This study uses action research intervention to improve students' attendance at seminars. Specifically, the study asks the question: will students' attendance improve if they drive their own learning by running their own seminars? Records of lecture and seminar attendance at a module and comparative ones were used. Focus group interviews…

Lecturing is a common instructional format but poor lecturing skills can detract from students' learning experiences and outcomes. As lecturing is essentially a form of public communication, training in public speaking may improve lecture quality. Twelve university lecturers in Malaysia participated in a six-week public speaking skills…

In Europe there is a growing concern among educators and policy makers that students are not well-prepared to start a Master programme. This study draws on longitudinal research conducted at four universities in the Netherlands and a follow-up exploratory purposively chosen from one of the study sites. In Study 1, differences in academic…

Previous studies have suggested that a student's personal epistemological beliefs can be a predictor of their academic performance. The current research aimed to extend this work by exploring whether the disciplinary epistemological beliefs presented to students in their classes and assessments might mediate the relationship between…

This study investigates how Internet self-efficacy helps students to transform motivation into learning action, and its influence on learning performance. In this study, the effects of Internet self-efficacy on motivation and the learning performance of online college students were examined using social cognitive theory. The subjects of this study…

This research aims to uncover key motivations, barriers and outcomes associated with first-time users of peer observation of teaching within an Irish higher level academic context. Following preliminary research, a peer observation process was piloted on five self-selected peer observation faculty pairs involving peer observation training and…

The massification of higher education (HE) has led to an unprecedented increase in the number of students in the classrooms, resulting in increased workload for teaching staff, sometimes leading to a great reliance on Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) examinations with limited feedback provided to students. The central role of feedback in student…

Web 2.0 applications have been widely applied for teaching and learning in US higher education in recent years. Their potential impact on learning motivation and learner performance, however, has not attracted substantial research efforts. To better understand how Web 2.0 applications might impact learners' motivation in higher education…

In many universities, admissions decisions are made based upon the advanced-level (A-Level) results. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of A-level and international equivalents as a predictor of early achievement in higher education. About 135 UK and 92 international undergraduate engineering students from 35 countries were assessed…

The widening participation agenda and related concerns about student retention require a more systematic focus on supporting student success. This paper describes a process designed with the dual goals of supporting the short-term academic recovery of students at risk of non-continuation due to early difficulties with assessment and developing…

The central idea of this study is using blended problem-based learning (PBL) in an academic development context with key roles emphasised: academic staff in the role of students and the academic developer as the tutor. The context is a module entitled "Designing e-Learning" on a postgraduate programme for academic staff in Ireland. It is…

Across the world, university teachers are increasingly being required to engage with diversity in the classes they teach. Using the data from a large Economics 1 class at a South African university, this attempts to understand the effects of diversity on chances of success and how assessment can impact on this. By demonstrating how theory can be…

Recognising assessment as a driver for learning and a key part of the student learning experience, this case study considers the impact of opening the assessment process to active student engagement as well as placing inclusivity at the heart of the assessment task at point-of-design. This case study presents an approach to assessment that both…

Web-based learning promotes computer-mediated interaction and student-centred learning in most higher education institutions. To fulfil their academic requirements, students develop appropriate strategies to support learning. Purposes of this study were to: (1) examine the relationship between students study strategies (assessed by Learning and…

Purpose: Multimedia is an effective tool to teach psychomotor skills to health care students. Video podcasting is a next step as educators seek methods to present psychomotor skills efficiently. The purposes of this pilot study were (1) compare the effectiveness of video podcasting to live demonstration for teaching psychomotor skills to Doctor of…