Feature article

Two designers making a model of a building

Tips for introducing complex design software in the classroom

As design education becomes increasingly digital, educators face the challenge of integrating powerful simulation and modelling software without overwhelming students. Adalberto Tamez Alanis offers guidance

Adalberto Tamez Alanis

Tecnológico de Monterrey

A scientist views a brain scan on a screen

How does the brain learn? And why don’t we teach that way?

Neuroscience shows traditional teaching is not enough. Instead, an experiential approach can return learning to its natural order

Mussab Aswad

Nasser Centre for Science and Technology

Female Asian college student writing in library on a laptop

‘Students don’t have to prove authorship of every word, they show their supervision of AI tools’

When all students are required to use generative AI for every assignment, their practice can be more rigorous, transparent and deeply reflective. Here, Tiatemsu Longkumer explains a rubric

Tiatemsu Longkumer

Royal Thimphu College

What makes a classroom a community?

Community can be built on every course, deepening learning and improving the experience for everyone. Find out how

Melissa Jane Megan

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

How technicians can achieve professional registration

Technical professionals are essential to the success of universities and research institutes. Nana Asante Asamoah-Danso offers guidance on achieving formal recognition

Nana Asante Asamoah-Danso

Imperial College London

Storytelling in STEM: connecting concepts, confidence and identity

Designing STEM classrooms that encourage students to reflect on their progress and share their stories takes intention, but the pay-off is enormous: more engaged, capable and confident learners

Karen Ho, Douglas B. Clark

Mount Royal University, University of Calgary

How Carmen and the humanities can embed the skills GenAI can’t

A cultural programme centred on the opera Carmen lit a flame of engagement in students. Here’s how the humanities reach parts of the human psyche that GenAI could never touch

Renia Lopez-Ozieblo

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

How universities can cultivate arts and humanities in practical, affordable ways

Are the arts and humanities still needed as universities retrench staff and cut costs? Patty Raun explains why curtailing or eliminating these disciplines is an egregious mistake

Patricia Raun

Virginia Tech

Business students discussing a case study in class

How to cultivate confident, creative graduates

How a careers festival centred on industry insight, alumni connections and tailored support is helping creative students navigate more sustainable career paths

Ailsa Wright

The University of Edinburgh

Whiteboard with photographs and sticky notes on a magnetic wall

How ‘aesthetic pedagogy’ can get the attention of your Gen Z students

Today’s students need immersive, aesthetic experiences that awaken curiosity, stimulate the senses, and foster critical thinking, says Fabián Bautista

Fabián Bautista Saucedo

CETYS Universidad

A group of students celebrating around an unlocked chest full of sweets

Unlock learning and build community with escape rooms

Games-based activities foster active, relaxed learning and collaborative problem-solving. Rebecca Andrew and Sam Chadwick offer guidance on how to design and tailor them to suit a range of needs

Rebecca Andrew, Sam Chadwick

University of Chester

The best way to market a university? Start with the students

University students can be lifelong brand ambassadors for their institution. To harness the power of word of mouth, create an environment where students feel they belong

Youssef Chetioui

Al Akhawayn University

University teacher helping two multiracial students

Making student experience a core part of academic work

A student and an academic outline how universities must make student experience an explicit part of academic roles, from workloads to resourcing and recognition

Roma Forbes, Benjamin Ong

The University of Queensland

Accompaniment: the key to engaging campus communities in change

To respond to change, leaders must create solutions with their employees and members of the community, rather than instituting a top-down approach. A Latin American leadership practice could be the answer

Annmarie Caño

Gonzaga University

A laptop and a hand scrolling social media on a phone, surrounded by visualisations symbolising likes, comments and followers

Content curation to build academic visibility

Content curation offers academics a practical way to share knowledge beyond the academy. Kelvin Ke Jinde outlines different approaches and shows how they can help researchers extend their reach, save time and engage wider audiences

Kelvin Ke Jinde

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Measuring the value of movement: how universities can capture the benefits of sport and physical activity

With robust, quantitative data, the higher education sector can show how its sporting activities and facilities contribute to both student and staff well-being and national health goals while strengthening the case for future investment

