Best practice pedagogy for online, blended and in-person university teaching. Educators from universities around the world share their advice, insight and experience on effective instructional design, teaching styles, assessment, boosting student engagement, classroom management and ensuring students achieve those all-important learning outcomes.&nbsp;

Teaching and learning

Empathy, the ability to understand other people’s feelings, can be learned and developed. A good teacher demonstrates this quality and, in doing so, inspires, motivates and connects with their students. Having experienced education from both sides, I know just how crucial compassion is to learning. Empathy and connection, timely communication and constructive feedback make a more enjoyable and rewarding learning experience for all. Here are some of the strategies I use.Make a good first impressionIn my first lecture for any given course, I don’t teach any new content. Instead, I take the time to introduce myself to the students and get to know them. I provide a weekly schedule outlining what we’ll do in the course so they know what to expect. I also provide them with an outline of how I expect their assignments to be presented and the rubrics that will guide my marking. I remind them of study skill methods along with on-campus support and resources they might find useful. A student once noted that in doing this, I was “mapping a direct path to an A+”. This upfront investment pays off. Other students use descriptors such as “enjoyable”, “exciting”, “interactive”, “understanding”, “helpful”, “patient” and “approachable” in their feedback. Students appreciate the clarity, patience and understanding that this demonstrates.Simplify thingsMaking straightforward adjustments can reduce students’ cognitive load, improving their performance.Examples of modifications include:•&nbsp;Keeping the layout of your course page on the learning management system (LMS) consistent (eg, colours, fonts, appropriate labels etc) &nbsp;•&nbsp;Signposting students to various additional learning policies specific to your course (eg, a course expectations and participation policy)•&nbsp;Creating weekly introduction and to-do list sections on your course page•&nbsp;Sharing course materials in alternative formats and using multimedia content (eg, videos and podcasts) to cater to students’ learning styles and to improve accessibility.Encourage engagementHave students prepare in advance so they are primed for your lecture or other learning activity. If this is not possible, allow some reading and question time beforehand. Also, think about how you can use the resources available to you to break down complex concepts in your subject into digestible content. For example, some platforms have gamified or reference learning resources you can use, such as crosswords or flashcards, to help students recall information from previous courses and link it to current course content.Another tip is to encourage peer-to-peer learning by running informal course-related discussions before they leave the lecture theatre. One way to do this is by using the think-pair/group-share activity in the final five minutes of the lecture. This prompts reflection and collaboration as they share key takeaways, challenges and further learning opportunities.Prioritise the student experienceI see it as my duty to provide a high-quality student experience. This, in turn, influences my attitude toward students. Being receptive to students’ comments and feedback about the course or your teaching is paramount. Where it’s within your power to improve the course experience, even in a small way, do not hesitate. Remember, you were once in their position!Acknowledge, listen and respond kindly and appropriately to students’ concerns, aspirations and career goals. Try to be understanding with students and the challenges they face while completing their studies. I strive to be supportive and responsive to student needs where possible, whether that is through answering their general, course and programme-specific questions or granting an assignment extension. I usually set a timeline to reply to students’ email queries within 48 hours and try to grade assignments within a week to 10 days after submission.I have also made use of the course engagement analytics on the LMS to identify and assist students who are struggling or who have fallen behind. This has enabled me to reach out compassionately and offer them personalised support, leading to increased retention and graduation rates.As a lecturer, you are presented with an opportunity to have an impact on all kinds of people. Whether you realise it or not, your interactions leave a lasting impression. Consistent use and practice of the above strategies will improve your teaching and students’ learning, as well as help to raise the reputation of your institution.Natalie K.D. Seedan is a sports sciences laboratory technician and part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Show students you care

When you prioritise well-being, your students will thank you for it. Show kindness by taking steps to reduce cognitive load and create a welcoming and engaging learning environment

The ability to give constructive feedback, self-evaluate and present information are all vital managerial skills. But how do we hone these in our students? Non-traditional assessments, when designed well, can offer a solution. Here, we share lessons learned while assessing students in our management degree apprenticeship modules.Personal development discussionsOn a Level 6 management module, we asked students to complete two 20-minute personal development discussions – one at the beginning and the other at the end of the module. This had to be followed by a 400-word self-evaluation of the knowledge applied using a predefined marking rubric. Students had to use the self-evaluation to explain their rationale, including where they showed module knowledge, and identify areas of development. The aim was to develop managerial behaviours and confidence in conducting personal development conversations with colleagues. Each submission accounted for 15 per cent of the overall grade.&nbsp;Reflections and recommendationsConsider the benefits of self-assessment: students reported that completing this assignment took more time than traditional essay formats. However, many acknowledged that they learned more through the self-evaluation process. Its emphasis on self-assessment fostered metacognitive skills crucial for ongoing professional development.Build opportunities for learning progression: dividing the assessment into two submission phases enabled students to familiarise themselves with the evaluation criteria and build confidence in their abilities. It also supported self-efficacy development through the recognition of improvements over time.Relinquish control: challenge your assumptions about what a tutor’s role should be. Should they primarily act as evaluators or should the focus be on facilitating valuable learning opportunities?Integrated peer coaching and assessment centre masterclassOn a Level 7 management module, we used peer coaching to build knowledge, skills and trust leading up to an assessment-centre-style masterclass. We introduced students to the concept of coaching and had them practise weekly, in small groups, before a masterclass. Constructive peer feedback was fundamental in establishing the foundations for effective teamwork and collaborative assessment and building trust.During the masterclass, students completed four assessments (two individual and two group) that drew out skills in:Creating and communicating data via an individual assessment (infographic)Collaborative working via team assessment (a critical analysis)Presentation skills via a team assessment (a professional discussion)Reflexivity via an individual assessment (a reflective exercise).&nbsp;&nbsp;Reflections and recommendationsBuild trust: students were hesitant to engage in teamwork when it impacted their grade, however, feedback highlighted the value of learning gained by working together and the relationships built through coaching.Link formative and summative assessments (and share the learning): team-based activities tend to receive higher engagement if related to an assessment. In this instance, while coaching was formative, their summative professional discussion reflected on the knowledge they gained from coaching and peer observation prompted additional learning.Be careful with timescales: students appreciate assessments being completed by the end of the masterclass.&nbsp;However, they need time to engage in teamwork in the lead-up to the masterclass.Read more: three ways to optimise your business school’s AI-related offeringBusiness school recruitment: disrupt to diversifySpotlight: AI and assessment in higher educationNarrated personal development PowerPoint plan&nbsp;This assessment involved a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation in which management apprentices critically reflected on their personal development plans, showcasing and applying their knowledge of concepts like emotional intelligence.Reflections and recommendationsDevelop student presentation skills: pre-recorded narrated PowerPoint presentations only viewed by markers enable students to practise their skills in a low-stakes environment. Requiring students to record in a single take using their own voice, rather than AI-generated narration, enhances authenticity.Encourage meaningful critical reflection: we encouraged students to use the lens of the literature or experience to inform their own goals and learning methods. We also encouraged them to collect evidence about themselves through feedback and questionnaires to help them decide whether to use this information to shape their goals.&nbsp;Allow a creative approach to reflection: we encouraged students to experiment with different methods of reflection beyond just the assignment. They took part in an exercise that required them to create a visual representation of themselves (ie, beliefs, strengths, interests and values) using art materials. This enabled them to connect their learning experiences and values in a way they wouldn’t have otherwise.&nbsp;The implementation of alternative assessments in management degree apprenticeships provides exciting opportunities to improve student learning and engagement. Our experiences illustrate how innovative assessment practices can significantly support students’ professional development and set them up for success.Michelle Trottier, Alison Sydenham and Julie Pepper are senior lecturers at the University of Exeter.If you’d like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Three alternative assessments to build managerial skills

Personal development discussions, presentations and peer coaching help build essential communication skills and emotional intelligence. These tips will make them effective

Three alternative assessments that build managerial skills

The concept of continuous improvement, rooted in the lean manufacturing techniques developed by Toyota in the 1950s, has been a fundamental component of the manufacturing industry for decades. Despite its popularity across various sectors, higher education has been slow to adopt continuous improvement practices. As a continuous improvement manager, I have experienced firsthand how they can transform teaching and learning in higher education.I have been helping colleagues implement continuous improvement principles for module enhancement to increase engagement, grades and student satisfaction. While several relevant methodologies exist, the most useful and easily applicable relevant to higher education is the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. This is in essence a four-step model for implementing change and a rigorous framework to design meaningful and data-driven interventions.PlanThe planning stage is the most important part of the PDCA cycle. Here, the focus is on identifying the problem(s). Ask yourself:What are the main problems with my module?&nbsp;Are my students happy with the way I teach?&nbsp;Is the assessment well suited for the module?When I led a postgraduate module in 2021, the first thing I did was review the data. It became clear that there were areas for improvement where student success and satisfaction were concerned. Therefore, we needed to make some changes.After identifying the problems, the next step is understanding the root causes. In my department, we used the five whys (5Whys) technique, a problem-solving method involving asking “why?” five times until you get to the root of the problem. The reasons we discovered were multifaceted. First, the reading list needed to better reflect the student population, as nearly 80 per cent of students in the module were international and from culturally diverse backgrounds. Second, international students often face challenges navigating the UK university system and adapting to its academic expectations, which can automatically disadvantage them. Last, qualitative comments from the student satisfaction survey suggested students needed more support for the summative assessment. After identifying the root causes, we decided to make several interventions.Spotlight guide: Back to the basics of pedagogyWhy interactive and game-based instruction beats lecturing every timeUsing fun and interactive micromodules to energise learning&nbsp;DoWith these insights, we moved to the “do” stage. This is where you implement the planned interventions based on the problems identified. In our case, to support students with assessments, we developed an assessment checklist that acted like a roadmap, including hyperlinks to referencing, plagiarism, and academic writing resources created by the university’s library. We also decolonised the reading list to represent a broader range of voices and perspectives. Additionally, we integrated digital tools such as Padlet and Poll Everywhere to collect responses to questions and quizzes during seminars, increasing student engagement.CheckDuring this stage, we analysed whether the interventions were successful, using several performance indicators including assessment scores and student feedback. The results showed that the number of students achieving an upper award increased, the failure rate dropped to only 3 per cent and student feedback scores significantly improved. It was clear that the interventions had been successful.ActThis stage can be considered the standardisation stage. In the manufacturing and service sectors, the interventions made in the “Do” stage can be implemented on a small scale and in a controlled environment. However, this approach may not always be applicable in education. In our case, following the success of our interventions, we standardised them for subsequent deliveries of the module.The module has continued to perform exceptionally well since we introduced these interventions, and it even received the department’s “Most Improved Module” award. If the interventions had been unsuccessful, we would have analysed why they failed and what could be improved. Either way, we should not rely solely on one iteration, as the PDCA cycle is inherently iterative. We refine the process each time we run the module.Integrating continuous improvement techniques into higher education teaching and learning can greatly improve overall student outcomes. However, implementing them is not without its challenges. One significant hurdle is the perception that such techniques are for businesses, not for universities. However, this is clearly not the case, as reflected by our success in implementing it in my department. Another challenge is the faculty’s resistance to change, which is to be expected. Despite these challenges, the effort is well worthwhile. The results speak for themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sercan Demiralay is a continuous improvement manager, and principal lecturer in accounting and finance at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.If you’d like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

What can module leaders learn from Toyota?

How to use the plan-do-check-act cycle to improve student success, satisfaction and grades

How can universities meet industry expectations to the extent society expects them to?&nbsp;Before answering this question, I would like to pose another: should universities be expected to meet all industry demands?&nbsp;According to French government guidelines, the answer is unequivocally yes. Current certifications emphasise skills-based approaches to education aimed at boosting student employability after graduation. This perspective advocates for programmes to be designed based on the jobs offered by industry. And it makes perfect sense when the educational and administrative costs of training are taken into consideration; our leaders likely have both the right and the duty to ensure that certain academic programmes do not lead half their students directly into unemployment.It may be worthwhile to reverse the question and ask whether industries should – to some extent, at least – align their hiring practices with the offerings of universities. Expecting universities to fully adopt corporate methods because they represent the main employment pool for young graduates might not even serve businesses’ best interests. Over-preparing students for corporate environments could stifle creativity and innovation. Universities teach foundational knowledge that is harder to acquire, while workplace habits and practices can be learned relatively quickly. Sometimes, the fresh perspective of a recent graduate entering a company can highlight the rigidity of protocols and challenge established practices in light of up-to-date knowledge.Spotlight guide: What innovation needs to thrive in higher educationReimagining the role of higher education in a world of intersecting revolutionsCareer-connected learning is an investment in the futureMany universities have greatly strengthened their partnerships with industries in recent decades. Companies are now involved in teaching, through courses, workshops, masterclasses and conferences. Internships have become a staple in most programmes, sometimes even mandatory. At my institution, the Master of Science and Technology programme&nbsp;is designed in close collaboration with industry professionals. They participate in advisory boards and improvement committees for this programme, helping us refine our curricula on the basis of their development projects and job opportunities. Some companies also provide financial support to students through scholarships that cover part of or all tuition fees. Their interest in the programme reassures students about their career prospects.Except perhaps for a few fields, such as medieval history or ancient Greek, a curriculum entirely disconnected from the corporate world would lack relevance and credibility today – for both students and employers. A development that illustrates the integration of business into the university system is the proliferation of incubators, start-ups and fab labs (fabrication laboratories). These spaces provide technical, legal, commercial and financial support to students and researchers who wish to start a business, and each side learns from the other. Universities contribute fundamental research and innovation, while industries bring market insights, feasibility analysis and funding strategies.Another example is universities’ investment in lifelong learning. Professionals can now enrol in short, specialised courses on topics as diverse as 3D cell culture, heterogeneous catalysis or social and political aspects of global health. Having been involved in such programmes for more than 20 years, I’ve seen how academic expertise is highly valued for its impartiality and its role as a modern knowledge benchmark. This prestige is significant; in a time when information – and the disinformation that comes with it – floods our lives, it is vital for our increasingly market-driven society to look to the university as a source of knowledge and progress, offering at least one place where exchanges are not influenced by the dominance of business interests. It also explains the success of MBA programmes, where executives, already highly recognised within their companies, return to university to seek top-level training directly from what is assumed to be the source of fundamental knowledge.These university-industry partnerships are undoubtedly beneficial, but in my view, they must not compromise the university’s primary mission of providing a universal education closely tied to fundamental research. One might say I am defending my own interests, but I am not in favour of the trend where companies offer their own training programmes and, for example, award master’s degrees. While these programmes are financially supported by the companies and often ensure internal employment for students, they bring us back to the question: does training a young person to fit the mould of a company truly add value for either part? Doesn’t this closed-loop approach hinder the company’s openness to new concepts and fresh perspectives?Once a year, the institution where I work organises a large forum where 150 companies meet 2,000 students. The students move from stand to stand to discuss internships, job opportunities and so on. The sight of a flock of students in their twenties, almost all in dark blue suits, white shirts and black shoes, always strikes me. This uniformity is unlikely to be a coincidence; it aligns with the codes of the corporate world and clearly illustrates the trend towards shaping a standardised individual, seemingly at odds with the very concept of university.I believe most universities have gone above and beyond to prepare students for the corporate world – through professional partnerships, internships, innovation hubs and lifelong learning. At least at my institution, I’m not sure what more could be done. The real challenge now is to ensure these collaborations do not homogenise students but instead foster creativity and intellectual diversity.Stéphane Bouchonnet is head of the Master of Science and Technology programme at&nbsp;École Polytechnique in&nbsp;Palaiseau, France.If you’d like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

With higher education institutions adapting their programmes to prepare students for future jobs, they risk producing corporatised graduates to a detriment of innovation or even business’ best interests, writes Stéphane Bouchonnet

Should universities meet all industry demands?

Self-perceived competency and agency – having the power, resources and sense of control to handle a wide range of tasks and situations – are critical for the engagement, development and well-being of higher education students. However, the experiences students encounter can often leave them questioning their abilities, particularly when faced with new academic and personal challenges. Educators play an important role in fostering an “I can” mentality among students, which empowers them to recognise their potential and take ownership of their educational experience. Here are practical strategies to nurture students’ belief in their capabilities. I hope these will be helpful for everyone but particularly university teaching staff.&nbsp;Reduce the use of competency-based assumptions&nbsp;Educators often make assumptions about students’ prior knowledge or experiences. For example, phrases like “you should remember (topic)” are frequently heard when connecting current to previously taught content. However, these statements assume a level of competency that may not reflect the diverse backgrounds and experiences of all students. Such phrases can therefore inadvertently undermine confidence and create barriers to learning. This is especially prevalent for students with protected characteristics. Considering the sheer volume of content students receive, it is unreasonable to expect them to remember everything, regardless of background.&nbsp;We should aim to use language in a way that contextualises student knowledge and is more reflective of the variety in student recall and understanding. For example, when mentioning previous content, connections could be more contextually transparent: “We looked at (topic) last semester, which suggested X…” followed by an explanation of how it connects to the present topic. By offering this transparency in an inclusive and supportive way, we can then prevent such challenges in academic work from being perceived as evidence of incompetency. This may then help to foster an “I can” mindset among students, enabling them to seek further knowledge from this transparency without feeling incapable or defeated.&nbsp;Challenge expectations about the role of the student ‘adult’A common expectation in higher education is for students to be fully independent and self-directed “adults”. While this may be a reality for some, it can be problematic in the context of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). It not only dismisses students’ diverse needs but fails to account for individual variations in background and experience. For example, neurodivergent students may require additional support, not because they lack capability, but because they face systemic or structural barriers that others may not. Being mindful of our expectations of students therefore requires constant reflection on our assumptions and how these feed into our practices. By doing this, we are not diminishing their expectations, but ensuring they have an equitable opportunity to receive facilitative support to become agentic and independent.Expecting students to automatically adopt full independence the moment they step on to university grounds is as unrealistic as expecting someone to master a new language just by setting foot in a foreign country. Independence, like language fluency, is a skill that develops over time with practice, guidance and support. So, rather than imposing blanket expectations of independence, educators should focus on fostering growth, and “becoming” rather than “being”. One way to do this might be to offer practices like flipped advising, a teaching and learning approach where students engage with content before meeting with an adviser.Resource collection: Teaching with compassionUsing emotions to boost learningRelieve student boredom by ‘activating’ lecturesPromote reflection and awareness of development through flipped advisingFlipped advising is a reflective approach that focuses on what students have already achieved and what they can achieve in the future. It involves helping students recognise their growth and potential by reflecting on their journey. For instance, when advising a student transitioning to a new academic year, flipped advising could involve prompting them to consider the skills they have developed since starting university. Reflective questions to help them prepare for discussion during their advisory meetings could include:What skills have you gained that you didn’t think you would?Where have you seen improvement in yourself, whether academically, personally or socially?What challenges have you overcome, and how?By guiding students to acknowledge their progress, educators can help them build positive self-perception. This approach shifts the focus from academic achievements alone to holistic development, encouraging students to see themselves as capable and adaptable individuals. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to set future goals based on their strengths and aspirations, reinforcing their agency in shaping their educational journey.Support without oversteppingAnother common narrative among HE staff is that students want to “pass the buck” and continue with the spoon-fed approach of secondary education. However, on talking with students in my practice and research, it has become clear to me that they seek opportunities for choice and self-direction. There is a difference between “passing the buck” and requiring guidance on how to take agentic actions. If a student says “I just need someone to tell me what to do”, it is not them asking for us to do the work for them, but to provide the guidance and tools to take the action themselves. As educators, we should therefore be offering clear, actionable advice and resources that empower those students to take the necessary steps. The key is to collaborate with the student, ensuring they feel supported while maintaining a sense of ownership over their experience. By doing this, we can facilitate and promote agency.We can cultivate an “I can” attitude among students by adjusting our language to avoid perpetuating stereotypes, by embedding&nbsp;reflective practices&nbsp;that build students’ awareness of their development and by supporting without spoon-feeding. Ultimately, these strategies can help students see challenges as opportunities for growth and believe in their ability to navigate their academic journeys.Megan Jones is a lecturer in psychology at the University of East Anglia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Fostering an ‘I can’ attitude in students

Challenging assumptions about competency and student independence and promoting self-reflection can foster agency, writes Megan Jones

While much of the discourse on generative AI (GenAI) in academic circles focuses on whether it can be creative, something more interesting is happening in my seminars for master’s in digital communication management: students are using GenAI to become more creative themselves. It’s not about AI replacing human creativity; it’s about how writing prompts for AI is becoming a new form of creative expression. Every time a student crafts a prompt, they’re engaging in an act of imagination that our traditional education system rarely demands.&nbsp;When students write prompts for large language models (LLMs), they’re engaging in a creative process. They must envision possibilities, set goals and imagine outcomes – exactly the skills we want them to learn.&nbsp;An experiment for using AI to promote divergent thinking shows that human imagination was used to envisage capabilities when designing a crab-inspired toy using a GenAI video model. Such systems help us craft elaborate scenarios, and each prompt can represent a creative leap that pushes boundaries of conventional thinking.Resource collection: AI transformers like ChatGPT are here, so what next?Spotlight guide: Creativity in higher educationOpinion: ‘Creativity is a practice, not an astonishing stroke of good luck’Creative prompt engineering isn’t limited to design. Consider how media students are using GenAI to revolutionise their storytelling approach, advertisements and press releases; explore scenarios, unconventional consumer profiles and positioning strategies; or simply play devil’s advocate. They’re using it as a collaborative brainstorming tool and for developing ideas. For example, a student used it to explore multiple perspectives for an advertising campaign. When one of our PR students crafted prompts to explore scenarios such as a drought-stricken future or contexts for marketing a luxury brand, she started with an observation or a problem, generating multiple possible explanations and approaches, and seeking the most plausible option.&nbsp;This process demonstrates what philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce understood about human creativity. When theorising abductive reasoning, which is the process of creative exploration, Peirce argued that imagination is central to how we think and generate new ideas. When the student asked: “What if sustainability wasn’t the main selling point?”, she was making creative leaps to generate new hypotheses.&nbsp;Our students are not just getting answers from AI, they’re exploring possibilities in ways we’ve never seen before. The most creative work doesn’t come from students who write simple prompts such as: “Paint a sunset.” It comes from those who, like our PR student, imagine complex scenarios that combine unexpected elements and perspectives.The process of prompt engineering itself becomes a form of abductive reasoning where each prompt is a hypothesis about what might work best, and each AI response helps refine these hypotheses towards the most plausible solution. Writing prompts for AI is an act of transforming mental possibilities into tangible outputs. When crafting prompts for text, images or videos, we first imagine abstract potentials – scenarios that exist only in our minds. We then translate these imagined possibilities into precise instructions that AI can interpret. The fascinating part isn’t the AI’s output but how we bridge the gap between pure imagination and more concrete reality. Through careful prompt engineering, we’re teaching machines to understand and manifest our mental constructs, turning abstract thoughts into words, visuals and moving images that others can experience.Yes, AI has limitations. Yes, its knowledge can become outdated. But these limitations are precisely what make it a tool for creativity rather than a replacement for human thought. Students must learn to work around these limitations, to understand both the possibilities and constraints of the technology. This understanding itself becomes a form of creative problem-solving.The real opportunity here isn’t about automating creativity, it’s about democratising innovation. Students who might lack technical expertise can still identify novel ideas and approaches. While GenAI provides the technical knowledge, students must exercise creativity to co-create their vision through the lens of AI. This collaboration between human imagination and artificial intelligence is creating new forms of creative expression we’re only beginning to understand, which recalls literary scholar Yuri Lotman’s concept of&nbsp;semiosphere, a complex and evolving system of interaction of sign processes, meaning and interpretation.&nbsp;For educators, this presents a challenge and an opportunity. The question isn’t whether AI belongs in education – it’s whether we’re ready to embrace a new kind of creative thinking. Our students are already showing us the way. They’re using AI not as a shortcut but as a tool for expanding their creative horizons. The academic community needs to catch up, moving beyond debates about AI’s capabilities to understand how it can enhance human creativity.The future of education isn’t about AI creating content – it’s about students becoming more creative through their interaction with AI. It’s time for our teaching practices to reflect this reality. One way to do this is to embrace GenAI as a collaborative partner and facilitate GenAI-enhanced project-based learning by designing projects relevant to real-world issues that allow students to use it creatively.Ramona Pistol is a semiotician and lecturer in media in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

‘GenAI is making students more creative than ever’

The real opportunity of AI isn’t automation, it’s the potential to democratise innovation, writes Ramona Pistol. And teaching practices need to catch up to this reality

‘Generative AI is making our students more creative than ever’

Student satisfaction is lower in assessment and feedback than in other areas of the student experience, according to recent data from the National Student Survey (NSS) and Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES). Delivering effective feedback to students consistently across markers and modules is something that many universities are having to grapple with.There are numerous guides on how to write effective feedback. However, one of the most productive ways to show someone good practice is to lead by example.Take advantage of feedback on teaching development programmes&nbsp;Learning and teaching development programmes offer opportunities to introduce early career educators to the principles of effective learning, teaching and assessment in higher education. In the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) programme delivered at my institution, participants complete a unit on assessment, marking and feedback where they become familiar with different pedagogical theories and approaches, and begin to develop a rigorous and supportive assessment practice.They are also assessed on a final portfolio they submit at the end of the programme. This assessment is a perfect opportunity for assessors to actively showcase good feedback practice through the written feedback they give educators on their work.As an assessor on the Exeter LTHE programme, I see this as a chance to lead by example and write feedback that embodies the good practice principles we encourage our educators to follow when they write feedback for students. Receiving good feedback on their own work can help them to understand what “good” feedback looks like.Use feedback models you want educators to adoptWhen giving written feedback to educators, use a model that you would want them to use when writing feedback for students. Many of us have heard of the “feedback sandwich”, which provides constructive criticism between two positive statements. Learners on the Exeter LTHE programme are also introduced to the tell, explain, describe model (TEDM) as well as the “feedback trifle”, which frames feedback into three layers: the bottom layer highlights the strengths and what the learner did well, the middle layer outlines areas to improve and the top layer gives specific actions to take in order to “fix” what didn’t go well.Apply your institution’s principles of good feedbackUse your role as an assessor to write feedback to teaching staff that exemplifies principles of good feedback. These could be principles or a model of good feedback that your institution has drafted or ones championed by organisations such as Jisc (which say that feedback should be constructive, specific, honest and supportive).&nbsp;A checklist for inclusive assessment and feedback, in a post-ChatGPT worldWhy we should be giving feedback via videoMaster the art of effective feedbackBe kindUse compassionate language and phrasing that you would expect from educators. Avoid judgemental phrases like “it’s a shame”, “it’s a pity” or “unfortunately”. Swap negative words such as “issue”, “mistake”, “problem”, “weakness”, “fails”, “lacks” or “inadequate” for neutral equivalents such as “challenge”, “learning opportunity”, “area for improvement” or “needs development”.&nbsp;If you’re returning work that you’ve annotated, make sure your annotations are self-explanatory: avoid ambiguous symbols (?, X, …, etc.) or short words that aren’t accompanied by an explanation, like “what?” or “irrelevant”.Be personalUse phrases that help you to connect with the person you are feeding back to as if you were having a conversation with them about their work. Everyone likes to think the time they put into their work has been recognised, and it can feel that way if you use more personal language and address specific examples:I enjoyed/liked reading about…&nbsp;It was interesting to hear/read/see…I was very impressed with/by…Notable areas of strength were…Your essay/report could have been further strengthened by…In future essays/assessments you may want to consider/think about…I would encourage you to…Keep it constructiveAlways end on a constructive note where you highlight exactly what the person can do to improve for next time. After all, that’s exactly what we want our educators to focus on for our students, right? This can often be most effective in bullet point format.We should take advantage of any opportunity to give written feedback to educators and exemplify good feedback practice in the process. Teaching development programmes, Advance HE Fellowship applications and other professional schemes provide ideal opportunities for assessors to model effective feedback practices that educators can apply to their students.Jennie Fox is deputy education partner in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Exeter.If you found this interesting and want advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

The power of effective feedback for early-career educators

How can assessors improve educators’ ability to give feedback that influences students’ motivation, engagement and achievement?

