This opinion piece argues that Design Thinking (DT) can facilitate a more empathetic and student-centred approach to service development and problem-solving in Learning Development (LD). While DT is already established within higher education, we argue it is still underutilised, especially in the context of LD. We start by unpacking the…

What is dissent? And how should educators teach students the skills and dispositions of this democratic virtue? By engaging with the 2011 article by Sarah M. Stitzlein on 'Democratic education in an era of town hall protests', this retrospective article discusses Stitzlein's definition of dissent, her curricular approach to teaching dissent, and…

Design thinking is becoming more commonly used as a collaborative, problem-solving approach in higher education outside design disciplines. With the pivot to remote and online learning in response to Covid-19 and lockdown measures, many educators have had to rethink their practice and collaboration in design thinking, without the usual recourse to…

Restorative justice (RJ) is a philosophy and set of practices that center harms and needs. Within a classroom setting, an RJ pedagogical approach invites a process of shared learning that attends to critical issues of equity, power, and voice. Utilizing an autoethnographic approach, this manuscript includes critical reflections from three faculty…

This commentary discusses the issue of small samples in instructed second language acquisition research. We discuss the current state of affairs, and consider the disadvantages of small samples. We also explore other considerations regarding sample size, such as research ethics and ecological validity. We present a range of recommendations for…

This essay draws from a study conducted as part of graduate thesis work at George Mason University. The thesis examined the purpose of human rights education and critical media literacy, and the international inducements to include these subjects in the national education systems of United Nations (UN) member states. It compared the United States…

Chew and Cerbin (2021) outline nine cognitive challenges to student learning with which economic educators are likely familiar, even if the language used to describe them differs. In this article, the authors refrain from summarizing Chew and Cerbin's framework and instead focus on providing context for how those conducting research and developing…

This reflection provides an introduction to, and reflection on, the new text "Rethinking Problem-based Learning for the Digital Age" (Savin-Baden and Fraser, 2024). It begins by telling the story and rationale for the creation of the book and then provides an overview of the text of the whole. The next section discusses the purpose of…

In this interview, arts educator Kristen Witczak discusses her experience of teaching drama with children, adolescents, and adults in various educational settings. She shares her early motivation for becoming an arts educator and the moments in her career that nourished her passion for her work. She also outlines some of the institutional and…

This paper presents a personal account of developments in research on online learning over the past 30 years. Research on how to design online instruction represents an example of applying the science of learning to education. It contributes to the science of learning (as exemplified by developments in cognitive load theory, the cognitive theory…

Green and sustainable chemistry (GSC) will become ever more central to the study of chemistry. This is demonstrated by commitments from the American Chemical Society, particularly the Committee on Professional Training and the Green Chemistry Institute, and the United Nations (UN Sustainable Development Goals), which underscore the urgent need for…

In this invited commentary, I reflect on the philosophical changes to my pedagogical approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by Mehta and Aguilera's (2020) "humanizing pedagogy approach," the commentary provides four elements to capitalize on when designing courses aspiring to inspire a brighter future in advertising.

Ofsted's (2021) Curriculum research review for languages (OCRR) draws conclusion on what 'high-quality language education' may look like. This opinion piece problematises the status of these conclusions as 'features' or recommendations. Before delving into a selection of identified 'features' in more depth, the author highlights the complexity of…

This commentary on the special issue, entitled "Models and Tools for Systems Learning and Instruction," highlights the accomplishments of the papers in this collection. It also points to some avenues for further strengthening research on promoting systems understanding. Collectively, the papers make advances in our understanding of how…

In this article, we provide a commentary on the current state of gamification in higher education by reviewing the research literature, noting a lack of research focused on the design of gamified postsecondary courses. To address this issue, we discuss four potential pitfalls instructors may encounter when designing gamified learning activities.…