individual differences in…

This paper addresses the insufficient traditional method of assessment of tests and examination, which is purely the regurgitation of information. Unfortunately some lecturers tend to cling to the traditional method of assessment as it is an easy route for them to follow. The said method does not encourage the students to become critical thinkers…

The Mock Trial is an experiential exercise adapted from a law school process that encourages students to think critically about theories, topics, and the practice of management in an innovative classroom experience. Playing the role of attorneys and witnesses, learners ask questions and challenge assumptions by playing roles in a trial with…

The Review of Australian Higher Education (Bradley Review, 2008) and the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (Behrendt Review, 2012) identified the need for tertiary institutions to incorporate Indigenous knowledges into curriculum to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous…