This paper reports on the adjustment of East Asian Master's level students who came to study at a campus-based university in the UK during 2004-05. International students face challenges in respect to language proficiency, academic expectations and social participation. In this longitudinal study the experiences of a group of students from East…

Developing academic relationships between vocational colleges and universities in Australia has been problematic, with exchanges between the two sectors limited to linear articulation and prescribed credit transfer. Whilst some very good examples of collaboration exist, in general the two sectors operate independently of each other. The isolation…

A study of the marks allocated by 10 tutors to 263 students' SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analyses on a range of business education courses reveals a largely hidden assumption regarding the balance of the four factors. To investigate the significance of this in light of the suggestion in the trait literature that…

Diversity, understood in a multiplicity of ways, has been a focus of attention in education in recent years. As in many other countries, recent post-school education policies in Aotearoa/New Zealand have emphasised previously under-represented ethnic groups, such as Maori and Pasifika. The intention has been to widen participation in further and…

This article reports an action research project designed to develop and implement a new participatory learning and teaching approach to enable postgraduate healthcare students to develop skills and knowledge in preparation for undertaking an action research study within their practice setting. The learning and teaching approach was based upon the…

The financial situation of undergraduate students remains a high-profile issue within the UK higher education sector, not least due to its perceived relationship with retention, well-being and success. This article probes this question from a new direction, using concepts and approaches from the field of applied psychology to examine how students…

This article presents a synthesis of existing ideas relating to the use of social network sites by faculty within higher education institutions (HEIs) to communicate with the student body. As previous research has been from a student-centric perspective, importantly this study explores the use of social networks for student-faculty communication…

After the 1992 Further and Higher Education Reform Act enabled polytechnics and the qualifying franchised colleges to be renamed universities or higher education institutions, the dominance of the rhetoric of skill development aggravated long-standing schisms between further and higher education about whether or not degree-level courses should be…

The current agenda for widening participation (WP) promotes equal access to higher education (HE), yet it also implicitly requires institutions to develop support strategies to ensure a successful learning experience and good retention for different groups of students. The objective of this article is predominantly reflected in the latter goal and…

For students who have experienced higher education (HE) in the further education (FE) sector, the transfer to an HE institution (HEI) to complete an honours degree can bring many challenges. The transition for some can be difficult, as students cope with crossing both institutional and programme boundaries, whilst also negotiating a new academic…

The aim of this study was to investigate whether recognised barriers to learning still exist for mature adult learners in a higher education (HE) centre within a further education (FE) college. Eighty-four students who attend the further education college were asked to complete a questionnaire and participate in follow-up semi-structured…

This article focuses on a blended learning curriculum development project, in which a student was "prospectively" engaged with teacher educators in developing resources designed to increase support for academic reading. Curriculum development took place at the University of Hertfordshire School of Education through the Change Academy for Blended…

This article seeks to consider the consequences that overseas students experience having studied at a university in the United Kingdom. With the implementation of the United Kingdom policies, the number of international students studying in the United Kingdom is increasing. A study of Thai students studying in the United Kingdom has been used to…

The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) Associate Certificate in Environmental Management course is designed to raise the professional competence of aspiring and existing environmental practitioners. Successful completion entitles the individual to become an associate IEMA member. A dedicated evaluation model was developed…

The Academic, Personal and Professional Learning (APPL) model of support for student nurses was developed and implemented as a pilot project in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences of a university in response to a number of internal and external drivers. The common theme across these drivers was the enhancement of the social, academic…