Teaching and learning

Academic who has advocated new band of top degree marks now being considered by sector says system still needs ‘fundamental’ reform

Maintaining a breadth of curricular offerings is crucial if subjects outside the sciences are to retain their attraction in the digital age, says Dean Forbes

What single change to university practice would have the most positive and far-reaching consequences? Eight academics and thinkers give us their views

Annual NSSE survey of 400,000 US students finds gap between high confidence in job preparation and weaker assessment of skills

PhDs are becoming more programmatic in many countries, but the German one-on-one model retains considerable influence, says Glen Jones

Take-up of research by business is difficult to catalyse and record. Far better to focus on the impact central to universities’ missions, say Vince Mitchell and William Harvey

Data analysis by THE looks at three disciplines where the rise in firsts has been particularly high

Round-the-clock demands from students can take a toll on lecturers. With a THE survey highlighting rising expectations, Anna McKie asks where the line should be drawn between professional and private life

Drafting of learning expectations clears way for Calohee project to set student tests, but it may face resistance from prestigious universities

Dutch figures show just how little time professors get for their own research. It may be easier to pursue your intellectual interests outside the university system, says THE reporter David Matthews

Academics say that online recordings must be emphasised as a supplementary resource, not an alternative to lectures, or some students lose out

Degrees focused on specific careers need be no less rigorous or innovative than other graduate qualifications, say Sandro Galea and Lisa Sullivan

Trump administration plans to allow universities to attract federal funding for students based not on the amount of time they spend studying but on measurements of their ability

Half of continental institutions are developing online learning programmes, survey says

Joseph Aoun says campuses in North America and Europe are heeding his call for curriculum change

US medical training has embraced wider perspectives, but progress might be slower elsewhere, scholars say

A new teaching year has just begun in the northern hemisphere. Eight academics reflect on their experience of lecturing, and offer their tips on opening students’ eyes – and keeping them open

Justifications of suicide may risk promoting it, but censoring one side of an ancient argument would shortchange students, says David Baumeister

Don’t let immediate employability focus undermine ‘blue sky teaching’, chancellor tells counterparts

Only students with the deepest pockets can afford to pay hundreds of pounds for ghostwritten work, says Anthony Smith

Researchers clash with former minister on potential application of ‘distance travelled’ measures

The digital tide will not wash away campus-based learning, believe most respondents to THE’s University Leaders Survey. David Matthews reports on what they see ahead for study options, scholarly conferences, scientific progress and more

Forty-six sector heads sign letter calling on government to act against contract cheating

Western universities must do much more to meet high-fee-paying Chinese students’ expectations, say Lena Langosch and Wilfred Dolfsma

Conservative forces forget that canons and canonical understandings always evolved as science and society have progressed, says Gurminder Bhambra

Leaders have increasingly been acknowledging that the cultural pressure put on the country’s children to spend their hours studying has left them too one-dimensional

Humboldtian tradition at risk of unravelling in shift to use of teaching-only staff, Nobel prizewinning v-c says

Leaders of top universities say students must be pushed to ‘breaking point’ and allowed to fail

As students increasingly turn to essay mills to do their work, Anna McKie explores what drives this global trend and how universities are fighting it

The political craving for simple measures of learning gain is neither pedagogically informed nor sufficiently nuanced. Four academics argue that only by changing focus will the concept become useful

Early closure of pilot project is latest in string of global failures

The ease with which essays can be bought and the difficulty of grading them fairly means they should no longer be used for assessment, says Phil Race

Author of Academically Adrift says university haters have ‘grossly distorted’ his seminal study

Students claim that ‘asking questions is not appreciated by most local teachers’

Education can and should be central to good living. That insight is key to tackling the student mental health crisis, says Beth Guilding

Landmark paper charts rapid increase in use of essay mills

Findings based on observation of 587 courses at nine institutions

US academics consider how the Bard can be taught to students who may feel he has nothing to offer them

Funny jokes improve class cohesion and dud gags do no harm, study finds – but offensive quips can alienate learners

Lecture capture has not taken off. Is it time to call in the thespians, asks Michael Marinetto

Impeached former president Dilma Rousseff gives inaugural lecture at Brazil’s Federal University of Minas Gerais, where new course will open from the coming academic year

German students – and academics – still go along with controversial mainstream theories in order to get ahead, researcher argues

New president of German Rectors’ Conference thinks it is crucial that all students know the European canon

New tool will learn how academics grade papers and replicate their approach

Outside the anglophone world, universities are under pressure to conduct research in English – but teach in their local language, says David Matthews

Advent of Trump era lends urgency to debate about social justice and democratic values

Lincoln Allison was inspired to teach by academics who loved what they did and communicated this to students. But has all passion for teaching been eliminated by creeping assessment and instrumentalism?

New funding stream should give a boost to those pursuing innovative projects

New paper says both teaching-intensive and research-intensive universities need to re-examine the way they assess students

Most universities omitted after the boycott are back in for this year’s NSS, although Cambridge and Oxford still fail to feature

Leading a university seminar for the first time can be an intimidating prospect. Here, three PhD students offer some advice for those preparing for the new academic year

Seekers of dispassionate truth may be irritated by the moral passion of the likes of Dostoevsky, Zola and Chekhov, but it is a much stronger influence on public opinion, says David Aberbach  

Richard Arum, dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Education, speaking after his plenary speech at the 2018 Teaching Excellence Summit 

Experts in teaching and learning weigh in on the teaching versus research debate from the 2018 Times Higher Education Teaching Excellence Summit held at the University of Glasgow

Canadian university impresses judges with ‘strength of its vision and plan’ for teaching quality

Increasing use of technology on campus will erode division between online and offline education, according to Jeff Maggioncalda

Conference hears staff development must not be neglected as multimillion-pound estate upgrades take effect

Educationalist argues ‘religious’ zeal of active-learning advocates ignores the importance of the traditional lecture

The public sector has not expanded quickly enough to meet the demand for college degrees in India

Learning outcomes are very well intentioned, but their use discourages students from thinking outside the tick box, says Robert Nelson