Collections

In an age of artificial intelligence, misinformation and political polarisation, critical thinking is more important than ever. But how can educators inspire this most desirable of skills among their students? This collection of resources offers advice on how critical thinking can be taught.

Navigating higher education as a racial minority can be fraught, but for Black men and women, often the least represented minority group in an institution, the academy can be especially isolating and unwelcoming. Students, staff and academics at every career level report suffering impostor syndrome, have seen their careers stalled by conscious or unconscious bias and are often overburdened with unpaid labour on EDI initiatives. This collection of Campus resources and views provides actions that can be taken to improve diversity and belonging for Black staff and students, advice for Black academics on navigating the career ladder, tips for creating an anti-racist university and more.

Artificial intelligence in academia is nothing new. However, the ease with which ChatGPT and other AI writing programmes generate essays, research articles or songs has sent tremors across the higher education sector. Will it be a liberating force for good that frees up cognitive space for deeper thinking? Or does its potential for cheating and shortcuts signal the end of critical thinking and academic integrity? The truth, as ever, probably lies somewhere in between, but one thing is sure: we cannot ignore it. This resource collection offers insight into the technology’s potential impact, advice on how educators should respond and ideas on how to use it in assessments or lesson planning. ChatGPT itself even offers suggestions on how to use it in the classroom.

Place-based education can take many forms but all focus on moving learning out of the classroom and into local communities and spaces. This approach to higher education often tasks students with working on or seeking to solve community challenges, enabling them to ‘learn by doing’. It roots knowledge in specific places, immersing students in local cultures, histories and environments. This collection of resources offers examples of successful place-based learning and advice for those who wish to introduce this pedagogy to their courses.

In 2022, academics from across biosciences disciplines came together to discuss how to provide diverse first-year student cohorts with the grounding needed to successfully complete their studies. This collection of resources is based on lessons that emerged from the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS) workshop where lecturers shared insight and advice on best teaching strategies and content.

Many university activities have switched to digital realms meaning institutions have access to more data, enabling greater insights into students’ learning and well-being. But will greater digitisation of higher education result in better support for students? And does everyone in higher education know how to use data to help students succeed? This collection offers examples of how academics and administrators at institutions around the world are using data responsibly to support student success.

Whether it’s called block teaching, block scheduling, block planning or simply the block model, this mode of instruction is intense, immersive and sometimes divisive. But is it more effective than traditional university semesters? This collection of resources from academics in Australia and the UK looks at how it works, its capacity to support diverse student cohorts across higher education, and its drawbacks and challenges.

Successfully communicating research findings to relevant audiences is a vital component of academic success. There are many ways of doing this but not all of them come easily to researchers more used to writing for academic journals than newspapers, policymakers, NGOs or social media platforms. This collection of resources offers practical advice on different approaches to getting your research noticed outside of academia and enhancing the impact of your work.

While many academics are interested in decolonising curricula, fewer feel confident in where or how to start. The term ‘decolonisation’ is often misconstrued as a process of deleting or dismissing past teaching. In fact, decolonisation can enrich curricula, setting existing knowledge and education in the context of colonialism and Western power structures and bringing in previously marginalised voices and perspectives.

When students are doing – whether moving around the classroom or applying knowledge in a new environment – they’re engaged, inspired and motivated. This collection brings together tips and advice for adding physical activity to your teaching and taking students outdoors to improve their learning experiences and outcomes.

Research metrics can be helpful but offer a very narrow view, often prizing quantity over quality. So, how can higher education institutions look beyond the numbers and take a more nuanced approach to improve the quality of their research and amplify its impact on society as a whole?

This collection covers the seven principles of the Higher Education Learning Framework. The HELF has been created as a guide for organisations, teachers and students to help frame thinking about teaching and learning design in higher education.

Education is one of the pillars of a healthy democracy, but when invasions of sovereign nations, curbed civil liberties or disputed elections threaten the values of democratic societies, what should universities do? Here we draw together ideas from higher education professionals all over the world on how institutions can continue to advance the cause of freedom, civic engagement and truth seeking, no matter what.

