Research distilled

A holographic image of urban development emerging from the tablet

How can students learn to be innovative?

Teaching students innovative thinking through the use of business case studies and ‘learning by doing’, explained by William Cheung and Edward Yiu

William Cheung , Edward Yiu

The University of Auckland

Which specific Covid disruptions impacted motivation and engagement?

Lockdowns, isolation, remote learning and more have impacted various aspects of students’ lives. Knowing what and how puts educators in a better position to offer support

Andrew J. Martin

UNSW Sydney

Sensitive marking and the end of the line for the academic essay

Rather than flagging essays by students with specific learning difficulties for “sensitive” marking, why are universities not rethinking the way they assess to make it more equitable for all students?

Andrew Read, Donna Hurford

University of Southern Denmark, Independent consultant

The flipped classroom: an evidence-based approach

The flipped classroom is most effective when it places active learning at its core, research suggests. A new model for flipped learning, developed by Manu Kapur and colleagues, aims to do just that

Manu Kapur

ETH Zurich

Saying people’s names right: what policymakers can do

How can leaders and policymakers in higher education help staff and students to respect people’s name-based identities? Jane Pilcher and Hannah Deakin-Smith identify steps to take

Jane Pilcher, Hannah Deakin-Smith

Nottingham Trent University

Four people expressing different emotions through large smileys

Negative thinking has a role to play in helping students plan their careers

Three recommendations that balance the power of negative and positive thinking to guide career planning for students

Anna Branford , Harriette Richards , Carolina Quintero Rodriguez

RMIT University

Road towards Aoraki mountain on South Island, New Zealand

Can we really decolonise the university?

To explore what is possible, non-Indigenous scholars Mahdis Azarmandi and Sara Tolbert offer an anticolonial feminist praxis for unsettling settler institutions

Mahdis Azarmandi , Sara Tolbert

Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury

A diverse team of colleagues in an online meeting

Prioritising equity in higher education: the impact of individual identities

Recommendations for improving equity in higher education, informed by research into the impact of individual identities upon staff experiences of the pandemic

Sam Illingworth, Jamie Zike

Edinburgh Napier University

A university tutor talking to a male student

Five characteristics of effective supervisor training

What constitutes effective training to ensure research supervisors are well equipped to work with doctoral students? Sioux McKenna and Puleng Motshoane share advice based on their research in South Africa

Sioux McKenna, Puleng Motshoane

Rhodes University, University of Johannesburg

American football team starting a new play

Making male athletes key players in preventing sexual assault on campus

Young sportsmen have the influence to shift campus attitudes away from rape culture and misinformation towards accountability and support for survivors. A US-wide programme aims to empower them to do so

Tracey Vitchers

It’s On Us

The image of a community walking group relates to community-based research

The secret to ‘levelling up’ is in cross-sector, community-based research

New research shows the achievements of non-academic partnerships and gives insights into what funding and delivery models can help them flourish

Katy Shaw

Northumbria University

Woman's hands holding a fan colour palette

A simple way to improve navigation in online learning

Five simple steps to use colour to design an engaging menu and navigation system that enhances digital learning environments and platforms

Joskaudė Pakalkaitė

The University of Exeter

Young researchers work together on a green city project

Building blocks of university-industry partnerships for positive change

How universities can develop strategic cross-sector partnerships and trans-disciplinary research in order to boost progress towards the SDGs

Tim Bodley-Scott, Ersel Oymak

UCL

Why it is time to start co-creating professional development with employees

Steps to working with employees to shape and improve professional development programmes

Heather Emerson-Young

Northeastern University

Defining impact: a shift in thinking, acting and being

What is impact? And, more importantly, how do universities foster and measure it? Here is a plan to raise impact awareness, literacy and readiness

Igor Campillo, Glória Nunes, Iñigo Puertas

Enlight European University, Euskampus Fundazioa

Australian aboriginal hands against red dirt road illustrating exchange of Indigenous wisdom

Steps to decolonise higher education: after yourself, change the curriculum

Opening the curriculum to First Nations’ histories and knowledge is a key part of decolonisation, as lisahunter and Karen Lambert explain in this second part of their series

lisahunter, Karen Lambert

Monash University

Hands at laptop surrounded by cloud of tech-related icons

Six ingredients for successful digital transformation

For forward-thinking universities, technology is not an afterthought but a core part of their activities. Here, Nick Skelton distils insight from UK higher education leaders into six components of successful digital integration

Nick Skelton

Jisc

Black student points at a computer screen

Touch is a simple and effective way to manage learners’ cognitive load

Studies from educational psychologist Paul Ginns show that students who point and trace learning material results have greater comprehension and retention

