The transition from traditional instruction to a problem-based approach to learning requires many changes for educators and for students. The aim of this project was to develop an online problem-based learning (PBL) resource centre to provide academic staff from across the University with support in incorporating PBL in their curriculum design.…

Peer observation of teaching (POT) has become common practice in many universities. However, it could be argued that existing models often have limited scope for understanding the student experience. This study presents a modified approach to POT in which the researchers adopted the roles of (1) lecturer, (2) peer-participant and (3)…

The evolution of enquiry-based teaching and learning has broadened the range of research carried out by university students. As a result, the boundaries between teaching and learning and academic research are being blurred to a degree not experienced heretofore. This paper examines whether research undertaken as part of course work should fall…

The student cohort on the University Science Extended Degree (SED) course is diverse in terms of educational experience. One of the key facets of teaching at this level is to engage and prepare students for higher levels of education in the sciences. The purpose of this evaluation is to relate a specific virtual framework, designed for students…

This article examines an innovative approach to the induction of students on an Education Doctorate programme by exploring the value of the pub quiz as a pedagogic device to support learning. The quiz took relatively little time out of a two-day induction programme and had the dual benefits of providing a stimulating and entertaining way of…

This paper reflects on the challenges of facilitating creativity in teaching and learning. The authors contend that if enabled, creativity has the potential to deliver substantive change to higher education but that its potential often remains unexploited. Our study suggests that creative practice is alive and well amongst teachers in higher…

A growing interest in spirituality in higher education has been accompanied by a range of responses to the challenge of defining the term. These responses include avoiding the problem by leaving it undefined; stipulating a particular and often context-specific definition of spirituality; and practising a kind of ad hoc eclecticism. This article…

The current paper argues for bridging the "relevance gap" in management research and education by creating educational programmes that bring together experienced managers and management researchers. In the "Executive Research Programme" discussed in this paper, managers were paired up with researchers to conduct a collaborative…

During 2008, Birmingham City University (BCU) began to develop approaches to enable students to have a greater ownership of the enhancement of learning and teaching at the university in order to break down some of the real and perceived barriers between students and staff. This work led to the development of the Student Academic Partners scheme…

Appreciative inquiry (AI) offers a constructive, strengths-based framework for engaging students and staff in the enhancement of academic programmes of study. This paper explores the basis of AI, its potential for educational development and the many agendas it might help address. Students and academic staff involved in an AI project, focused on…

Distributive leadership, which has been described as a distribution of power within the sociocultural context of universities, provides a valuable model for encouraging scholarship and innovation in learning and teaching. By nurturing, rather than imposing, leadership responsibilities, and relating them to personal, as well as institutional…

This paper looks at the conceptual thresholds in relation to academic reading which might be crossed by undergraduate English Literature students. It is part of a wider study following 16 students through three years of undergraduate study. It uses theoretical ideas from Bakhtin and Foucault to analyse interviews with English lecturers. It…

This paper considers the importance of providing technical training opportunities for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) worldwide through the case study of a MATLAB training programme, which was proposed, organised, managed and evaluated by a team of five ECRs at the University of Southampton. The effectiveness of the programme in terms of the…

Supervision of research degrees is currently undergoing significant re-evaluation, as the research environment itself responds to new and ongoing external policy and funding pressures, internationalisation, increasing cross-disciplinarity and the proliferation of sub-specialisations amongst other factors. The Exploring Supervision Program is…

Educational developers are engaged in identifying and resolving tensions in their working roles that are often portrayed as multi-faceted and ambiguous. Similar uncertainties exist when individuals undertake research as insider members of the communities that are the subject of their research. They also experience significant ambiguity around…