Teaching and learning

Unexpectedly in charge of a room of students fretting over the colour of answer booklets, Emma Rees ponders the potential price in dog lives

Early issues of the journal Studies in Higher Education show how greatly academics’ view of what they do has changed, says Bruce Macfarlane

Survey finds that 46.6 per cent of academics shared family photos and information such as their favourite films or books

Proposals follow recommendations in independent report

Edinburgh principal Sir Tim O’Shea warns such a system would distract from real mission

Since 2003, the number of graduates from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge teaching at state schools has risen from 5,000 to 11,000

Undergraduates are ready to be inspired by the right call, says Alex Valente

The former universities minister discusses the reforms that reshaped higher education and his first steps into academia

University lecturers can learn how to teach creativity by looking at innovative practice found in art colleges and music schools, claims education expert

More than half of female students reading science subjects at the University of Bristol said that they have felt uncomfortable at the institution because of their gender

Fifty-five people working in universities have been named as the latest winners of the sector’s top honour for teaching and learning

New study suggests using phones in class could actually be beneficial, provided students stay on topic

Institution may close one of its engineering schools after a 'disappointing result' in the research excellence framework

Hepi/HEA Student Academic Experience Survey results may intensify pressure on staff to gain formal accreditation

Poor materials, disengaged students and little time or incentive to prepare dishearten one casualised academic

The University of Warwick has scrapped controversial plans to use a scheme called TeachHigher to employ hourly paid teaching and research staff

GPA Advisory Group propose five-year pilot to test GPA alongside traditional honours system

A digital tool created by the University of Edinburgh uses Twitter to engage with Mooc learners

Universities are losing control of what they teach, warns John Cookson

The UK must decide by 31 May whether to take the next step in a project aiming to measure learning outcomes at a global level

A university has launched what it claims is the UK’s first module in ‘drag studies’

Students need to understand assessment criteria in order to spot weaknesses in their own work, says David Carless

The Royal Academy of Engineering has added its voice to calls for new metrics to be used in universities to assess teaching quality.

John Morgan examines the progress of a vision of parity between pedagogy and research

Specialist higher education institution Writtle College has been granted the power to award its own degrees.

Students at Benedictus will spend half their course outside the classroom ‘studying from the object’

Universities must be realistic about crashes and capitalism, says Terry Jones ahead of the premiere of documentary Boom Bust Boom

For teachers, the border between the two is porous, says Shahidha Bari

King’s is to take over Bush House, the former home of the BBC World Service

Are the best assessors your colleagues, or external observers?

Yong Zhao believes China doesn’t foster the free thinkers it needs. What is the state of the country’s higher education system?

University examinations teach students how to compete but teamwork is the vital life skill, says Kevin Fong

The AQA decision to end a promising trial of the subject does a disservice to students, the discipline and the UK, says Joy Hendry

Postgrad’s study questions reliability of results on staff evaluation website as US students seek ‘easiest A’

John Warren and colleagues warn of the serious decline in graduates with sound identification skills

Paul Ashwin unpicks some cherished nostrums, from Hollywood-style star turns at the podium to the much-exaggerated death of the lecture

Could US moves to measure undergraduates’ improvements in critical thinking, writing and other skills spread to the UK?

Viral Thakerar dissatisfied with an OIA judgement restricted by university’s destruction of relevant exam documents

Their lack of protest over reforms means that universities have lost the chance to transform the sector, laments Anthony Kelly

A London comprehensive is to offer a degree to encourage more students to pursue higher education and a career in teaching

Newcastle scholar Sugata Mitra’s $1 million prize helps fund self-organised learning environments worldwide

A rift will always separate digital natives from others, Shahidha Bari believes

A comparison of student-to-staff ratios and spending per student across Europe

Nothing is out of bounds when it comes to higher education, it seems – with the launch of Scotland’s first degree in professional golf

The number of students awarded a first-class degree soared by 14 per cent last year.

Researchers argue that nature of teaching in subjects means that they cannot score highly in survey

By Colleen Flaherty, for Inside Higher Ed

More study divided between college and university could be on the horizon, expert says

Discoveries made off-campus are as valuable as lectures, says Christopher Bigsby

More further education colleges should have the equivalent of degree-awarding powers to ‘redress’ the technical and academic education balance.

Knowledge, not exotic travel, should be students’ number one priority, argues Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Matthew Reisz talks to academics about their experiences of teaching older learners, while Holly Else analyses the decline in the number of mature students

Students will join prisoners in what the institution says is a European first

Why keep on assessing how students feel? asks Joanna Williams

A new approach to teaching economics being piloted at eight leading universities has been criticised by campaigners

Could training schemes for teachers help to improve student learning? asks Graham Gibbs

Edinburgh Napier finds that student-led teaching and unconventional classroom settings can boost satisfaction and outcomes

In today’s brave new world of university learning, students aren’t allowed to be shy, says Bruce Macfarlane

Dale Salwak on how he creates a space where students can focus, safe from life’s distractions

Chris Longman argues for universities to hold mandatory pre-course exams