Feature article

Universities are ‘wintering’: we need psychological safety more than ever

The UK sector is enduring course cuts, redundancies and restructures. Here, Meredith Wilkinson suggests practices that leadership can put in place to support staff and students through uncertainty

Meredith Wilkinson

De Montfort University

Indigenous Mexican women dressed in colourful traditional clothes

How to turn humanities students into advocates

How a design thinking approach to a community project helped students raise awareness about racism against Indigenous women in Mexico

Eunice Costilla Cruz , Adriana García Domínguez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

A construction student uses a VR headset

How VR can embed the health and safety standards of the future

Virtual reality simulations can equip construction students with technical skills and impress on them the importance of safety. Find out how here

Tsang Yiu-Fai, Kevin Chan Yan-Wai

The Education University of Hong Kong

Academic collaboration isn’t automatic – here’s how to make it work

Effective collaboration in research and teaching practice requires more than goodwill. It depends on clear goals, shared contributions, project management, cultural awareness and space to raise concerns

Jonna Lee

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

A female university student reading a newspaper

A philosophical approach can help media students understand complex terms

Students need to do more than memorise definitions of complex terms. Learn how a classroom activity based on analytic philosophy makes abstract concepts more tangible

Tuğba Gülal

Istanbul Aydin University

How to be present in teaching, even when you’re not physically there

Asynchronous course design has to work for the student logging in alone at 11pm, or it doesn’t work at all. Here’s how to design to make your presence felt, even in absence

Lucy S. Méndez Santiago

Universidad del Caribe (UNICARIBE)

Why one-way university outreach falls short

If outreach work is only about disseminating knowledge and not about listening, universities risk reinforcing their ‘ivory tower’ reputation. Real impact comes from co-creating knowledge with communities. Pipiet Larasatie explains

Pipiet Larasatie

Virginia Tech

A group of multicultural students in the classroom

Help students become language mediators to bridge knowledge gaps

How mediation, translanguaging and a class contract can develop understanding, prevent clashes and promote appreciation for diversity in multilingual classrooms

Mazal Oaknín

UCL

Five ways academics can protect their annual leave

Organisation and communication will ease the way for university staff to book guilt-free time off and prevent burnout

Emily Nordmann

University of Glasgow

Three international students sitting in front of a landmark

Make multiculturalism an enriching learning experience

Teaching in a multicultural programme means serving not only as an academic but also as a host, says Raúl Martínez Flores, who offers tips on making international students feel welcome

Raúl Martínez Flores

CETYS Universidad

Students gather around a table to work together

Creating empathetic graduates requires us to go beyond exams

Drawing on self-determination theory and using immersion technology can help educators shape civic-minded, people-focused students. Find out how

Angel Lai

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Tour guide showing potential students around university campus

University outreach that works starts with a simple question

When it comes to outreach, are you building a cohort or expanding opportunity? Being clear about your goal can transform how universities design, deliver and assess outreach. Walter Lee explains

Walter Lee

Virginia Tech

Two primary school students doing a science experiment

How to get primary school pupils interested in STEM

Academics often lack the skills to engage with very young audiences, which can make STEM feel abstract. Charlotte Maughan Jones shares tips on using the right language and understanding what’s important to schools

Charlotte Maughan Jones

UCL

Team members place their hands in a circle

The civic university: move beyond symbolism to real responsibility

Is higher education’s civic engagement becoming performative? Here’s how to embed it in teaching, research and governance

Sobia Razzaq

University of Westminster

Reclaiming identity: navigating professional loss through grief theory

When an academic role ends abruptly, through redundancy, restructuring or a contract that isn’t renewed, the loss can feel like grief. Victoria Gibbon shares a structured journaling exercise that helped her rebuild a professional identity

Victoria E. Gibbon

Independent academic

A ‘buffet’ model of faculty development to support evolving use of AI

A flexible, agile approach to AI skills development allows faculty and students to choose the guidance, resources and learning opportunities that best fit their roles and contexts

Ben Kei Daniel

University of Northern British Columbia

A student opens an AI chatbot in a lecture hall

Your students use GenAI. Let’s redesign learning so thinking still happens

We can’t put AI back in the box. Instead, higher education needs to find a way to make students think despite it

