The principles advocated in the widely acclaimed keynote texts on reflection have nominally been followed for over 30 years in educational programmes and schemes for professional development. This article was prompted by the impression that practice and theorising reported in publications about journal writing does not consistently endorse the…

The prose essay, case study and laboratory report, composed by individual students in isolation from their peers, used to be the mainstay of undergraduate writing. However, in recent years an array of alternative assignment types such as blogs, letters and e-posters have widened the repertoire of texts expected. This article attempts to describe…

With the growing influence of social media on contemporary society, educators have to adapt to new ways of engaging students in the learning process. The use of iPod technologies, as part of this new breed of social media and associated gadgetry, offers fresh opportunities to enhance the student learning experience. As part of a research project…

It is important to demonstrate to those taking courses for new teachers that approaches to learning have a relational nature--that they are influenced by the teaching and learning context. This article describes a workshop activity, based on the Revised Study Process Questionnaire. Workshop participants recorded their approaches to learning in two…

Encouraging students to participate during class time is important to facilitate the learning process and encourage deep learning to take place. However, students with certain cultural and education backgrounds are often reluctant to participate in class discussion. This article provides some initial insight into the use of the Personal Response…

Seven experienced university teachers who already required reflective journal writing from their students undertook an innovative experiment in which they made the same demand of themselves, with their own continuing professional development (CPD) in mind. Six of them received and considered confidential facilitative comments upon each journal…

Plagiarism by students is seen as an increasing problem. The fear is that students will use the internet to obtain analysis, interpretation or even complete assignments and then submit these as their own work. Electronic plagiarism detection services may help to prevent such unfair practice but, in doing so, they create a new problem: certifying…

This article describes the way in which colleagues from the Business faculty, the Careers Service and the Library at Dublin City University collaborated to design and deliver an integrated approach to personal development planning (PDP) with the aim of motivating first year undergraduate students to take greater responsibility for their own…

This article reports the design and effects of a practical, pedagogic experiment motivated by the wish to encourage greater active learning in first-year tutorials along with a range of other learning skills, in particular the practice of good argumentation. The project has its roots in a formal accredited programme in teaching and learning that…

In order to facilitate personal development planning (PDP), the UK higher education sector is committed to introducing progress files. This article explores the experience of one institution in seeking to establish a system of progress files. It identifies the main practical problems in doing this, highlighting the lack of agreement on the skills…

Discussion is given on the relevance of group dynamic processes in promoting decision-making in email discussion groups. General theories on social facilitation and social loafing are considered in the context of email groups, as well as the applicability of psychodynamic and interaction-based models. It is argued that such theories may indeed…

For many students and lecturers evaluation is confined to some form of survey. Whilst these can provide useful feedback, their focus is likely to reflect the values and norms of those commissioning and undertaking the evaluation. For real improvements in quality to occur both lecturers' and students' perspectives of factors that are important need…

The motivation of students is an important issue in higher education, particularly in the context of the increasing diversity of student populations. A social-cognitive perspective assumes motivation to be dynamic, context-sensitive and changeable, thereby rendering it to be a much more differentiated construct than previously understood. This…

In helping students manage the transition into higher education, there must be (i) an understanding of the needs and expectations of the students, and (ii) a process that inducts the students into the needs and expectations of higher education. This premise underpins the on-line Spiral Induction Programme (onSIP) developed at Southampton…

A key factor in the transition to university is the enculturation of new students into both the discipline they are studying and effective study practices. Most significantly, students, whatever their chosen discipline, must learn to become autonomous learners. Too often this process is either left to chance or seen as a natural attribute of the…