Eight years ago, I boarded a plane to North America as the sole academic in a four-person investigative team. Our mission? To determine whether an obscure, alternative educational model known as&nbsp;the block could work at Victoria University (VU) in Australia. At that time, block planning was mainly the preserve of boutique US liberal arts colleges. The prevailing view held that it was too complicated and too radical an approach to be employed at scale by large public universities without diluting academic rigour and causing organisational chaos.Fast forward to today: VU has proved the block can work at scale. Other universities – including Southern Cross University, Sunway College, De Montfort University and the University of Suffolk – now run their own successful versions of the model. So, to capture perspectives and lessons gleaned from working with the block, my colleague Loretta Konjarski and I have reached out over the past two years to leading practitioners.&nbsp;The resulting book,&nbsp;Block Teaching Essentials: A Practical Guide, is intended to offer constructive advice to academics and administrators keen to learn more about the model and, importantly, to spur further research into the ways in which so-called alternative approaches, such as the block, question traditional approaches to higher education.The questions we need to ask about curricula designHigher education across the globe is under scrutiny. In Australia,&nbsp;the Universities Accord is challenging institutions to prove that their expensive degrees provide value for money for students. There’s a global cost-of-living crisis – 66 per cent of&nbsp;UK students are worried about whether they can afford to go to university. Universities in the US are&nbsp;facing declining enrolment as birth rates continue to fall. Even the&nbsp;bachelor’s degree itself is under threat from microcredentials and industry certificates.Resource collection: What is block teaching?Spotlight guide: Back to the basics of pedagogyMaking space for innovation: a higher education challengeA shift to the block will not be the answer for most global institutions, but the intensity and depth of self-questioning and examination that such a move would require could be.&nbsp;The block model – in which teaching is offered in short, intensive modules – raises fundamental questions about higher education. What evidence supports our traditional approaches to delivery, how we teach and the way we timetable? How might we reimagine university education for an era where knowledge is instantly accessible, but the wisdom required to use it well remains elusive? And, most importantly, how do we ensure we offer students education of real value?Beyond structure&nbsp;The block is, at its simplest, a scheduling tool. It soon becomes more than that, however, as changes to timetabling, and the duration and frequency of classes cause us to reimagine how and what we teach, and how we engage and assess students.The block asks a question that the HE sector as a whole should be ashamed that it needs to ask itself: why do we continue to timetable as if students don’t have lives outside of university? Scatter-gun timetables that require students to attend at random (to them) times on different days, regardless of how inconvenient that may be, make no concession to the reality that we live in a world where consumption is user- not producer-driven. When&nbsp;nine out of 10 new jobs created over the next decade will require tertiary-level education, surely the least we can do is make it easier for students to weave study into their lives.&nbsp;Reconceptualising timetabling and structure from a “How does this process work for us?” approach to “How does this work for our students?” is a step towards true student-centredness. (Block institutions are not perfect, either, but at least they’re thinking about this matter.) No amount of active and engaging classroom culture is going to work if students can’t get to the classroom.It’s a process, not projectTalking to, and reading the work of, our book’s contributors leads me to the following conclusion: it is a mistake for institutions to see a move to the block as a project that will eventually lead to a BAU state where change has been managed and a new normal can begin. Sure, there will come a time when implementation is over, but this is no time to take the institutional eye off the ball.Universities and academics alike are inherently conservative. They don’t like change and, even if they are willing to embrace it, they tend to revert to what they know and what feels comfortable when challenged. A move such as a shift to block should be viewed as an ongoing process, not a project. The price of educational reform is, it seems, eternal vigilance. This kind of thinking leads to perhaps the most important question: how do we do better by our students?John Weldon&nbsp;is associate professor in the&nbsp;First Year College&nbsp;at Victoria University, Australia.&nbsp;Block Teaching Essentials: A Practical Guide, edited by John Weldon and Loretta Konjarski (Springer Nature), is published in February 2025.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

How block teaching reimagines university timetabling  

As the block model has evolved from educational outlier to established practice, the questions it raises about how higher education is delivered are increasingly difficult to ignore, writes John Weldon

‘Why do we still timetable classes as if students don’t have lives outside university?’ 

The session began with a simple yet purposeful gesture: the teacher placed a “pedagogical trigger” in the centre of the classroom – an ordinary item that, in any other context, might go unnoticed. By presenting it as a focal point, students were invited to rediscover it, to observe how a simple everyday object could hold profound meanings and transform the classroom into a space of reflection and critical learning.Why use everyday objects in teacher training? This session aimed to explore how they can act as triggers for learning, revealing their value as cultural artefacts laden with social, philosophical and semiotic connotations. These objects offer a practical and accessible means to make the abstract more tangible, encouraging students to engage with their environment critically. By using everyday items, the classroom becomes a dynamic space to question the relevance of these objects in our lives, their role in education and their potential to help us deconstruct and reconsider accepted teaching models.How do we implement the practice table approach? To continue this exploration, the students, organised in groups, placed their objects on the table, creating a “practice table” inspired by the work of the academic Sean Edwards.

  
      
  
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Sean Edwards’ practice table

The practice table was not merely a collection of objects; it was a transformative space where future teachers explored the power of objects to deconstruct pedagogical models and reflect on how these models could be changed. This hands-on exercise allowed participants to move from theory to practice, illustrating how everyday items can initiate critical conversations about pedagogy.

  
      
  
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The practice table created by the students

Each participant contributed a piece of their own school history to the table – a fragment of their educational memory: calculators, notebooks, coloured stickers, textbooks, toys and many other everyday items that, gathered together, took on new significance.Why do this? It reveals the extraordinary in the ordinary. The practice table became a shared space of experiences and memories, with each object representing a network of cultural and social meanings. They were not just material items but “more-than-human entities” with agency in the learning process.Practical steps for reflection and engagementEach student was asked to observe their object and write a word that captured the essence of what it represented to them. This word became a seed for further exploration – a hint of a deeper meaning for us to unpack later. We then created a visualisation of the words generated by the students, making abstract ideas more accessible and tangible.Formulating powerful questionsEach group member was required to formulate a powerful question about one of their peer’s objects, inspired by Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. These questions aimed to provoke more profound reflection, encourage exploration and broaden perspectives, fostering critical analysis and collective discovery. This approach emphasises how asking the right questions is often more impactful than merely providing answers. Some of the powerful questions included:1: Does drawing help you notice more about your reality?2: How has this object helped shape who you are today?3: What stories help us understand your childhood and your current reality?What emerged: insights and narrative discoveryAs students responded to these questions, narratives emerged that revealed previously hidden aspects of their relationships with these objects, as well as insights into their identities as future educators.One student, when reflecting on her calculator, recalled something she had never considered before: in primary school, she had used that calculator in the playground to help her friends solve maths problems. What seemed a trivial act at the time, in fact, contained the seed of her calling to become a teacher. Here, peer learning took on a central role – this practice did not create a hierarchy of knowledge but instead promoted mutual support and horizontal learning. For this student, the calculator transformed from a worn-out object into a symbol of her desire to teach and share knowledge.&nbsp;Using films to encourage reflection and critical thinking in your teachingFour strategies that rethink whole-group discussionsRevolving roles: creating inclusive, engaging, participant-led learning activitiesAnother student brought a green sticker – one of the rewards he had received in primary school. While answering the question about the significance of the sticker, he remembered how a teacher, in an effort to motivate him, had promised one if he completed his tasks well. Although he now recognised the behaviourist nature of this practice, he also reflected on the positive impact that the sticker had had on him – providing an initial push to strive and improve. The green sticker contained, in its simplicity, the beginning of his academic motivation, a motivation that led him to pursue teaching. It also encouraged him to consider how he would motivate his future students without relying on external rewards.Concept mapping: reimagining everyday objects in education&nbsp;We concluded the round of questions with the creation of a small concept map. These maps illustrated the symbolic and practical importance of objects in the educational process. This helped reimagine everyday objects as powerful pedagogical tools that could enrich teaching.After the round of responses, each group was guided to create a pedagogical cartography – a conceptual creation that visually represented the connections between their objects, their personal stories and the educational models they had internalised. This cartographic process went beyond simply organising memories and concepts; it became a way of materialising entanglement – the “intertwining” that anthropologist and author Tim Ingold describes as “a meshwork of interwoven lines of growth and movement” in his article “Bringing things to life: creative entanglements in a world of materials”. Each line and connection within the cartography generated an ongoing dialogue about education – an expanding network that linked the students’ trajectories and objects that, initially, seemed unrelated.Creating a shared space for dialogue&nbsp;Finally, the groups gathered in a circle, forming an agora in the centre of the classroom.This open space, more than just a simple sharing session, transformed into a moment of narrative knowledge where each student shared their map and reflected collectively on what their objects and stories had revealed to them. In this dialogue, pedagogical knowledge emerged from both the visible/material and the invisible/immaterial entanglements of the objects, giving the students the opportunity to generate shared, enriched and complex knowledge.Key takeaways for educators&nbsp;The session clearly affirmed Rachel Sharp and Anthony Green’s assertion in Education and Social Control that the models upon which teaching practice is developed are influenced more by those experienced as students than by those acquired through professional training. Without an explicit deconstruction of these models and a critical analysis of their objects, these future teachers might have been limited to reproducing the practices they knew. This mapping of stories and trajectories was essential to create the possibility of constructing new ways of being teachers – ways that align more closely with students’ lives and with the agency of objects in learning.How to apply this in your teaching practice&nbsp;1. Use everyday objects: Incorporate simple, familiar items into the classroom to prompt reflection and discussion. These objects can help connect theory to personal experience, making abstract concepts more relatable.2. Ask powerful questions: Encourage students to deeply question the meanings behind these objects. This cultivates critical thinking and reflective practice, which are key components of teacher education.3. Create pedagogical cartographies: Have students visually map the connections between their learning experiences, personal histories and educational concepts. This process allows them to see learning as interconnected rather than isolated.4. Form an agora: Foster a space for dialogue where students can share their reflections collectively. This open environment can deepen understanding and foster a sense of community learning.By integrating these strategies, educators can not only enrich their teaching practice but inspire future teachers to think critically about their roles, helping them transform their classrooms into spaces of continuous growth and exploration.Daniel Gutiérrez-Ujaque is lecturer in critical pedagogy in the department of education sciences at the University of Lleida.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Use everyday objects to educate student teachers 

By using simple, familiar items and fostering open dialogue, we can encourage critical reflection in our students, transforming traditional teaching models into more inclusive learning experiences

Imagine standing in front of your students and seeing more than just faces. You see individuals, each with their own stories, challenges and aspirations. This is the foundation of empathetic teaching, connecting with students not as a collective but as individuals.As a nursing lecturer, modelling empathy is especially important because my students will one day care for patients in deeply personal and often vulnerable moments. By demonstrating empathy in my teaching, I not only enhance their learning experience but also set an example for the compassionate care they will provide in their future practice.Yes, empathy can be taught – here’s howManaging empathy fatigue as a teacherUsing empathy in the classroom can have a great impact on learningIn this article, I’ll share practical strategies for fostering empathy in your teaching style, grounded in personal experience and tailored specifically for educators of nursing students studying a Bachelor of Nursing and academic staff across all disciplines.Why empathy matters in educationEmpathy isn’t just a “nice to have” in education, it’s transformative. Empathetic teaching improves student engagement, reduces anxiety and fosters a supportive learning environment, research consistently shows.For nursing students, empathy goes beyond the classroom. By incorporating it into our teaching, we not only enhance academic outcomes but also prepare students to connect with patients on a human level, ensuring better care and improved health outcomes.How to bring empathy into your teachingEmpathy in education often feels like an abstract concept. How can we make it tangible, actionable and, most importantly, effective?1. Get to know your studentsUnderstanding your students’ challenges and goals is the foundation of empathy. For nursing students, these challenges often include balancing clinical placements, part-time jobs and personal responsibilities, all while navigating a demanding curriculum.How to do it: Start the semester with an anonymous survey. Ask about students’ preferred learning styles, their clinical placement schedules, work commitments (for example, night shifts or casual nursing roles) and other responsibilities.Why it works: Small changes can both acknowledge students’ reality and model the empathy they’ll need when managing patient care. In one semester, I discovered many students were juggling night shifts as healthcare assistants. Adjusting assessment deadlines by a few hours or offering flexible submission windows gave students other options to manage their time and stay engaged in their studies.&nbsp;2. Create safe spaces for communicationFor nursing students, feeling heard and supported is essential for their academic success and for fostering the emotional intelligence needed to provide compassionate patient care.How to do it: Begin classes with open-ended questions such as: “What’s something that helped you learn this week?” or “What’s one challenge you’re facing in this course?” Create an environment where students feel comfortable sharing without judgement, emphasising that their feedback informs your teaching approach.Why it works: These check-ins can uncover insights that drive meaningful changes. For example, after a student expressed confusion about a topic, I introduced peer-led online study groups. These groups provided significant support for their learning and engagement, with students meeting asynchronously to review the recorded tutorial together.3. Offer flexible learning optionsEmpathetic teaching recognises that students learn differently and have diverse needs, mirroring the variety of patients they will encounter in nursing practice.How to do it: Use a variety of teaching methods – teaching by stories, visual aids, discussions, hands-on activities – and offer different assessment formats, such as videos or presentations.Why it works: Just as nurses adapt their communication style to meet the diverse needs of patients, whether through verbal explanations, visual aids or demonstrations, educators can be flexible in how they address the learning needs of students. In a communication course I teach, I redesigned a case study assessment to be submitted as a video instead of a written essay. This approach better supported non-traditional learners and significantly increased student engagement.&nbsp;4. Give personalised feedbackFeedback is more effective when it acknowledges effort and provides actionable suggestions, just as timely and specific feedback is crucial in nursing practice to ensure improvement and growth.How to do it: Be specific in your feedback. Instead of writing: “This needs improvement”, try: “You’ve done a great job framing the issue. To strengthen your argument, consider adding examples from [specific source].” Or you could say: “For your next assessment, I have two things for you to consider…” This approach mirrors the constructive feedback you’d give a nursing student during a clinical placement, such as: “Your assessment of the patient was thorough. For your next evaluation, I have two things for you to consider. First, try to include a more detailed explanation of your rationale for the interventions; second, ensure you address all aspects of the patient’s care plan.”Why it works: A student once shared how much they appreciated feedback that highlighted their strengths, just as a nursing student values recognition of their competencies. This type of positive reinforcement helps students build confidence and motivates them to approach future assessments with a greater understanding of how to improve their practice.5. Show empathy beyond the classroomEmpathy also extends to how you communicate in emails, set course rules and support students outside formal teaching.How to do it: Use clear, conversational language in emails, and respond promptly to student concerns. When setting course rules, consider including flexible options, such as allowances for unexpected life events.Why it works: When a nursing student shared personal challenges, I offered a brief extension. This approach showed that their situation was understood and valued and allowed the student to submit their best work, mirroring the compassion and understanding we encourage in clinical practice.Overcoming challenges to empathyEmpathy in teaching doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complex. It isn’t about grand gestures but about making students feel heard through everyday interactions. Small, meaningful actions can have a big impact. Simply remembering a student’s name or asking about their day can make them feel seen and valued.&nbsp;Ultimately, empathy is a skill that grows with practice. Start small, stay consistent, and you’ll see both your teaching and your students thrive.Dianne Stratton-Maher is a senior nursing lecturer in the Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

A practical guide to university teaching with empathy

By making consistent efforts to understand and support students, university teachers create a learning environment where they feel capable and appreciated, writes Dianne Stratton-Maher

Teaching with empathy: a practical guide for university educators

Authentic assessment that reflects real-world scenarios is gaining ground on traditional tasks and assignments in higher education. These methods not only emphasise the development of practical skills and critical thinking but also allow students to apply their knowledge to real-life-type situations. By gaining hands-on experience, students are better prepared to meet the demands of the modern workforce, making higher education outcomes more relevant and impactful.&nbsp;I have been implementing a more authentic and relevant form of assessment in my postgraduate statistics for business and economics course, which enrols more than 250 students per semester. In this course, which is compulsory for many postgraduate fields of study in economics, one of the assessment tasks is a statistical project assignment (SPA) that carries a 30 per cent weighting. The other assessment components are quizzes (20 per cent) and an in-person final exam (50 per cent).&nbsp;I have been teaching the postgraduate statistics course for 15 years. In the early years, I relied on external data for students to complete SPA questions related to inferential statistics. While this approach ensured the assessment task remained authentic owing to its connection with real-world contexts, using external data also has its drawbacks.&nbsp;Resource collection: Authentic assessment in higher educationHow to design low-stakes authentic assessment that promotes academic integrityHow to make sure assessment practices are as authentic as possibleFirst, external data can make it more difficult for students to see how the task connects to their own lives. Second, external data can seem hard for students to relate to, understand and engage with. Third, using external data doesn’t show students how the task relates to their learning environment, making it feel less relevant.&nbsp;To address these issues, I shifted to using student data instead of external data, so students can directly relate to the information, see how it fits into their learning environment, and engage with it more meaningfully. To implement this change, I create an anonymous survey in Blackboard to gather data from students every semester, including their weight, height, age, gender, shoe size, distance from home to university and commuting methods. I then create inferential statistics questions based on this data, including one-sample hypothesis tests, two-sample hypothesis tests, analysis of variance, and regression. Students use a combination of manual computations and software-generated outputs to solve the questions. The assignment is done individually.&nbsp;To ensure variability in the data used for answering the assessment questions, students are instructed to work with randomised subsets of the collected dataset. For instance, if data has been gathered from 300 students, each student is directed to generate a random sample of 200 entries using a formula provided by the instructor. This method ensures that while the structure and scope of the questions remain consistent, the datasets differ slightly for each student. This approach has enhanced the authenticity of the assessment, promoted independent analysis, and reduced the risk of academic misconduct.&nbsp;Benefits of authentic assessmentThe main benefits to students from this type of authentic assessment include:1. Practical skill development&nbsp;Using student data allows students to gain practical experience in analysing and interpreting data, mirroring tasks they might face in their careers. Engaging with their own data makes statistical methods and applications more concrete and relatable, enabling students to understand the real-world relevance of these skills.2. Critical thinking and application&nbsp;Applying statistical methods to their own data encourages students to think critically and interpret their results effectively. This process fosters the development of problem-solving skills, as students need to evaluate the data, analyse the findings and reach well-founded conclusions.3. Increased engagement&nbsp;Incorporating student data into the assessment makes the task more relevant and meaningful, as students can directly relate the statistical techniques to their own lives. This personal connection encourages curiosity and increases motivation, leading to a more engaging and less theoretical learning experience.&nbsp;4. Personalised learning&nbsp;Since the assessment uses each student’s individual data, it creates a learning experience that is specific to them. This tailored approach allows students to grasp statistical concepts more effectively by applying them to data they are familiar with and that has personal significance.&nbsp;5. Improved knowledge retention&nbsp;Engaging with student data enhances the memorability of concepts. When students connect their learning to their own experiences, it reinforces the material, making it easier for them to recall knowledge and apply it in future academic or professional contexts.Feedback from students on this form of authentic assessment has been positive. Many have highlighted, through informal feedback, that it enhances the relevance and engagement of their learning, as they can connect statistical methods to their own data. They shared that working with student data fostered practical skill development, strengthened their grasp of the subject, and made the concepts more memorable. Furthermore, students noted that this type of assessment boosted their motivation and curiosity, creating a more personalised learning experience that felt linked to real-world contexts.Drawbacks to using student data in authentic assessmentWhile authentic assessment offers many benefits to students, concerns are also associated with its implementation.&nbsp;One major concern is the potential for subjective grading. When evaluating real-world tasks, different markers may interpret criteria differently, leading to inconsistencies in grades. To address this issue, I have instructed each tutor to independently grade the first 10 student assignments using the marking guide and to identify any discrepancies in their evaluations. If significant inconsistencies arise, I provide guidance to tutors on ensuring fair and consistent grading.&nbsp;Another key challenge of authentic assessment is its time-intensive nature, requiring significant effort from instructors to design and evaluate tasks and from students to complete them. To help students manage the time-intensive nature of authentic assessment, I break down tasks into smaller parts and release them step by step. This structured approach helps students focus on one concept at a time and reduces feelings of being overwhelmed. I also encourage group discussions, where students can share insights, discuss concepts and support each other’s learning in a collaborative manner.&nbsp;Additionally, I offer guidance and support through consultations, providing opportunities for students to ask questions, clarify doubts and receive personalised feedback. This comprehensive support helps students build confidence, stay on track and achieve better learning outcomes.Temesgen Kifle is a senior lecturer in the School of Economics at the University of Queensland.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Using anonymous student data for assessment tasks enhances engagement with learning, fosters practical skill development and makes business and economics concepts more memorable 

Authentic assessment in postgraduate statistics courses

Career-connected learning integrates career exploration and job-ready knowledge, skills and abilities into the curriculum, programme by programme. For students, it carves out a path towards professional preparation, gives them the space to develop a specialised focus while maintaining progress towards a credential and the skills that employers seek for leadership positions in their organisations. Finally, to prepare students for the workforce, career-connected learning offers high-impact experiences: internships, co-ops, apprenticeships and mentorships that take place beyond campus.&nbsp;Stakeholders are driving alignment between workforce needs and higher education’s academic work.&nbsp;Also, with the cost of access to the first rungs of tertiary education, students and their families need assurance that pursuing higher education is the right path forward. Graduates from institutions that have based academic planning on career-connected learning will see a demonstrable return on their investment. But there are benefits for the university, too, in connecting learning to careers.Career mentoring can support student employabilityStrategies to train students in three transferable skills wanted by employersEmpowering international students for global career successSuccessful career outcomes for graduates boost a university’s reputation, improve its rankings and attract attention to its academic offerings, therefore reducing cost per acquisition in the enrolment pipeline.&nbsp;Universities can offer learners more high-impact experiences, support and resources when marketing and enrolment costs are driven down at the beginning of the student journey. Students who experience internships, co-ops and mentorships as part of a career-connected programme find relevance in the curriculum, including the skills they need for the workplace and the challenges they may encounter there. &nbsp;Building social mobilityWhen we offer a strong return on investment for our graduates, we can bolster our claim of being a public good and holding up our end of the social contract. Our graduates become high earners and taxpayers, in turn investing in their communities and taking an active part in building a high standard of living.&nbsp;Universities are key for the societal needs of those who create economic growth. Successful university graduates become engaged alumni, willing to form strong industry partnerships with their alma mater, as well as other career-connected tertiary institutions. Alumni networks can pave the way to jobs, creating a virtuous circle in which new&nbsp;graduates experience the return on investment the university’s reputation was built on. The career-connected cycle maintains its momentum.&nbsp;Develop a frameworkIn my role as a chief academic officer, I have prioritised career-connected learning in the programme review process. The first step will be developing an academic planning framework with career readiness as the focus. The framework includes surveying alumni about the return on their investment that they’ve experienced in real terms – job promotion, getting a position in their desired field, raises and increases in income – that they attribute to their university education.&nbsp;Strong returns for graduates show the strengths in academic courses and help faculty to hone in on the delivery of more career-connected programmes to the public. Career-connected programmes can be measured and assessed according to:Contribution to mission achievement: The university can assess declines and increases in enrolment programme-by-programme to find where students are finding value.Quality: Programme review measures should determine:how often courses are reviewed, modified and updated in a formal processhow external input has been sought to improve the offeringshow students are retaining in the programmeshow graduates are faring in the job market with a return on their investment in educationViability: Course-level reviews help programme planning by measuring:registered students who commit to their programme of studydegrees awarded over time — and time to student completioncomparisons of courses with regional and local competitorsSustainability: Financial reviews of programmes and courses offer insights into:programme enrolment and revenue&nbsp;direct costs, fixed and variable&nbsp;indirect costs&nbsp;As more higher education leaders adopt a return on investment-based model for assessing universities’ outcomes, one fact becomes increasingly clear: graduates from career-connected institutions experience an increase in quality of life, lifetime earnings and better potential to grasp opportunities.&nbsp;Public rhetoric may seem to be against higher education right now on ideological grounds, but the very real return on their investment that graduates gain is undeniable. With a career-connected framework supporting chief academic officers’ academic planning and public relations, universities have a chance to take back the conversation and point to the mutual benefits that post-secondary learning gives to our students, our communities and our future.&nbsp;Audra Spicer is provost and chief academic officer at Colorado State University Global.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Career-connected learning is an investment in the future

A strong reputation for career-connected learning can create a seamless circle for universities, with graduates happy to pave the way for others via the alumni network. But how to get started?



