The growth in the student population within higher education against a background of government policy promoting the concept of "widening participation" has led to much debate about the nature of university teaching. Academic engagement of all students within increasingly large and diverse classrooms has proved difficult to achieve. The research…

Steiner-Waldorf (SW) education, based on the work of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), provides a distinctive form of education. There are approximately 900 SW schools worldwide. The only teacher training course for SW education in Scotland is currently offered at the Edinburgh Rudolf Steiner School (ERSS). Although students are continuously assessed on…

Discussion of educational methods appropriate for mature, non-standard entry students in an access course at the University of Luton (England) emphasizes the use of a "catalyst" to spark debate and critical thinking. The aim is to efficiently develop the basic skills required for higher education, thus enabling non-standard entry students to…

This paper presents an analysis of the ways in which UK higher education (HE) has become increasingly commercialised and commodified in the post-1980s. It critiques the strategies adopted by successive UK governments to reinvigorate the relationship between educational and economic life, and to facilitate a more corporate and entrepreneurial…

Examines the debate concerning the teaching of Computer Science as either a mathematics or engineering course. Suggest some reasons for the difference of opinion and highlight the implications for what students might learn about the disciplinary context. (SWM)

The paper examines aspects of the relationship between teaching and research in higher education in social science research methods, with particular reference to the subject area of Education. There are three main themes: reflections on how social science research methods should be (or are) taught; a review of current debates about the…

As part of continual efforts towards improving learning and teaching in the faculty, lecturers in the law faculty of the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol debated the question of students' attendance and quality of tutorials in a recent email discussion amongst themselves. At the end of the debate the need for further research on…

Although Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligence was conceived in the 1980s and has been put into practice by some primary and secondary schools, it has received scant attention in higher education, apart from debates on whether or not the theory can be applied to students in tertiary education. In this paper, I want to ask why this is…

This paper presents a flexible framework of principles for teaching critical thinking and reflective practice skills at the postgraduate level. It reports on a collaborative project between four UK institutions providing postgraduate programmes in deaf education. Through a critical review of current theories of critical thinking and reflective…