The use of recorded lecture videos (RLVs) in mathematics instruction continues to advance. Prior research at the post-secondary level has indicated a tendency for RLV use in mathematics to be negatively correlated with academic performance, although it is unclear whether this is because regular users are generally weaker mathematics students…

There are arguably many factors that affect the way a student learns. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) on student academic experience in the UK states that class size is an important factor in the quality of the student experience and that smaller class sizes provide greater…

Higher education students experience heightened levels of stress and anxiety, and report experiencing negative thoughts and emotions, which influence information retention and recall. In a randomized experiment, we assigned participants to either a mindfulness meditation or an audiobook listening condition, and recorded the information recalled…

Over the last decade, many universities attempted to improve their public image by changing their corporate visual identity (CVI) and/or name. Despite the prevalence of such practices, little research has been conducted into their effectiveness. The research reported here focused upon one facet of the higher education branding debate, that of the…

This paper focuses on identifying the approaches students take to their learning, with particular regard to issues of enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation when comparing the traditional lecture format to a more applied, practice-based case study format. The notions of deep and surface learning are used to explain student learning. More…

Computer-aided assessment (CAA) has been used at a university with one of the largest mathematics and engineering undergraduate cohorts in the UK for more than ten years. Lecturers teaching mathematics to first year students were asked about their current use of CAA in a questionnaire and in interviews. This article presents the issues that these…

Student evaluation questionnaires are used to measure academics' performance in most English universities. Academics are assumed to respond professionally to student feedback, making appropriate improvements to their teaching. This paper describes a small-scale study into lecturers' responses to student feedback. The evidence from semi-structured…

Technology is increasingly used to aid the teaching of statistics. Personal Response Systems (PRS) involve equipping students with a handset allowing them to send responses to questions put to them by a lecturer. PRS allows lectures to be more interactive and can help reinforce material. It can also allow the lecturer to monitor students'…

Student boredom within the school system has been widely studied and shown to be linked to various negative consequences such as diminished academic achievement, school dissatisfaction and truancy. However, little attention has been given to the issue of boredom within higher education and the current study aims to redress this balance. Two…

This paper reports on a collaborative project to improve assessment undertaken by a cross-discipline group of university lecturers (Business, Engineering and Psychology) using action research methodology. First-stage analysis was based on results from an Assessment Experience Questionnaire developed by the FAST FDTL4 (Formative Assessment in…

Discussion of computer-based learning (CBL) in universities focuses on a study in the United Kingdom that measured the effectiveness of replacing lectures with CBL materials. Describes the results of questionnaires used to assess students' perceptions of the usefulness and effectiveness of the CBL materials compared to lectures. (Author/LRW)

Podcasting has become a popular medium for accessing and assimilating information and podcasts are increasingly being used to deliver audio recordings of lectures to campus-based students. This paper describes a simple, cost-effective and file size-efficient method for producing video podcasts combining lecture slides and audio without a…

Three articles review methods of improving teacher effectiveness in the United Kingdom. An evaluation of the effectiveness of video feedback to improve lecturer performance is described; institutional initiatives to encourage new approaches to teaching and learning are discussed; and case studies of three centers for staff training are given. (LRW)