The commitment of film and media students to questions of social justice and representation of diversity on screen and in the media industries is evidence that they care deeply about the world they live in. However, those same students can be more reluctant to address climate change. Intellectually, it might seem like a specialist field for scientists; emotionally, it is a topic that raises anxiety.&nbsp;Helping humanities students overcome these barriers and gain agency in this pressing issue is the aim of a new module I have developed on environmental cinema and media.As an animation historian, my love of this subject is the first motivation for my research and teaching. Likewise, film and media students commonly take our programmes because of enthusiasm for how movies make us feel and the stimulating intellectual ideas they raise.Our new historical and theoretical module incorporates different ways of looking at the environmental implications of film and media. It is designed to provide a survey of the field in the first five weeks, followed by detailed case studies in the second half, ending on a positive future note considering how film and media can be used for environmental activism. The module considers fundamental questions about what we understand by “nature” or “environment” and the ways film and media shape our cultural understanding of them, whether in David Attenborough wildlife shows or science fiction and western genre films.&nbsp;As a global issue, climate change does not adhere to national borders, and the module incorporates examples from around the world, rejecting and decolonising conventional canons of film history. A video essay assessment provides students with an opportunity to develop audio-visual presentation skills and engage with this topic in the ways it is most encountered in the present day: through moving images and electronic media.Using documentary film to communicate your social researchFilm storytelling can enhance learning in STEM subjectsUsing film to prompt discussion in legal studiesHere are five lessons I’ve learned from designing and teaching this module on environmental cinema and media.No judgement: Students can feel ignorant or powerless when approaching this overwhelming global issue. The aim of raising the topic is not to shame them, but to help them feel they can contribute something valuable and gain agency.Keep it impersonal: Student-centred learning is often productive, but in this case enabling students to adopt a neutral, distanced standpoint can overcome their personal feelings about the topic.&nbsp;Build on prior student knowledge: Situate environmental issues in terms of students’ knowledge and programme of learning. How can they use their disciplinary skills to think about this global issue?Make it interactive: Students have a contemporary and diverse set of reference points and influences. Invite them to contribute their own examples for classroom discussion (such as material they’ve encountered on YouTube, TikTok or Weibo). The module tutor is understood here as a facilitator for learning rather than an expert.Think local: Climate change can feel like an immense and ungraspable topic. Finding local case studies can help make it tangible and immediate. For instance, in Southampton the nearby Fawley oil refinery (one of Europe’s largest) provides a focus for examining how global issues resonate in local ways and are represented on film.&nbsp;Research-led teaching is a fundamental part of our programmes within film at the University of Southampton. In the past five years, my own work has explored the need to address the role of film and media in climate change, in both positive and negative aspects. Going beyond the traditional focus on art or entertainment, my research is exploring the role of animation within the oil industry and its complicity with the catastrophic impact of fossil fuel usage. My research on film as part of the infrastructure of resource-intensive and polluting industries sits alongside two other important strands of environmental studies of film and media. One is ecocritical readings of on-screen representation, such as the analysis of “cli-fi” (climate fiction) movies. The other area of growing attention is the material impact of media production, such as the Bafta albert initiative.Screening oil industry advertising and other corporate films from my research allows students to recognise these are valid objects of study, alongside the Hollywood narrative feature films more commonly the focus in film studies, and which are also part of this module (such as&nbsp;There Will be Blood&nbsp;and&nbsp;Deepwater Horizon). Analysing industrial and sponsored film extends the skills students have learned throughout their degree, applying them in new contexts.This module is offered in our final year, at a time when students are thinking about their own immediate and long-term future. That can be a scary prospect, on both a personal and planetary level. Our module aims to empower the students to see the contributions they can make, indicating new career paths they might not have considered (such as becoming a sustainability coordinator on film and TV sets) and applying the skills and knowledge they have learned over their degree to this urgent challenge.&nbsp;Malcolm Cook is associate professor in film studies and doctoral programmes director (film) at the University of Southampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Research-led teaching can bring educators’ work and passions into the classroom, making topics such as climate change less overwhelming for students and linking learning to future skills. Here are five key takeaways 

Changing the climate of teaching: embedding sustainability into film and media studies

Mentoring undergraduate honours students through the thesis-writing and research process presents challenges distinct from the graduate mentoring process. Undergraduate students are often new to the research process and frequently face the complex task of navigating independent, in-depth research for the first time.&nbsp;Professors play a crucial role in guiding undergraduate students through this process because a well-structured and organised approach can help students avoid delays or diminished quality of work. Improving mentorship practices is essential to ensuring the successful completion of high-quality thesis research and also to promoting critical thinking, research skills and academic independence in students.Structuring the mentorship processEarly and clear expectations: setting clear goals, timelines and communication protocols at the outset of the mentorship process is paramount. These may revolve around understanding the research objectives, writing research questions, recognising gaps in existing research, organising the study around the research questions, setting specific deadlines for section completion and outlining the research process during weekly meetings.Consistent check-ins: monitor progress and maintain engagement and motivation through regular check-ins, allowing students time to address challenges and share progress.Flexibility: While structure is essential for keeping research projects organised and on schedule, we must offer flexibility as an equally important component.&nbsp;Students may encounter unanticipated obstacles in the research process or require additional time to develop their skills as beginner researchers. Flexibility with deadlines and goal adjustment based on students' evolving needs ensures that they feel supported while mitigating the risk of overwhelm.Guiding research developmentNarrowing the scope of research: an important part of helping students refine their research focus involves narrowing broad topics into smaller, more manageable ones.&nbsp;Doing so should allow them to begin creating research questions that are topic-focused and investigable in the allotted timeframe. It will also assist students in identifying key themes and areas of need and assessing the complexity of their topic.&nbsp;Using resources: support students in identifying and using resources such as academic journals, library databases and research support services. A critical component of this support is guiding students to locate reliable sources by providing instruction on accessing peer-reviewed journals, reputable academic databases, library resources and trusted online platforms.Spotlight: Enhance student engagementResources on mentoring&nbsp;How to help a student in mental health distressBuilding critical thinking skills: by guiding students to question assumptions and consider diverse perspectives of their research topic, faculty can encourage students to develop a critical outlook on their topic. Use case studies, debates or problem-solving workshops to foster critical thinking skills and encourage analysis and solution generation. Along with this, ask open-ended questions to stimulate reflection, uncover assumptions and promote reasoning and analysis. The goal is not to provide answers directly but to guide individuals to think critically and arrive at their conclusions.&nbsp;Effective feedbackProvide feedback that is supportive and actionable. To encourage growth, it should highlight students' strengths and identify areas for improvement. Deliver feedback in shorter, focused sections addressing specific parts of the project. Breaking feedback into smaller, more manageable chunks may lessen the feeling of overwhelm. Note that the frequency of feedback may vary depending on the type and scope of the assignment or activity.&nbsp;For short assignments, provide feedback within 24 to 48 hours to maintain relevance and momentum. For longer projects, offer input at key milestones (for example, proposal, draft and final submission). For ongoing activities, you can offer quick, informal feedback during discussions, after exercises or on discussion boards to reinforce concepts. Encourage students to apply feedback by reviewing progress regularly.Find a balance between guidance and encouraging autonomy by allowing students to make decisions independently while providing support when necessary. For instance, for group projects, allow students to make independent decisions, such as topics or how tasks are divided, while offering clear expectations, optional check-ins and opportunities for reflection to guide and support their progress.Creating a positive mentorship relationshipCultivate a positive, supportive relationship by showing that you are genuinely invested in the student’s academic and personal development. You can do this by scheduling brief one-on-one check-ins via Zoom, email or during office hours. During check-ins, ask questions such as, “How are you managing your workload this semester?” or “Are there any challenges I can help you address in this course?” while actively listening and offering tailored support based on student responses.Your role as a mentor is crucial in fostering an open, collaborative environment. Being approachable and supportive can help students feel confident to share ideas, ask questions, and engage in meaningful dialogue. At the end of the thesis process, reflect with the student about successful steps along their journey, as well as areas for growth and improvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mentoring undergraduate honours students through the thesis and research process requires a structured yet flexible approach. The mentor-student relationship should be rooted in collaboration and reflection, and the mentor should take the lead to foster a supportive environment that enhances the quality of thesis work and prepares students for future academic and professional success.Jamie Gilbert Mikell is associate professor at Athens State University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

A recipe for effective undergraduate research mentorship

Strategies for giving effective feedback, addressing common challenges and fostering a supportive and productive mentor-student relationship

The mantra of “work smarter, not harder” is almost gospel in academia. Students are urged to maximise efficiency, think strategically and leverage digital tools to streamline their efforts. While these strategies have undeniable value, the focus on efficiency risks sidelining an equally critical aspect of learning: hard work. Effort, persistence and the resilience to overcome challenges remain foundational to personal and academic growth.&nbsp;To recentre the value of effort, educators can look to a principle rooted in copyright law: the “sweat of the brow” doctrine. This concept highlights the intrinsic worth of hard work, even when it does not result in groundbreaking originality. If such effort is valued in legal contexts, why not in education?Why hard work matters in higher educationThe “sweat of the brow” doctrine acknowledges the value of effort, even in the absence of originality. It argues that the hard work involved in gathering information or producing a work merits protection, irrespective of its creativity. This doctrine underscores the intrinsic value of labour, suggesting that effort alone can be deserving of recognition and reward. Borrowed from copyright law, this principle holds significant implications for education, where students’ journeys often involve grappling with complex concepts and revising their understanding over time. While efficiency has its place, hard work fosters essential qualities such as resilience, discipline and a strong work ethic.Spotlight guide: Creativity in higher educationResource collection: Supporting students into the creative industriesTime to write is a necessity, not a nice-to-haveHard work often leads to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the material. While working smarter can help students grasp the basics quickly, true mastery often requires sustained effort – hours spent wrestling with difficult concepts, refining understanding and applying knowledge in new contexts. This process, though time-consuming, is essential for developing the deep, lasting knowledge that transcends the classroom.For instance, during teaching at Winchester School of Art (WSA), we’ve seen students refine their writing over multiple drafts. Using tools like Word’s tracked changes, they document their revisions, showcasing the evolution of their ideas. This process not only improves their academic output but also builds their confidence and ownership of their work.&nbsp;Moreover, in addition to recognising hard work, educators must also appreciate the distinctiveness of every student’s voice in their work, encouraging them to translate their personal expression into both formal and informal writing. Such tangible evidence of effort and individuality deserves as much recognition as the polished final product.Fostering an authorial voiceAnother vital dimension of hard work lies in nurturing students’ authorial voice. Academic training often emphasises writing in a structured, formal style, but this should not suppress individuality. Encouraging students to express their own perspectives builds originality and confidence. At WSA,&nbsp;we’ve observed how students’ writing evolves when they’re empowered to bring their voice into academic work. For instance, a design student analysing a project’s user experience might initially default to jargon-heavy prose but with feedback will learn to gradually incorporate their personal insights and reflections. This balance of formality and individuality enriches both their learning and their contributions to their field.Integrating hard work into assessment practicesEducators can incorporate the “sweat of the brow” doctrine into assessment practices by valuing effort, persistence and personal growth alongside efficiency and outcomes. This approach emphasises the process of learning rather than just the final product.&nbsp;Recognising effort: Tools such as tracked changes can document students’ progress, providing tangible evidence of dedication and iterative learning.Regular feedback: Incorporate draft submissions or checkpoints into formative assessments, allowing students to receive guidance and demonstrate continuous improvement.Reflective practice: Require students to submit a reflection with assignments, detailing challenges faced, strategies for overcoming them, and how their work evolved.These strategies highlight the value to learning of hard work and persistence. Students who actively seek feedback and refine their work often excel, showcasing their ability to integrate new knowledge – a critical skill in creative fields. By assessing the effort invested, such as time spent refining ideas or overcoming obstacles, educators can make hard work visible and quantifiable.Aligning assessment with these principles shifts the focus from short-term results to long-term learning, placing growth and persistence alongside outcomes.Balancing smart work, hard work and personal growthThis is not to suggest that working smarter should be discarded. Efficiency and&nbsp;strategic thinking are vital skills in today’s fast-paced world, but they should be balanced with an appreciation for hard work. Students need to learn when to work smarter and when persistence, resilience and effort are essential. This balanced approach not only sets students up for academic success but also equips them with the skills to excel in life’s broader challenges.Educators should encourage students to approach their work strategically while emphasising the value of consistent effort. Tools such as tracked changes in documents can help highlight progress and dedication, reinforcing the significance of hard work. Simultaneously, nurturing students’ authorial voices promotes creativity and confidence, reminding them that personal expression is just as important as the effort invested. By cultivating a learning environment where both intelligence and perseverance flourish, educators prepare students for success academically and beyond.Shan Wang&nbsp;is a&nbsp;lecturer in design management and&nbsp;Ian&nbsp;Solway is a&nbsp;teaching fellow in design management&nbsp;in the department of design in the Winchester School of Art at the University of Southampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

The case for rewarding hard work in higher education

Taking a cue from copyright’s ‘sweat of the brow’, Ian Solway and Shan Wang argue that recognition of effort and resilience should not be lost in a rush to maximise learning efficiency

The independent and self-directed nature of blended learning can sometimes lead to student disengagement. To combat this, we must understand how to foster engagement specifically in this learning environment. Emotional and agentic engagement can serve as bridges between support and learner satisfaction, according to our research on blended learning.Emotional engagement is&nbsp;how emotionally invested students are in their learning, while agentic engagement reflects their proactive efforts to contribute to their learning. According to self-determination theory (SDT), students are more likely to be engaged when they feel a sense of autonomy (feeling one has choice), competence (the experience of mastering a skill) and relatedness (the need to feel connected to others). Here, we will share practical strategies, underpinned by SDT, to enhance emotional and agentic engagement.&nbsp;Cultivate a safe space for interpersonal interactionsThe key to emotional engagement lies in creating a supportive community where students feel a sense of belonging and are comfortable expressing their curiosity, doubts and ideas, through whichever medium suits them best.Educators from our institution are tapping into this by creating multiple interaction points for student engagement – cultivating a safe and inclusive atmosphere where all questions are valued, regardless of the mode of query. They respond to live chats during online synchronous lessons. Outside of class, they create discussion threads on the learning management system for students to post, respond to or initiate discussions on pertinent topics.&nbsp;How to help students get the best out of blended learningLet’s talk: how to connect with your students in a blended learning environmentTech tools to help enhance online and blended learningFor those who prefer other communication channels, there are viable alternatives such as email and messaging applications. And let’s not forget the&nbsp;face-to-face interactions&nbsp;– some students find that such personal interactions with peers and instructors often lead to insightful discussions, stronger relationships and enhanced social dynamics.Offer students a range of ways to engage, depending on how comfortable they feel. For example,&nbsp;anonymous discussion platforms (such as Q&amp;As and polling platforms) can foster student participation without the fear of judgement or embarrassment. They provide students with a sense of psychological safety, helping them to gradually gain confidence in raising questions or speaking up. In the physical classroom, instructors could set aside time for face-to-face discussions with students who prefer in-person and direct feedback. An inclusive learning environment fosters relatedness and a sense of community.When choice isn’t just an optionStudents should be seen as active participants in their learning. This involves choosing which online resources to use, setting personal learning goals or deciding which strategies to use to tackle a project. The freedom to exercise their choice allows them a sense of ownership over the learning process, making students active participants of knowledge building and skills attainment.Integrating technology into learning environments can empower students by granting them agency over their learning processes, leading to more meaningful educational experiences. Access to digital tools and platforms facilitates connections between students, instructors and learning content, promoting a more engaging and collaborative learning atmosphere.&nbsp;For example, our allied health faculty uses a virtual anatomy website to support student learning, and it has been an effective tool for reinforcing that learning. Students can explore anatomical structures, interact with 3D models and quiz themselves on key terms.&nbsp;In addition, some instructors also create bite-sized, engaging video content. It helps break down complex subjects into easily digestible pieces, allowing students to review concepts that are most relevant to their learning at their own pace.A diverse range of textual, interactive and experiential content is good for developing student autonomy in blended learning, allowing them to choose methods that align with their preferences and pace.&nbsp;Connecting theory to practice “Learn, digest, apply and repeat.” An instructor once shared that students should not just passively listen, but should actively seek opportunities to apply what they have learned outside of class.&nbsp;The learning process is a continuous cycle. It should not cease outside the classroom but should emanate from within and extend beyond the classroom. Let’s demonstrate how students can apply the skills learned beyond the confines of the classroom into the workplace.Our instructors shared that they often dedicate half their lesson time to strengthening conceptual understanding, and the other half to guiding students through real-world case studies. Using local businesses or campus events as case studies can engage students and help them develop the problem-solving skills needed to succeed in the workplace. At the Singapore Institute of Technology, students undergo work placements of at least eight months and capstone projects linked to their work assignment, such as developing a solution for industry process. These experiences allow them to apply their learning to tackle industry challenges and develop problem-solving and innovation skills.The dynamic process of engaging learners in understanding the context, purpose and application of content learned fosters learner agency and competence, which in turn leads to greater student satisfaction and a desire to contribute.&nbsp;By creating supportive learning environments, giving students choice in their learning and making learning relevant to their lives, we can cultivate enthusiasm for learning, and ignite passion, curiosity and ownership of their learning journey.Ching Yee Pua is a learning analyst, Kenan Kok Xiao-Feng is a senior learning analyst, Oran Devilly is an assistant professor and lead learning analyst and Shermain Puah is a learning analyst, all at the Singapore Institute of Technology.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Tips for fostering student engagement in blended learning

Students can often feel disengaged in a blended learning environment. Here’s how to spark their curiosity and give them ownership of their learning journey

Academic integrity is fundamental to institutional reputation and ensuring quality output. Intentional misconduct is something all universities need a robust approach to deal with – and most do.&nbsp;But dealing with the much wider problem of unintentional misconduct consumes already limited resources, and can be highly distressing – even career-ending – for students. In many cases, students find themselves on the receiving end of misconduct proceedings without a clear sense of what they have done wrong.&nbsp;An assumption that anyone who has enrolled in university will share an academic’s understanding of proofreading and review – and the difference between the two – fails to account for the diversity of experience and background represented on the average campus. Even worse, institutions can fail to make resources on academic proofreading accessible to students.&nbsp;A listening exerciseWe decided to investigate how institutions across the UK facilitate student understanding about academic proofreading – or don’t. Along with our students, we aimed to explore how to combat intentional and unintentional misconduct – and how to know the difference between the two.Improving academic writing skills to boost student confidence and resilienceFocused freewriting is the cure for students’ writer’s blockPausing playback: training students to read and take notes in online classesOur study, which involves investigators from seven universities, their respective students’ unions and student participants from 10 institutions, was student union-led rather than being led by academics, the conventional gatekeepers of what is and isn’t intentional misconduct. By taking academics a step away from the focus of the research – students – the study exposed the limitations of current approaches, and shed light on how even the definition of proofreading can mean different things to different people.Certain groups, international and first-generation home students in particular, didn’t always understand a narrow, academic definition of proofreading. Many simply understood the term to mean a spelling, grammar and sense check. Few had read or even accessed their own institutional policies or guidance on proofreading – if those resources were even available (more on that later) or, when permitted by their institution, sought help with proofreading their work.It became clear that students were falling into traps unintentionally set by their institutions.&nbsp;Giving students a voiceUnintentional misconduct is not a new problem. But previous attempts to understand its scale, and to tackle it, have tended to be academic-led, as are so many examinations of university policy and procedure.&nbsp;But a new way of thinking is emerging, built around the phrase “nothing for us, without us”, originally coined by disability activists. By giving students a voice and agency in shaping the academic environment on campus, universities can improve the student experience and the quality of their output in one fell swoop.&nbsp;However, many consultative initiatives that include students and their unions struggle to effect real change, because the very presence of academics in focus groups or behind on- or offline surveys skews the data. Simply put, the academic in the room, no matter how kind and empathic, can put students, particularly those in higher-risk groups, on their guard.Our experience with efforts to improve accessibility and equity in proofreading has shown that distancing academics from the conversation and putting students front and centre generated much more honest, frank and insightful feedback.&nbsp;This allowed us and the other project leads to condense our findings not only into a report, but into a set of guidance materials, for students and by students, on what academic proofreading is, how to proofread yourself and how to tailor your approach to your own strengths and weaknesses.&nbsp;Widening access boosts successWithin higher education itself, there is a wide range of institutional policies regarding proofreading. Some institutions permit third-party proofreading services and others ban them outright. Most aggravating for the investigators were the institutions whose proofreading policies and guidance lay behind firewalls, making them inaccessible to students. Conceivably, a student could have their degree rescinded and be expelled from an institution for inadvertently violating a proofreading policy their home institution had actively prevented them, or their third-party adviser, from accessing.&nbsp;Even in the cases where proofreading policies were available, they were often lengthy, dense and archaic. Academia has its own long-established habits that are alienating to new arrivals, whether it’s the fondness for using Roman numerals, sprinkling Latin or Greek terms in English-language publications, or simply using highly specialised language to talk about topics, such as plagiarism, which need to be clearly articulated.Proofreading is a life skill. No matter if it is a dissertation or a covering letter for a job application, students need to emerge from universities equipped to proofread and critique their own work, and optimise it to its audience. Ensuring that students have the best opportunities possible to produce high-quality, thoroughly proofread work maximises their potential and enriches academic and graduate prospects.&nbsp;Allowing students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to flounder, simply because “they should know better”, benefits nobody.&nbsp;An easy fixA kinder, more effective approach to proofreading is not particularly difficult to implement.&nbsp;Standardise a proofreading policy and make it freely available to students. Facilitate understanding of what constitutes best practice and tailor that approach to institutional policy. Make guidance truly accessible and user-focused, dispensing with or clearly explaining technical terms within policy as written and explained.&nbsp;These ideas sound like common sense, yet our initiative shows that many UK institutions are failing to get them right.The QAA Project has created a website with available resources for institutions seeking to make improvements in this area, including downloadable resources such as a tips and tricks poster, a simple slide deck to guide students&nbsp; on developing their individual approach to proofreading and a podcast that also explores how institutions can respond to the emerging challenge of generative AI in a way that protects academic integrity without penalising students for using assistive technology effectively.By listening to students, institutions can improve the quality of their academic output, the employability of their graduates, focus resources on actually intentional misconduct, and improve the student experience.&nbsp;Our future reputations may depend on it.Sandie Dann is professor of materials chemistry and Kit Messinger is head of LSU Advice, both at Loughborough University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Proofreading is a life skill – let’s treat it like one

Universities shouldn’t assume their students know what proofreading is and how to do it. Here’s how to create a more inclusive learning environment – by listening to students

The framing of area-specific courses in political science education is always tricky due to the need to cater to both local and international students. Some students may be discouraged by barriers such as unfamiliarity with the region’s language and history, while others might focus solely on politics within their own region. Below are some of the strategies we have adopted in two Hong Kong-specific courses.Use of major theories and leading questionsIn our Hong Kong politics class, we highlight a major question relevant to each lecture topic to prompt students to analyse the underlying principles and dynamics that shape political behaviours, structures and outcomes in Hong Kong. The teaching team hopes to use overarching and debatable questions to allow students to think critically, engage actively with the material and focus their learning on key issues and debates within Hong Kong politics. This way, students are guided to uncover hidden connections, analyse contradictions and form nuanced perspectives. For example, in one session, we invite students to discuss the role of the civil service in Hong Kong’s political system and its accountability to the public.Incorporation of comparative theoriesStudents unfamiliar with the region of study can easily pick up and grasp the key ideas behind it if they are familiar with general theories in the field of comparative politics. This knowledge facilitates a theoretically grounded analysis and can amplify the impact of the study well beyond a single case. If Hong Kong supports an established theory, it can serve as evidence in broader political science literature. If it challenges the theory, it offers a basis for revision, which is a crucial element for pushing the field forward. For example, in a class on the chief executive of Hong Kong and the Executive Council, we introduce the ideas of presidential and parliamentary government commonly discussed in the scholarship and invite students to think about how applicable these ideas are in helping them to analyse Hong Kong’s unique executive-led political system and dynamics.Facilitation of cross-case comparisonsI, along with other teaching staff, encourage students to compare a compulsory case with another foreign and politically distinct one of their choice. This encourages local students to learn about foreign practices and international students to share insights from their own regions. It can enrich discussions and build connections between local and international students.Resource collection: Enhance student engagementDo you speak Gen Z or are you a noob?Teach and talk: encouraging student dialogue in classReview of relevant Wikipedia entriesWikipedia provides a vast repository of information that can offer students quick access to key concepts, events and figures related to Hong Kong politics. This can be particularly useful for students looking to grasp foundational knowledge quickly. Since Wikipedia entries are regularly updated to reflect the latest developments, students have access to real-time information on current Hong Kong-related issues. The extensive citations and references included in these entries allow students to conduct further in-depth research by themselves.Invitation of guest speakersWe have invited speakers representing different perspectives, ideologies and experiences in Hong Kong, including current and former bureaucrats, government officials and policy actors. Guest speakers provide first-hand insights that complement the theoretical knowledge presented in our public administration in Hong Kong course. They bring the learning material to life and spark meaningful in-class discussions. To ensure these interactions are valuable, we align the speakers’ expertise with the weekly course content and overarching learning objectives.Discussion and review of research projectsIn both Hong Kong courses, we run weekly group discussions on published and ongoing work by faculty members, graduate students and collaborators at other institutions. This allows students to stay informed about current trends, emerging issues and new perspectives within the discipline. Students can also understand how others use theoretical concepts and frameworks to analyse real-life political phenomena, which can bridge the gap between theory and practice. Furthermore, students can learn to critically analyse methodologies, data sources and findings about Hong Kong politics.Case memo writing and presentationIn our public administration in Hong Kong course, each student must produce two short case memos on the assigned weekly topics related to Hong Kong politics. The teaching team invites them to discuss a particular case that exemplifies a significant issue related to the topic, and students must propose a meaningful question that leads to an analysis that will illustrate some critical aspects of the relevant theoretical debates.&nbsp;Students have around four days to finish up the memo, and we invite three or four students to present theirs in the next class. The rest of the students ask questions and/or share comments on the memos via a Google Form during the lecture. We then screen the responses and select the most illustrative ones to discuss.These are just a selection of the strategies we use to cater to the backgrounds and expectations of both local and international students.Adrian Man-Ho Lam is a course tutor in the department of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Teaching region-specific political science courses

Strategies implemented in two Hong Kong-specific courses aim to ensure students unfamiliar with the region remain as engaged in the learning process as local students

Teaching region-specific political science courses: Hong Kong as a case study

In a data and AI-driven world, the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) is preparing students for the workforce by leveraging&nbsp;Tableau, a leading platform in business intelligence and data analytics. Recognising the importance of data skills across disciplines, Gaurav Shekhar, senior assistant dean of graduate programmes and assistant professor of instruction in information systems at the university, developed an experiential learning experience for its students. His efforts have helped strengthen his partnerships with industry leaders, creating more opportunities for UT Dallas and its students.Hands-on learning for real-world impactSince 2017, Shekhar has been making a significant impact at the Naveen Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas. His approach emphasises hands-on learning, using real-world examples to ignite students’ curiosity and creativity.Naseem Akbary and Rohan Springer are among the students who have benefited greatly from Shekhar’s course. "We’ve never had a course where we learn not just the theory but also how it’s applied in the industry,” Springer explains. Springer’s team analysed airline industry data to derive insights on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, enabling students to gain practical experience in data cleaning and analysis. Their hands-on experience with Tableau was a key topic during internship interviews, highlighting the critical role of data skills in today’s job market.Skill-building competitions and eventsUT Dallas complements classroom training with competitions and events. Shekhar serves as a faculty advisor for EnVision, a student organisation at UT Dallas dedicated to data visualisation. In September 2024, EnVision hosted a datathon, introducing Tableau to over 350 students.&nbsp;“EnVision provides opportunities for students to work with data from partnering companies and present to industry leaders in Dallas as part of the datathon,” says&nbsp;Digvijaysinh Gohil, a former UT Dallas student and EnVision leader. These activities enable students to interact with and gain insights from prospective employers.Gohil attributed his success in securing his first internship in the US to Tableau: “I got the job because of Tableau. In the interview, I showed the visualisation that I made during the EnVision boot camp where I learned Tableau.” This success story is a testament to the effectiveness of Shekhar’s hands-on learning approach and the value of practical experience.Industry collaboration for enhanced learningKarthik Kumar, chief operating officer of LendArch and a member of the business school advisory council at UT Dallas, emphasises the importance of practical skills: “The need for intelligent application of data and AI skills is crucial. It’s not just about having skills and education, but how these are applied in various industries,” says Kumar. “Intelligently using tools like large language models and generative AI is more valuable today than being a coder.”&nbsp;LendArch actively participates in UT Dallas events to connect with students and share real-world case studies. Such engagement helps companies identify and incorporate fresh perspectives from the next generation of talent. Impressed by the quality of talent at UT Dallas, LendArch is currently working on establishing a talent pipeline from the university. Through these industry partnerships, UT Dallas offers its students a valuable learning experience that leads to successful employment.The future of data and AI education“Since we started teaching Tableau nearly 10 years ago, the focus on data has grown exponentially,” Shekhar notes. “AI is bringing new excitement to analytics, and the industry’s strong adoption of these tools motivates us to continue integrating Tableau into our curriculum.”As data and AI become essential in every industry, incorporating business intelligence platforms like Tableau into education is crucial. Data and AI literacy prepare students to be resilient and adaptable in the face of future innovations, ensuring they are well-equipped for the evolving job market.To get started on improving your students’ data skills, visit&nbsp;Tableau for Teaching.