Phil Malatesta

University of Southampton

Co-creation as an alternative for engaging students

Co-creation through experiential learning outside the classroom space – working abroad, in the field, in a lab – is fantastic but not always feasible. Can’t leave the classroom? Ed Berger explains how educators can still spark engagement

Ed Berger

Virginia Tech

Three ways to turn students into active partners in their education

Create a supportive learning community with student co-creation. Here are three ways to help students take the reins

Anatoly Oleksiyenko, Weiyan Xiong, Jing Zhang

The Education University of Hong Kong

Students and lecturer co-designing learning materials in class

How to co-design learning and assessments with students and GenAI

Guidance on bringing together academic expertise, students’ lived experience and GenAI’s creative capacity to co-design genuinely inclusive, collaborative, and engaging learning experiences

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Three female students in library around laptop

Teaching students to assess their work and why it matters beyond university

Peer feedback and self-assessment build habits that extend into professional life. They teach students to ask questions such as: ‘What do others see in my work?’ and ‘What did I miss?’ to improve performance, Elissar Gerges explains

Elissar Gerges

Zayed University

Top down view of students walking between classes

How to model good academic practice

By modelling good practice in your own teaching, you can help students build confidence, work more effectively and set habits that support both academic and personal success. Here’s how

Natalie K. D. Seedan

The University of the West Indies

A teacher works with students on GenAI literacy

How to evolve with GenAI: an educator’s guide

The launch of GenAI has prompted a new stage of experimentation for university education. Here’s how to explore and refine, finding out what works and what doesn’t

Lin Yue

Adelaide University

Sticky labels: why language shapes identity (and how to say better things)

The words we use in creative education – and the ones we don’t – shape how students see themselves. David Thompson explores how labels affect self-image and how university educators can shift language to build creative confidence

David Thompson

University of Lincoln

Medical students learn in a small session

Support medical students to form their identity as doctors

Develop well-rounded, people-focused medical professionals by focusing on soft skills, alongside clinical knowledge. Here’s how case-based learning can help

Anne Hickey

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Two healthcare professionals consulting a document

Practice makes professional

Well-designed simulations can give future public service practitioners safe opportunities to collaborate across disciplines and build skills vital for supporting vulnerable people

Mark Gregory

The University of East Anglia

Four common arguments for acknowledging AI use (and why they are wrong)

Educators may want AI to be used well or to go away entirely, write Chloe Salisbury and Luke Zaphir. Here, they take on a central piece of AI lore and offer ways forward

Chloe Salisbury, Luke Zaphir

The University of Queensland

A practical guide to using games in university teaching

What is game-oriented learning, what criteria must games follow to have true educational value and how to use them in your own teaching? Find out here

Philippe Lepinard

Université Paris-Est Créteil

Three students working together in a library

How to reclaim humanity in the AI classroom

As GenAI changes how students study and complete assessments, higher education educators must focus on metacognition, clarity and connection, says Patrice Seuwou

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Looking for our environmental future in the poetic past

How can studying a poem or writing a story give students the skills to imagine a healthy planetary future? Stephanie Jones explains the link between literature and environmental literacy

Stephanie Jones

University of Southampton

Weave interdisciplinarity into the identity of your humanities department

Create flexibility within department structures to allow interdisciplinary work and collaboration to flourish. Here’s how

Hang Xing

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Close up of a camera as it films an instructor explaining a medical concept

Use scripted conversations to fill knowledge gaps

How a conversational video that recreates instructor–student dialogues is boosting test scores, confidence and deeper comprehension across engineering cohorts

María Villarreal, Jobish Vallikavungal, Ana Sarmiento, Jonathan Montalvo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

How compassionate spaces support career development for graduate teaching assistants

Bringing GTAs together in a safe space not only develops career identity, it fosters belonging, respect and care. Here, Kristy Campbell explains what a reading group offers those in the space between student and staff

Kristy Campbell

King’s College London

Magnifying glass looking at a brain, illustration

Putting arts and humanities at the heart of research

Disciplines too often are siloed, but today’s most pressing challenges rarely fit neatly into a single field. How do we encourage science and technology fields to work with arts and humanities?

