Pedagogies to reinvigorate your teaching

Practices, methods and approaches to enrich teaching and improve learning outcomes

Vintage-style composite illustration of schoolchildren next to grinder being fed with text books

Are you curious about using artificial intelligence (AI) as a feedback tool or applying universal design for learning in your classroom? As higher education moves towards more student-centred, hybrid and flexible modes of course design and delivery, effective pedagogy must lead the way. This collection of resources recognises that teaching is a process of refining and supplementing the methods and practices used in the classroom. Educators from around the globe explore the wealth of pedagogies available to university lecturers, offering advice based on their experience of tried-and-true and emerging teaching strategies.

Phenomenon-based learning: what, why and how

Phenomenon-based learning empowers students to apply disciplinary knowledge to real-world situations. Here, Sue Lee and Kate Cuthbert outline the principles of PhBL and how it can be adopted in higher education

Sue Lee, Kate Cuthbert

Staffordshire University

Active and experiential learning

Illustration of a classroom in 1870

A 100-year-old principle for teaching students digital study skills

A guide to helping students improve their digital study skills through experiential learning

Jennie Fox

University of Exeter

Young woman in black hijab working at laptop

Four ways active learning can transform learning experiences

Edtech has facilitated a teaching approach that ties student success to collaboration, consistency and contribution. Paul Hopkinson breaks down its advantages

Paul Hopkinson

Zayed University

Student in a role play simulation

Whole-task learning using real world simulations: a guide

A guide to creating and delivering a whole-task learning model using goal-based scenarios and hybrid simulation, by Michael Daly

Michael Daly

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

young people standing in concentric circles looking up to camera overhead

How to manage assessment feedback in large classes? Get students involved

Delivering quality feedback for every individual student in a large class can be challenging. That is where peer feedback can help if structured and guided effectively, write four teaching academics

Steven Bateman, Shi-Min How, Chew Ging Lee , Jie Zhang

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University , University of Southampton Malaysia

An examination of student engagement in the classroom

An exploration of what student engagement means for different individuals and how to support and assess it in the classroom

Stephanie Foster, Kirk Ambrose

University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University

Universal design for learning

Universal design for learning involves creating courses that all university students can use effectively

Universal design for learning: an introduction and getting started

UDL offers ways to plan teaching and learning to accommodate diverse students and help learners develop the self-efficacy they need to be successful, says Dara Cassidy

Dara Cassidy

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Universal design for learning is a key framework for equity, diversity and inclusion among students in university settings

The case for using universal design for learning at your institution

Universal design for learning can be the answer when searching for true equity in our universities. Jacqui Whittle and Caroline Pike outline the how and why

Jacqui Whittle, Caroline Pike

Arden University

A class learning about robotics

A universal design approach to teaching multilingual students

An explanation of how universal design for learning can improve teaching for multilingual international students and domestic students alike

Andrea Feldman

University of Colorado Boulder

Illustration man in spotlight climbing staircase

Design a student-centred curriculum for dynamic learning

Student-centred learning design promotes engagement, critical thinking and problem-solving, which leads to enhanced real-world skills. M. C. Zhang and Aliana Leong share their strategies

M. C. Zhang, Aliana Leong

Macau University of Science and Technology

Autonomy, fun and other benefits of student-centred learning design

Putting students at the core of learning design can bring business and commerce studies to life, writes Guan Wang

Guan Wang

Macau University of Science and Technology

Adaptive and personalised learning

How to start adaptive learning for a large cohort

Seven steps for successfully introducing adaptive learning

A team from Monterrey Institute of Technology presents advice for the implementation of an adaptive learning strategy for large student cohorts

Multiple authors

Monterrey Institute of Technology

Students engaged in a classroom game

Arts-based methods to foster participatory and interactive learning

Arts-based methods in university teaching centre individual human values and relationships as key contributors in learning. Anne Pässilä and Allan Owens offer advice on how this can be achieved

Anne Pässilä, Allan Owens

Lappeenranta–Lahti University of Technology LUT, University of Chester

How to use group participation activities which are used in stakeholder engagement projects in order to teach a better understanding of sustainability issues

We are not alone: using participatory group activities to engage students in sustainability

Natalie Kopytko and Susannah Sallu detail how participatory activities used for stakeholder engagement can help motivate students to learn about sustainability online

Natalie Kopytko, Susannah Sallu

University of Leeds

Group of multiracial university students laughing

Small talk: love it or leave it, but teach it to your TAs

Casual conversation fosters a sense of belonging, but it’s not a universal skill. Sarah Kegley details a short workshop that helps international teaching assistants feel at ease making small talk

Sarah Kegley

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

It takes a village: using a trading game to teach economics

Large-group interactive classroom games can bring learning alive. Here, Suzanne Bonner, K. K. Tang and Terence Yeo share how a scalable trading game uses social interactions to enhance learning

Suzanne Bonner, K. K. Tang, Terence Yeo

The University of Queensland

Using AI in the classroom

Student considering a question at their laptop

How can we teach and assess with ChatGPT?

A guide to designing teaching and assessments that encourage students to learn with and about ChatGPT

Soumyadeb Chowdhury , Samuel Fosso Wamba

TBS Education

Image representing AI and teaching and learning

Pedagogic paradigm 4.0: bringing students, educators and AI together

How should universities navigate the emerging triad of students, educators and artificial intelligence-powered applications? Isabel Fischer offers her suggestions

Isabel Fischer

The University of Warwick

Students comparing notes and work in pairs

ChatGPT as a teaching tool, not a cheating tool

How to use ChatGPT as a tool to spur students’ inner feedback and thus aid their learning and skills development

Jennifer Rose

University of Manchester

Illustration of trees shaped like heads with birds flying between

Reframing feedback as a valuable learning tool

How to help students appreciate feedback as a useful aid to learning so that they engage with it in a productive way

Joseph Tinsley

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

If peer feedback was good enough for the Brontë sisters, it’s good enough for us

The shift online provides new ways to harness the power of peer feedback to improve writing skills, say Sherry Wynn Perdue, Pam Bromley, Mark Limbach and Jonathan Olshock

Sherry Wynn Perdue, Pam Bromley, Mark Limbach, Jonathan Olshock

Oakland University, Scripps College, Peerceptiv

Asynchronous learning and the flipped classroom

A student watching a recorded lecture online

Asynchronous pedagogy to improve student engagement

A guide to designing asynchronous learning materials and activities that boost student engagement

Hasti Abbasi

La Trobe University

The flipped classroom at university

The five key steps for getting the best out of a flipped classroom

From planning properly to understanding cognitive load, Aaron Taylor reveals how to engender greater student engagement and motivation through the flipped classroom

Aaron Taylor

Arden University

Penalising students who struggle with the flipped classroom doesn't help

How to get students to play their part in the flipped classroom

The flipped classroom is the perfect pedagogy for the information age – but our classes must not punish students who struggle to engage when learning independently

Doug Specht, Gunter Saunders

University of Westminster

Black man in suit puts wooden block on top of pile

To block or not to block? How time affects learning in higher education

From intensive block plans to open-ended study programmes, the ideal length for a unit of study is under interrogation. Jason M. Lodge considers the evidence

Jason M. Lodge

The University of Queensland

Are block teaching and universal design for learning compatible?

On the face of it, comparing the block teaching planning format with the UDL framework might seem like weighing apples against oranges. In fact, they share six golden links, as Kevin Merry explains

Kevin L. Merry

De Montfort University