The University of Texas at Dallas uses Tableau to teach vital data skills to students and prepare them for their future careers

University of Texas at Dallas empowers students with data skills

Reading comments on social issues online often worries me because a lot of them tend to be judgmental and self-righteous.&nbsp;I often wonder why this happens and conclude that it stems from a lack of empathy.The author of The Everything Psychology Book, Kendra Cherry, defines empathy as “the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things from their point of view and imagine yourself in their place. Essentially, it is putting yourself in someone else’s position and feeling what they are feeling.” Empathy makes people less judgmental, and we can nurture this quality in students through various approaches.&nbsp;One is to expose our students to experiences that differ from their own. As a Japanese literature lecturer, I do so using literary works.&nbsp;These include Matsuda Aoko’s short story Kanojo ga Dekiru Koto (which means “What she can do”), which portrays a woman facing societal pressure after a divorce; Ichikawa Saou’s novel Hunchback, about the daily life of a disabled woman; and Kamatani Yuuki’s manga Shimanami Tasogare (which means “Twilight in Shimanami”), which follows a gay teenager’s struggle with identity. Through reading such works, students can start to think about the social issues they discuss and understand others’ life experiences. Other methods I use include:Encouraging students to express their thoughts and feelingsThe classroom should be a space where students can freely express their opinions without fear of being judged. To facilitate this, I give worksheets with questions for students to fill in after they’ve read a literary work. We then discuss these questions in class. One group takes turns presenting the results of their reading, and then the other students respond.&nbsp;The worksheet starts with basic questions that require lower-order thinking skills, such as identifying the characters, the setting, and the plot. The questions then progress to more complex prompts aimed at developing higher-order thinking skills. They cover how the characters in the story are described, why they are described that way and the subtext. When students express their opinions, I encourage them to speak up by emphasising that there is no wrong opinion or answer.Yes, empathy can be taught – here’s howWhy students and faculty alike need mental health first-aid trainingFive practical ways the literature classroom can help student careersInviting students to imagine themselves as characters in the storyThe worksheet also includes questions about whether the story made them feel happy, sad, angry or worried, encouraging them to explore these emotions. I also ask students to imagine themselves as the characters in the story. For example, when discussing the short story Kanojo Ga Dekiru Koto (“What she can do”), I ask students to visualise themselves as the protagonist, a divorced woman who is judged negatively and unsupported by the people around her. I then ask students to identify every emotion she might feel and then we discuss them.Get students to reflect on actions to takeAt the end of my lecture, I invite students to reflect on the issues discussed in the literary work. For example, after reading the novel Hunchback by Ichikawa Saou, I ask students to consider whether they and the communities they belong to have shown empathy towards people with disabilities and then about steps they can take to better the situation for these people. These steps don’t need to be grand; small but concrete actions work well, such as reading more literary works about people with disabilities, showing empathy to marginalised individuals, and refraining from posting critical comments on social media.&nbsp;Although we are still far from a just and equal society, using literature classes to foster empathy in our students is a small step that we can take towards creating a society that shows respect and empathy to all.Rouli Esther is a lecturer in Japanese literature at the University of Indonesia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered directly to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Using literature to increase students’ empathy

Asking students to reflect on emotions through literary works can enhance their empathy. Here are some tried and tested methods

When I first considered integrating professional certifications into our curriculum, the primary goal was clear: to help students connect their learning with real-world industry demands. It made sense – these certifications would provide tangible proof of their skills, something they could proudly display on a CV or during a job interview.What truly surprised me, however, was the ripple effect that followed. Students didn’t just attend the module – they dove into the content with newfound enthusiasm. Discussions became more vibrant, curiosity more contagious and soon the numbers spoke for themselves. Engagement and student outcomes improved, and overall satisfaction reached new heights. It was a transformation I hadn’t expected, but was deeply rewarding to witness.In the following sections, I’ll share the key insights I gained from incorporating the Bloomberg Professional Certification as a summative assessment in a final-year economics of money, banking and finance class.Students are apprehensive about new assignment approaches but it drives engagementFinal-year students, in particular, tend to be laser-focused on their degree classifications. With so much at stake, they often shy away from anything that feels uncertain or unconventional. So, when I introduced a new approach to assessment, their initial response was cautious. Many students voiced their concerns, wondering if this method had been thoroughly tested and researched. Their hesitation was palpable.The ‘above average’ illusion: tackling overconfidence in the classroomWhy we need a new model for professional development credentialsA good practice guide for student business placementsUnderstanding their apprehension, I knew that providing consistent support would be key to easing their concerns. After each lecture, I set aside 30 minutes every week in the Bloomberg room, helping students open accounts and navigate the course. Slowly but surely, the atmosphere began to change. The students who first took the plunge with the certification returned with a newfound confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Word spread and soon they were helping their peers get started, their nervousness replaced by a sense of camaraderie and optimism.This shift in mindset didn’t just help them with the certification – it transformed the entire classroom dynamic. Our early interactions built a foundation of trust and students became more engaged, more willing to participate in seminars and more open to taking risks in their learning.Module outcomes improve, but students need more support throughout the term and beyondThe adoption of Bloomberg software has been gradual, with only about 60 per cent of students registering for a Bloomberg account and beginning the certification process by the end of the term. As a result, on-campus office hours had to be extended beyond the Easter break, particularly in the days leading up to submission deadlines, as many students procrastinated. However, providing more support during the term helped save time during the marking period.&nbsp;Bloomberg automatically issues a grade out of 100 per cent upon completion, which simplifies the transfer of results to summative grades. The marking process is based on multiple-choice questions and my class achieved a 100 per cent pass rate.&nbsp;Non-submission rates also improved, decreasing from 21 per cent to 10 per cent compared with the previous year’s single-piece assessment. This evidence suggests that the Bloomberg certificate assessment setting encourages higher completion rates. In the current educational climate, improving module completion is crucial for universities’ success, and reducing resit rates is equally important for educators, as it alleviates the pressure of marking and administering resits.&nbsp;Professional certificates like these not only help students learn industry-relevant material but also contribute positively to higher education sector metrics.Student satisfaction grows as they see tangible benefits for their prospective careersThird-year students are focused on their degree classification and future careers, so new initiatives should directly and positively impact both.Earning a professional certificate by the end of the module is a clear, tangible outcome that enhances their CVs. When introducing new software, remind students of this benefit regularly, ideally on a weekly basis, to keep their motivation high.&nbsp;To further support this initiative, I offer a field trip to the Bloomberg building and introduce Bloomberg as a potential employer, an opportunity many students are unaware of. The combination of a field trip and the Bloomberg certification is an effective way to demonstrate the relevance of the certificate. It maintains high motivation, creates a positive classroom atmosphere and ultimately drives student satisfaction.&nbsp;Additionally, students can realistically achieve a 100 per cent mark on the Bloomberg certification’s multiple-choice questions, which can significantly boost their module marks. Students appreciate that the marks are objective and directly reflect their effort and willingness to study. This assignment structure gives students a sense of control over their grades in an achievable way, while also offering the added benefits of enhancing their CVs and exploring potential career paths.Professional certification helps improve student engagement, outcomes and satisfaction, making the module a memorable experience.&nbsp;Ekaterina Ipatova is a senior lecturer in finance at the University of Roehampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Ways professional certifications can boost student outcomes

Professional certifications not only align students’ skills with real-world industry demands but can also lead to unexpected improvements in academic outcomes. Ekaterina Ipatova shares how her students responded to this innovative mode of assessment

Three ways professional certifications can boost student outcomes

While students talking and giving opinions in class sounds good in theory, such participation is more complicated in Thai courses. Social and cultural norms mean that students do not see vocalisation and contributing to how class is managed as part of their individual learning needs. Many prefer to participate silently and trust what the teacher presents. While this teacher-led approach may be appropriate in secondary school, at the tertiary level, undergraduates need to start taking ownership of their own education and development. This involves not just doing prescribed activities and understanding the material but also taking responsibility for their learning. University students must share their interests, suggest topics for the course, and look for ways to use the material in the future. In short, they must build maturity. Two questions I have been asking my undergraduate students over the semester revolve around class ownership – that is, who is responsible for class activities and content? Specifically, for first-year students in a study skills course, the question is framed as: “How can you make the class better?” I ask: “How can you...” because these learners are still new to the university and may not know or be aware that students can, and should, contribute to class management, materials and more. For my third-year students (business writing), the question is framed as: “How are you making the class better?” Having been at university for two years, they are, hopefully, aware that their ideas count.&nbsp;In both cases, the prompts for answering the questions start with: “I can...” or “I am...”.&nbsp;Campus webinar: The art of bringing creativity and fun into the classroomUsing emotions to boost learningUniversities owe it to society to produce good citizensA generational shift and social changes are clearly visible among cohorts – as are the effects, in my opinion, of the daily hours that Gen Z reportedly spend on social media. Whereas the pre-2000 generation were happy to take ownership and responsibility for their class activity, many Gen Zs seem to actively avoid or try to delay more mature aspects of their education. So, asking the students how they are making the class better softens the impact of adulthood on students who may not have been taught about maturing elsewhere. When students need to discuss their writing, for example, it can be difficult and painful for them.Asking students about how to make things better helps to develop their sense of responsibility, accountability and critical thinking, among other academic skills. Students also need to develop skills that are relevant for a world of work that is changing rapidly, and as they will face the demand to be continuously upskilling – they also need to be mature enough to take responsibility for their own learning. By focusing on the students’ roles and getting them involved in the class, there is sharing and balance between students and educator. Students learn from the teacher, the material, each other and, more importantly, themselves. Teachers gain from the students such insights as what material to prepare, how to present the material, and what activities are suitable for the class. By asking students how they can make, or have made, the class better, the more proactive students start to ask questions about what is, or is not, possible. These discussions centre on developing and making the most out of the new environment. Although they are issued a student handbook, many students do not bother to read it, and so are unaware of the possibilities of their university experience.&nbsp;Undergraduate years are a time for exploring what is possible, with mature guidance from lecturers. I have come to realise that asking questions and letting students explore possible answers and solutions does achieve this purpose.&nbsp;My first-year students have mixed feelings. Ranging from shock of knowing that they can influence their learning to lethargy in wanting the simplicity of just being told what to do. Too often, lecturers focus on providing content rather than letting the students discover the content. There is some validity in this, as many students do not read or have the skills to explore themselves. What we lecturers need to do is not change the principle of having students find out for themselves but examine how we achieve that goal. For proactive students, these discussions have been a welcome change because it helps them feel ownership of their education and the road to autonomy. My class is one of the few where students are explicitly treated as adults and listened to.&nbsp;Being asked to critically reflect on their activities is, at first, uncomfortable and challenging for the majority. Instead of venting against someone, the focus is on themselves. Many 20-year-old third-year university students openly say they are not young adults and should not be expected to be adults. Lecturers need to give students the space to carry their part of the burden. Take reading assignments; if the students do not read before they come to class to discuss, we have a boring, quiet class. While uncomfortable for most students, the pushback helps develop character, awareness, learning skills and maturity. It is difficult, but I do this. And the rewards are worthwhile for the students who make the effort. Admittedly, about two-thirds of my third-year class rarely attend, but a critical mass of interest exists. Attendees and I enjoy the class, learn and grow. Shared class information on Google Classroom gives those who do not show up material that they can use to pass the course, but the real learning occurs in the class. Ultimately, it is about showing students the importance of owning things they can influence. With ownership comes responsibility. Developing skills for a changing world is hard, but the role of universities is to ensure the fundamentals are there. With ownership and responsibility, innovation occurs, as problems are viewed from different perspectives. Eventually, leadership develops. This is a great start for students. The basic knowledge and skills needed for future innovation are developed.Lecturers must find ways to stimulate learning and prepare graduates for professional life. Framing questions around ownership helps guide students to the maturity needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mariano “Mario” Carrera is a lecturer&nbsp;in the International College at King Mongkut’s University of Technology, North Bangkok.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Questions to encourage undergraduates to contribute to class content or in discussion help them develop skills for academia and the workplace. Mariano Carrera shares his experience from teaching in Thailand

‘Students need to take responsibility for class participation’

Presentation delivery is a common assessment method in higher education. Presentations have become more sophisticated in recent years, incorporating multimedia and other functionalities, but the most common type still involves students presenting with slides as visual aids. While running a master’s TESOL module, I’ve found that this traditional type of presentation elicits little engagement among our cohorts of mainly Chinese students.&nbsp;In my experience, if students are required to watch others’ presentations, they tend to not listen. Presentations arranged outside class hours often feel like they are done for the sake of assessment, and this approach is not feasible for larger student cohorts. It is also difficult for students to get effective feedback. Having students evaluate each other in front of the class might be embarrassing, especially if comments are negative. Although anonymous peer feedback is an option, in my experience, students tend not to engage with it or make superficial comments.A new assessment strategyLast academic year, after a discussion with my head of department, I arranged a poster presentation assessment. This required students to work in pairs and design a poster that demonstrated their knowledge of the topic at hand. This assessment aimed to invoke their higher-order thinking skills by having them explore how recent trending topics in TESOL (such as positive psychology, technology and social justice) bring new insights to language assessment practices.&nbsp;Students needed to submit an electronic poster and an unedited video-recorded presentation accompanying the poster. They then needed to print the posters to be attached to classroom walls/whiteboards during live sessions. The other students and I walked around the room, looking at each poster and asking presenters questions which developed into conversations.&nbsp;I marked them based on both video presentation quality and live interaction with me. This dual assessment ensured ample time for live interaction as well as accurate marking on full presentation content. For interactions, I assessed their familiarity with the content and ability to handle questions, a skill relevant to the teaching positions most of them would pursue after graduation. &nbsp;Resource collection: English as a second language in higher educationWays to empower EAP students to give high-quality feedbackEffective ways to keep online language students motivatedFostering feedback and long-term impactTo encourage more peer feedback, I made a detailed feedback timetable. There were three presentation sessions in total. I asked the following week’s presenters to fill in feedback sheets for the presenters during each session. This ensured all students gave feedback and received input from four to five pairs in addition to the feedback they received during their presentations. In addition, I required all students to submit a report detailing their interaction with the presenters as part of follow-up coursework, so they knew that participation was tied to assessment as well.To motivate students and prolong the long-term impact, my department, which hosted an international applied linguistics conference during the semester, offered students the opportunity to be invited to present their posters at the conference. In the end, 12 pairs with the best posters presented their work.Reflections and further suggestionsThis initiative was successful, fostering more communication between students during the poster sessions compared with traditional presentations. Some students also said the sessions were enjoyable, and they learned a lot from each other. Tips to make these kinds of assessments work well:Use icebreakers to foster a positive learning culture among students and help them develop higher-order thinking skillsPrepare detailed assessment guidelines. I provided a two-page document outlining the requirements, including the task prompt, example presentation titles, suggested poster components and logistical details. I also shared two technical guides on video recording and poster making, and some examples of academic postersConsider the department’s overall assessment strategies to prevent student fatigue. If every other module required a poster presentation, students would hate it!Experiment with variations. Vlogs, booths in public spaces showcasing multimedia student work, talk shows or creative art are some other effective assessment options.&nbsp;Qingyang Sun is an assistant professor in the applied linguistics department at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Engaging students through poster presentations: a case study

Read about how a poster presentation task can promote students’ engagement with course content and each other

Feedback is among the most powerful tools in educators’ professional development toolkit. But this power is limited when – in closely attending to the type, amount or timeliness of the advice we give – we neglect&nbsp;how students engage with it. Recognising this point, effective feedback is increasingly seen as a dialogue, in which students have&nbsp;responsibility for seeking information and then making sense of and applying it.Other transformations to higher education, though, are making constructive dialogue between educators and students rarer and more challenging. We wanted to understand whether the approach of treating feedback as a two-way street could survive and thrive when educator dialogue may increasingly be at a premium. And,&nbsp;as part of our ongoing project, we were willing to go to prison to find out.The challenges of feedback from afar We recently visited four high-security prisons in Queensland, Australia, where we spoke with about 60 incarcerated people studying higher education programmes in some of the most distanced and asynchronous modes of learning imaginable. Although some of these prisoners use&nbsp;digital learning technologies that simulate an “online” learning experience, they have no access to the internet nor direct interaction with their lecturers. Here, the reality of feedback is that it is a one-way street, with rare chances for discussion, clarification or recourse.These incarcerated people are not your typical students, but we sought to understand their experiences of receiving feedback as extreme forms of otherwise common experiences in mainstream higher education. If feedback can be made effective in a high-security prison, we thought, then it can work for those students who ever more frequently study online, at a distance and flexibly, or those who for various reasons&nbsp;opt not to attend lectures on campus, and learn asynchronously around other commitments.&nbsp;What students told us ‘good’ feedback means to themReframing feedback as a valuable learning toolWhy we should be giving feedback via videoThe availability of these alternative modes of learning&nbsp;has become important for supporting equity, widening access to higher education among students living in remote areas, those with certain disabilities, employment or caring responsibilities, and others who formerly faced challenges to accessing universities’ campuses.&nbsp;Asynchronous learning offers students additional flexibility, enabling study with minimal – or perhaps even no – direct interactions between students and educators. But how can we ensure our feedback is used proactively by students whom we might never meet, when dialogue is rarer, more detached and increasingly mediated by technology?&nbsp;The research literature on feedback in distance and flexible learning contexts offers plenty of evidence on how to give learners the highest-quality advice, but says little about how we support those learners to engage with and extract value from it. In the absence of clear answers to these questions, we therefore risk sliding back towards weaker, one-directional approaches to feedback. All we can promise these students – one might reason – is that they’ll receive good and timely advice. We must then cross our fingers that it hits the mark. As one experienced distance educator put it to us: “You just have to hope they are self-directing.” Looking for answers ‘behind bars’Relying on students to self-direct their engagement with feedback without support is, in our experience, a huge gamble. This is an underestimated and extraordinarily difficult skill for anyone to master. The incarcerated students we spoke with echoed common frustrations with feedback that we hear from mainstream student populations: they struggled to understand the advice, didn’t know what to do with it, felt ill-equipped to do what was advised, and felt demotivated and unenthused. But the prison context gave each of these challenges a distinct flavour. Free time for engaging with feedback was the one thing these students had in abundance, and yet most described the feedback as unworthy of their time. Their lack of opportunities for dialogue, combined with having few resources for managing their understanding of and expectations around feedback, magnified these students’ feelings of isolation, confusion and self-doubt. And when the high pressure they put on themselves to excel was not rewarded with high grades, they found themselves lacking strategies for transforming their disappointment into fuel for future success.Understanding incarcerated students’ challenges helped us to envisage the kinds of tools that could equip them – and anyone studying autonomously, asynchronously or at a distance – to make the most of feedback when dialogue is less readily available. Indeed, we concluded from these discussions that the missing link is not educator dialogue per se, but scaffolding. We must teach our students ways of finding meaning and value in feedback, even when it is unclear or not constructive. They need ways to decide what to do next and to stay motivated when feedback seems contradictory or non-specific, and ways of confidently evaluating their own progress when feedback is infrequent, untimely or brief. But ultimately, the tools and resources we provide as scaffolds must equip students to use these techniques by themselves, independently.&nbsp;Students might benefit, for example, from initially organising their feedback based on the level of effort each comment requires, how clearly they understand it or the emotional reaction it evokes. So, interactive tools that simplify this organising process, and guidance resources that then point students to targeted ways of handling the different comment sets, could be invaluable scaffolds. Likewise, peers can support students in recognising and moving beyond their knee-jerk reactions to feedback that is confusing or critical of their work. Yet our prison discussions reminded us not to take for granted that students know how to make their conversations with peers constructive rather than merely cathartic. Could self-directed, interactive activities assist them to formulate better probing questions that evoke more challenging perspectives from their peers? Scaffolding, again, is key, and through our current project we are starting to develop some of these tools.Our aim in making these arguments is neither to deny the value or importance of dialogic feedback where educator dialogue is possible nor to excuse poor-quality or neglectful feedback. Rather, we must discourage a false dichotomy between dialogic feedback and poor feedback. As our average student becomes more distant, and our relationship with them less dialogic, designing learning environments that scaffold their active engagement with feedback is becoming a more – not less – important priority.Robert Nash is&nbsp;head of psychological research at the&nbsp;National Institute of Teaching in the UK, visiting associate professor&nbsp;in the&nbsp;School of Psychology at Aston University, UK, and associate editor of&nbsp;Applied Cognitive Psychology. Kieran Balloo is an adjunct senior research fellow in the&nbsp;Institute for Resilient Regions at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, and a visiting senior research fellow in the&nbsp;Surrey Institute of Education at the University of Surrey, UK.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered directly to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Whether they are behind a computer screen or behind bars, all students need support with making effective use of feedback – whether or not the process is a two-way street

As students become more ‘distant’, can feedback still hit the mark?

In light of rapid social and technological changes, many universities may be planning a review of their curriculum framework. For example, one in six undergraduates experience mental health challenges – so institutions need to consider how their curriculum can support students’ well-being. Likewise, institutions need to help students develop the generative AI literacy they’ll need to prepare them for future employment. Here, I’ll offer six tips for undertaking an institutional curriculum framework review.&nbsp;Retain, reframe or remove?If your institution has an existing curriculum framework then it is important to initially consider whether elements should be a) retained; b) reframed; or c) removed. Seek feedback from your university community members, including academics, third space practitioners, professional service representatives and students, to help inform decision making.&nbsp;Creating a virtual pinboard can be an efficient and effective means of collating community reflections, along with suggestions for future content.&nbsp;Applying the Conversational Framework using an online learning design toolResource collection: A framework for learning in seven principlesEmotions and learning: what role do emotions play in how and why students learn?Similarly, facilitating in-person or online discussion sessions can be a good way to launch a review and encourage community engagement. Establish what the current (and future) institutional education and student experience strategic priorities are. By way of an example, we recently found a clear need to retain an employability strand in a new curriculum framework in line with the University of Bedfordshire commitment to delivering “career-powered education”. The previous focus of this strand, however, needed to be adjusted to reflect new education and student experience priorities related to “career readiness and advancement”, “graduate competencies”, “work-related and work-based learning” and “real-world challenges and global perspectives”. In contrast, we removed reference to the concept of “learning styles” from the framework based on both academic staff feedback and a lack of associated evidence, despite it being a popular concept among some educators.Segment stakeholder consultation&nbsp;Given the significance of a curriculum framework, there will likely be many volunteers keen to contribute. But it’s not possible, nor necessarily appropriate, to facilitate the same level of input from all volunteers. Instead, conceptualise stakeholder (academics, students and professional services staff) input in terms of “vital”, “necessary”, “good” and “courteous”, as outlined in Patrick Mayfield’s Practical People Engagement.&nbsp;In practice, this could mean appointing an overarching review lead (or leads), who would establish an extended authorship team of “vital” colleagues to co-lead on drafting a new framework. As drafts are developed, they can then be shared with a wider group of “necessary” colleagues for comment. Follow this up by presenting a more completed draft of the framework at school and departmental meetings (“good” stakeholders) for further feedback. “Courtesy” engagement can be achieved through working with an internal communication team to share progress updates, for instance via an all-staff newsletter.&nbsp;Design with audience in mind&nbsp;Once curriculum framework content is finalised, work with an experienced designer to produce associated visuals. Given the range of stakeholders who will engage with a framework, it’s worth developing alternative versions tailored to different audiences.&nbsp;At Bedfordshire, there are two versions of the curriculum framework. A “tutor” version details each framework strand and associated sub-elements. In contrast, based on discussions with our&nbsp;Students’ Union, we created a&nbsp;“learner” version infographic that just details the main strands. This infographic provides a basic introduction to the university’s overarching approach to teaching, learning and course design. Should learners want to explore the framework in more detail, they are able to access the tutor version.&nbsp;Continue the discussion&nbsp;Hosting an institutional launch event(s) provides an excellent opportunity to showcase a finalised curriculum framework. Not all stakeholders will attend such an event, of course, so ensure that there are several opportunities to share the new framework and discuss its application. An annual learning and teaching conference would provide an excellent recurrent opportunity to revisit and consider application of your new framework.&nbsp;Similarly, course enhancement planning events are a more focused opportunity to explore how a curriculum framework should inform the development of courses with course leaders. Work with a quality and standards team to make sure that there are formal processes for course teams to critically reflect on how the framework has been used. This could be a reflective statement in new course approval or course modification paperwork, followed up at quality panel discussions.&nbsp;Support for adoption&nbsp;An institutional centralised learning and teaching unit will be well placed to provide an integrated programme of training and support for the adoption of a new curriculum framework. At a minimum, this should include self-directed guidance and readings related to operationalising a framework. Academic development sessions, offered as part of a centralised training programme, can also be helpful.Offer more targeted and bespoke development opportunities, such as curriculum consultancy activities in which members of a centralised learning and teaching team work in partnership with course teams to address specific curriculum development needs. Bespoke arrangements like these make it easier to provide support at a time when all members of a course team can meaningfully engage.Keep analysis in mind&nbsp;Set up mechanisms to assess the impact of a new curriculum framework. Perhaps seek initial feedback via student voice channels (such as course representatives or via unit feedback exercises), which could be tailored to address a specific strand(s) or sub-element(s) of a curriculum framework.&nbsp;Longer term, insights into the impact on learning and student experience could be captured through student outcome data (for example, Office for Students’ condition&nbsp;B3) or via student surveys (such as&nbsp;NSS or&nbsp;PTES). Additionally, a programme of educational research projects might be used to more robustly examine specific aspects of framework adoption and impact. In England, findings from such research could provide valuable evidence for a future&nbsp;Teaching Excellence Framework provider submission.&nbsp;Any curriculum framework must be periodically revisited and updated to ensure that it continues to deliver for both students and course teams. It is my hope that the tips above will help those embarking on a curriculum framework review journey.&nbsp;Steve Briggs is director of learning and teaching excellence at the University of Bedfordshire.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Six tips when undertaking a curriculum framework review 

For a curriculum framework to deliver for both students and educators, it must be regularly updated. Here are six things to remember when embarking on a framework review