Lisa McNair, Thomas L. Martin

Virginia Tech

Students work together around a desktop computer

Two ways to embed transferable skills in university teaching

Students need the skills to thrive in an uncertain job market. Positioning GenAI as a study buddy and student-led business clinics can help develop them

Mark Elliot, James Moran, Venetia Tzanni

University of Westminster

How can we model empathy in the classroom?

Curiosity, connection and communication are vital components of empathetic teaching, says Bhawana Shrestha. She explains how to make students feel safe, seen and supported

Bhawana Shrestha

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Computer-generated 3D illustration of Titanic liner

In a world of short attention spans, the best story wins

When students become storytellers, rather than passive recipients of knowledge, learning is more memorable. And a little help from GenAI can get them started

Natalie Cummins

University of Technology Sydney

A woman in professional attire smiling to camera

How teachers can learn to lead

Success in the classroom doesn’t automatically make you a good manager. Garth Elzerman offers advice on building trust with the colleagues you lead

Garth Elzerman

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

An educator talks to international students

Tips to support international students’ mental health

Studying abroad may seem exciting, but many students can suffer from social isolation. Here’s how to offer support

Sarvenaz Safavi

Near East University

Creating a safe space for patients and public in research

How can healthcare researchers ensure that non-researchers feel comfortable to share opinions or ask questions during project meetings?

Gary Hickey

University of Southampton

An interdisciplinary team discussing a project

STEAM-based education is the way forward

How to integrate science, technology, engineering, arts, humanities and mathematics to create interdisciplinary programmes that build skills and address real-world problems

Hanifa Shah

Birmingham City University

A robot in a mortarboard poses with a diploma

A university blueprint for teaching with GenAI

How a human-centred approach to embedding GenAI ensures the tool enhances human reasoning, rather than replacing it, institution-wide

Abderrahim Agnaou

Al Akhawayn University

‘Universities need to be better prepared to handle anti-religious hate’

How can institutions navigate a landscape where some religious communities see equity, diversity and inclusion efforts as an essential safeguard, while others view these initiatives as an overreach?

Matthew J. Mayhew, Benjamin S. Selznick, Musbah Shaheen

The Ohio State University, James Madison University, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Students with their arms around each other from behind

Five ideas for fostering belonging and collaboration in the classroom

From ‘getting to know each other’ activities to outdoor learning and ongoing check-ins, Jamie Heywood offers strategies for creating a welcoming, collaborative classroom

Jamie Heywood

Anglia Ruskin University

Students in a lecture, pictured from above

Are we teaching information or developing understanding?

Why we need students to understand concepts rather than simply learn facts – and what pedagogical approaches can help

Maximillian Afnan

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Group of four smiling college students walking

A warm welcome is a strategic imperative for higher education

If we want incoming students to flourish, we must stop treating belonging as a bonus and start seeing it as an essential condition for learning. Scott Dunning offers strategies on welcoming students to succeed

Scott Dunning

Virginia Tech

Teachers designing a course together at a table

Team teaching 101

When faculty collaborate in the classroom, students gain multiple perspectives on complex material while new academics learn the craft of teaching from more experienced colleagues

Katherine Van Heuvelen

Harvey Mudd College

Partner with news outlets to combat fake news

Five ways universities and media outlets can work together to build resilience against misinformation

Andreas Munzel

Vlerick Business School

Students talking in class? Teach from the back

Stepping away from the front of the lecture hall renders educators more approachable, and more able to catch the eye of a student looking confused or manage unwarranted chatter

Adrian J. Wallbank

Oxford Brookes University

Participants of a COIL project smiling to camera

Tips for a successful COIL experience

Guidance through four collaboration phases to ensure collaborative online international learning projects offer meaningful, technology-supported exchanges between institutions

Anisa Vahed

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Students and support staff work together round a laptop

Work with students for an inclusive university culture

Inviting students into the process of making your university campus a more inclusive place can be transformative. Here’s how

Dana Abiltayeva , Ayana Batyrbayeva

Nazarbayev University

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