Service-learning is a pedagogy that combines academic study with service to the community. Voluntary work placements are integral to service-learning and offer students an ideal opportunity to develop their employability skills and attributes. In a service-learning course, it was considered good practice to raise students' awareness of the…

Many academic development initiatives build on community-based approaches, such as communities of practice or learning communities. While these initiatives are largely successful for the individual academics involved, low participation rates prevent wide-reaching impact on learning about teaching. The research discussed in this article aims at…

Educators and researchers are increasingly calling for the processes of writing and knowledge construction to be an integral part of disciplinary learning. This article contributes to the literature by presenting an empirical analysis of a programme that was designed to expose students to the complexities of academic practices in conjunction with…

The study looks at issues around the power of the hidden curriculum of assessment and its effects on student behaviour. The assessment regime at school level has an impact on study approaches at university level, and if we are to help students to make the transition from school to university, then it is important that we understand the beliefs and…

One activity-rich way to utilize collaborative learning, team-based learning (TBL), can present students and teachers with both opportunities and challenges. TBL requires students to prepare for each class, where they are then assessed for their "readiness" to apply the concepts learned during their pre-class preparation. This study addresses two…

Keyboarding (typing) is a ubiquitous skill for most UK students, and most coursework essays must be word processed. However, few examinations, other than for students with disabilities, permit the use of a word processor. It is not known how students would respond given a free choice between handwriting and word processing in an essay examination.…

This article describes the evaluation of an online study skills course unit designed, using evidence-based principles, to support undergraduate students. A mixed-methods approach was employed to establish the extent to which the unit was (a) fit for purpose and (b) effective. Data were obtained from an online survey (n = 63) conducted on entry to…

Failure to establish meaningful and effective transition for undergraduates can lead to academic underachievement. Student engagement represents a key component of student success. This study sought to investigate the impact of a bespoke transition programme featuring a wide range of innovative, student-centred activities on enhancing students'…

This article discusses issues relating to the effectiveness of feedback and the student perspective. The study described provides rich data relating to student perceptions of useful feedback, their perceptions of feedback cues and their feelings about the importance of feedback relationships in the process. The outcomes suggest that written…

Service-learning is a form of experiential learning that combines academic coursework with voluntary service in the community. There is a dearth of critical analysis of the effects of service-learning. To address this issue, this practitioner research aimed to explore and understand its effects. An inductive approach, using qualitative and…

This project examined the relationships between students' approaches to study, conceptions of learning and judgements about the value of networked technologies. For the project 144 first-year students completed the 52-item Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST), and a series of focus group interviews was used to assess…

When university academics implement changes in learning, such as introducing blended learning, it is conventional practice to examine and evaluate the impact of the resulting curriculum reform. Judging the worth and impact of an educational development is a complex task involving subtle differences in learning. Qualitative methods to explore these…

Written assessment feedback has not been widely researched despite higher education students continually expressing the need for meaningful and constructive feedback. This qualitative study employing focus groups captures and interprets the student perspective of written assessment feedback. Participants were Registered Nurses and non-traditional…

To be effective in higher education, text messaging must be effectively integrated into both the student and staff experience. These user groups provided input into the design of StudyLink, an email to text message service. A small-scale trial was conducted over a period of two academic terms to investigate the feasibility of using this system in…