This collection explores why learning students’ names and articulating them correctly is so important to building an engaging and inclusive classroom. It also offers tips and strategies to help educators remember names and manage varied pronunciations to ensure no students feel marginalised.

Achieving gender equality in higher education remains elusive. In some parts of the world, girls struggle to access post-secondary education and even in countries where many women do embark on academic careers, there is still a marked lack of female representation in leadership roles. However, huge progress has been made through small changes like scheduling teaching hours around childcare needs or big institution-wide reform linked to SDG5: gender equality. In this collection marking International Women’s Day, university leaders and faculty share ways institutions and individuals can tackle the challenges faced by women in academia.

Protecting the well-being of students and academics has become one of the most pressing challenges faced by higher education institutions. The ripple effect of the pandemic and ongoing uncertainty have left many suffering heightened anxiety and stress – or simply feeling exhausted as another year rolls in. This collection explores practices to educate students and staff in better self-care, build their resilience and reboot their enthusiasm for their work.

A collection of resources exploring how to use reflective practices to deepen learning and research skills from dozens of academics all over the world. Find out why student self reflection is important, many different learning contexts in which it can be useful and varied ways to implement it in your teaching.

Collaborating with students is an effective way to develop curricula, classroom activities and even sometimes, assessments. But while many are familiar with the concept of co-creation, fewer are confident in how, on a practical level, to effectively work with students to shape their learning. Here we pull together advice from academics who are successfully using co-creation in their teaching and seeing positive learning outcomes as a result.

While many universities have now returned in part to campus, online teaching remains a core component of educational programmes. There are still many students unable to attend their institutions in person for whom remote learning is the only option. So academics face the challenge of delivering effective hybrid teaching which engages those with them in the classroom, as well as those learning via a screen. This collection offers advice on how to successfully manage hybrid instruction.

Practical advice on improving key elements of digital teaching provision, based on the combined expertise of faculty, spanning dozens of disciplines, at the American University in Cairo

The well-being of students and faculty has been severely tested throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, sparking calls for a more compassionate approach to higher education. This collection of resources offers advice on embedding care into your teaching practices, whether online or in person.

Students are more likely to be actively engaged in their learning if they are enjoying it and, happily, online teaching offers plenty of opportunity to play around and get creative with your course design and delivery styles. So, browse these resources to get ideas and inspiration for injecting fun into your online classes.

As the debate rages on about the future of the lecture, academics teaching online are developing effective and innovative ways to adapt this traditional style of instruction for a digital age. Here we have bought together advice from faculty all over the world on how to design and deliver "lectures" online for the best possible learning outcomes.

Online education can be a lonely experience, but there are plenty of ways to foster community via digital channels. Here are a range of ideas for building online learning communities to give students a sense of belonging, support peer discussion and collaboration, boost engagement and improve learning outcomes.

Advice to meet the six key recommendations proposed by Sir Michael Barber in his review of online higher education for the Office for Students: Redesign pedagogy, curriculum and assessment; ensure digital access for all; build digital skills; harness technology effectively; embed inclusion; and plan strategically for high quality digital teaching.

Resources exploring why and how to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and collaboration via digital channels

Advice on creating welcoming and inclusive online learning environments in which all students can flourish

Online teaching experts share advice to help instructors design and deliver effective remote courses, following the rapid move to virtual learning, in this series of webinars hosted by the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE)

Shortlisted candidates for "Most Innovative Teacher of the Year" at THE Awards 2020 share their advice and tips for offering top quality online teaching and learning

Basic how-to guides and advice for faculty starting out on the online teaching journey

Resources that will help debunk common misconceptions about online teaching and learning

Early takeaways from faculty and university leaders following the rapid transition to online teaching and learning due to the Covid-19 shutdown

Advice on best practice, techniques and tools in online teaching and learning shared by university educators as part of REMOTE: The connected faculty summit, hosted by Arizona State University.