Deciding what degree to study and where are very important decisions to make for a range of practical and economic reasons, and much research has been undertaken in this area. What has not been considered previously is the decision-making processes of students who have completed an associate degree, such as a Higher National Diploma or Foundation…

The context of this article was that, after researching issues of classroom management for a number of years, I was asked by managers at different institutions to speak to their staff about strategies for helping to counteract the problems tutors faced in many classes on a day-to-day basis. The question that emerged was how might managers in the…

Academic boredom usually contributes adversely towards student engagement and performance across a diverse range of settings including universities. The formal study of academic boredom in higher education remains, however, a relatively underdeveloped field and one surprisingly neglected in the UK. Rooted in Control-Value Theory, details of a…

Recently identified as an academic "achievement emotion", boredom has long been implicated as a factor contributing adversely to student attainment across a diverse range of formal educational settings. Despite this, the study of boredom, particularly among students in higher education, remains a relatively neglected and underdeveloped…

This article reports an investigation of trainee teachers' experience of reflection whilst undertaking a teaching qualification for the post-compulsory sector. The study used a sequential, mixed-methods design, employing a structured questionnaire and a semi-structured interview; 127 individuals completed the questionnaire about their experience…

This case study describes the development process of a model using readily-available technology to facilitate collaboration, moderation and the dissemination of best practice in initial teacher training in the UK. Students, mentors, tutors and external examiners from a number of educational institutions in a UK, higher education-led Lifelong…

The sixth-form college sector is often marginalised in policy and academic discourse, where the much larger school and further education sectors dominate. This paper sets out to describe the sector's key features, assess its position within the wider education system and consider its future in an increasingly competitive education market. The…

In little over a decade, the observation of teaching and learning (OTL) has become the cornerstone of Further Education (FE) colleges' quality systems for assuring and improving the professional skills and knowledge base of tutors. Yet OTL remains an under-researched area of inquiry with little known about the impact of its use on the professional…

There is evidence that ethnic minority learners in further education in England either under-achieve or are under-represented because they face various inhibitors connected to their ethnicity. Motivators may be in place, however, which increase attainment specifically for some ethnic groups. This exploratory study intends to examine what works and…