The notion of critical thinking and its theoretical complexity are used as a case for an epistemological critique of the model of intended learning outcomes. The conclusion is that three problems of learning outcomes, previously discussed in the literature, become even more challenging when seen in the light of critical thinking. The first problem…

The concept of recipience is emerging within the literature as a useful idea to inform our understanding of student engagement with feedback. In this paper, the applicability of the concept of recipience is broadened from its origins in the literature on student feedback to consider its role in developing student knowledge structures that are more…

In this paper, collaborative autoethnography is used to explore the authors' involvement as participants in and facilitator of an academic development programme that took place in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Recognising the significant differences in cultural origin between the Iraqi participants and its British facilitator, the authors share…

One of the challenges of research into social practice is finding a way to take both the structural aspects of the social contexts and individual agency into account. This article describes the use of Bourdieu's social practice theory, together with Lave and Wenger's situated learning theory, to understand how the learning of practice takes place…

In higher education, there is an increasing interest in student interaction in the form of peer learning. In the literature, peer learning is mainly presented as a pedagogical tool used to promote curriculum learning. This article is based on observations of peer learning that expand beyond learning of the curriculum. It particularly addresses the…

It has been claimed that one of the overriding purposes of the scholarship of teaching movement is to make more visible what teachers do to make learning happen. The authors of this article are critical of the literature on the scholarship of teaching for not having made more progress towards this aim. They support these assertions through…

Studies of students' educational outcomes tend to be based on rather simple input-output models. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that more informed theoretical perspectives are appropriate to analyses of quantitative data on professional learning processes. It is suggested that "connection to knowledge" and "wanting structure" are…

Analyzes what "reading to learn," a process central to higher education, means in terms of conceptual and strategic knowledge, and explores what interventions could help college students learn more from text. Views "reading to learn" as necessitating a deep approach, and suggests that students should be able and required to…

This revised view considers different approaches to both practice and theory and sees the two elements as interactive and mutually enriching. (MSE)

It is proposed that a relational perspective on college teaching and learning provides more insight than paradigms that reduce the complex relations between students, subject content, and teaching to characteristics of instruction and students. The relational perspective links the improvement of the professional practice of teaching to research on…

A developmental process consisting of four phases that emerged from graduate students' reports of their experiences in a course promoting self-direction is outlined and compared with research on similar processes in other groups. (MSE)

This article presents an analysis of the way in which a group of students at one UK university mobilised their interest in and commitment to pro/feminist values and ideals through the establishment of a student society geared towards combating anti-sexism. Placing the students at the centre of the discussion, the article describes the various…

This article explores how to enrich scaffolding processes among university students using specific Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) software. A longitudinal case study was designed, in which 18 students participated in a 12-month learning project. During this period the students followed an instructional process, using the CSCL…

Four theories of teaching are presented based on faculty definitions of teaching: knowledge transfer; shaping students to a predetermined mold; exploratory; and developmental. These theories are related to student attitudes about learning and are offered as a means of resolving misunderstandings among teachers and between teachers and students.…

Transferability of skills in learning is discussed, focusing on the notions of cross-disciplinary, generic, core, and transferable skills and their role in the college curriculum. Cross-disciplinary or cross-curricular skills are examined in terms of their relationship to cognitive domains, and transferable skills in relation to social domains.…