Soukaina Aijou

Al Akhawayn University

Muslim college-age female students in discussion

Rethinking how researchers can deliver preventive healthcare outreach

For community outreach to be effective, researchers need to listen to the target group, build trust and connect the health information they share to participants’ daily lives

Nadera Assim

University of Southampton

Three school children in class with VR headsets on

Make university study tangible with VR

Virtual reality can help bring complex disciplines to life, widen access and build stronger partnerships with schools. Learn how

Stephen Hilton, Blanka Hilton

UCL, University of Kent

When teacher training mirrors the classroom we want to build

How to deliver large-cohort teaching development programmes that help postgraduate students see educating as a professional practice, rather than an imposed obligation

Ka Yan So

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Product-to-market process concept illustration

Can a student idea become a real healthcare innovation?

Student innovation programmes produce promising ideas, but many stall during development. Here, PhD student Marianna Matányi draws on her experience of developing a smart medication dispenser to share advice for turning a student idea into a start-up

Marianna Matányi

Semmelweis University

Stop levelling the playing field in HE – it’s time to redesign the stadium

Design disability-friendly healthcare education from the outset rather than rely on reactive accommodations, says Daphne Pereira, who offers guidance

Daphne Pereira

Dalhousie University

Use XR to make invisible networks visible to students

Computer science students often need to understand technical concepts hidden within layers of software. Here’s how extended reality could offer a solution

Pablo Salva Garcia, Ahren Hart

University of the West of Scotland

Two female college students discussing something in class

Navigating students’ AI concerns through improv and theatre techniques

Technical competency is far from the only aspect of preparing students for an AI-driven world. Ethics also deserves attention, writes Jon Catherwood-Ginn. He uses applied theatre to help students cultivate judgement, communication and decision-making skills

Jon Catherwood-Ginn

Virginia Tech

New to schools outreach? Here’s how to get started

Tips for delivering outreach experiences that build on existing knowledge and help young people make informed decisions about their future – whether they include higher education or not

Carl Harrington

The University of East Anglia

Colleagues strategise around a whiteboard

Intent: the key to effective and efficient interdisciplinary collaboration

How to make your collaborative projects run smoothly? Plan for it, writes Alina Zare

Alina Zare

University of Florida

‘AI raises the premium on empathy-driven engineering’

As knowledge becomes increasingly accessible, engineering students will need deep understanding and intrapersonal intelligence to make product-design decisions with end users in mind

Andrew Koh

Singapore Management University

What co-creation taught us about solving university problems together

Small changes to communication can help students, faculty and graduates engage with each other on the issues affecting higher education today, writes Kawtar Abouhazim

Kawtar Abouhazim

Al Akhawayn University

A professor guiding students through a task

Developing a narrative, evidence-based teaching philosophy statement

By grounding your values in concrete examples, writing with clarity and tailoring your statement to its audience, you can create a document that brings your classroom to life. Read about strategies

Daniella Sieukaran

Dalhousie University

The answer to personalising education isn’t technological, it’s organisational

Is higher education too focused on tools and algorithms when it comes to personalised education? Perhaps there’s a simpler answer

Fabián Olmos

Universidad Austral

Latino female researcher taking notes in a laboratory

Shared effort for measurable impact: building sustainable labs through partnership

Concrete steps in the research lab can lead to larger-scale change when pursued in collaboration with university leaders

Shweta Biliya, Drew Cutright

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Noémi Verbőczi, photo courtesy of Semmelweis University

From ballet to dance medicine: how universities can build healthier training cultures

How can we help dance students achieve technical excellence without compromising their health? A former ballerina turned dance medicine specialist discusses how universities can build healthier, more sustainable dance training cultures

Noémi Verbőczi

Semmelweis University

Course design for non-traditional students: lessons from adult learning theory

Strategies for ensuring relevance, building on existing knowledge and creating flexible learning experiences to better serve increasing numbers of non-traditional students

Catherine Wehlburg

Athens State University

A young woman holds a megaphone at a protest

Why we should teach students about academic freedom

Empower students with both a theoretical understanding of academic freedom and hands-on experience in advocating for those stripped of it. Here’s how

