Instructional design

How to design online, flipped and in-person courses – from lesson planning and technology use to assessment – that maximise student engagement, inclusivity and learning outcomes

Dentistry students

How to capture the attention of new generations of dentistry students

From traditional lectures to seminar-based group work, the evolution over 20 years of a dentistry course shows how course design and pedagogy can adapt to students’ expectations and learning styles

Máté Jász, Szilvia Ambrus , Péter Schmidt , Péter Hermann, Szandra Körmendi

Semmelweis University

Students talk to their teacher round a table

Five tips for blended learning design

Blended learning has become more prevalent in higher education in the past few years. But what do students think about it? A students-as-co-creators project found out

Gustavo Espinoza Ramos , Setenay Dilek Fidler, Mahima Singh, Drilena Ukperaj

University of Westminster

Students debating something in class

Active learning: what can we learn from secondary teaching?

A great deal of teaching in higher education appears to be inactive, despite the proven benefits of active learning. Here are some practical active learning strategies

Sarah Shaw

University of Chester

Young woman in lab coat with tablet

Lessons in chemistry: widening university students’ participation through storytelling

Storytelling can bridge the gap between complex STEM content and student engagement – it gives learners a discovery-based approach and educators an inclusive teaching tool and means of assessment

Karen Ho

Mount Royal University

young woman working at laptop with gavel in foreground

AI as tutor and critic: using tech to personalise education

Artificial intelligence can have practical applications for assessment in higher education, despite the focus on the threats it poses. Here are considerations when using AI to support teaching and generate feedback

Michael Butler

King’s College London

podcast graphic

THE podcast: what constitutes good teaching in higher education?

Two academics with experience in delivering and researching teaching in varied educational contexts discuss the complexities of effective instruction

Leon Tikly, Jason M. Lodge

University of Bristol, The University of Queensland

Female lab technicians carrying out experiments

Developing interdisciplinary courses for tomorrow’s scholars

Many universities are developing new interdisciplinary degree programmes to prepare students for working across sectors on complex issues. But how can we engage faculty in this whole-institution approach?

Anne Preston, Katherine Fletcher

University College London

human intelligence v AI on scales illustration

Assessments that maintain fairness and authenticity without AI

In-person, reflective and analytical tasks require students to apply their learning in real-world ways that AI can’t easily replicate. Here are eight ways to tailor AI-resistant assessment

Temesgen Kifle

The University of Queensland

Robot with people rolling coins, AI subscription

Is it worth paying for GenAI?

How useful is artificial intelligence for syllabus design? A law lecturer compared the free and subscription versions of three generative AI platforms, with surprising results

Sophia De Arez Cintra

King’s College London

People walking in Brick Lane

The transformative power of immersive field studies

Embracing experience in teaching can bring the curriculum to life and help students forge their own learning journey. Here are five benefits it offers

Myria Georgiou, Afroditi Koulaxi

The London School of Economics and Political Science

A lecturer speaks to a group of students

Four ways to tap into students’ family experiences for better learning

Using students’ family experiences as a jumping-off point for learning can help engage them and prepare them for the workforce. Here’s how to do it

Ankit Agarwal

The University of Adelaide

Example of a rhizome

Rhizocrit: Rhizomatic learning and critical digital pedagogy in the post-digital age

Higher education needs transformative practices to respond to the challenges of the 21st century. Combining expansive, organic learning with active, critical use of technology could be the way forward

Daniel Gutiérrez-Ujaque

University of Lleida

A group of students fist-bump over a table of work

Spark creativity in your students – and boost their employability

Thinking creatively is a crucial skill for the future workplace. But how can we instil it in today’s students?

Sarah Montano, Inci Toral

University of Birmingham

A woman watches a laptop while wearing headphones and making notes

Training interpreters in the age of AI

Instead of fighting against the dawn of artificial intelligence, educators should be teaching future interpreters the skills to use it effectively. Here’s how

Nan Zhao

Hong Kong Baptist University

A group of students sit happily around a laptop in the sunshine

Making group work work: how to enable successful student collaboration

How can we help students collaborate without weighing down staff with extra admin? First-year interdisciplinary research projects could be the answer

Jillian Terry

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Engineering student using virtual reality

How comfortable are your students with AI and VR?

To train tomorrow’s workforce, higher education institutions must assess students’ technological familiarity, their readiness to engage with advanced tools and their purposes for using them. Here are two ways to gather data

Meryem Yilmaz Soylu

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

A medical student works from her laptop

Tips for implementing blended learning in medical education in a post-pandemic world

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a switch to blended learning in medical education. How will it continue to evolve and how best to use it?

