Flipped classroom approaches remove the traditional transmissive lecture and replace it with active in-class tasks and pre-/post-class work. Despite the popularity of these approaches in the media, Google search, and casual hallway chats, there is very little evidence of effectiveness or consistency in understanding what a flipped classroom…

Peer review of teaching is recognized increasingly as one strategy for academic development even though historically peer review of teaching is often unsupported by policy, action and culture in many Australian universities. Higher education leaders report that academics generally do not engage with peer review of teaching in a systematic or…

University workloads, their impact on staff and how they can be managed, are the subject of considerable research and discussion. This paper addresses strategies to deal with the impact of workloads on teaching practices in higher education. In particular, it aims to discover the implicit theories and tacit assumptions that underlie perceptions of…

This paper describes a terminological approach to the teaching and learning of fundamental concepts in foundation tertiary units in Statistics and Accounting, using an online dictionary-style resource (TermFinder) with customised "termbanks" for each discipline. Designed for independent learning, the termbanks support inquiring students…

The scope and complexity of the Australian taxation system (as with other tax regimes) is daunting for many accounting students. This paper documents the implementation of new practices that were initiated in an effort to address some of the challenges faced by undergraduate students studying taxation. Based on the principles of cognitive load…

As knowledge for competitive advantage develops beyond the transfer of simple data and information to focus on knowledge that has meaning, values, purpose and a more integrated aspect, higher education is required to graduate students able to operate in a more worldly manner across disciplines. Government's response to this need has been to…

This study considered outcomes when 27 academics explicitly developed and assessed student research skills in 28 regular (non-research methods) semester-length courses. These courses ranged from small (n = 17) to medium-large (n = 222) and included those from first year to masters in business, engineering, health science, humanities and science,…

In this paper we present results of the impact diagnostic testing and associated context-specific workshops have on students' written communication skills in a graduate-level accounting course. We find that students who undertook diagnostic testing performed better in their first semester accounting subject. This improvement is positively…

An argument map visually represents the structure of an argument, outlining its informal logical connections and informing judgments as to its worthiness. Argument mapping can be augmented with dedicated software that aids the mapping process. Empirical evidence suggests that semester-length subjects using argument mapping along with dedicated…

The criteria of effective teaching in higher education are understood to comprise particular skills and practices applied within particular contexts. Drawing on the literature and using Australia's understanding of effective teaching, this paper examines the notion of effective teaching. The paper specifically compares dimensions derived from…

Traditionally, mentoring in higher education institutions has either occurred informally or as a planned program where junior staff members are matched with experienced staff members in a formal one-to-one program. While such programs have reported benefits to participants, many miss out on the opportunity. Further, mentoring dyads do little to…

Despite considerable research on teaching and learning in higher education, the relationship between university teachers' and students' understandings of the same teaching-learning events has not been a focus. This exploratory qualitative study used individual interviews to investigate the role of conceptions of teaching, learning and knowledge in…

A major dilemma facing higher educational institutions around the world is how to achieve quality outcomes for students in an increasingly internationalised and competitive environment. To effect change in teaching and learning, we advocate a teacher-as-learner approach to the implementation of teaching and learning policy. Our approach has been…

It is widely suggested that feedback on assignments is useful to students' learning, however, little research has examined how this feedback may be provided in large classes or the actual effects of such a scheme. We designed and implemented a voluntary "earlybird scheme" that provided detailed feedback to undergraduate Business students on a…

Students in a large undergraduate biology course were expected to write a scientific report as a key part of their course design. This study investigates the quality of learning arising from the writing experience and how it relates to the quality of students' preconceptions of learning through writing and their perceptions of their writing…