College professors seek to create intellectual experiences that free students from false perceptions and incomplete truths. This article explores one curricular decision and an accompanying pedagogical approach which, the authors argue, facilitates such a liberating experience. In the online environment of WebCT, students post their reactions to…

In UK higher education, ethnic differences in academic attainment are ubiquitous and have persisted for many years. They are only partly explained by ethnic differences in entry qualifications. They vary from one institution to another and from one subject area to another. This suggests that they result in part from teaching and assessment…

This paper investigates the role of personal networks in academics' learning in relation to teaching. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 11 academics, this study examines, first, how and what academics learn through their personal networks; second, the perceived value of networks in relation to academics' professional development; and,…

This study investigates problem-solving difficulties of novices in a classroom setting, using a German instructional tool, the Fischertechnik kit of approximately 400 parts. In order to analyse the students' thinking processes as they solved the problems, verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to record the students'' thinking…

Various initiatives at national and faculty levels are carried out to improve teaching quality at Malaysian universities. Measures such as auditing and accrediting university programs and obtaining certification for quality management help improve program management and standardize students' learning experiences. However, these do not…

Providing feedback on draft essays is an accepted means of enacting a social-constructivist approach to assessment, aligning with current views on the value of formative feedback and assessment for learning (AFL). However, the use of this process as a means of improving not only content but also students' academic writing skills has not been…

Facebook use among students is almost ubiquitous; however, its use for formal academic purposes remains contested. Through an online survey monitoring student use of module Facebook pages and focus groups, this study explores students' current academic uses of Facebook and their views on using Facebook within university modules. Students…

This study utilises an integrated conceptual model of academic performance which captures a series of psychological factors: cognitive style; self-theories such as self-esteem and self-efficacy; achievement goals such as mastery, performance, performance avoidance and work avoidance; study-processing strategies such as deep and surface learning;…

Teaching practitioners in all education sectors commonly face expectations to engage in "learner-focused" teaching, although the term is defined and interpreted in a myriad of ways. In higher education, some studies have examined links between learner-focused teaching and academic disciplines. This article reports on a study which…

This paper sets out to examine the situated nature of graduate attributes through using activity systems theory to explore their contextual nature. It builds on earlier work into graduate attributes by examining the reasons behind the significant variation in their interpretation, thus providing an analysis of the contextual nature of teaching and…

It has been suggested that problem-based learning (PBL) has a positive impact on the team-working skills of medical, health and social care students. These skills are important for graduates to master to enable effective collaborative working in today's diverse health and social care settings. What is not clear from the literature is how…

This article takes a reflective stance on the development of practice in scaffolding and mediating for creativity and potentially better performance in gymnastics. The pedagogical approach outlined illustrates how an experienced practitioner can adopt mediational (rather than meddling) and scaffolding techniques to focus on supporting the…

Higher education institutional assessment policy is dominated by summative assessment regulation, with little emphasis on the role of formative assessment to improve student learning. Yet the challenge for academics is to integrate more formative assessment practice into what many see as already overloaded curricula. It is questionable whether…

Although there is much research related to the first-year student in higher education and first-year retention, a dominant focus of this has been on students' assimilation into higher education. However, there is a noticeable increase in higher education researchers who advocate for a more active role of institutions to adapt to first-year…

There is a perception that university students have changed dramatically in their modes of learning in recent years, mainly due to their widespread use of the Internet as an information source, the change in student body due to the greater accessibility of third level education and changes in experience in second level education. Lectures,…