Rania Shalaby

Dubai Medical College for Girls

Students working together on a project in class

Three ways to promote critical engagement with GenAI

However much we fear its impact or despise its outputs, when teaching humanities, the best response is to encourage students to engage with it critically

Neville Morley

University of Exeter

Robots with briefcases

Three ways to optimise your business school’s AI-related offering

As workforces change, chunks of business schools’ curricula risk becoming outdated and irrelevant. Here are three ways institutions can adapt their teaching to bridge the AI-driven skills gap

Abdelmounaim Derraz, Julien Malaurent , Guillaume Chevillon

ESSEC Business School

A teacher addresses a classroom of students

Conjure the magic of learning with facilitation

When facilitating learning, planning and versatility are key. Here’s how to balance the two

Tan Chin Pei

Singapore Institute of Technology

Studious student memorising notes at her desk

Don’t forget Bloom’s Taxonomy’s ‘remembering’ level

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a pedagogical framework covering six levels: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. Building a strong foundation to help students store and retrieve information is crucial

Adeola Matthew

The University of the West Indies

Learning outcomes concept

Learning objectives as a tool to guide post-Covid learning

Instructors can use specific learning objectives to spark greater reflection and self-regulated learning in students. Here’s a step-by-step guide to aligning learning, course and curriculum outcomes

Jeremy Hsu

Chapman University

Students listen in a lecture hall

Everything you need to know about teaching cases

Teaching cases can help students apply their knowledge to a real-world situation and make learning interactive. Here’s how to use them

Kerryn Krige

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Students learning english in class

A new way of ensuring repeated EAP vocabulary exposure

Practical steps to enhance student vocabulary learning through a systematic approach that assures repeated exposure to important terms

Alan Meek , Jingfei Zhang, Lin Ma

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Asian man critical thinking concept

How to embed critical thinking from course design to assessment

Critical thinking is an essential, human skill. This practical advice aims to help university educators nurture and enhance students’ ability to analyse and evaluate information at all stages of teaching

M. C. Zhang

Macau University of Science and Technology

Diverse group of students working together

Tweaks to make when teaching political science and social policies in the GenAI age

Some methods to enhance student learning of political science topics while maintaining academic integrity

Adrian Man-Ho Lam

The University of Hong Kong

A student in the library holds a book

Find a balance with student-centredness

Student-centredness has become hugely popular in higher education over the past decade, but it has downsides as well as benefits. Can it truly be applicable across higher education, regardless of context?

Arina Ziganshina

Dubai Medical College for Girls

Male speaker giving presentation at a university to a room full of students

Relieve student boredom by ‘activating’ lectures

How lecturers can ‘activate’ traditional lectures to relieve student boredom and stimulate learning

Simon Brownhill

University of Bristol

Yes, you can spelled out on beach sand

What self-determination theory can do for post-pandemic college students

Incoming university students are more stressed, anxious and distracted than ever. Here’s how to support their psychological needs

Cathy A. Pohan, Melissa Samaniego

Chapman University

A young woman presents on a screen as someone takes notes

Flip students’ presentations for more in-depth learning

Ask students to record presentations ahead of class, in order to free up time for in-depth questions, discussion and feedback when together in person, and enable fairer assessment

Eric Tsui

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A mountain climber hangs off the side of a cliff

Harness the power of the cliffhanger to hook Gen Z’s scrolling minds

Learn from Gen Z’s social media use to engage their attention. Keep it bite-sized and high-impact – and leave them wanting more

Tasnim Mustafa, Mariam Shadan

Dubai Medical College for Girls

Various sqiggly arrows straightening into the same direction, blended learning concept

Teaching public policy research skills to tomorrow’s leaders

When students learn the fundamentals of public policy research, they also acquire tools to evaluate how institutions operate and how those same tools can be used to solve problems in their communities. This blended learning approach can level up these skills

Christopher Kromphardt, Mark Anthoney , Cassidy Branch

Johns Hopkins University, University of Iowa

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Campus webinar: the evolution and innovation of interdisciplinarity

Join three experts from Campus+ partner institutions in Australia as they discuss interdisciplinarity, how to implement it in teaching and research and why it’s important for the future

Kyle Jenkins, Louise Kuchel, Rohan Walker

The University of Queensland , University of Southern Queensland , The University of Newcastle, Australia

sustainability concept

What work-based learners need from sustainability education

Flexible course design, reasonable time commitments and real-life practice are vital if universities expect to train the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs in sustainable development