Is empathy innate?Empathy is “something you have either got, or you haven’t”. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If true, these words from senior midwife and independent investigator Donna Ockenden could spell disaster for patient care.&nbsp;Her own landmark investigation into the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust revealed how devastating a lack of empathy can be, documenting case after case where emotional disconnection led to harm and distress.The stakes couldn’t be higher. NHS ombudsman Bob Behrens points to a “deep-seated lack of empathy” in medicine as a likely cause of preventable deaths. In one heartbreaking case, a woman with smoking-related heart disease lost her life prematurely after refusing medical care, driven away by what she experienced as practitioners’ cold indifference. The verdict was clear: with more empathetic care, she might be alive today.If empathy cannot be taught, the benefits of enhanced empathy will be harder to reap. When practitioners enhance their empathy skills, patients need less morphine. They leave hospital sooner. Their pain levels drop. Satisfaction soars. Most striking of all – among diabetic patients, mortality rates fall.&nbsp;These aren’t soft outcomes; they’re hard clinical endpoints that save lives. Also, the benefits flow both ways: practitioners who develop greater empathy report increased well-being and a renewed sense of purpose in their calling to care for others.If Ockenden is right, we’re stuck with the status quo where lack of empathy continues to harm patients, and its benefits cannot be realised.Why people think empathy can’t be taught“You can never truly feel what another person feels.” This common refrain leads many to dismiss empathy as unteachable. But it fundamentally misunderstands what therapeutic empathy means in healthcare. A nurse caring for a furious patient shouldn’t mirror that anger. A doctor treating someone experiencing intense grief doesn’t need to plunge into despair themselves. Clinical empathy is far more practical: it’s about curiosity, understanding and taking helpful action.Taking trust to the next level in healthcare assessmentScience-backed mental health techniques for students’ well-beingWhy students and faculty alike need mental health first-aid trainingThink of empathy like musical ability. Some people naturally carry a tune better than others. Women often display higher baseline empathy than men, shaped by both genetics and social conditioning, just as cultural exposure to music gives some children a head start. But believing that these starting points determine our destiny would be like telling a tone-deaf person they can never learn to sing. Just as a nervous novice can become a better singer, healthcare practitioners can develop stronger empathy through dedicated training.Teaching empathy changes behaviour: the evidence is clearImagine a new drug that consistently improved patient outcomes across 26 separate clinical trials. Medical journals would trumpet the breakthrough. Guidelines would be rewritten overnight. Yet we have something equally powerful: empathy training for healthcare practitioners. Twenty-six randomised controlled trials show not only that empathy training changes practitioner behaviour, but that these new behaviours benefit patients and practitioners alike.Best of all? This transformation doesn’t require years of intensive training. Take the BATHE method, an elegant five-step approach that guides practitioners through understanding a patient’s&nbsp;Background, exploring how they’re&nbsp;Affected emotionally, identifying what&nbsp;Troubles them most, learning&nbsp;How they’re coping, and responding with an&nbsp;Empathic message.&nbsp;Simple, yet powerful enough to change the trajectory of care. In healthcare, we demand evidence before adopting new practices. With empathy training, that evidence is overwhelming. The question isn’t whether it we can teach it; it is why we aren’t teaching it more consistently.Tips for teaching empathy (and a few easy skills to teach)You need to know your audience and identify specific problems that are caused by lack of empathy in their setting. When I shifted from teaching general practitioners to midwives, I discovered that different contexts demand different examples. The key is to ground your teaching in evidence-based methods – not just because they work but because healthcare practitioners respect data. Show them the research, and you’ll transform sceptics into believers.But here’s the secret: learning empathy shouldn’t feel like another box-ticking exercise in the endless parade of mandatory training. Make it come alive with quizzes, learning games and caption competitions. Let practitioners discover that enhancing their emotional intelligence can be energising rather than draining.The beauty of empathy lies in how simple yet powerful its basic techniques can be. Three transformative practices take mere seconds:1. Encourage practitioners to introduce themselves by name – creating an immediate human connection.2.&nbsp;Have practitioners sit down beside the patient instead of standing up – a small gesture that patients perceive as giving them more time.3. Encourage practitioners to provide a truthful, positive message of hope, even if it is just: “We are going to do our best to take care of you.”If we discovered a drug that could ease pain, speed healing, boost practitioner well-being and save lives, we wouldn’t debate whether to use it, we’d make it standard practice. We have that breakthrough. It’s called empathy. We can teach it. We can measure it. And in a healthcare system under pressure, we must make it a cornerstone of medical education.Jeremy Howick is director of the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare at the University of Leicester.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Find out how evidence-based methods can be used to provide empathy training, bringing huge potential benefits for healthcare outcomes and busting the myth that it can’t be taught

Yes, empathy can be taught – here’s how

With adaptive learning platforms and automated administrative tasks now commonplace, artificial intelligence (AI) is no newcomer to the world of education. But one area that is sparking debate is its potential role in marking student assessments. Could AI save educators valuable time or does it risk compromising the human element central to learning?&nbsp;The arguments for turning grading over to AI include time management and consistency, but these should be weighed against factors such as ethical implications and AI hallucinations. Perhaps there is a middle ground, where AI could act as a lecturer’s assistant rather than a replacement?When I put AI to the test – as outlined further on in this article – the results were illuminating. But first let’s look at general arguments for and against.Five reasons to support the use of AI for markingEfficiency and time-saving Marking is labour-intensive. AI systems can process thousands of essays or exams in minutes, freeing lecturers to focus on more impactful tasks, such as providing direct support to students.Consistency and objectivity Unlike human graders, AI doesn’t get fatigued or apply varying standards. When fed clear marking criteria, AI uses a level of consistent application across all submissions. This objectivity could be especially valuable in contentious situations, such as grading disputes, as students can trust that their work is assessed against fixed standards.Enhanced feedback quality AI can provide detailed, tailored feedback. Tools such as Grammarly or Turnitin not only flag errors but also explain them, offering students a clearer path to improvement.Mental health benefits for educators Grading load can lead to stress and burnout among educators. By automating repetitive tasks, AI may allow academics to allocate their time and energy more effectively, reducing mental strain and improving work-life balance.Eliminating human bias AI has the potential to support fair assessment. However, it can also inherit and amplify biases present in its training data. Careful design and auditing of AI systems are essential to mitigate this risk.Five drawbacks and challenges when using AI for markingLack of human insight One significant concern is the absence of human intuition and nuance. AI may struggle to evaluate subjective elements such as creativity, critical thinking or the ability to synthesise complex ideas. For disciplines that thrive on nuanced interpretation – such as literature or philosophy – AI might miss the mark entirely, and in subjects like business and marketing, criticality is crucial.Risk of inaccuracies AI systems are not immune to errors. They may misinterpret ambiguous language, fail to grasp cultural or contextual nuances or provide feedback that, while confident, is inaccurate (a phenomenon known as “AI hallucination”). Such mistakes could undermine trust in the grading process.Ethical and transparency issues Using AI for grading raises ethical questions, such as whether it’s fair for educators to rely on AI while students are often restricted from using similar tools or if students should be informed if AI is grading their work. Transparency helps maintain trust, yet revealing AI use could lead to pushback.&nbsp;Perception and acceptance Complaints might arise if students feel the human touch is missing or if they believe their work hasn’t received the nuanced attention it deserves. This could lead to an uptick in appeals and challenges from students and families.Is AI a time-saver? While AI can process assignments quickly, educators often need to review its output to ensure accuracy. If the AI misinterprets the marking scheme or provides incomplete feedback, the time spent correcting these issues could negate the intended efficiency gains.Experimenting with AI in assessment gradingExploring the potential of AI in grading, I put theory into practice. I uploaded my assessment rubric to ChatGPT-4 and compared the AI tool’s grading with my own. The results were instructive. The AI over-scored by as much as 20 per cent. While this gap highlighted current limitations, it also revealed a valuable opportunity: whether AI could be trained to better align with human judgement.Spotlight: AI and assessment in higher educationWe use ChatGPT to give feedback on students’ abstractsSpotlight guide: Bringing GenAI into the university classroomThrough iterative learning, I guided the AI to reflect on its grading in comparison with mine. Over time, this process produced grades that more closely matched. However, challenges persisted. The AI frequently exhibited “hallucinations”, fabricating details and incorrectly commenting on elements of student work. These inaccuracies, coupled with a tendency towards overconfidence, required constant double-checking. So, instead of saving time, the experiment often demanded additional effort to verify and correct the AI’s output.Given these limitations, I concluded that AI is far from ready to take over the grading process entirely. However, as an assistive tool, it holds promise. With careful training and human oversight, AI can complement educators’ efforts, offering a glimpse of its potential to enhance the grading process rather than replace it.Is AI an assistant or a replacement?A balanced approach may lie in using AI as a tool to assist educators rather than replace them. Here are potential models:The AI sandwich: human input frames the task, AI provides initial grading or feedback, and the lecturer reviews and finalises the process.&nbsp;Training AI to understand academic judgement: by feeding AI large datasets of graded assignments across various levels, it could learn to mimic human grading patterns. However, this requires extensive time and resources and rigorous oversight to ensure reliability.Using AI for exemplars and rubrics: AI could generate examples of work at different grade levels, helping both students and educators better understand expectations.&nbsp;The way forwardAs AI evolves, the question isn’t whether it should play a role in grading but how that role should be defined. Key considerations include:Clear guidelines: universities must establish transparent policies outlining when and how AI can be used in grading.Ethical oversight: institutions should ensure AI use aligns with principles of fairness and equity.Continuous monitoring: regular evaluation of AI’s performance and impact on student outcomes is essential to refine its application.Staff training: educators must be equipped with the skills to effectively integrate AI into their workflows, understanding its capabilities and limitations.AI has the potential to revolutionise grading, offering speed, consistency and detailed feedback. However, its limitations and ethical implications cannot be overlooked. A collaborative approach – where AI acts as an assistant rather than a replacement – may strike the right balance, preserving the human touch that remains integral to education. Ultimately, the goal should be to enhance the learning experience for students while supporting educators in their vital roles.Rohim Mohammed is a lecturer of digital marketing at University College Birmingham.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve speed, consistency and detail in feedback for educators grading students’ assignments, writes Rohim Mohammed. Here he lists the pros and cons based on his experience

Will AI revolutionise marking?

While there is no generally accepted definition of the term “reflection”, Malcolm Tight, in his paper Reflection: an assessment and critique of a pervasive trend in higher education, asserts that it “has become widely accepted […] as a useful, even essential, tool”. It is a prominent feature in programmes related to careers in teaching, social work, business and nursing, among others.&nbsp;The importance of reflection, according to the writings of Sanna Hilden and Kati Tikkamäki in Reflective practice as a fuel for organizational learning, rests on “a broad consensus among learning theorists that reflection is at the core of adult learning and professional growth, transformation and empowerment”. In recognition of its significance, a wealth of support is available to help students practically engage in reflection in the form of published guides, online videos, training programmes and toolkits.&nbsp;Of concern is the research by Cecilia Chan and Katherine Lee in Reflection literacy: a multilevel perspective on the challenges of using reflections in higher education through a comprehensive literature review, which has identified a suite of interrelated barriers across several levels: “teacher-pedagogical, institutional and sociocultural”, that can hinder efforts when prompting the use of reflection at the tertiary level.&nbsp;Of interest to this resource is the “core” level of student learning where a number of factors contribute to learners becoming what Anne de la Croix and Mario Veen call “reflective zombies” who are unable to engage in truly reflective behaviour. These include:&nbsp;Poor learner motivation, this being fuelled by time constraints and negative attitudes, and&nbsp;A lack of understanding/ability to engage in reflection, this being fuelled by language proficiency issues, and poor knowledge and skills.To counter the above, I advocate the use of directional reflection by lecturers to stimulate students’ evaluative thinking.What is directional reflection?Jessica Robinson’s excellent blog post Exploring Different Types of Reflection Models with Examples aptly acknowledges various models of reflection that have been proposed to help individuals “reflect on their past experiences and […] work on their&nbsp;self-improvement”. A good number of these are cyclical in their design, with each one using a number of stages, phases, lenses or questions to prompt a continuous cycle of improvement for a repeated or stand-alone experience. The visual presentation of these various reflective cycles is the inspiration for directional reflection given that they typically use a series of arrows to signal the direction (sequence) in which reflectors (those undertaking reflection) are to engage with the selected cycle.&nbsp;With it being generally assumed that arrows are a universally understood symbol, I believe that these can be used as a type of graphical shorthand to engage students by way of an illustrative example in a small verbal or written group evaluation of a taught unit or module. The direction of selected arrows signals stages from Graham Gibbs’ well-known reflective cycle in Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods.Reflective stage / prompt (adapted)&nbsp;&nbsp;ArrowWritten descriptionVerbal reflective prompt&nbsp;Evaluation: What was good and bad about the unit/module?↑Arrow pointing in an upward direction (to symbolise something that was successful or was perceived as being positive)&nbsp;“What was good about the taught unit?”↓Arrow pointing in a downward direction (to symbolise something that was disapproved of or was perceived as being negative)“What was not so good about the taught unit?”Action plan: What should be done differently?&nbsp;↗Arrow pointing diagonally in an upward right direction (to symbolise a progressional “flight path” for future development)&nbsp;“What could be done better next time the taught unit is delivered?”Put simply, directional reflection can be facilitated by offering students three visual prompts (arrows) on a piece of folded (zig-zag) A4 paper or generated by a cardboard spinning top that encourages them to target key aspects of the unit/module to aid the evaluation process. By reflecting in response to the direction of the arrow (up for good, down for not so good (bad), diagonally upward right for improvement), students can focus their evaluative thinking on what worked well (strengths), what could be improved (weaknesses), and possible actions to take.&nbsp;Spotlight: Teaching critical thinkingWant to increase student satisfaction? Activate higher-order thinking skillsMetacognition in education: get students thinking about their thinkingOther possibilities for directional reflectionHaving personally used directional reflection as a successful pilot strategy in the tertiary classroom (the perceived level of success being based on personal observations of students in the learning space and the reading of their written evaluations), I have been spurred on to consider the potential that other arrows could have to engage students in different types of reflection. See below:ArrowWritten description&nbsp;Type of reflection&nbsp;Details&nbsp;↓Arrow pointing in a downward direction (indicating the here and now)Reflection in action (see the work of Donald Schön)Reflection which takes place during the event, eg, during a lecture←Arrow pointing in a backward direction (indicating the past)Reflection on action (see the work of Donald Schön)Reflection takes place after the event, eg, after a taught seminar→Arrow pointing in a forward direction (indicating the future)Reflection for action (see the work of Michael Eraut)Reflection takes place before the event, eg, before a 1-2-1 tutorialLecturers may wish to be creative in the choice of arrow design they present to students, considering alternatives such as pointing finger emojis like these 👈 👉👆👇 to cater to young adults’ preferred forms of digital expression. Ultimately, it is important to keep in mind that reflection is not something that students engage in automatically, and they need help and support from their lecturers. This can be “simply stimulated” (my words) through directional reflection.&nbsp;Simon Brownhill is a senior lecturer in teaching and learning at the University of Bristol’s School of Education.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Use directional reflection to stimulate evaluative thinking

Many students struggle to understand and engage with the concepts and practices associated with reflection. This is where directional reflection comes in

Using directional reflection to stimulate students’ evaluative thinking

Our world is awash with misinformation. It undermines public trust in institutions and credible sources, influences decision-making and exacerbates social and political polarisation. It poses serious risks to public health and can incite violence or civil unrest.&nbsp;How can we combat this growing threat? One approach is to support members of the public to improve their media literacy, using fact-checking initiatives and responsible communication. In a university setting, our goal is to conduct research on misinformation to make a meaningful impact on the community. It’s important for higher education institutions to carefully consider which specific strategies we teach members of the public, as well as our students, to effectively tackle misinformation.Why your students need to learn the skills of a journalistResource collection: teaching critical thinkingBelieve it or not, you can use conspiracy theories as tools for teachingTo do this, HKBU Fact Check connects with the public through its website, social media and news outlets, and regularly hosts academic conferences, public exhibitions and gives talks at elementary and secondary schools. The unit also partners with the university’s general education course “Fact-checking misinformation, disinformation and fake news” to provide students with fact-checking and critical thinking skills.In 2019, Mike Caulfield developed the&nbsp;SIFT (Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace) strategy, a framework to evaluate information credibility. It is a helpful tool, used by many. However, over five years of increasingly more sophisticated misinformation, and through insights into the public use of SIFT, I have developed a revised approach that incorporates the procedures that professional fact-checkers use in their daily routines.&nbsp;This new strategy consists of four distinct steps, allowing students to decide how far they want to interrogate information, based on their available time and the effort they are willing to invest in the fact-checking process. This skill set is crucial for students, enabling them to find, evaluate and use information effectively in academic, professional and personal contexts. It supports academic success by fostering critical thinking, independent research and the use of credible sources. These interdisciplinary skills prepare students for the workforce and empower lifelong learning, helping them make informed decisions and engage responsibly in a world filled with disinformation. Since this strategy involves four essential components, it is named the “4-Check” strategy.1. Check for potential pitfallsAssessing the potential pitfalls of misinformation is crucial in today’s information landscape, where motivated reasoning can lead individuals to accept false narratives that align with their beliefs. Clickbait headlines often lure readers into misleading content online, while memes and videos can distort facts for emotional impact. Information from unknown sources may lack credibility and outdated images can misrepresent current events.&nbsp;By being aware of and able to evaluate these risks, individuals can identify negative outcomes and develop strategies to mitigate them. This approach fosters critical thinking and information literacy, empowering individuals to navigate complex information more effectively. When people recognise these risks, whether encountering information with an unidentified author or seeing eye-catching headlines, we expect them to remain alert and critically evaluate suspicious details.2. Check whether it is a fact or opinionBefore investigating any information, individuals must discern whether the suspicious information they encounter is a fact or an opinion. Objective facts are verifiable statements that can be proven true or false through evidence (eg, “The unemployment rate in the US was 3.7 per cent &nbsp;in 2023”), whereas opinions are subjective beliefs that lack concrete support (eg, “The unemployment rate reflects poor government policies”). Subjective opinions cannot be investigated in the same manner as factual claims.&nbsp;Once a claim is identified as factual, individuals can proceed with further investigation. However, facts and opinions can often be intertwined, making this step straightforward in theory, but potentially complex in practice.3. Check related information&nbsp;After confirming that a claim is verifiable, the next step is to seek related information to determine whether the suspicious information has any basis and relevant evidence. By answering questions and clarifying uncertainties, individuals can gather pertinent data to support or reject fact-based conclusions.&nbsp;Consult multiple sources and rely only on credible ones, such as official websites, reputable news outlets and fact-checking organisations. Often, the top search results may not be reliable, so individuals must learn to identify credible sources. This approach helps in making informed assessments and enables individuals to determine whether information is supported by credible evidence.4. Check the original information source&nbsp;I recommend students trace and verify the original source of information to understand the root cause of an issue or claim. This step can be conducted using search engines for textual claims and reverse image search engines, such as Google Images, TinEye, Yandex and Baidu Images, for visual claims.&nbsp;While textual investigation is generally straightforward, image searches can sometimes be more challenging. All platforms provide easy interfaces with a one-click drag-and-search function. Yandex is particularly effective for images related to Russia, and Baidu Images excels with content from mainland China. TinEye is unique because it allows users to sort results chronologically from the oldest to the newest appearance on the internet, helping to identify when an image first appeared online. These methods for tracing the origin of suspicious information can help verify authenticity and uncover the context behind the information, allowing for a more informed analysis.The 4-Check strategy equips students and members of the public with effective techniques to combat misinformation. This approach will further our efforts to promote a more informed and literate society, providing individuals with the essential tools to develop well-informed opinions and evidence-based decisions.Stephanie Jean Tsang is assistant professor in the department of communications at Hong Kong Baptist University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Four strategies to transform everyone into a fact-checker

The 4-Check strategy can help combat misinformation in the digital age. Here’s how to use it

A four-step process to transform everyone into a fact-checker

Teaching demands are growing exponentially in higher education. From preparing dynamic course materials to offering timely and personalised feedback, many essential tasks can feel like an endless time and energy drain. Balancing these while maintaining quality teaching and engagement is challenging. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can help.AI is not a replacement for educators; it is a tool for their empowerment. By streamlining workflows, automating repetitive processes and enhancing teaching and learning, it allows us to reclaim our time and focus on high-impact educational activities.&nbsp;Writing emailsManaging student emails can be incredibly time-consuming, particularly when the same questions are asked repeatedly. To address this challenge, we created a custom GPT to act as a virtual assistant, handling these recurring questions with ease. By using tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, educators can build AI assistants to address common student enquiries such as assignment deadlines, submission guidelines, grading rubrics and course planning.The use of custom GPTs empowers students by giving them immediate access to the information they need (even outside office hours) while reducing the administrative load on educators. With a significant portion of student queries effectively addressed by AI assistants, instructors can focus more on one-to-one support and meaningful student interactions. Note that creating custom GPTs requires the premium version of ChatGPT.Delivering lecturesPreparing engaging and consistent lecture materials can be time-consuming, especially for asynchronous or hybrid learning environments. AI tools such as HeyGen or Synthesia allow educators to create digital avatars that narrate slides or pre-record lectures to help maintain a consistent, professional presentation style. These avatars can adapt content delivery for multiple audiences and different languages without requiring the instructor to re-record sessions. This approach saves time and ensures lectures are engaging and up-to-date.&nbsp;Digital avatars also provide accessibility benefits, catering to students with different learning needs and enhancing their engagement with the course content. A student survey revealed avatars with warm personalities were better suited to English as a second language students, whereas mature students seemed to prefer more serious, no-nonsense avatars.&nbsp;By leveraging tools like Canva’s AI-powered design features, educators can input their key ideas and rapidly generate cohesive, professional-quality slide decks.Giving feedbackProviding personalised feedback is crucial for student development, yet doing so across large cohorts can be time-consuming. We use AI tools to convert rough notes into structured, personalised feedback. Using AI tools like Notion AI or ChatGPT, a phone camera can capture handwritten grading notes and transform them into detailed, actionable feedback for students. We found this approach saved time without compromising the quality of engagement with students.Content creationThis use of AI not only supports diverse learning preferences by offering multiple content formats to engage with, but it also helps educators efficiently repurpose high-quality content across different channels.Whether summarising complex academic articles or drafting course handouts, generative AI tools such as NotebookLM or ChatGPT make content creation easier and more efficient. NotebookLM can summarise the latest research or key course topics and turn it into an engaging podcast for students.Collection: AI transformers like ChatGPT are here, so what next?Promoting ethical and responsible use of GenAI toolsSpotlight guide: Bringing GenAI into the university classroomTips for using AI in teachingStart small and focus on one task: integrating AI can feel overwhelming, so start small. Choose one repetitive task, such as managing frequently asked questions and test an AI solution to streamline it. Once confident, gradually expand to other areas.&nbsp;Engage students in the process: whether narrated slides or a GPT answering questions, we actively gained feedback from students to ensure these tools enhanced their experience. This not only improves the tools but helps students feel involved in the process, fostering a more collaborative learning atmosphere.Focus on ethical considerations: AI should always align with institutional guidelines and ethical considerations. SACRAD, which stands for specificity, accuracy, clarity, relevance, appropriateness and depth, is a useful framework we have developed for assessing AI-generated content in this context.&nbsp;Collaborate and share best practices: work closely with colleagues to share insights and experiences related to using AI in teaching. Collaboration can lead to faster adoption and uncover innovative applications of AI that benefit not only individuals but your institution as a whole.Iterate and improve continuously: AI tools evolve constantly. So, review and refine how they are used. Regular assessment and staying updated with new features can help educators keep their teaching practices dynamic and aligned with student needs. Iteration is key to ensuring that AI continues to meet educational goals effectively.By using AI for repetitive and time-consuming teaching tasks, we were able to focus on what we do best: engaging with students, innovating curricula and advancing research. Students benefit from faster responses, more diverse and engaging learning content and enhanced learning experiences tailored to their needs.&nbsp;Shahper Richter, Inna Piven and Patrick Dodd teach marketing at the Business School of the University of Auckland.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Reduce admin burden with AI

How teachers can use AI to respond to student enquiries, provide feedback and create engaging learning content

“For today’s session, you will be escaping the tutorial.”This is how I opened the flipped class. The announcement continued: “A dead body has been found and foul play is suspected. You will work in groups to investigate the crime scene, determine who the murderer is and identify the murder weapon. You will encounter puzzles that require you to apply what you have learned from the lecture to progress in the game…”&nbsp;In this virtual escape room, my students played detective. After a short briefing on ground rules and game navigation, they entered the virtual world. Some noted down everything that seemed like a clue, while others assumed the role of leader, delegating tasks to team members. Students helped their peers who got stuck in the game and discussed strategies for approaching the puzzles, often over lecture materials. Groups experienced eureka moments when they finally solved the puzzle(s) that they were struggling with or when they “escaped”. As excitement levels rose, the classroom became livelier during these sessions.&nbsp;Do you speak Gen Z or are you a noob?Ready, player one? How video games can help engage studentsRead more: resources to enhance student engagementAs an escape room enthusiast, I have found this to be an engaging way to make the notoriously “dry” and “difficult” subject of statistics more fun for non-statistics majors from diverse faculties. I also wanted an exercise that would foster peer learning and social connectedness for a large class of 50 to 90 students who had spent a couple of years receiving university education remotely due to the pandemic. Virtual escape rooms address space and logistical constraints associated with implementation in large classes.&nbsp;Having developed and implemented a well-received virtual game for an undergraduate public health research methods class, I can share a few key tips for educators keen to create similar escape rooms for their classrooms.1. Start with the game’s learning outcomesOften, when we first toy with the idea of an educational escape room, we find ourselves so focused on brainstorming the storyline or figuring out the tech aspects of game design that we forget its purpose. The game is meant to teach students something. Plan the educational escape room as you would a lesson – start with intended learning outcomes. An example of a learning outcome of a biostatistics game could be the ability to distinguish between dependent and independent variables, while for an analytical chemistry game, it could be the ability to interpret data obtained from chromatographic techniques. These are crucial in guiding puzzle development.2. Decide on the game platformWhen designing an escape room, you will need to choose a platform for development and play. This should be considered together with the game format. Do you want a point-and-click format? 2D? 3D? Interactive fiction or text-based? Do you have the resources to develop the game on your own or will you need external support (from, for example, a game developer)?&nbsp;For those without programming experience,&nbsp;Genially is a free, entry-level platform for point-and-click games, including escape rooms. It is similar to Microsoft PowerPoint but has additional interactivity features.&nbsp;Google Sites is another entry-level alternative.For interactive fiction or text-based games, entry-level platforms include&nbsp;Twine (open source with no coding experience required, although some Javascript and CSS knowledge might be helpful for additional game features) and&nbsp;Inform (it is also a great way to pick up the Inform language, a natural language-based syntax specific to interactive storytelling).More advanced platforms include&nbsp;GameMaker,&nbsp;Unity and&nbsp;Unreal.&nbsp;3. Develop the storyline and game designWhile optional, incorporating an immersive storyline enhances student engagement and motivation. Role-playing games develop learner agency. Popular game genres include adventure, fantasy and mystery. Will the game proceed in a linear fashion (which tends to be less complicated to develop), an open design or a mix of both? Consider whether a single-player or multi-player mode is more suitable, in view of the learning objectives and time allocated for the game. Design frameworks such as escapED, SEGAM and the Star Model are available for systematic guidance.4. Create the in-game activities&nbsp;In-game activities are generally tasks and puzzles that are aligned with learning outcomes. The number of tasks and puzzles and the difficulty level of each activity will depend on the intended game duration. Ideally, the difficulty level of the puzzles should increase over the course of the game. Tasks could also include searching for clues (or red herrings!) in the virtual room(s). Quizzes can be created either directly in Genially itself or by using Google Forms – the latter can be embedded in the game as virtual “locks”. Other puzzle- and clue-making resources abound on the web. Authentic tasks such as analysing a realistic dataset that is embedded in the game can help learners appreciate the real-world application of knowledge through situated learning. Care should be taken to minimise extraneous cognitive load when creating abstract puzzles&nbsp;– if the puzzles are too unintuitive, the game may end up hindering learning, rather than enhancing it.5. Beta-testers are the game developer’s best friendsBeta-testing should not be skipped. Invite beta-testers to play the game (and treat them to coffee afterwards) before implementing it in class. Ex-students are ideal because they have taken the course and would mirror the intended participants’ demographic most closely. Trialling the game helps with determining the optimum number of players, identifying technical issues such as bugs and ensuring that the game can be completed within the given time by 80 per cent of the class, among other benefits to improve the game-based learning experience.Last, a post-game debrief in class is highly recommended so that students can reflect on their experience and draw connections with the learning objectives of the lesson.Cecilia Teng is a senior lecturer in the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.&nbsp;

