Several scholars argue for a closer association between research and teaching in higher education, but it is unclear how research-based teaching can be actualized. Action research (AR) offers designs that position students as actors of the research processes, for example by doing research themselves or co-researching. Therefore, AR and…

Creating a socially just pedagogy from a grassroots level could help address issues of educational injustice. This paper focuses on the creation of the student voice for social justice (SVSJ) pedagogical method that is based on Nancy Fraser's political social justice framework. The resulting approach, developed through participatory action…

Across higher education, increasing regulation and a focus on student satisfaction and experience have stimulated a proliferation of student engagement activities aimed at driving positive change. Nevertheless, we are not seeing the transformative changes we seek. We position this as a dual problem of focus and organisational learning. In…

Social justice in education can be understood as empowering students to participate meaningfully in their education on par with peers. Participation amongst students in higher education classrooms is becoming a concern because of increased globalisation and local student diversity. In this work, Nancy Fraser's three-dimensional framework of social…

In design, aspirations of 'development' and 'innovation' are now scrutinised to redress persistent market-led practice. Socially and environmentally responsive pedagogies can shift students' mindsets to consider the impacts of design practices on the planet's complex systems and societies. At the Queensland University of Technology, Australia,…

This paper comprises findings from three parallel case studies within the broad framework of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). These provide results from classroom-based action research conducted over two years working with Semantics, Specialisation and axiological cosmologies from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT). Each author shares how one or…

With the massification of higher education in a knowledge-driven economy, Western universities have struggled to keep pace with the cultural, linguistic, educational and economic diversity of university students and the complex realities of their lifeworlds. This has generated systemic inequities for diverse or "non-traditional"…

We argue that there is a reciprocal relationship between all scholarly activities, most importantly between teaching, learning, research and professional learning. The article builds on the work of others who call for a social justice approach to inform the SoTL. It focuses on the implications for professional learning, as an aspect of the SoTL…

The association of research and teaching, and the roles and responsibilities of students and academic staff and the nature of their interrelationship are important issues in higher education. This article presents six undergraduate student researchers' reports of their learning from collaborating with academic staff to design, undertake and…

Sustainability education is a growing field within higher education that fosters personal and intellectual engagement with the interconnected tensions of pressing social, ecological, economic, and political issues. Sustainability education aims to prepare learners to become creative problem solvers and active citizens who understand the…

Although we were required to lecture to large groups of over 170 students, the traditional lecture clashed with our commitment to teach in a way that was student-centred, relational and socially and politically transformative. In this context, and using an action research approach, we sought to turn our large-group lectures into a space that both…

This discussion paper focuses on the problem of how to approach teaching abstract concepts to business and management students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Students are faced with the problem of how to identify and assess the rigour of what they read, how to generalise from the results of their research and how to judge the extent…

Improving retention and identifying "at risk" learners are high profile issues in higher education, and a proposed solution is to provide good learner support. Blending of online learning with classroom sessions offers the potential to use a virtual learning environment to deliver learning activities, and to support learners using a…

This self-study was designed to explore problem-based learning (PBL) as an instructional approach in the context of a pre-service science education methods course. Through the development and implementation of PBL curriculum, the author's goals were to improve her classroom practice and her understanding of that practice, to contribute to the…

Describes a collaborative action research project at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) which utilized class debates in an international management class to develop students' ability to assess their own and each other's learning. Evaluation suggests the debates enabled students to develop a critical view of the topics and acquire…