Paul Ginns

University of Sydney

Questions beyond majors: developing mental maturity in students

When undergraduates build their own course plan, reading list and thesis project, the benefits extend beyond the individual student’s mindset to teaching faculty, write Ryan Derby-Talbot and Marjorie Wonham

Ryan Derby-Talbot, Marjorie Wonham

Deep Springs College, Quest University

Image depicting different elements of and outcomes from learning

Show off students’ employability with e-portfolios

Why and how to make e-portfolios a central part of university courses, helping students identify and exhibit skills that will appeal to employers, by Lourdes Guàrdia and Marcelo Maina

Lourdes Guàrdia, Marcelo Maina

Open University of Catalonia (UOC)

Adaptability is different from resilience – and here’s how to nurture it

Identifying what adaptability is and how to boost it can help students make appropriate adjustments to optimise their academic and personal well-being

Andrew J. Martin, Paul Ginns, Rebecca J. Collie

UNSW Sydney, University of Sydney

Arts-based methods to foster participatory and interactive learning

Arts-based methods in university teaching centre individual human values and relationships as key contributors in learning. Anne Pässilä and Allan Owens offer advice on how this can be achieved

Anne Pässilä, Allan Owens

Lappeenranta–Lahti University of Technology LUT, University of Chester

Image showing someone trapped in a glass jar, trying to be heard

Breaking language barriers: supporting non-native English-speaking students

Steps that tutors can take to better support students who are non-native speakers of English and ensure they feel included and able to play an active role in their university community

Jiajun Liu, Qian Wang , Shuai Wang

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Teach and talk: encouraging student dialogue in class

Dialogic validation is about making students aware of the value their ideas bring to the classroom. Roehl Sybing discusses three simple principles that teachers can adopt to get students talking

Roehl Sybing

Doshisha University

The power of gender-sensitive mentoring

Mentoring is a powerful tool to enhance job satisfaction and work-life balance. This guide aims to help mentors adopt a gender-sensitive approach to support women and people who identify as women in teaching-focused roles

Marion Coderch

Durham University

Learned words: using poetry to reflect on practices in higher education

Poetry writing can aid reflection on your teaching and learning or research practices, offering a fresh way of organising thoughts, as Sam Illingworth explains

Sam Illingworth

Edinburgh Napier University

When refuge isn’t safe: uncovering real-life stories to shape policy

Human stories that feed into research can be a powerful tool for driving policy change but need careful and sensitive handling, as Lizzie Kirsch explains

Lizzie Kirsch

University of Birmingham, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)

Augmented reality in teaching: key challenges and how to overcome them

Will Shüler identifies three challenges of integrating augmented reality into the classroom and shares advice on how university tutors might navigate them

Will Shüler

Royal Holloway, University of London

Female student reading a book in the university library

If you want students to read more, consider asking them to read less

Students can feel overwhelmed when faced with lengthy academic reading lists so how can educators help them develop their reading skills? Will Mason and Meesha Warmington share five actions to support students in tackling, even enjoying, their course literature

Will Mason , Meesha A Warmington

University of Sheffield

Student diaries as a tool to improve the university experience

Do you really know what your students experience during their studies? It is more complex than many surveys suggest. Using student diaries may support deeper understanding to improve student experiences, as Dan Herbert explains

Dan Herbert

University of Birmingham

How campus layout influences social ties and research exchange

Shorter distances between departments and offices can boost communication and exchange. But proximity is not the only way that campus design influences interactions among the university community

Andres Sevtsuk

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Meaning making: how universities can boost the uptake of edtech among faculty

The key to promoting the uptake of new edtech tools and teaching innovation among faculty, based on research

Na Li, Xiaojun Zhang, Maria Limniou

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Woman holding up her hands against someone or something

What does ‘taking sexual violence seriously’ look like at universities?

Rates of sexual violence in universities are the highest in society, ONS data show. So what actions must universities take if they are serious about tackling this pernicious problem?

Graham Towl

Durham University

Woman walking past a field of yellow flowers

Walk the walk to benefit your academic research

Walking can be used to benefit academic research, help with problem-solving and promote creative thinking. Here, Anna Lois McKay explains the different ways it works

Anna Lois McKay

University of Leicester

A group of diverse and happy looking students

A checklist for making disability inclusion a reality in higher education

Actions that universities must take to promote equal access and opportunity for disabled students in higher education, based on a research-backed framework developed by Carol Evans and Xiaotong Zhu

Carol Evans, Xiaotong Zhu

Cardiff University, University of Southampton, University of Lincoln

What can human behaviour analytics tell us about student learning?

