In this paper, we investigate the perception of academics regarding how their experiences from societal interaction (third mission) inform their teaching and vice versa. We report on a phone survey of Swedish academics in three engineering-related disciplines. The findings show that there is a perceived positive and bidirectional relationship…

The focus of this article is on the experiences of staff members involved in a student support programme. The experiential, social, and student-centred approaches incorporated in this programme provided not only students, but also academics with pathways to lifelong learning. Functioning in a community of practice (CoP) (with students and also…

Writing a thesis is one of the most challenging activities that a doctoral student must undertake and can represent a barrier to timely completion. This is relevant in light of current and widespread concerns regarding doctoral completion rates. This study explored thesis writing approaches of students post or near Ph.D. completion through…

The purpose of this paper is to consider some issues in the uses of what we have termed "creative" action learning in a business education context, and to review some aspects of its practice. A review of the literature, including its use in higher education, is followed by a case illustration of its use in a UK business school with…

This paper uses the notion of perspectives, derived from Activity Systems Theory as a lens through which to examine the process of change in one UK university. It argues that change is a multidimensional phenomenon and so examines the drivers and barriers towards change in teaching practices through the differing and at times conflicting…

Diversity in the student body, particularly the inclusion of disadvantaged groups, has been incorporated into the discourse of inclusive education, with social justice and equality now part of the agenda. However, the conflation of diversity with equality potentially obscures some structural elements of the contemporary university system. This…

As the USA experiences rapid growth of nontraditional adult students in higher education, educators and institutions will increasingly need to look beyond the traditional youth-centric educational models to better address adult learning needs. To date, no research has been conducted examining the learning experiences of adult students enrolled in…

A student-centred approach to learning encourages students to have more responsibility for their learning and is a process that relies heavily on professional confidence to "let-go" of traditional teaching responsibilities. This paper describes the introduction of a student-centred approach within one further education college in…

This article adds to the existing literature on nonformal learning in education in general and the role played by written feedback in providing the space for such learning in particular. The study was conducted in an English as a Foreign Language context in which the participating students received written feedback on their English writings.…

Faculty can play a critical role in supporting students' intercultural development, but studies indicate that instructors report a lack of formal understanding about how to maximize this opportunity. Through the investigation of 115 first-year students' written reflections, this study provides faculty with students' perspectives on…

This paper explores the adoption of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by 10 Malaysian university academics. SoTL was part of a pioneering sector-wide initiative for improving teaching and learning. The qualitative study showed that there had been no true learning phase for SoTL because academics had high expectations of rapid success…

The motivation to teach is a powerful, yet neglected, force in teaching at institutes of higher education. A better understanding of academics' motivations for teaching is necessary. The aim of this mixed-method study was to identify groups with distinctively different motivations for teaching. Six clusters were identified: expertise, duty,…

While building a strong research profile is usually seen as key for those seeking a traditional academic position, teaching is also understood as central to academic practice. Still, we know little of how post-Ph.D. researchers seeking academic posts locate teaching and supervision in their academic practice, nor how their views may shift as they…

This article examines the challenges experienced by Arabic-speaking students and lecturers at meeting the proposed learning outcomes in English Literature (EL) at a residential university in Algeria. An overview of the history of foreign languages (French and English) in the curricula in Algerian schools and tertiary education institutions has…

In this paper, we identify beliefs about teaching and patterns of instruction valued and emphasized by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty in higher education in the USA. Drawing on the notion that effective teaching is student-centered rather than teacher-centered and must include a balance of knowledge-, learner-,…