Practical tips for creating virtual educational escape rooms

With games, tasks and a story, a virtual escape room can make ‘dry’ subjects more engaging for students working outside their majors, writes Cecilia Teng. Here, she gives educators steps for creating their own

Escape the class! Tips for creating virtual educational escape rooms

Many university science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructors incorporate guiding prompts in their courses and labs to deepen students’ understanding of the material through&nbsp;reflection. Like other STEM instructors, I have incorporated guiding prompts into my first-year chemistry laboratory classes, hoping to enhance my students’ conceptual understanding of the content. Previously, I employed a directed-prompt approach, a strategy widely used in STEM that follows a bottom-up systematic thinking path. For example: “In the synthesis of aspirin experiment, what is the purpose of adding concentrated sulfuric acid?” Another example&nbsp;would be: “Why does the aqueous tea solution need to be cooled to 15-20॰C before the dichloromethane can be added to the caffeine experiment?”&nbsp;Directed prompts&nbsp;are&nbsp;questions designed to draw out a response or guide a particular line of thinking. Their structured nature leads students to a narrow range of acceptable answers, often&nbsp;resulting in unsatisfying and fragmented outcomes for them. This fragmentation can stem from differences in students’ education, language proficiency or personal experiences. Thus, as student bodies become more&nbsp;diverse, instructors must implement other strategies that&nbsp;better support a wide range of learners.&nbsp;Campus spotlight: AI and assessment in higher educationRead more: AI transformers like ChatGPT are here, so what next?AI communities of practice can help us face its challenges head onMy recent exploration into&nbsp;effective prompting for teaching and learning has highlighted the importance of formulating guiding prompts&nbsp;to help students connect new information to their existing knowledge, making the new information both familiar and relevant.&nbsp;Rather than using directed prompts, a “generic prompts” approach – broad, open-ended questions that follow a top-down thinking path – can be more effective, according to&nbsp;research. These questions are open to a wider range of interpretations and can apply to many situations and subjects. For example: “Stop” and “Think” are generic prompts where students are given the&nbsp;autonomy and&nbsp;flexibility to expand their repertoire of ideas and draw links and distinctions to stimulate their thinking about content materials and experiences.&nbsp;Applied to the general chemistry laboratory class context, a generic prompt question could be: “My thoughts about kinetics are…Think about concepts such as reaction rates and chemical processes.” This is particularly important for a&nbsp;diverse cohort because each individual student can enhance their&nbsp;personalised learning,&nbsp;interdisciplinary connections and&nbsp;communication skills for&nbsp;real-world application in terms of their own experiences and perspectives.Over the past year, I have redesigned the guiding questions in the General Chemistry II laboratory manual with&nbsp;“generic prompts”. This instructional strategy has taught me the following:Students respond to generic prompts more quickly than they do to directed prompts&nbsp;Overall, students respond more quickly to generic prompts. This includes reading, processing, evaluating, reflecting and responding to the questions. This suggests that generic prompts are more&nbsp;accessible because students’ responses can serve as a way to express their prior knowledge or thoughts, setting the stage for further discussion and exploration of the topic. Furthermore, as students build&nbsp;confidence and understanding of the subject, instructors can introduce more complex questions that require deeper thinking. Thus, generic prompts can reduce students’ anxiety, encouraging them to participate in complicated questions immediately.&nbsp;Students respond more coherently to generic promptsMost students can explain the science content and practice inside and outside their chemistry laboratory classes&nbsp;more coherently with generic prompts. Knowledge becomes more integrated and organised as students try to incorporate newly learned ideas into their intuitive understanding of science. Another observation I have encountered is that students are more comfortable sharing their ideas and personal connections around generic prompts.&nbsp;Shortcomings of and recommendations for using generic promptsWhile generic prompts can be helpful in first-year chemistry courses, especially for initial engagement or to build confidence, they may become less effective in more advanced course contexts. A balanced approach that starts with generic prompts but proceeds to more complex, directed prompts may often be the best strategy to support student learning across different stages and contexts.Generic-prompt questions allow students to draw upon and expand their repertoire of ideas by connecting ideas from the prompt question, previous experiences, chemistry laboratory classes or other circumstances. Students&nbsp;express scientific concepts more coherently, logically and clearly in connection with different ideas and examples. Overall, generic prompts are&nbsp;powerful for guiding first-year university science students to connect previous experiences with new knowledge and to apply&nbsp;them to their complex day-to-day activities.&nbsp;Karen Ho is a senior laboratory instructor in the department of chemistry and physics at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. Douglas B. Clark is a professor in the Werklund School of Education at University of Calgary, Canada.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

‘Generic prompts give students autonomy to expand ideas’

Leaving space for students to bring their prior knowledge and experience to a question can help with comprehension in STEM courses

‘Generic prompts give students autonomy and flexibility to expand their ideas’

A rise in microlearning and “bite-sized” courses has been fuelled by post-pandemic shifts such as increased digital engagement and flexible learning preferences. And, even though we are back in the classroom, they still offer significant advantages both as stand-alone courses and in augmenting existing material.&nbsp;Why the increased interest in microlearning?During the pandemic, asynchronous lectures required us to use short videos based on the understanding that students (and staff) were spending long days in front of a computer. Many, including James Hartley and Ivor K. Davies in Note-Taking: A Critical Review, have suggested students’ attention starts to decline after about 15 minutes, and even TED limits its talks to 18 minutes.&nbsp;However, this 15-minute figure is debatable, with experiments into student attention span feeling unconvincing. Attempts have measured student attention spans by monitoring heart rates, observing signs of boredom and collecting self-reports of boredom, with the only consistent finding being that attention span length is primarily dependent on how engaging the lecturer is, irrespective of the teaching format. Two-hour face-to-face sessions are the norm at many universities, but it’s hard to stay focused for that length of time. This is especially true for people with certain conditions.&nbsp;Microlearning units, originally delivered in person, generally last between five and 15 minutes and cover the essentials of a topic. They have been around for decades, although the term has only been in use since 2002. The digital age has allowed microlearning to flourish and it has a number of benefits.&nbsp;A short course on the essentials provides students with “just-in-time” learning, an approach that prioritises providing students with the educational material they need at the exact moment they need it. This can suit working students who have limited time to study and prefer accessing content during moments like commuting. These courses can be created faster, making them more agile and easier to keep up to date, and are more cost-effective to develop.&nbsp;Microcontent is particularly effective for long-term memory because it allows students to easily review content multiple times, which makes it useful for exam revision. The BBC Bitesize model is a testament to this. Launched in 1998 for GCSE students, it is now accessed by nearly 4 million people per week, with user numbers peaking during exam periods. Its units can also be used by universities as tasters for modules to help students make their optional selections.&nbsp;Spotlight: The business of online education19 ways to promote your online courseAwaken your students’ interest in your online courseUniversities can also offer these short courses externally to supplement income. While there is considerable competition from LinkedIn, YouTube and others that offer free courses, universities are in a good position to compete. As well as offering pedagogic and subject matter expertise, their trusted brands and recognised certifications appeal to prospective students. Institutions should ensure their offerings suit the needs of a diverse range of learners to expand their student populations digitally.What can we do to make these engaging to the TikTok generation?Microlearning can supplement existing courses in the form of homework or revision exercises. Students can also use them to gain extracurricular add-ons in topics such as leadership and entrepreneurship at times that are convenient to them. With this in mind, make sure content is accessible on different devices.&nbsp;The design of microlearning units is critical because the brain has limited working memory. For it to purely focus on processing and retaining the information it is important to present the material in a way that doesn’t overload learners’ cognitive capacity. It needs to be well structured, feature clear explanations and omit any irrelevant material. It is important to have clear learning outcomes, a richness of media, a degree of interactivity and a sense of personalisation.&nbsp;Liven up the learning experience by gamifying your content as we did at the University of Manchester. Use cartoons or animations and short tests throughout, which can be especially useful for training courses where learners need to show what they have learned to pass the course. Try to encourage peer-to-peer interaction and, most importantly, regardless of what format you use, be interesting!Robert A. Phillips is a senior lecturer&nbsp;at Alliance Manchester Business School, the University of Manchester.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.&nbsp;

How can we use microlearning to enhance university teaching?

What are the benefits of microlearning and how can institutions ensure their courses suit the needs of digital natives?

Do you ever feel that today’s students are harder to engage? Their attention spans seem to be getting shorter. Even a one-hour lecture can feel like a stretch, and two-hour seminars are an even bigger challenge. Yet, when it comes to playing games, young people seem to have endless energy! I’ve noticed that as soon as I announce a break in class, some students immediately start playing games. Some can even manage to do both – listening to the lesson and playing a game at the same time.This made me think: wouldn’t it be wonderful if learning could be like a game? If learning could be as addictive as gaming, I wouldn’t need to worry about students missing classes! Since young learners are already so drawn to games, why not tap into what they love?‘Creativity is a practice, not an astonishing stroke of good luck’Let’s seriously game higher education to tackle the challenges aheadNext level? The pros and cons of game-based learningMy teaching philosophy is simple: if we can stimulate interest in learning, students will naturally become more engaged, put in effort and achieve good results. In my opinion, education is about motivation, motivation and motivation. And I believe one of the best ways to motivate young learners is through innovative, game-based approaches.Here, I would like to share four examples of my award-winning teaching innovations. Students enjoyed these game-based learning activities very much, and the impact on their engagement and learning outcomes has been incredibly positive.Hold a mini-auctionTo help students prepare for their final examination, I organised a series of revision sessions to support their learning. To motivate and engage students in these sessions, I created a credit reward system where they could earn credits based on their participation and performance. For example, students earned 50 credit points simply by attending each lesson. If they completed weekly learning activities, they could earn an additional 100 credit points.&nbsp;I also created online quizzes in which students earned credit points based on their scores. This credit reward system encouraged students to attend, participate actively and complete their learning tasks.At the end of the revision sessions, all the credit points students accumulated were converted into tokens. These tokens were used to take part in a mini-auction. I secured sponsorships from publishers and research funding to provide prizes such as textbooks and other useful items.The mini-auction created a lot of excitement among students. They carefully decided how to use their tokens, learning to bid strategically for the items they wanted. This activity was not only fun but helped students develop important decision-making skills in a competitive real-world business environment. Many students said this was one of their most enjoyable learning experiences and that it made their revision sessions more effective and less stressful.Simplify complex topics with animated cartoon videosUK taxation is widely recognised as a challenging subject. Many students find it difficult to understand the technical content and keep up with the frequent changes in tax legislation. To make this content more interesting, I created a series of animated cartoon videos as an additional learning resource alongside the usual PowerPoint slides.Each video was short, lasting just one to two minutes, and focused on explaining difficult concepts in an interesting, visual way. Research suggests that traditional video lectures can often result in passive learning, where students watch without actively engaging. To address this, I used an interactive video-editing tool to embed quiz questions into the videos, transforming them into active learning resources.While watching the videos, students encountered quiz questions at specific points. These questions encouraged them to pause, reflect and check their understanding before moving on to the next section. Immediate feedback and solutions were provided after submitting their answers, helping students correct any misconceptions straight away.This approach made learning more interactive and supported deeper understanding. One student commented: “It is interactive and helps to further understand as well as correcting any misconceptions about a topic. Like how two things that sound and read nearly the same can be very different.” By combining creativity with interactivity, these videos turned a complex subject into an enjoyable and memorable learning experience.Revitalise assessment with simulated scenario gamesFormative assessments are very useful for monitoring student progress and reinforcing their learning gradually. This helps prevent students realising too late, during final assessments, that they have fallen behind. I regularly use online quizzes as formative assessments to check students’ understanding of each topic and keep them engaged throughout the course. However, traditional online quizzes can often feel boring and stressful.To make these quizzes more enjoyable, I transformed them into interactive games based on real-life scenarios to which students could relate. For example, I created a virtual “bowling” game where students answered multiple-choice questions. If they answered correctly, the bowling ball knocked down all the pins, accompanied by applause and cheering.In another game, the classroom became a virtual music room, where students completed five missions to reunite a musical band. Each mission covered a different topic, and students answered questions to bring back band members such as the pianist, guitarist or drummer. This turned learning into an exciting journey with a sense of achievement.Some games were delivered in competition mode to add extra motivation. For instance, in a virtual café game, students played the roles of waiters and waitresses. Correct answers allowed them to restock food and serve customers, and their performance was ranked on a leaderboard. This mix of collaboration and competition made learning both fun and engaging.Students found these games helpful for retaining knowledge and sustaining their learning throughout the course.Make accounting a hit with AI song creationRecently, I introduced an AI song creation exercise as part of in-class learning activities. Students used AI tools to create their own song lyrics and catchy tunes based on various accounting topics. They worked in teams to create the songs and submitted their best one as part of the learning task.For many students, this was a completely new experience. They said they never thought they could create songs, let alone about accounting topics! The songs encompassed various music styles, including hip hop, rap and jazz, making the activity even more exciting.Songs and rhymes improve memory retention by making information easier to recall through rhythm and repetition. By creating lyrics based on accounting concepts, students reinforced their learning in a fun and engaging way.This activity also helped students develop skills in using cutting-edge AI technology and working collaboratively. They learned to share ideas, combine their strengths and produce a final product – skills that are highly valuable for their future careers.The above four teaching innovations – mini-auctions, animated cartoon videos, simulated scenario games and AI song creation – have made learning more enjoyable and engaging for students. Each activity was designed not only to help students understand complex topics but to motivate them and support their learning journey.&nbsp;Lim Keong Teoh is senior lecturer in accounting and taxation at the University of Winchester.If you’d like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Four ways to use gamification to engage your students 

What if learning was as addictive as gaming? Motivate your students and engage them to learn with these four teaching innovations 

Four ways to use gamification to engage your students in learning

Well-written abstracts typically summarise the purpose, methodology, findings and significance of a study, allowing potential readers to quickly grasp the main points without reading the entire paper. Learning how to write high-quality abstracts is valuable for students studying in a language that is not their first because it helps them develop concise communication skills and enhances their ability to summarise complex ideas effectively.&nbsp;However, giving feedback on students’ abstracts can be challenging, especially in large classes. Issues such as the sheer volume of marking, time constraints and the need to provide tailored advice can make the process feel like “mission impossible”.&nbsp;Fortunately, we can use ChatGPT to identify and correct structure, grammar and vocabulary errors, allowing us to focus on other tasks.Ideas organisationChatGPT can check whether abstracts include all the necessary components, assess coherence and offer suggestions to improve the flow of ideas and connections between different sections. When using ChatGPT for this purpose, we should ensure our prompts are detailed and specific and indicate which components of the abstract need review. Example prompt: “Please provide feedback on the structure of the following abstract. Check if it has included the research aim, methods and findings. Also, please comment on the flow and coherence of ideas. Please write the feedback in bullet points and include examples.”&nbsp;Checking grammarChatGPT is also able to identify various types of grammatical errors in students’ abstracts. We can guide ChatGPT to focus on several specific areas that students commonly have issues with, such as subject-verb disagreement, verb tenses, spelling and sentence structure. Example prompt: “Please provide feedback on the grammar of the abstract below. Focus on subject-verb agreement, incorrect verb tenses, spelling mistakes and run-on sentences. Please write in bullet points and include examples.”&nbsp;Checking vocabularyWith its advanced language processing capabilities, ChatGPT can also help us assess vocabulary use. To do this, provide detailed prompts that guide the tool in focusing on specific areas at a time. I suggest three to avoid overwhelming the tool. For instance, instruct it to evaluate vocabulary complexity, style and collocation (the juxtaposition of certain words). Using ChatGPT to check collocation is especially valuable for teachers who are not native English speakers as it can significantly save time they would otherwise spend consulting collocation dictionaries. Example prompt: “Please provide feedback on the vocabulary in the abstract below. Focus on vocabulary complexity, academic style and collocation. Please write in bullet points and include examples.”&nbsp;Collection: English as a second language in higher educationHow to start a language-teaching podcastSpotlight guide: Bringing GenAI into the university classroomLearning supportWe can use ChatGPT to provide ongoing learning support when the tool identifies frequent errors. For instance, if ChatGPT indicates a student is struggling with subject-verb agreement, we can instruct it to generate relevant grammar exercises and sample sentences that can be incorporated into their feedback. Example prompts: “Please create five grammar exercises focused on subject-verb agreement. Include a variety of sentence types and provide explanations for each correct answer.” or “Please generate five sample sentences that demonstrate correct subject-verb agreement, along with a brief explanation of the rules applied in each sentence. Include both singular and plural subjects to illustrate the differences.” This approach makes students aware of what they need to improve on and how to do it to avoid making the same mistake in the future.The challenges of using ChatGPT for abstract evaluationInsufficient contextual understanding: ChatGPT may struggle to fully comprehend the concepts relevant to a research topic. For instance, when I used ChatGPT to provide feedback on abstracts that summarise key findings in complex papers about eye-tracking for assistive applications and AI integration with surgical robotics, it generated inaccurate suggestions.Limitations: While ChatGPT can identify errors, it may struggle with providing useful feedback on highly technical writing.High dependence: The quality of ChatGPT’s feedback relies heavily on the clarity and specificity of the prompts provided. If they are vague or unclear, you will not get valuable feedback.&nbsp;By implementing these measures, we can ensure that students benefit from personalised and constructive feedback that will help them improve their abstract writing. ChatGPT can liberate language teachers from tedious feedback-related tasks. However, human intervention remains indispensable in the tool’s adoption.Yu Liu and Shuhao (Jeremy) Zhang are English language lecturers at the School of Languages, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.&nbsp;

We use ChatGPT to give feedback on students’ abstracts

Teaching students whose first language is not English to write concise abstracts helps them develop their academic writing skills, but providing feedback on them can often be laborious. Here is how you can use ChatGPT to speed up the process

Creative writing students are there to write, not to read about writing. This was my guiding philosophy during the 15-month MFA writing course I crafted at one of Australia’s premier performance schools. And our students did just that, writing unsupervised, unless they requested mentoring, for a minimum of four hours a day and producing at least one full-length piece of writing, which received a rehearsed reading under their direction as the culmination of their coursework.One of the subjects, a creativity course run by novelist and creativity lecturer Sue Woolfe, gave students opportunities such as an up-to-date account of the neuroscience of creativity. Also, practical classes in meditation, for example, complemented a pedagogical approach that emphasised personal initiative and practical problem-solving as well as writing.&nbsp;Over the years I ran the course (which has since been disbanded), I came to believe that the students underwent an increase in their creativity as a result of their studies and determined, with Woolfe, to undertake a proper study into whether this was true. We assembled a team of neuroscientists and psychologists, assisted by an experienced statistician, and our findings were published in the peer-reviewed Thinking Skills and Creativity&nbsp;journal.Read more: creativity in higher educationSpark creativity in your students – and boost their employabilityConnecting research and humanities through creative collaborationsThis is a summary of our results and suggestions about how creativity can be cultivated and encouraged in students.Although the sample size was small (seven students), the results were startling. Using standard tests of creativity, students were shown to have experienced a 34 per cent increase in their mental flexibility, meaning they could quickly swap between creative ideas, and a 65 per cent rise in the creativity of their ideas. They became more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, and less frightened of writer’s block and of confronting uncomfortable personal experiences in the course of their writing. These, along with many other results, pointed to an overall positive effect of the course on the students’ creativity.The discontinuation of my employment, and disbanding of the course, prevented a follow-up study to ascertain what it was in particular that brought about these results, but at an anecdotal level I’d like to offer the following speculations.&nbsp;It is easy to suppress creativity, and most people have seen this in operation: one simply reduces learning to a regimented repetition of uncritically asserted claims inflicted with a stern and relentless discipline that reduces students to the status of rote learners. It is almost common knowledge that by doing the exact opposite of all this, you can easily generate an environment within which creativity can flourish, with the whole thing being underwritten by a sense of respect for the students as new learners and cultivating a delight in knowledge. That’s probably the easy part – although convincing the punishers that strict obedience isn’t necessarily the best way to produce a skilled and engaged workforce can be tricky. But in addition to such elementary lessons in what are basically just good manners within a democratic society, an environment where creativity and its vicissitudes are freely and openly discussed both in class and in guidance and mentoring sessions focusing on their individual work gives students the confidence that whatever challenges there are can and will be overcome through normal practice.&nbsp;The creative act is frightening because it takes place in darkness, without a net or handrail. There aren’t any guarantees other than failure, and it’s the fear of failure and ridicule that is creativity’s greatest enemy. The most important lesson we can give is to live with that fear, as we do ourselves. Or, in Samuel Beckett’s words, to “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” We sit down, once more, not knowing if anything will happen, while feeling those self-imposed deadlines close in, but to remain there, patiently waiting as we go about the normal business of making. It’s a lonely place, but there is comfort knowing others are nearby who understand.Creativity is a practice. It is not an astonishing stroke of good luck that can only be spoken about in hushed terms, though creativity certainly deserves our respect. The practice of creativity consists of developing habits such as not jumping to the first solution to any problem, but rather allowing it to simmer in the back of your mind. Inspecting it, certainly; poking it and worrying about it, yes, but not regarding it as a threat to our egos that must be beaten into submission, as the punishers might advise. Allow your students to mull the problem, even sleep and dream about it. And tease it out a little, putting yourself in the position of an ignoramus, like Socrates, who isn’t even sure why&nbsp;it is a problem.As an Australian writer best known for stage- and screenplays, I have formed over the years an opinion about what was wrong with Australian writing, and as a head of writing, I was given the opportunity to do something about it. My MFA course was based on the assumption that every human being has within them a jewel that we, as teachers, have a duty to help uncover. And the students responded, as the test results of our study showed. Creativity can be nurtured, and the habits of creativity taught, and it is certainly something we as educators need to pursue if what guides us is our love of our students.&nbsp;Stephen Sewell is a screenwriter and playwright, and an honorary senior lecturer at Australian National University.&nbsp;If you’d like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Screenwriter and playwright Stephen Sewell shares practical insights into fostering students’ mental flexibility and resilience from research into unlocking creativity

‘Creativity is a practice, not an astonishing stroke of good luck’

Co-creation with students is increasingly recognised as a powerful tool for enhancing belonging, student engagement and inclusive practice in higher education. Student belonging within HE, according to Sunday&nbsp;Blake and co-authors (2022), is underpinned by connection (feeling connected to peers and staff), inclusion (curricula reflect student understandings of inclusivity and diversity), support (authentic understanding of student support needs) and autonomy (opportunities to contribute to their curriculum).&nbsp;But, as an educator, how do you do all of that? And does it work? We developed an activity using a simple Jenga game and questions to generate discussions on accessibility among students in the BA in international tourism and events management programme. And, yes, we think it worked (brilliantly).&nbsp;This all started because we wanted to understand the barriers that students face when they are invited to extracurricular events. These are often planned to foster student belonging but are generally not well attended.&nbsp;Accessibility is also an increasingly important part of the events management curriculum, and events and tourism venues are important spaces for ongoing improvement of accessibility and a fairer society.Resource collection: working with students to co-create their educationHow to create extracurricular activities students will want to attendRead more: co-creation as a liberating activitySo, as a seminar activity, we asked students to think of accessible solutions to challenges they felt were most pertinent to them and their peers. The activity enhanced their development of responsible leadership skills and, crucially, allowed us an insight into accessibility and inclusivity challenges for our undergraduates. Their ideas were inspiring and educational and left us feeling we should make them available for others to learn from. Co-creating solutions to access issues felt like the obvious way forward.&nbsp;Inspired by EDI expert Wade Hinton’s&nbsp;Leading and Living Inclusively TEDx talk, we had his three questions for self-reflection on inclusive practice and disrupting bias at the forefront of our minds…Have I leaned in to better understand someone else’s experience?Have I made room for voices other than my own to be present?Have I created space to encourage others to be their authentic selves?&nbsp;We were already able to answer “yes” to question 1; this is what led us to the co-creation project. It was making room for other voices, as alluded to in question 2, that had educated us, and we felt we could enhance that space and open it up to others. Adapting the easy and well-known game Jenga (also known as Tumbling Towers) to stimulate small-group discussions among students meant we could mute our voices for others to be heard.&nbsp;To create this space and facilitate the co-creation, we designed “Accessibility Jenga”. We prepared questions around accessibility, divided the students into teams and started to play. For every brick that was retrieved, each team had to discuss a question. The whole process was a fantastic experience, but it was perhaps the impact on the students that we were most proud of. Their feedback evidenced that we were successful in creating a space where they could be their authentic selves...“It stimulated a discussion that I had never had openly with other students.”&nbsp;“The experience has expanded my skills in presenting as I got to speak confidently about something that does affect me.”Some expressed that playing the game made them feel that they were listened to, and that they and their opinions were valued.&nbsp;But it wasn’t just the students who experienced a positive impact. We did, too.Educator reflectionsThe nature of the activity, in a safe and welcoming environment, allowed students to open up about their thoughts and feelings around event inclusivity. This activity developed awareness through reflection and empathy – important elements of experiential and problem-based learning. The Jenga activity was innovative and new, but also immersive and snappy – which is helpful in this digital age of dwindling attention spans. As the activity was student-led, we learned more about how our students think and feel about their own perspectives on accessibility, and how they put that into the context of event design and management. You could swap out events to something else, and apply the activity to a different subject area, for a different set of students. The academic staff member just needs to facilitate discussions, then listen to learn.&nbsp;Broader implications for course impactAcademics across universities are faced with a need to embed principles of accessibility as part of decolonising curricula. There are important questions to explore about how to ensure meaningful impact – not just a tick-list during a programme-renewal process. We suggest that the role of belonging, and the effective use of co-creation activities, is crucial.&nbsp;Accessibility Jenga is one such way of doing this. It provoked discussions and personal reflections that highlighted students’ lived experiences of events within the context of their curriculum. They incorporated their experiences of joining the university and how certain measures helped them integrate better or feel a sense of belonging. This last point describes an unforeseen benefit of the conversation and gave valuable insight into the induction process. With cohorts becoming more diverse, we need to harness these conversations for a more welcoming and accessible university experience.&nbsp;And there was a bonus! The activity allowed us to co-create a two-part animation showcasing our student voices that will be used to educate future cohorts on accessible events (view&nbsp;part 1 and&nbsp;part 2).Katy Proctor is a senior lecturer in gender, violence and criminology and Nick Davies is programme lead (BA International Tourism and Events Management), both at Glasgow Caledonian University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Questions about accessibility led to events management students and educators using block towers to foster discussion of lived experiences and a sense of belonging. Here, Katy Proctor and Nick Davies offer their insights into co-creating module content

How can Jenga build course co-creation?