Human behaviour analytics could be the answer to enhanced student engagement and better learning experiences in computer-aided learning environments

Fang Chen, Kun Yu

University of Technology Sydney

Image showing unequal support being offered on the pathway to success

How to address bias in the classroom and in assessment in five steps

Biases can affect personal interactions, course design, learning activities, assessment and institutional practices, thus it is vital that educators work to remove bias from their teaching. Donna Hurford and Andrew Read share helpful approaches

Donna Hurford, Andrew Read

University of Southern Denmark

What’s next for AI in higher education?

From assessment to ethics and job security, a new Jisc report highlights AI’s challenges and successes and provides insight into upcoming developments

Michael Webb

Jisc

Address STEM inequality by reconceiving merit

The cultural yardsticks used to measure merit in STEM are warped with bias and often devalue women, people of colour and LGBTQ+ scientists with records equal to white heterosexual male peers. To fix STEM inequality, academia must reconceive merit

Mary Blair-Loy , Erin A. Cech

University of California San Diego , University of Michigan

Image showing collaboration between doctoral students and supervisors

Co-creation: how to find the ‘super’ in supervision

Co-creation can bring together research supervisors and doctoral students to unpick the tensions and challenges in the supervisory relationship and seek solutions, researchers from the University of Warwick explain

Elena Riva, Louise Gracia, Rebecca Limb

The University of Warwick

Don’t be cruel: how to write a fair peer review report

Not every comment in a peer review report will be positive, but it is possible to highlight weaknesses and errors in a journal article while being constructive. After all, behind every manuscript are authors who have ploughed time and effort into the submission

Sin Wang Chong, Shannon Mason

The University of Edinburgh, Nagasaki University

Image showing people engaging through social media communications

Why universities in emerging countries should invest in social media marketing

Why should higher education institutions in emerging countries invest in social media rather than flashy marketing campaigns to develop brand credibility and brand equity? Charitha Harshani Perera, Rajkishore Nayak, and Long Thang Van Nguyen explain

Charitha Harshani Perera, Rajkishore Nayak, Long Thang Van Nguyen

Northumbria University, RMIT University Vietnam

The evolving meaning of ‘corresponding authorship’ in research

How the role of the corresponding author is changing in terms of research team dynamics and the perception of its meaning, and the implications for assuming the role

Rachel Herbert, Alison McIntosh

Elsevier, University of St Andrews

Young woman pushing an older woman along in a wheelchair

An invisible minority: what is needed to support students with caring responsibilities

Students with caring responsibilities in the UK have no joined-up support. Jessica Iyamu and Ellie Brown make a call for policies to provide consistent help across all universities for this overlooked group

Jessica Iyamu, Ellie Brown

University Campus North Lincolnshire (UCNL)

Woman at a laptop holding temples with stress

Women in academia are doing too much non-promotable work – and that has to stop

The No Club shares advice for women about how to spend their time at work, how to change the environment to stop saddling women with unrewarded work, and prioritise the tasks that get noticed

Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, Laurie Weingart

Carnegie Mellon University , University of Pittsburgh

How to maximise student satisfaction with the flipped classroom

What are the pedagogical, technical and social aspects that lecturers should consider to give students the best possible experience of the flipped classroom?

Erkko Sointu

University of Eastern Finland

Illustration of people with an oversized stopwatch

Block mode of teaching in higher education: advantages and challenges

Block scheduling may be intense but can also foster student engagement and reduce stress. It needs careful implementation to realise its full benefits

Amir Ghapanchi

Victoria University

Image showing an inclusive diverse and happy group of students

It is about ‘people knowing who I am’: reflections on how to guide inclusion work in universities

Advice on using a framework called ‘the Inclusion Compass’ to guide inclusion work within universities, based on a pan-European research project carried out to explore how this could work across higher education

George Koutsouris, Lauren Stentiford , Tricia Nash

The University of Exeter

Image to depict how sensory and motor systems aid learning

Improving learning through physical action and sensory perception

Drawing on movement and sensory perception as part of learning can enhance outcomes, research shows. Sheila L. Macrine and Jennifer M. B. Fugate explain how to put this into practice

Sheila L Macrine, Jennifer MB Fugate

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Kansas City University

Five tips to enhance your institution’s civic engagement by working with public libraries

Advice to help universities work in partnership with public libraries to reach wider audiences and enhance their civic engagement

Marge Ainsley, Rachel Heydecker

Carnegie UK

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