Although supervision has been identified as one of the central determinants of the doctoral experience, there is still an insufficient understanding of the ways in which supervisors and doctoral students perceive supervisory activities. The study focuses on exploring the fit between doctoral students' and supervisors' perceptions of who…

This article explores the experiences of four early career academics as they begin to undertake doctoral supervision. Each supervisor focused on one of their supervisees and drew and described a Journey Plot depicting the high and low points of their supervisory experience with their student. Two questions were addressed by the research: (1) How…

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.…

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…

Although research and teaching have often been regarded as complementary in enhancing the quality of student learning, little previous research has explored the conflicts associated with linking the two activities. This paper aims to examine specific issues arising within the environmental building disciplines at a UK university, and to explore…

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…

Innovative teaching and learning is increasingly becoming part of medical education. We report the evaluation of a medical microbiology board game, Med Micro Fun With Facts (MMFWF), based on Trivial Pursuit™ principles. The game was developed to stimulate medical students' interest in microbiology and expose students to the subject content of…

Academic teaching can change with the use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogs and wikis, as these enable a different pedagogical approach through collaborative learning and the social construction of knowledge. Student expectations of their university learning experience have changed as they expect e-learning to be part of the learning…

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…

This paper describes a lecturer's approach to teaching Bayesian statistics to students who were only exposed to the classical paradigm. The study shows how the lecturer extended himself by making use of ventriloquist dolls to grab hold of students' attention and embed important ideas in revealing the differences between the Bayesian and…

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…

Understanding the relation between teachers' goal statements and students' experiences about the position of research in undergraduate coursework can give use insight into ways to integrate research and teaching and foster undergraduate research. In this study, we examined to what extent teachers' goal statements agreed with…

One of the most traditional challenges of teaching is that of engaging learners with delivered content both within and outside of the taught environment. There are many different approaches to achieving learner engagement; however, this paper focuses on examining the translation and adaptation of an approach used principally by novelists, that of…

During the last decade, the relationship between university and non-university higher education institutions has changed. As a contribution to the knowledge economy, non-university higher education institutions are expected to educate their students in research activities. Previously, teaching was the main responsibility of lecturers in…

Feedback to students has been highlighted in the literature as an area where improvements are needed. Students need high quality, prompt feedback, but they also need guidance and tools to help them engage with and learn from that feedback. This case study explores staff and student perceptions of a tool at Sheffield Hallam University which…