Creating compassionate campuses to promote student mental health and well-being is now, quite rightly, seen as a priority.&nbsp;For example,&nbsp;Nurture-U is&nbsp;a research project&nbsp;that finds better ways to support university students with their well-being and mental health. It represents research for students, with students and by students, and is partnered with the Canadian&nbsp;U-Flourish programme.&nbsp;In the US, the&nbsp;Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University promotes, supports and carries out rigorous scientific studies of compassion.&nbsp;Working with&nbsp;students-as-partners is a well-established approach to developing perspectives, practices and policies on how students and staff can work together to enhance learning and teaching in higher education. The&nbsp;Society for Research into Higher Education has funded a small-scale study into the development of compassionate pedagogical practice, with undergraduate psychology students as co-researchers at the University of Westminster. This research led to a working definition of compassionate pedagogy as:Recognising and noticing the difference, discrimination and bias in how people are being treated, how students are learning and being taught, and the compassionate actions – both strategic and small – that we all need to take to promote and support student and staff well-being.&nbsp;Challenging the language of sufferingThe above definition challenges the language of suffering that surrounds compassion, based on its Latin root compati,&nbsp;which means “to suffer with”. It offers a more critical, intersectional perspective when thinking about how compassion is used and talked about in a higher education context.&nbsp;How to make campuses and courses more compassionateExpectation and compassion: two sides of the coin for successful learning outcomesEmbracing a compassionate approach in higher educationThis is not to say that student and staff suffering and poor&nbsp;mental health should be ignored or minimised. Nor does it negate the need for trauma-informed pedagogy. Instead, it raises the question of the extent to which the day-to-day experience of students and staff might cause – or exacerbate – suffering. This requires an alertness to compassion gaps, and unintended or adverse consequences of compassionate policies and practices, as revealed by two recent UK qualitative studies.&nbsp;Be aware of unintended consequences&nbsp;Neil Armstrong and Nicola Byrom have illustrated how “structural compassion” – such as mitigating circumstances arrangements and adjustments, designed to accommodate student health needs or life crises such as bereavement – can become potentially harmful, blunt bureaucratic instruments.&nbsp;Fiona Denney’s research found that “formalised” compassion processes introduced during the pandemic, such as no detriment policies that allowed students to make multiple claims for the impact of Covid on their assessments, prioritised compassion for students over the well-being of staff.Tools, techniques and trainingResearchers at the&nbsp;University of Derby are developing compassion-based interventions and training across different educational settings and with different groups of individuals, including staff, pupils and higher education students. The Nurture-U project has developed the&nbsp;Compassionate Campus initiative at the University of Exeter and King’s College London, based on student stories and experiences.&nbsp;A&nbsp;reverse mentoring scheme, between minoritised undergraduate psychology students and senior university leaders, will be extended to youth ambassadors from a social enterprise working with&nbsp;disadvantaged and vulnerable young people, to mentor senior leaders. The aim is for young people to gain access to resources and relationships to enhance their education and employability. Initiatives such as these offer hope for a more humane academy, but there are still at least three challenges ahead.&nbsp;Challenges aheadFirst, we must avoid simplistic solutions that see compassionate pedagogy as the flavour-of-the-month answer to deep-rooted systemic problems and harms caused by decades of neoliberal higher education policy.&nbsp;Second, we have to resist commodifying compassion at an institutional level. Although metrics and measurement have a role in rigorous research, creation of a compassion excellence framework, or something similar, should also be avoided. Compassionate pedagogy must be authentic, and it is for staff and students to tell us when we are getting it right, when we are getting it wrong, and where the compassion gaps can be found. Compassion requires courage – including the courage to hear and act on the&nbsp;hard truths of higher education.Finally, we need to beware of the backlash that is&nbsp;beginning to emerge in some quarters&nbsp;– one that sees compassionate pedagogy as&nbsp;an emotionally manipulative and censorious practice antithetical to education. Instead, we need to examine our own assumptions to shed light on what we think we know about our students and their ability to learn and grow in our pedagogic spaces. There is also the benefit of reciprocal compassionate behaviour within universities, with&nbsp;numerous studies showing that both giving and receiving compassion is associated with positive outcomes. In other words, a win-win for staff and student health and well-being.How and what students learn in compassionate higher education cultures and communities will equip them well for their own futures, as well as the future of humanity.&nbsp;This requires courage, radical reform, hope without illusion and hope that is anchored in compassionate pedagogical practices and compassionate leadership.&nbsp;Kathryn Waddington is emerita fellow in psychology and Bryan Bonaparte is senior lecturer in psychology, both at the University of Westminster.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Embrace compassionate pedagogy for a more humane academy

How can we bridge the compassion gaps in the day-to-day experiences of students and staff in higher education? Kathryn Waddington and Bryan Bonaparte offer their solutions – and warn of the challenges we’re still facing

Let’s embrace compassionate pedagogy for a more humane academy

K-12 educational leaders face intensifying demands, with more than 80 per cent of schoolteachers and administrators reporting increased workloads, and many working more than 60 hours a week. Meanwhile, the US education sector will confront an anticipated 8 per cent decline in qualified administrators by 2026, making it crucial for institutions to equip the next generation of leaders with maximum efficiency and flexibility.&nbsp;On top of that, challenges such as deepening equity gaps and navigating the post-pandemic policy environment require K-12 leaders with a skill set that integrates research-driven decision-making, cultural responsiveness and practical problem-solving.&nbsp;The University of La Verne’s new online EdD programme, which will launch in 2025, is designed to meet these needs with a “problem of practice” (PoP) approach. Rather than culminating in a traditional dissertation, the programme asks its candidates to address a challenge within their own schools, translating theory into action that benefits their communities.&nbsp;For instance, a candidate may compare the effects on equity and inclusivity of traditional approaches to school discipline with culturally responsive models.&nbsp;What higher education can learn from school and further education teachingBetter together: co-teaching to support equity in educator trainingLet’s get professional: advice for new university teachersThe model gives students the opportunity to make a meaningful difference from the start, supported by faculty and mentors with extensive real-world experience. Grounded in practical solutions and tailored to current and aspiring leaders, the programme empowers candidates to foster culturally responsive, impactful change in their schools.&nbsp;The EdD programme is a two-year online course designed to provide flexibility for candidates, with a three-day summer intensive that allows them to collaborate and engage with peers in person. This structure combines the convenience of online learning with face-to-face interactions to foster professional connections and share learning experiences.Practical solutions through the ‘problem of practice’&nbsp;&nbsp;With its emphasis on real-world application, the programme’s problem of practice capstone asks candidates to select a significant issue affecting their own school or district and conduct an in-depth exploration to develop actionable solutions. Rather than remain in the realm of theory, this approach to assessment centres on immediate, community-based improvements. PoP dissertation topics include addressing educational inequities in underfunded schools, improving teacher retention through professional development, and exploring strategies to enhance student engagement in P-12 classrooms.Projects such as these serve as both educational experiences and practical interventions, equipping leaders with the tools to implement changes that benefit their students and communities. In the first semester, students are assigned a mentor who, alongside their instructor, guides them in designing their PoP. Throughout the course, students study the situation and develop an action plan, with the impact implemented after the programme; alumni are then invited to return and share their results with current students. By applying their learning to real issues, candidates develop solutions that reflect the needs of their schools and districts, creating immediate impact.&nbsp;Building culturally responsive leadership&nbsp;Culturally aware leadership has been directly linked to effective decision-making, collaboration and high student performance, according to studies. EdD programmes such as La Verne’s give leaders the skills to create school environments that respect and support students from diverse backgrounds, helping to address disparities in educational experiences and outcomes.&nbsp;Modules on cultural inclusivity and community engagement teach candidates to recognise and address biases, adapt curricula to better serve diverse student populations, and cultivate a sense of belonging for all students. For example, leaders may implement restorative justice practices to ensure that disciplinary policies are fair and supportive or introduce community-based learning initiatives that reflect students’ cultural contexts. A leader in a predominantly bilingual school may apply culturally responsive techniques to bridge language gaps and support students’ academic and social development.&nbsp;Flexibility for working professionalsProgrammes that include an in-person summer intensive help, offering candidates the chance to engage directly with peers and faculty. Each summer includes three full in-person days, with online learning during the school year delivered through a mix of synchronous and asynchronous sessions.&nbsp;This hybrid structure supports the demanding work schedules of busy educational leaders while offering valuable opportunities for in-person collaboration.Mentorship and support from diverse leaders and peersDiverse and experienced leaders, who bring real-world insights and personal mentorship to each candidate, also contribute to the programme. The faculty includes a mix of full-time La Verne academics and experienced adjuncts, such as former superintendents, educational policy experts and veteran school leaders, who support candidates throughout their learning journey. In a programme where practical application is key, having access to mentors with hands-on experience offers students valuable guidance in tailoring solutions to school contexts.&nbsp;From the first semester, students are assigned a PoP mentor who remains with them throughout the two-year programme. They meet with their mentor monthly at the start and more frequently as their PoP nears completion.The collaborative cohort model further supports students, creating a shared learning experience where candidates benefit from each others’ insights and backgrounds. The rich discussions and collective problem-solving help prepare candidates for the complex, interconnected challenges of educational leadership.Looking ahead, educational leaders will face evolving demands in inclusivity, technological integration and policy influence. Navigating policy is a key component of the programme, embedded throughout all courses and serving as the central focus of an early module. Leaders equipped with adaptive, research-driven skills will be essential to ensure schools are responsive, resilient and transformative for the generations to come.Shana Matamala is assistant dean of academic affairs in the LaFetra College of Education at the University of La Verne, California.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Aspiring K-12 educational leaders need professional training that gives them flexibility, decision-making skills and cultural awareness. Here’s how a ‘problem of practice’ approach embeds real-world issues into assessment

Preparing school leaders to solve problems and make a difference

In recent years, the popularity of educational videos has soared, offering educators a powerful tool to enrich learning experiences and broaden access to quality education. However, understanding and applying cognitive principles is vital to creating compelling educational videos. I use a strategic approach, based on Richard Mayer's 15&nbsp;multimedia design principles, which I will go through in this resource.The coherence principle: simplify your content. Learners grasp information better when extraneous material is removed. Distracting visuals, sounds or information can divert attention from the core message, so focus on essential content only. Avoid unnecessary background music, flashy animations or irrelevant text.&nbsp;The signalling principle: highlight key points. Students benefit when key information is emphasised with cues that direct their attention. Use arrows, colour highlights or bold text to guide students to critical points.&nbsp;Spotlight: Teaching strategies to enhance learningEnhancing learning from digital, audio and video resourcesUsing 360-degree video to bring online classes to lifeThe redundancy principle: avoid overloading imagery with text. Excessive text in videos does not enhance learning, research has shown, so try pairing visuals with spoken narration rather than written text. For example, use an animation or video tutorial to demonstrate a process while explaining it verbally, rather than cluttering the screen with extra text.The spatial contiguity principle: keep text and visuals close. Placing text close to relevant images minimises the need for students to seek associated information elsewhere. Ensure you place descriptive labels close to corresponding visual aids.&nbsp;The temporal contiguity principle: synchronise words and images. Learning improves when relevant visuals accompany narration simultaneously, rather than before or after.The segmenting principle: break content into manageable chunks. Learners absorb information better when divided into smaller, digestible segments. Instead of creating one 30-minute video, divide your content into five-minute sections that cover specific topics.The pre-training principle: introduce key concepts first. This principle is based on the idea that learners perform better if they are introduced to key terms and concepts before more complex material. Start your video by defining key terms before going into more depth. For example, explain terms like “photosynthesis”, “chloroplast” and others before discussing the detailed processes behind them.The modality principle: use narration with graphics. A complement to the redundancy principle, this is based on the idea that learners retain more information when graphics are paired with narration rather than text. Pair verbal narration with visual aids rather than corresponding text. For instance, show a timeline of events while narrating the history behind them instead of reading paragraphs of text aloud as they appear on screen.The multimedia principle: combine words and pictures. If you still want to use on-screen text, combine it with graphics, because students learn more effectively from a combination of text and visuals than from text alone. Enhance verbal explanations with relevant images, diagrams or video clips. For example, show a video of someone carrying out a specific experiment/process alongside your verbal narration explaining it.The personalisation principle: use a conversational tone. This is more effective than a formal one for engaging students and narrowing the gap between student and teacher. Imagine you are speaking directly to your students in your videos.&nbsp;The voice principle: use a human voice. Narration delivered in a friendly, human way is more effective than artificial-sounding narration. Ensure the speech in your video sounds natural by recording your own voice or using a professional voiceover artist, rather than AI, and use a warm and engaging tone.The image principle: avoid showing the speaker. Research indicates that showing the speaker’s image on screen doesn’t necessarily improve learning outcomes. Rather than appearing onscreen yourself, focus on using visuals that support the learning content, such as diagrams and animations.The embodiment principle: use gestures to enhance engagement. If you do choose to appear on screen, use expressive gestures, which are proven to engage more deeply. Move your arms and hands to emphasise important points and create a more engaging viewing experience.&nbsp;The immersion principle: 2D is often just as effective as 3D. Contrary to popular belief, learners don’t necessarily benefit more from 3D presentations than they do from 2D visuals. Keep visuals straightforward to avoid distracting students from the core content.&nbsp;The generative activity principle: encourage learners to generate knowledge. Active learning happens when learners are prompted to explain or summarise their understanding of the material. To encourage this, incorporate moments for students to pause and think. After explaining a concept, encourage them to apply it to a real-life scenario or solve a problem before continuing.Videos do not need to be high-budget masterpieces. Like me, you can ensure that students get the most out of their multimedia learning experiences by referring to these easy-to-apply principles.FA Triatmoko HS is the deputy director of academic development and learning resources and a PhD student in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Indonesia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.&nbsp;

Create engaging educational videos using cognitive theories

The power of video content to engage an audience is widely known, but creating effective videos requires a considered approach. Here are 15 principles to bear in mind

Create engaging educational video content  using these cognitive theories

Inclusive university education usually focuses on diversity among students, whether that includes those with disabilities, international students or other groups. However, inclusive education can also encompass faculty, turning its attention to the diversity of university teacher profiles and the knowledge they can provide. One profile that can be under-appreciated is that of teachers who have valuable knowledge to share based on their lived experience.In the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, we carried out a two-year teaching initiative in which I, as an academic lecturer, and two teaching assistants with intellectual disabilities jointly taught a module on disability, inclusion and education. Each of us participated in all aspects of the experience, from planning and delivery to assessment. The initiative was officially funded and&nbsp;the results published.On the basis of this initiative, we created the inclusive co-teaching model, which centres on joint teaching by academic faculty and expert-by-experience assistants. While traditional co-teaching models focus on addressing student diversity, or collaboration between academic teachers, this approach makes use of the complementary knowledge that different types of teacher, such as a lecturer and an expert by experience, can provide.&nbsp;In our case, the teaching assistants explained their life experiences in relation to the contents of the module and evaluated the accessibility of the students’ class presentations, while I, as an academic teacher, taught the theory and assessed written work.&nbsp;We participated together in all the course sessions and class preparation was done jointly. We discussed the contents to be covered as well as the teaching activities. I oriented my colleagues about the minimum content to be covered in the subject, trying to listen to their opinions based on their life experiences and how to teach them.Spotlight collection: making your campus neurodivergent friendlyAutism in academic settings: unleashing unique strengths with adjustmentsWhat I’ve learned from a decade of working with a disability in academiaThe model is applicable not only for teaching assistants with intellectual disabilities and in education faculties, but potentially also with other groups and in different areas of the social sciences, humanities and health sciences. It can be open to the participation of other experts by experience (for example, people with different types of disability, Indigenous cultures, minority ethnicities, or people with experiences of unfavourable socio-economic conditions or long-term hospitalisation). The theoretical, philosophical and pedagogical bases of the inclusive co-teaching model are grounded in a rethinking of university teaching that recognises the educational value of the knowledge that certain people develop through their life experiences, in addition to the importance of links between universities and society.&nbsp;Similar initiatives, such as at&nbsp;Trinity College Dublin, inspired our work. Our experience implementing this approach with the participation of teaching assistants with intellectual disabilities had significant impacts on our students’ learning, especially in terms of their awareness of prejudices and stereotypes towards disability and inclusion. Receiving classes from these teaching assistants helped students to be more compassionate towards people with disabilities, enabling them, in their education as future schoolteachers, to have a better understanding of the needs of pupils with disabilities.This model has been recognised with the&nbsp;European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities (2024), conferred by the Central European University. Much remains to be done, however, and there is a need for further inclusive co-teaching initiatives in different disciplines and groups.From our experience, there are a number of key factors to implementing this approach successfully. The first is university cooperation with society and with social and non-profit organisations. Second, both academic faculty and expert-by-experience assistants require teacher education; the latter might also require basic didactic training. Finally, a truly cooperative process is called for between both types of teacher, encouraging joint participation in all aspects of the teaching process, from planning modules and classes to delivery and student assessment.&nbsp;Although inclusive co-teaching is a model that can have a significant impact on student learning (for example, with respect to awareness of prejudices and stereotypes), it also has limitations. Thus, it is important to know that one person’s view (a teacher with disability, for example) does not represent the entire group. The model is also not necessarily applicable to all subjects. Inclusive co-teaching, however, can be particularly valuable in subjects that aim to bridge theory and practice and study human relations with vulnerable groups.Pablo Rodríguez Herrero is an associate professor in the department of pedagogy at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.&nbsp;

Inclusive co-teaching can use educators’ lived experience

Joint teaching between academic faculty and experts by experience offers not only professional development for future teachers, but benefits student understanding as well. Here’s how to put it into practice

Inclusive co-teaching can draw on educators’ lived experience 

At the 2024 THE Digital Universities Arab World&nbsp;event, university leaders and industry partners came together to consider how digital innovation is transforming higher education.&nbsp;Katie Thorn, vice-president of international sales and marketing, and Peter Keeble, business development manager at Macmillan Learning, discussed the role that AI can play in transforming the learning experience for students.While the education sector felt anxiety around the arrival of generative AI, Thorn believes progress is being made: “We’re accepting, we’re curious and we’re now using AI with our students.”Keeble oversees Macmillan’s iClicker student response system, a tool for student engagement that allows instructors to engage students in alternative forms of learning, such as polls and quizzes, check attendance, monitor student performance and receive anonymous feedback on how the teaching was received.&nbsp;While AI can be an effective tool for active learning, Macmillan wanted to stress that there is no substitute for a good teacher. “You need social and emotional learning for successful learning outcomes. Human interaction allows that complex cognitive and emotional engagement that is essential for deep learning,” noted Thorn.The big question is how you can reach and inspire every student in a class. How can you make every student feel connected to what they’re learning and believe they belong in higher education? For Macmillan, the answer was creating the iClicker student response system.&nbsp;Keeble stressed that educators shouldn’t wait for assessments to highlight the areas that students are struggling with. They should ask questions throughout the learning process to gauge their knowledge. “A well-designed student response system is never going to replace the instructor, but it is a useful tool. It leads to a more inclusive teaching environment in which all the students feel they are moving forward,” Keeble said.&nbsp;For Thorn, now is the opportunity to have a “learning Renaissance”. While AI may show students what they’ve learned, educators can help them use that knowledge successfully, she said. “There are experiences we can develop that will assist all educators in creating that magic moment when the human connection meets the learner. AI tools can provide great core explanations about topics, but currently, they lack the deeper insights or answers about what that individual student needs to do next with what they’ve learned.”&nbsp;Thorn said that while the value of human storytelling is irreplaceable, the challenges of engaging all students, especially those who may be shy or reluctant to participate, is where AI comes in. The use of technology, such as Macmillan Learning’s iClicker student response system, can foster inclusive and participatory learning environments and enhance academic experiences for both students and instructors.&nbsp;&nbsp;The speakers:Peter Keeble, business development manager, Macmillan LearningKatie Thorn, vice-president of international sales and marketing, Macmillan LearningFind out more about Macmillan Learning.

How can universities engage shy or unenthusiastic students? AI might be the answer

A learning Renaissance: how instructors can work with AI to improve student engagement 

How are STEM educators adapting to the evolving demands of education and the workplace? What role do emerging technologies and innovative teaching methods play in preparing students for success? Discover how 488 STEM educators across EMEA are using emerging technologies, fostering critical thinking and building industry connections to prepare students for academic and workplace success.To uncover the answers, Cengage, in collaboration with Shift Insight, surveyed 488 STEM educators across 21 countries in the EMEA region and conducted in-depth interviews with 15 instructors. The results highlight a dynamic landscape where educators are embracing accessible and inclusive teaching methods while tackling challenges such as technological disparities and shifting student expectations.The report, STEM In Higher Education: Exploring Innovative Techniques For Student Success, reveals that many educators are integrating cutting-edge technologies into their classrooms, boosting engagement and fostering critical thinking. But it’s not just about tech, soft skills like communication and independent learning are gaining prominence as essential tools for workplace readiness.Despite these advancements, challenges persist. How can educators balance the promise of AI with its current limitations? What can be done to ensure consistent adoption of innovative practices across institutions?Collaboration with industry emerged as a key strategy for bridging the gap between academic learning and real-world application. From internships to industry-led projects, these partnerships are seen as vital in equipping students with the skills they need to thrive.Curious to explore these insights further? Read the full report by Cengage to dive deeper into the evolving strategies and innovations shaping STEM education across EMEA.Download the Cengage report&nbsp;STEM In Higher Education: Exploring Innovative Techniques For Student Success.

How are STEM educators adapting to the evolving demands of education and the workplace? What role do emerging technologies and innovative teaching methods play in preparing students for success?

What’s shaping the future of STEM education in EMEA?

When thinking of how to prepare students for careers in the creative industries, it has become typical in higher education to consult industry leaders. We ask them questions such as: “What skills might graduates need?” “Where are the gaps, the shortages?” “What behaviours and attributes are employers looking for?” and “How might we, as educators, better embed these skills and attributes into our curricula to empower our graduates as they navigate an increasingly competitive sector?”But what if we asked the students themselves? What might they tell us about their projected careers, about the kinds of lives they wish to live?Over the past six years, we have been asking students enrolled in cultural and creative degree programmes to talk to us about their futures. What we found was that students rarely, if ever, made the transition from student to empowered graduate – despite all the teaching we had hoped would support them to do so.Rather, we heard over and over again of the pressure to live up to the “ideal graduate” – a fictional peer with better grades, more extracurricular achievements, stronger sector links, a driving licence and so&nbsp;on. This notions of an “ideal graduate” compels students to compete with each other. Importantly, universities also drive this narrative by promoting a narrow view of employability “success” in their marketing materials, and where opportunities for placements or skills development tend to be based around competition.Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that this pressure to live up to expectations simply reinforces students’ self-perception as lacking or deficient. Thus, we witnessed anxious students, who, despite good grades and comprehensive extracurricular records, placed themselves at the bottom of their peer group. We saw students panic and witnessed their hopelessness, especially during the pandemic, as job markets collapsed and whole sectors in the creative industries shrank. We watched students grapple with a sense that they had come too late, that they had missed the heyday of the cultural industries. We noted, with concern, that these feelings were often far more pronounced in students who lacked the privilege often needed to find relevant employment.A key issue here is that the concept of employability emerged during a period of relative socio-economic stability, and not in the extended periods of crisis that followed. In this sense, employability has largely been thought of as something done “to” or “for” students, and not as a lived and embodied phenomenon capable of transforming their understandings of self and their hopes for the future. Indeed, it has often been a conversation held without student input of any kind.This leads us to a somewhat uncomfortable impasse. What if, for all our best ambitions, teaching for employability has done harm to our students? What if, rather than producing empowered graduates, we are instead forcing our students to develop psycho-emotive strategies and selves to contain a sense of threat and panic?As educators, we see the situation as urgent. We have a responsibility to listen to our students and to make space for their voices, their hopes and concerns. We cannot pretend that we are not in crisis. The pandemic and the climate emergency, combined with the effects of looming economic recession, global conflict and rapid development of artificial intelligence systems, continue to impact and reduce opportunities in the creative and cultural labour market in a variety of ways. Similarly, structural inequalities in the cultural workforce, precarious working conditions, an increasing reliance on voluntary work and decreasing levels of pay mean that the sector has been in crisis for some time.Resource collection: Getting students workplace-readyTeach the skills required for a future we can’t yet imagineFour ways to weave job skills teaching into the university experienceWe must urgently revisit the ways in which we talk about, and teach for, employability in the cultural and creative industries. We are trying to:Make space for students’ voices and feelingsWe must pay attention to students’ experiences and concerns, and how these shift over time. For us, this involves being honest with students about the challenges that we see in their prospective sectors. This means resisting the temptation to respond to students’ concerns with platitudes about how things might “pan out” in the future in favour of making space to listen to and really hear students – even if we don’t have any answers. It means both listening out for individual students’ anxieties in our everyday teaching, as well as creating dedicated safe spaces for students to collectively explore their future plans (such as by drawing timelines that have multiple pathways and that pre-identify sources of support).Make fewer assumptionsStudents have been left out of the employability debate, and we can’t assume that they have the language or the tools to get back in by themselves. Students may not know how to tell us what they want to do, how they wish to do it or the kinds of work they’re interested in. They may not see industry-specific expectations and norms. We need to discover what our students do not know and to support them so they can take part in industry-wide conversations. We ask students to produce word clouds with key terms relating to their futures, and then help them, one to one, to add detail and subject-specific vocabulary that better reflects their goals and makes job searches more productive (such as by helping students understand that they are interested in public programming in small-scale contemporary art venues, and not simply “curating”). A colleague has also produced a podcast called Cultural Peeps that aims to demystify the employability journey via interviews with cultural sector leaders about their career paths.Change our teaching methodsRather than relying on graduate panel talks and CV workshops, which can foster competition and panic, we are adopting teaching methods rooted in self-care and collectivity. These encourage students to view each other as valuable resources for solidarity and change-making, rather than as competitors. For example, we actively encourage peer knowledge-sharing (such as by creating time for students to share their experiences of a conference or talk with the whole group over a cup of tea), introduce and support DIY and self-organised activities ranging from ’zines and Instagram accounts to curatorial projects that enable and empower students to act) and co-produce self-care strategies and phrase banks that help students navigate rejection. While some of this work remains extracurricular, other strategies are embedded within taught modules, where we can work alongside, and in conversation with, all our students.It is time to ditch the deficit model of employability. We urge educators across higher education to join us in radically rethinking employability provision by doing the above and more. And, most importantly, by working with and alongside our students.Emma Coffield and Katie Markham are lecturers at Newcastle University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

It’s time to rethink creative industries employability 

Employability is often a conversation for or about students, but what if we asked them about their future hopes? How might we co-design employability provision in times of crisis?