Kate Murphy, Tony Williams, Suzy Killmister

Monash University

Storytelling and theatre techniques to take research to general audiences

Researchers often believe that science communication requires them to abandon depth. Storytelling, however, can provide a structure through which complex ideas become more accessible without losing academic rigour

Michelle Smith

Theatre for Life, University of Southampton

University students sitting at a table discussing a project

AI shaming is not AI literacy

Criticism of GenAI is necessary but ridiculing those who use it can damage trust, prevent disclosure and impact learning. Educators need better questions, better boundaries and better language. Sara Saravi offers suggestions

Sara Saravi

Loughborough University

An illustration of students speaking different languages

How language surveys can shape a multilingual university

A biennial language survey changed how one university thought about linguistic diversity – and helped give students a voice. Here’s how

Katherine Mansfield

University of Westminster

Should I raise my hand? Navigating cultural norms in the classroom

To tap into cultural diversity and enrich teaching environments, Sarah Kegley suggests three strategies: consult class members, be clear about engagement guidelines and make good use of resources

Sarah Kegley

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

I was an expert in my field. Then I became a beginner again

Bringing professional experience to postgraduate research can be an advantage, but it means approaching supervision in a different way. Find out how both sides of the partnership need to adjust

Artem Polulyakhov , Natalia Tsybuliak

Berdyansk State Pedagogical University

Broken citation or academic misconduct? How to spot the difference

Citation errors can come from people, tools or platforms. Here is a practical routine for checking suspicious references before assuming AI misuse, fake papers or misconduct

Faith Jeremiah

Lincoln University

The imperative for productive struggle

When AI can offer students the illusion of mastery, assessment design that includes ambiguity, choice, context and real-world values can encourage the effort that underpins deep learning

Karsten Mundel, Olivia Murray

University of Alberta

He professionals working together on an educational project

Five keys to success in multidisciplinary educational projects

Each team that contributes to educational initiatives has expertise-specific perspectives that influence its approach. Learn how to harness this diversity

Laura Angélica Castillo Lara

Tecnológico de Monterrey

What are students really paying attention to?

If we want to engage students, we must reuse and regenerate their attention rather than take, make and waste it, writes Christine Rivers, who shares advice on how to do this

Christine Rivers

University of Surrey

A hand holds a phone, on which an influencer is live streaming

Click like: how to use influencers in authentic assessment

Bridge the gap between students’ education and their online lives by deploying social media content creators in assessment. Here’s how

Melissa Y. L. Yeung , Ryan S. W. Lo, Hansel H. Y. Chan , Derek C. T. Au

Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Male and female engineers consulting on a work site

The global STEM workforce is multilingual. Is your institution keeping up?

English may dominate research and industry, but engineers increasingly work across languages, cultures and markets. Universities that recognise multilingualism as a professional asset will better prepare graduates for the realities of global practice

Sarah L. Rodriguez

Virginia Tech

Student raising their hand to speak in a lecture

The Democracy Lab: how 20 minutes of debate can revive the lecture

By introducing short debate about a current issue or trend tied to that day’s lecture, Theo Koutmeridis discovered a simple way to boost student interest and engagement for the whole two-hour class

Theodore Koutmeridis

University of Glasgow

Medical students in scrubs walking down a university building corridor

Is quarantining in medical training fit for purpose?

Quarantining can make medical exams fairer, but evolving needs and limited resources raise questions about viability. Rebekah Hill and Sarah Amadasun draw from student feedback to offer solutions

Rebekah Hill, Sarah Amadasun

The University of East Anglia

An illustration of screwed up bits of paper leading to a lightbulb moment

Design learning that works with the brain, not against it

Educating used to be about explaining concepts – now it’s about designing experiences to help the brain develop understanding. Find advice to tweak your teaching here

Mussab Aswad

Nasser Centre for Science and Technology

Black female professional working at computer

How to integrate AI-enabled lifelong learning across disciplines

The traditional boundary between a traditional degree and active professional development has permanently dissolved, writes Tim Brown. AI skills need to be taught in a similarly joined-up way

Tim Brown

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Young male student raising hand in class

‘Trust in their own judgement is something we cannot teach our students’

Students new to formal finance education need space to make mistakes and a learning environment that includes uncertainty, risk and emotions, writes Manjari Sharma

Manjari Sharma

Christ (Deemed to be University)

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