This study examined how academic staff responded to a cross-institutional change initiative to integrate immersive scheduling into the first-year undergraduate curriculum. Immersive scheduling, also referred to as block or compressed delivery, sought to create a supportive first-year experience, to ease students' transition to university. Adopting…

The recent increase in the number of higher education institutions adopting block teaching has prompted questions about the appropriateness of assessment methods that were commonly used in a semesterised delivery model. This paper explores student and faculty perceptions of summative assessment methods in a block and blend mode of delivery at a…

Within the UK, sandwich courses, i.e. degree programmes that include a year spent on a work placement, usually during the third year of a four-year course, are increasingly offered by higher education institutions to maximise the proportion of their graduates moving into employment and, particularly, jobs that are deemed 'graduate-level'. Indeed,…

This paper is framed by Nick Zepke's, Vicki Trowler's, and Paul Trowler's concept of student engagement being "chaotic", suffering from "indigestion" and "fuzziness". This study was conducted at a UK higher education institution that recently moved to a "block and blend" delivery approach. We investigated…

The transition to online teaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic led many universities to think strategically about the delivery of learning, teaching and assessment and the subsequent implications for student engagement and attainment. This piece of research builds upon literature around 'immersive scheduling', referred to as 'block…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected education at all levels in various ways. This paper provides a review of the literature on the challenges of online learning for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Method: In total, 17 studies from nine countries were analysed. The challenges of online learning for…

This article engages with the persistent theme of flexibility in online distance education. It argues that, while a discourse of flexibility promises opportunities for access to online education, it also has the potential to devalue it by paying too little attention to education's time-consuming practices, often perpetuating a notion of teaching…

The transition to motherhood can be challenging. The baby book market has taken advantage of this, publishing a range of books that suggest adopting strict routines for infant sleep, feeding, and general care. Despite their multi-million sales, their impact has not been established. The aim of this study was to explore the maternal experience of…

Background: The popularised notion of models-based practice (MBP) is one that focuses on the delivery of a model, e.g. Cooperative Learning, Sport Education, Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility, Teaching Games for Understanding. Indeed, while an abundance of research studies have examined the delivery of a single model and some have…

The traditional three-year, full-time, on-campus path to a first degree remains one of the main routes to higher education. It accounts for 58% of all students at UK universities, and has successfully increased young participation to record levels. However, for those who work while studying or have caring responsibilities, more flexible approaches…

Students on a first year undergraduate economics module were given the choice of when to sit their first assessment in the subject in order to determine both preferences over assessment timing, and the impact of timing on performance. Clear preferences of having this option were shown (only 2% of students stated to be indifferent) with those more…

This research set out to investigate the part-time student experience of higher education across the United Kingdom, in the context of a well-publicised contraction in the sector, and increasing divergence between policies affecting part-time study in the four nations. In order to explore the part-time student experience in England, Scotland, and…

Peer Assisted learning (PAL) in-class is well-established and flourishing in higher education across the globe; nevertheless, interest is growing in online versions and is reflected by a number of pilot schemes. These programs have responded to perceived and actual needs of students and institutions; they have explored the available software…

Many factors and pressures affect decisions made in UK university libraries on opening hours especially 24/7. This article reports on a project to examine the decision-making process, influential factors, and stakeholders. A workshop for senior library managers in the East Midlands was held to gather data and share experiences. From analysis of…

Mathematics education is rarely out of the policy spotlight in England. Over the last 10 years, considerable attention has been given to improving 14-19 mathematics curriculum pathways. In this paper we consider some of the challenges of enacting curriculum change by drawing upon evidence from our evaluation of the Mathematics Pathways Project…