It’s time to rethink creative industries employability

The triumph of stupidity, as recent international events remind us, needs no explanation; it’s practically a law of nature. The stupid, the ridiculous, the broken and the depraved eventually take charge, as Bertrand Russell complained in 1933, and anyone with any familiarity with history knows this to be true. And yet the dark age gives way to a new renaissance, and art and thought are again reborn, with the efflorescence of creativity banishing the shades of ignorance and mistrust back to the holes from which they rose.Why? Why does creativity survive and what can we do as teachers to help its flame brighten?The inspiration for this essay came from a chance encounter with Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus, a beautiful dissertation on desire and love where, in the course of placing love firmly at the centre of our strivings for the higher truths, Plato opens a discussion on madness, which the Greeks saw as a visitation from the gods, in the course of which, after introducing the holy Muses, he goes on to make the following astonishing statement: “But he who without the divine madness comes to the doors of the&nbsp;Muses, confident that he will be a good poet by art, meets with no success, and the poetry of the sane man vanishes into nothingness before that of the inspired madmen.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Campus webinar: The art of bringing creativity and fun into the classroomResource collection: Creativity in higher educationHow to embed creativity more fully into university curriculaThis is certainly something that should be inscribed over the doors of every art and writing academy – and probably science and engineering schools as well. Too often, the divine madness of creativity is banished from these institutions in the name of something one can measure and mark. Yet, as teachers, we know that our students will face the harsh demands of creativity and problem-solving in their daily professional lives, for creativity at its simplest level is the discovery of novel solutions to intractable problems – problems that cannot be solved just by following the rules.&nbsp;And so they deserve to be taught – in fact, students should demand to be taught – how to deal with its infuriating vicissitudes.It is my view, based on the experience of running a graduate writing course, that creativity can be taught, and in the face of its steep decline first identified in 2011 by Kyung Hee Kim, of the College of William and Mary, and subsequently confirmed by other researchers as the deepening “creativity crisis”, it is our absolute duty to do so.&nbsp;But first let me get something out of the way. Current creativity research is dominated by a neuroscience enamoured with gadgets and allergic to the insights from other fields, including the still-vigorous field of psychoanalytic studies. In my view, this has led to that stagnation of research noted in a 2023 survey published in the Creativity Research Journal describing research as “a bit stuck, at a plateau...” and mired in methodological problems endemic since its beginnings. Progress, and certainly progress offering actionable assistance to educators, has stalled, while the theory and practice of psychoanalysis offers not only a compelling account of creativity, still unavailable to neuroscience, but also useful tools for its inculcation.French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, who developed Freud’s work, placed special emphasis on what he called The Symbolic, including language, and located the psyche firmly in the social rather than biological. For Lacan, as for Plato, desire is the driving force propelling us in our endless search for happiness and completion, a search destined to remain unsatisfied because, as Lacan says, we are beings forged in language, and so fated to be caught in its endless unravelling. That is to say, the urge to be creative is as inescapable as desire itself, and creativity is not a weird and perhaps unwelcome side-effect but central to the dynamics of the psyche.Freud saw art and creativity as both a treatment for and a symptom of neurosis. It was an attempt by the artist to bring their repressed desires into consciousness in a disguised and socially acceptable form and so, according to Freud, is inherently transgressive. Lacan developed this insight further by noting that the repressed desires being given expression are merely the disavowed underside of social discourse, and that what artists do is say the quiet bits out loud.&nbsp;All this offers not only valuable clues about why creativity has such a chequered history, being alternately celebrated and condemned to the Gulag, but also why it cannot be extinguished and how we might help our students as they struggle with their own. If the processes of creativity are fundamentally unconscious, as Freud and Lacan suggest, then anything that helps us access and free that unconscious and the secrets it conceals is invaluable – especially when confronting the “creative blocks” that even the most brilliant minds experience, whether they be Archimedes in his Eureka moment or famed chemist Kekulé dreaming&nbsp;the answer to the maddening problem of the structure of benzene. And while all this talk of madness, the unconscious and occult dreams might make a modern educationalist blush, there are proven tools taken from psychoanalysis, such as free association and dream analysis used by generations of writers and artists to negotiate their madness and deliver the goods, and which we ignore at our peril.The ancients saw madness as both an affliction and a gift, and it remains so today. As teachers, our role is to help students confront and embrace their creative lives, guiding them along the path to their ultimate goals. It is the thrill of being immersed in Divine Madness that calls us to these higher truths, a call we must answer in a world overwhelmed by intractable problems. Against the squawking of hucksters shouting down everything else, this is our vocation: to serve the divine madness being offered us, and live in the truths of the world.Stephen Sewell is a screenwriter and playwright, and an honorary senior lecturer at Australian National University.&nbsp;If you’d like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

As teachers, we know our students will face the harsh demands of creativity and problem-solving in their daily professional lives – and we need to help them tap into deeper places that lead to novel solutions to intractable problems

‘What artists do is say the quiet bits out loud’

Traditional assessments, like exams, often emphasise memorisation and short-term performance over critical thinking, reflection and application, which are essential for fostering deep and meaningful learning. The pandemic provided us with an opportunity to rethink teaching, and portfolio assessment emerged as an effective way of embedding the skills and motivation students will need in the workplace of the future.The portfolio approach marks a departure from conventional exams, focusing instead on a formative, reflective and personalised assessment method. Students are tasked with creating portfolios that document their learning journeys, showcasing their ability to analyse, link and apply economic theories and tools to real-life scenarios. This method evaluates not only what students have learned but also how they have learned it, providing a window into their cognitive processes and fostering a metacognitive examination of their own learning.Show off students’ employability with e-portfoliosPeer feedback: a burden for students or route to better academic writing?How to embed critical thinking from course design to assessmentThe portfolio approach leads to a deeper and more integrated understanding of economics, according to research. Students reported a greater ability to express complex ideas, increased motivation to apply&nbsp;concepts to real-world situations and enhanced reflective learning skills. These results align with the paradigm shift in educational assessment, emphasising the development of critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.What is a portfolio?As part of our economics course, students are required to create digital portfolios that include: summaries and analyses of course topics, exercises and assignments, group project presentations, articles and discussions, screenshots of academic interactions and reflections on their own learning.What are the key benefits of the portfolio?Deep learning: Students exhibited a greater ability to explain complex concepts, reflecting a deep understanding of the material. This technique enabled them to critically analyse it, connect different ideas, concatenate and apply them to real-life situations.&nbsp;Motivation to learn: By engaging in tasks that connected theoretical knowledge with real-life situations, they developed a renewed interest in their studies. This approach allowed them to achieve a deep understanding of contemporary issues, seeing the direct relevance of their learning in their environment and future careers.Metacognition: The portfolio served as a metacognitive tool, helping students become aware of their own learning processes. Through reflection on their achievements and areas for improvement, students were able to develop self-assessment and self-regulation skills, which are fundamental for autonomous and continuous learning.Effective communication: They learned to present their main ideas clearly and in an organised manner, using data and graphics to support their arguments. This skill is highly valued not only in the academic context, but also as a preparation for their future professional roles.What do teachers gain?More than 380 students have used portfolio for six semesters. It has adapted to different business careers, environments, activities and tools such as artificial intelligence (AI). During these experiences, portfolio has also been an opportunity for the teachers to:Gauge the adequacy of the work students have to do to make a valuable contribution to the portfoliosFocus on selected content and shift the dynamic toward more discussions and role-play tasks. Professors can then engage their students more deeply and facilitate meaningful conversations, providing opinions or resolutionsReduce the chances of plagiarism by including tasks that need personal input from the students.Take in continuous feedback from students. This can be used as a valuable source of ideas to think about teaching tools and strategies, such as interactive questions or exercises designed by them, new applications or technological innovations, cases and activities.&nbsp;Discover new topics of interest among students as they link their work with real-life issues or experiences, usually those that draw their attention.How to structure a portfolio assessmentTo implement portfolio assessment effectively and make sure that students are equipped with the skills to build on their experiences, it’s important to plan carefully. Here’s how:Define clear objectives from the beginningCreate a well-defined structure to guide studentsCommunicate the process to students assertively and regularlyInclude diverse types of evidence&nbsp;such as written reflections, project reports, multimedia presentations, peer feedback and skill demonstrations, to showcase students’ learning and achievementsSelect tasks that require students to connect course content to real-world scenarios, such as analysing case studies, creating business plans, writing reflection essays, conducting professional interviews, participating in simulations, observing field practices or role-playingIncorporate reflective tasks into the portfolioDevelop an evaluation rubricFacilitate feedback based on the defence of the evidences.The portfolio assessment approach has proved to be a comprehensive and revolutionary tool when teaching economics to undergraduate students. By shifting the focus from traditional exams to a more holistic and reflective method, this strategy not only enhances students’ understanding of complex economic concepts but also equips them with essential skills, motivation and metacognitive awareness. The positive feedback from both students and teachers underscores its effectiveness in fostering deep learning, critical thinking and active participation.&nbsp;The implications of this experience extend beyond the classroom, suggesting a re-evaluation of assessment practices across other disciplines. By fostering a learning environment where students are active participants in their educational process, the portfolio method enables them to develop essential competencies to face the challenges of the global business environment of the 21st century.Belén Pagone is associate professor and Cecilia Primogerio is education department coordinator, both at the Faculty of Business Sciences at Universidad Austral.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Portfolio assessment may be the key to deeper learning

Portfolio assessment has proved to be an innovative way to track students' progress in economics classes, making learning deeper and more meaningful. Here’s how to do it

Many universities are exploring how to prepare their students to live in a world increasingly affected by climate change. To do this, they are integrating sustainability into curricula by aligning teaching and research with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While this is an important first step, we would argue that sustainability education needs to go further than this in both depth and breadth.We are a group of sustainability-focused academics who, over the past year, have been developing proposals for university-wide climate education at the University of East Anglia. This work has been undertaken as part of an informal network of staff and students who are motivated to embed sustainability more widely and more deeply within our university.&nbsp;A number of other institutions are wrestling with the challenge of providing climate education. For example, the University of the West of England is reportedly the first UK university to offer a course to all staff and students. Falmouth University has financially supported students to create their own ecological citizenship course, and in Wales, a new higher education institute, Black Mountains College, has been established in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. It offers interdisciplinary degree programmes that combine scientific knowledge, social theory and creative practice to equip students to become change-makers in a world that’s increasingly affected by climate change.&nbsp;These institutions are pushing beyond the mainstream framings of sustainability and the SDGs, thinking about education in a more transformational way, and we found reviewing this work useful in thinking through ideas for our own institution.&nbsp;To make sense of the full breadth of possibility in climate education, we developed a framework based on two main axes around the approach and possible focus of climate education, ranging from approaches aligning with “mainstream” sustainability perspectives to “alternative”, more radical understandings, and from climate education that focuses on enhancing the knowledge of students to teaching that focuses on developing relevant skills (see figure 1).
  
      
  
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The quadrants highlight that students need to understand the science of sustainability and its contested politics and values. Furthermore, as educators, we not only need to help them develop practical skills to contribute solutions, but to live fulfilling climate-informed lives.&nbsp;For us, a comprehensive sustainability education needs to engage with all four quadrants.Spotlight: A greener future for higher educationBridging the SDG awareness gapEmbedding the SDGs into curricula via an interdisciplinary approachOur proposals are based around the idea of engendering critical optimism in students. An explanation of the four quadrants is as follows:Mainstream knowledge: this encompasses the dominant forms of knowledge and information about the climate crisis that are normally prioritised as part of climate education. It includes climate science, renewable energy, The Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. In effect, this informs the dominant, mainstream approach to sustainability that underpins government discourse and policy. It is a “green growth” vision that assumes, for example, that capitalism can be made sustainable.&nbsp;Mainstream skills: these are the employability skills that our students will need to get jobs in the green economy. They include some specific disciplinary skills (especially those relevant to the environmental sciences) but a wide range of technical and transferable skills that can be applied in sustainability contexts.&nbsp;Alternative knowledge: this is already taught in many universities but would currently be considered specialist knowledge that is taught within specific modules rather than as part of a wider climate education. However, we believe this is fundamental to a more rounded understanding of the climate and biodiversity crises. Relevant topics address the question of “How did we get here?” Alternative knowledge seeks to explore the contested nature of sustainability and the politics that surround it. This includes critiques of green growth and capitalism as well as exploring the links between colonialism and the climate crisis. We therefore suggest that students should be able to engage with critical social science perspectives to fully understand the crisis and to develop their own perspectives on how it should be navigated. This can include engagement with alternative positive visions of the future such as degrowth, where there is a primary focus on living within ecological limits rather than growing the economy. We should encourage students to critically assess different arguments and develop their own perspectives.&nbsp;Alternative skills: these skills relate to supporting students to become empowered and resilient agents of positive change. Actively living within the climate crisis (rather than avoiding or ignoring it) is not easy. If we wish to learn this ourselves and support our students to join us on this journey, we need to talk about the tools required to navigate the difficult emotions such an acknowledgement can cause. We want to develop a sense of collective responsibility, preserve hope and nourish inner motivation with the goal of forming individual and societal resilience.&nbsp;Equipping students with tools and opportunities to build collective responsibility and individual resilience is essential.Including certain forms of alternative knowledge and alternative skills within a climate curriculum for all students might make some university administrators and academics uneasy, not least in the context of the neoliberal university, which is based on the premise of capitalist growth. Yet we would argue that to omit such content would be to deprive students of the necessary tools to understand and navigate the current crisis. A decision to consciously avoid the controversies and more difficult aspects of sustainability is itself a political position that often favours the dominant power structures.We are part of a wider movement of academics who believe that&nbsp;universities should be undertaking more comprehensive and rapid action to improve their own environmental sustainability across a range of areas including teaching. In doing so, universities can fulfil an important leadership role in the climate crisis and beyond. We believe that providing a comprehensive climate education for all university students is integral to this effort.You can read the full education proposal here.Noel Longhurst is associate professor in energy and climate change; Phedeas Stephanides is senior research associate; Franziska Hoerbst is a postgraduate researcher at the John Innes Centre; Hannah Hoechner is associate professor in education and global development; and Duncan Maguire is a lecturer in organisational behaviour, all from the University of East Anglia. Elliot Honeybun-Arnolda is a postdoctoral researcher in environmental STS at the Technical University of Munich.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.&nbsp;

Sustainability education needs to go beyond the SDGs

Aligning teaching with the Sustainable Development Goals can only go so far in preparing students for a climate change-affected world. This resource offers a framework for embedding sustainability more deeply into curricula 

The creative industries are evolving rapidly, requiring employers to take innovative approaches and seek graduates with a range of new skills. We must look to an interdisciplinary approach, experiential learning opportunities, technology and inclusivity to help bridge the gap between academic learning and industry demands. I say this as an academic with specialisms in Japanese studies, education policy and educational sociology, all of which have shown me the value of having a diverse skill set.&nbsp;Interdisciplinary learningInterdisciplinary education encourages students to draw connections across domains, which fosters creativity and innovation.&nbsp;To promote this, we must develop curricula that integrate multiple disciplines such as technology and art or business and design. This kind of approach aligns with the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) 2011 report, which highlighted the importance of integrating artistic and STEM skills into higher education. Interdisciplinary teaching requires collaboration between departments. This can be facilitated in the following ways:&nbsp;Co-development of joint courses among departments such as art, technology and business to create novel learning opportunities relating to interactive media or AI in digital art, among others.&nbsp;For example, fine art students could be tasked with creating digital art exhibitions that involve coding or developing a business plan.Establishment of interdisciplinary “creative labs” where students from various disciplines collaborate on real-world tasks, such as branding campaigns or sustainable design projects.Incentivisation of faculty collaboration by recognition and support of faculty who co-teach or lead interdisciplinary projects, cultivating a culture of cross-departmental engagement that enhances students’ industry readiness.Digital literacy My research on the digital divide during the pandemic emphasised the need to ensure access to digital tools and skills to reduce inequalities and prepare students for digital-driven careers. Relevant strategies include:Digital tools training: incorporate hands-on training sessions on industry-standard digital tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, AutoCAD and digital marketing platforms. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) integration: use VR and AR technologies to create immersive learning experiences. For example, design courses could use VR headsets such as Oculus Quest or HTC Vive for virtual walk-throughs of architectural designs or fashion shows. Educators can create these kinds of interactive experiences using platforms such as Unity or Adobe Aero. I also recommend collaborating with tech support teams to set up VR spaces or to use accessible mobile AR to broaden participation in engaging, technology-enhanced learning experiences.Experiential learning and real-world applications&nbsp;Experiential learning places students in real-world contexts and so bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. This could involve incorporating internships or project-based learning that requires students to collaborate with industry partners and apply learning in practical ways. In a design course, for example, students might work directly with a local business to develop branding strategies, receive feedback and refine their work based on real market needs. Educators can also organise simulation exercises, such as mock product launches, to deepen their understanding of industry dynamics and decision-making processes.Resource collection: Getting students workplace-readyTeach the skills required for a future we can’t yet imagineStrategies to train students in three transferable skills wanted by employersKey to enabling these experiences is&nbsp;building strong partnerships with creative industry organisations by attending networking events, joining local business councils or establishing advisory boards with industry leaders. Alumni working in the creative sector can also help facilitate these opportunities.&nbsp;To ensure internships are well structured, work with partner organisations to outline clear learning outcomes, specific tasks and expected skills development. Each internship should have a detailed orientation, regular mentorship sessions and an end-of-programme assessment to help students reflect on their achievements and areas for improvement. Structured evaluations from both students and mentors at each phase ensure ongoing alignment and provide a solid framework for professional growth.Another effective experiential learning approach involves having students in creative fields partner with local enterprises to design visually impactful marketing campaigns or branding strategies. For instance, graphic design students at the School of Visual Arts collaborated with Moe’s Cafe to develop a comprehensive rebranding campaign, including logo redesign and social media content creation, enhancing the cafe’s brand identity.&nbsp;Similarly, fashion design students might work with sustainable clothing manufacturers to create eco-friendly prototypes; for example, students at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute partnered with local start-ups to produce digital fashion collections, integrating sustainability and innovation. Additionally, digital media students could develop interactive advertising solutions, such as creating AR experiences for city art festivals, allowing attendees to explore exhibits virtually through their smartphones. These kinds of projects bridge theory and practice, equipping students with industry-relevant skills tailored to the creative sector.An inclusive mindsetA creative and inclusive mindset is crucial for success in the creative industries. My role as gender and sexualities postgraduate representative at Cardiff University has allowed me to advocate for diversity and inclusion within academic and professional settings. This includes:Inclusive curriculum design: ensuring that the curriculum reflects diverse perspectives and includes content that addresses various cultures, genders and socio-economic backgrounds to help students understand and appreciate different viewpoints. Creative-thinking workshops: conducting workshops focused on enhancing creative-thinking and problem-solving skills. Techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping and lateral-thinking exercises can help students think outside the box.Preparing students for careers in the creative industries requires a multifaceted approach that emphasises an inclusive curriculum, interdisciplinary and experiential learning and the teaching of relevant technical skills. This can help learners navigate and succeed in creative industries careers.Miaomiao Jia is a PhD candidate in educational sociology at the University of Bristol.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Preparing students for careers in the creative industries

How interdisciplinary and experiential learning that is integrated into inclusive curricula can equip students for their future creative careers

Medical education has undergone a seismic shift. The traditional model of lecturing students who passively absorb vast amounts of data is no longer sufficient in the face of rapid expansion of medical knowledge, advances in technology and changes in the healthcare landscape. Our educators must do more than just convey information. They must inspire and mentor students as well as equip them with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they will need to navigate a complex, interdisciplinary medical world.&nbsp;At Semmelweis University, we realise that our teachers need to be trained in a similar way to our students – through hands-on, dynamic, student-centred methods. During my five years as dean of the Faculty of Medicine, I came to believe that the success of our medical students was intrinsically linked to the abilities of those who educate them. So, we have launched a faculty development programme to ensure that our teachers are as adaptable, innovative and engaged as the students they instruct.&nbsp;How to succeed as an early career researcher? Be motivated and inspire othersLessons in chemistry: widening university students’ participation through storytellingUsing reflective practice to support postgraduate studies in the biosciencesThe programme is built on&nbsp;three key pillars: pedagogical innovation, digital proficiency and emotional intelligence. In this personal reflection, I would like to share how we are transforming not just the medical curriculum but also the art and science of teaching it.Key features of the faculty development programmeThe pedagogy, digital and emotional intelligence elements of the faculty development programme ensure that our teachers not only understand how to impart knowledge effectively but how to mentor and support students in a holistic and empathic way.Pedagogical innovation: active learning and mentorshipA cornerstone of our programme is the move away from passive, lecture-based teaching to more active-learning&nbsp;strategies. Educators are encouraged to incorporate storytelling-type communication tactics, problem-based learning, case-based discussions and simulation exercises into their courses. These methods ensure that students engage critically with material, collaborate with their peers and develop the decision-making skills they will need in clinical practice.We also emphasise the importance of mentorship in medical education. Mentorship is one of the most critical factors in a student’s academic and professional development, yet it is often overlooked in formal training. In our programme, teachers learn how to be effective mentors: how to listen, provide guidance and help students navigate the inevitable challenges of medical training. Our goal is not to create just educators who can teach the material but mentors who can inspire students to be lifelong learners and compassionate professionals. The mentor programme has been expanded into a peer-mentoring system as well, in which mature medical students serve as mentors of freshmen.Digital proficiency: leveraging technology for better performanceAs the world of medical education moves increasingly online, the ability to navigate digital tools and create meaningful e-learning experiences have become essential. Thus, we focus on developing digital literacy among our faculty. During the Covid-19 pandemic, this training became even more critical. Our teachers had to pivot quickly to online education, and the foundation they had gained through the programme allowed them to continue delivering high-quality education in a virtual environment. Hybrid and blended learning models are now integral to our educational offerings, and we continue to explore new ways to use technology to enrich the learning experience.Emotional intelligence: supporting student and faculty well-beingMedical education is notoriously demanding, and students often face high levels of stress, burnout and mental health challenges. As educators, we cannot afford to ignore these issues. With the increasing teaching demand, our faculty faces similar challenges. The faculty development programme places a strong emphasis on emotional intelligence and student and faculty well-being.Our teachers (and peer mentors) learn how to recognise signs of burnout, anxiety and other emotional challenges in their students. They are trained in creating a positive, empathic learning environment. We also provide them with strategies for promoting resilience and emotional health, ensuring that students feel supported not just academically but emotionally. These efforts align with the objectives of the European University for Well-Being (EUniWell), a European university alliance of which Semmelweis University is a member.The impact: a new generation of medical professionalsThe success of the faculty development programme will be measured against the success of our students. We anticipate a marked improvement in student engagement, critical thinking and overall performance. Students are more active participants in their learning, and they report feeling more supported and inspired by their educators.One of the most striking results is the improvement in clinical competency. By focusing on problem-solving and real-world application, our students are better prepared for clinical practice. They graduate not just with theoretical knowledge but with the practical skills and emotional resilience to excel in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.The journey so far and looking forwardEn route to establishing the programme, we met several milestones. A “didactics” working group was established in November 2023. This working group held a professional meeting the following month with two renowned professors who play a key role in shaping global medical education: Tim Dornan, emeritus professor at the University of Maastricht and professor at Queen's University Belfast, and John Jenkins, the head of the AMEE ASPIRE curriculum development panel. The University Teaching Profession: From Curriculum to Personality symposium took place in March 2024, and just prior to assembling the programme elements, on 19 April, we held a workshop where professors Dornan and Jenkins gave online presentations.As we continue to refine and expand the faculty development programme, I am confident that it will play a crucial role in shaping the future of medical education at Semmelweis University. By investing in our educators, we are investing in the next generation of medical professionals – doctors, researchers and leaders who will drive the future of healthcare. We have only cast the seeds for this endeavour, though. Our genuine commitment to excellence in teaching, innovation and well-being will continue to guide us in this journey as we face the challenges and opportunities of the future.Miklós Kellermayer is full professor, head of the Theoretical and Translational Medicine Doctoral School and&nbsp;director of the Department of Biophysics and Radiation Biology at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. He was dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 2019 to 2024.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

A faculty development programme for instructors must facilitate more than efficient knowledge transfer. Incorporating pedagogical innovation, digital proficiency and emotional intelligence will ensure the well-being of educators and students

What skills does the 21st-century medical educator need?

In a workplace increasingly influenced by AI, tech companies have begun using AI tools for tasks such as code generation, coding assistance, review and automated software testing. These platforms allow developers to boost productivity and reduce error-prone manual work. This doesn’t mean graduates are no longer expected to code, debug and test software; rather, they must learn to perform these tasks alongside AI tools.The first half of an undergraduate programming course should focus on helping students understand the relevant programming language, build logic and solve problems using code. Instructors should teach all relevant product development life cycle tasks such as requirements gathering, user interface or API design and coding at this stage. Students should learn to work in coding teams, conduct peer code reviews and ensure their software applications meet user requirements. They should also be able to write test cases and test their code effectively, evaluate and fix the security risks of their code and enforce version control. Teachers should encourage students to use programming language documentation, follow coding standards and write precise documentation for their code.&nbsp;In the latter part of a programming course, teachers should incorporate various AI tools such as GitHub Copilot that are now essential to the software product development life cycle. GitHub Copilot can suggest code completions, write code blocks and provide code explanations and tutorials via an interactive chatbot, while DeepCode AI, on the other hand, can help programmers perform code reviews, analyse code blocks and find bugs while keeping code secure. Some AI tools offer a “pair programming” feature, allowing students to work together to code and review and test each other's code. I also recommend tasking students to compare traditional code review results with those generated by DeepCode AI. Similarly, you could ask students to use AI code testing tools to automate code testing and compare the results with manual testing.&nbsp;In full-stack development courses, students should learn agile methodology and become adept at designing user interactions. There is a wide range of tools available to aid designers with front-end and back-end tasks. For front-end tasks, instructors can teach students to use a tool like Motif to speed up the user interface design and coding. Students can then present their designs and review the creativity and user acceptability in classroom discussions.&nbsp;Resources on using AI in teaching&nbsp;The two key steps to promoting responsible use of LLMsPrompt engineering as academic skill: a model for effective ChatGPT interactionsData analysis skills are becoming increasingly important for software engineers. They must analyse data, read documents, and create presentations or reports on a specific topic. Almost all aspects of these tasks, such as data gathering, integration, dashboarding, reporting and intelligence generation, are enhanced by AI tools like GathrIQ. Teach students to use Picktochart for report generation or Dall-E for image generation.&nbsp;Using large language model-based AI tools requires students to become well versed in prompt writing. To nurture this skill, ask students to write prompts for a use case in a tool like ChatGPT, and evaluate them for clarity. Prepare your own examples that students can compare with their own.&nbsp;Engaging with industry practitioners can help you design an AI-informed curriculum and prepare students for the workplace. Invite these individuals to speak to students and explain their experiences of adopting AI tools in the workplace. Insights gained from these exchanges can also help you with course design.&nbsp;Following these talks, you could organise group discussions about data confidentiality, privacy and data security requirements and organise an activity that requires students to develop an AI checklist of risks, permissions, consent and clearances required when using AI tools.More and more organisations are leveraging AI to drive innovation, improve productivity and maintain a competitive edge. Educators must ensure students understand which tools can aid them in their work, and that, by the end of the course, they can work effectively in an AI-powered coding environment. &nbsp;Rohini Rao is an associate professor in the department of data science and computer applications at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

AI tools can prepare future programmers for the workplace

How educators can teach programming students to use AI tools to enhance productivity

These AI tools can help prepare future programmers for the workplace

Best practice pedagogy for online and in-person university teaching. Lecturers share advice and insight on delivering a top quality education to students around the world.

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