Although author and teacher Penny Kittle has shifted from working with high school students to college freshman, she notes in this piece that they are not that different. They still show up the first day of class as "nonbelievers" needing to be "nudged" toward the love for books that she forges through her sensitive context…

Open-ended responses to surveys can be highly beneficial to higher education institutions, providing clarity and context that quantitative data can sometimes lack. However, analyzing open-ended responses typically takes time and manpower most institutional assessment offices do not have to spare. This study focused on finding a potential solution…

The many challenges faced by instructors in distance education have been extensively documented in current literature. Nevertheless, the relative importance of such challenges has not been researched to the same extent. As instructors and institutions face limitations in terms of time and budget, the ability to effectively prioritise challenges…

Assessment practice in higher education has undergone significant changes in recent years, with COVID-19 forcing universities to adopt a digital-first approach during the temporary disruption and prompting wider reflection on the merits of traditional closed-book examinations as opposed to more modern formats. End-of-course assessments are,…

More than half of states have implemented tuition-free college policies aimed at reducing attendance costs and incentivizing enrollment. We review the academic literature on the design features and impacts of these tuition-free policies, and we analyze an initiative Virginia implemented in 2021 called Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3), which…

Teacher feedback literacy (TFL) is an important aspect of teacher professional development and can exert a huge impact upon student learning. However, it has not received sufficient attention from higher education researchers or feedback researchers. This study reports a novice Chinese university EFL teacher's efforts to develop her feedback…

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate student subgroups' responses to the coercive digitalisation of teaching and learning processes during the pandemic. Respective variance is discussed in terms of digital inequality and is interpreted as a need to individualise teaching and learning and quality assurance practices. Design/methodology/approach:…

As HE professional educators in Social Sciences, we teach a curriculum which foregrounds inequalities. This includes inequalities related to diverse social groups and differences of race, class, gender, disability and sexuality, underpinned by global approaches. Learners are asked to reconsider the social world through a critical lens with perhaps…

Trigger warnings have become a hotly contested practice in higher education, including within the field of social work. Learning to become a social worker can be a demanding process that requires in-depth study about often socially taboo and traumatic topics. The learning process can, understandably, cause discomfort that may result in a…

Despite many articles written about assessment in higher education, surprisingly few have examined students' emotional responses to assessment and their perceptions of this impact on their learning experiences and well-being. This article reports on a study using in-depth interviews with 40 undergraduate students who were frequently graded. A…

This study examines street performing arts students' responses to using improvisation for teamwork during a first year, non-placement, work-integrated learning (WIL) experience. The aim of the study was to investigate: (1) students' perceptions of improvisation and (2) ways in which to design teamwork assessments that utilise improvisation. Data…

This study investigated a 3-year implementation of accredited massive online open courses (MOOCs) in a conventional university in China. Fifteen students and two staff were interviewed, and relevant policy documents were examined. Thematic analysis was utilised to analyse the data. The study found that students mostly took a wary stance towards…

This article discusses the virtues of using podcasts in the classroom by focusing on the pedagogical merits of one podcast: StartUp. The StartUp podcast provides a compelling first-person account of the entrepreneurial journey, as told by an award-winning radio journalist. Episodes from the podcast can be used to engage students and improve their…

This article presents partial findings from a case study exploring the outcome of an open alternative electronic textbook initiative launched by the College of Education at a large Midwestern university. On the basis of interview data generated by the aforesaid study, this article details the perceptions and experiences of instructors…

As professors, we each have our own approach to grading which allows us to assess learning and provide useful feedback to our students, yet is not too onerous. This article explains one approach we have used that differs from standard grading scales we often hear about from our colleagues. Rather than being based on 100 points or 100% over the…