Jonathan Muir

University of Leeds

A robot hologram appears above a smartphone

Where to start with generative AI chatbot customisation

AI chatbots could transform teaching and learning, yet generic versions lack the detail needed for education. Here’s how to get started with building your own customised chatbot

Simon Wang

Hong Kong Baptist University

Lecturer gives a university lecture

How to enhance teaching skills in a multidisciplinary environment

Technical challenges as well as the personal demands that teachers face make support programmes at higher education institutions all the more important. Here’s how self-paced, modular training can boost teacher engagement and student satisfaction

Borbála Kozma

Semmelweis University

Student demonstrating CAD technology

Connecting adult learning principles, assessment and academic integrity

Adult learning principles and authentic assessment can offer ways for educators to not only prevent academic misconduct but also give students a chance to demonstrate skills that employers want to see in graduates

Carl Sherwood, John Raiti

The University of Queensland

A hand carves out a heart from South Korean delicacy dalgona candy

Green light student engagement: Squid Game tactics in the classroom

Gamifying your classroom can help foster learning, offers a cheat-free method of assessment and creates a memorable experience

Clare Keonha Shin

IÉSEG School of Management

Three business people consider a document

For learning design projects, build the time to reflect on the past into your future

Reflective practice is essential for continuous improvement in learning design. Paul John Gregory Moss, Richard McInnes and Simon Marek explain how to incorporate structured reflection into project scopes

Paul Moss, Richard McInnes, Simon Marek

The University of Adelaide

Emperor penguin on ice sheet

How environmental issues can unite and inspire diverse student groups

Looking for ideas for next semester’s projects? Climate change could be the answer, whatever your students’ field of study, writes Jim Entwistle

Jim Entwistle

Teesside University

Multilingual concept

Australian universities need to do more than pay lip service to multilingualism

How can we train Australian schoolteachers in cultural and linguistic diversity if our universities are English-only zones? Embed translanguaging practices in our courses, writes Sue Ollerhead

Sue Ollerhead

Macquarie University

Student in class smiling to camera

Four ways to integrate the SDGs into English language classes

Connecting the Sustainable Development Goals with language teaching and learning can provide meaningful learning experiences, writes Chaonan Xu

Chaonan Xu

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Student and teacher interacting in a classroom

Integrating ethics into course design is vital – here’s how to do it

Integrating philosophical enquiry into course design can enrich teaching practice and help our students act justly, writes Cara E. Furman

Cara E. Furman

Hunter College

A woman massages her temples in front of a desktop computer

To build resilience, we need to embrace failure in the classroom and beyond

Let’s redefine failure by changing the way we teach, assess and support students and staff. Ibham Veza, Mhadi A. Ismael and Taib Iskandar Mohamad outline how

Ibham Veza, Mhadi A. Ismael , Taib Iskandar Mohamad

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP)

Two skyscrapers covered in plants

Let’s give learners on all levels the skills for a green future

To support the switch to a green economy, educators need to update sustainability education programmes to meet learners’ needs. Ethan Chong Yih Tng offers his tips

Ethan Chong Yih Tng

Singapore Institute of Technology

Students chatting outside a campus building

It’s all in the presentation: how to engage international students during lectures

The visual dimension of lectures and seminars can create additional challenges for international students, but simple strategies can help in creating useful presentations that support learning

Mark Whalley

University of Chester

A red toy robot sits on a pile of books

With AI at their fingertips, are students still learning?

The ubiquity of artificial intelligence may be affecting students’ cognitive development. Gareth Morris and Bamidele Akinwolemiwa consider how to address this

Gareth Morris, Bamidele Akinwolemiwa

University of Nottingham Ningbo China

digital dentistry technician

An inter-university and interdisciplinary approach to dental education

A degree course that blends engineering and dentistry prepares students for their future practice. Here, Szandra Kormendi and Peter Hermann explain how it works

Péter Hermann, Szandra Körmendi

Semmelweis University

An illustration featuring a robot head surrounded by speech bubbles

Artificial intelligence – friend or foe? It’s up to academia

Higher education will be instrumental in determining whether generative AI ends up as a friend or enemy. Ibiyemi Omeihe and Kingsley O. Omeihe outline what universities can do at this crucial tipping point

Ibiyemi Omeihe , Kingsley Omeihe

University of the West of Scotland

Students doing group work

Yes, and… Using improv to build students’ confidence in the classroom

Through exercises borrowed from improvisational theatre, students can use imaginative thinking and creative problem-solving, learn to think outside the box and embrace ambiguity, writes Joe Conto. Here, he offers ways to help the post-Covid generation reconnect

Joe Conto

Paul Smith’s College