Teaching and learning

UCU members vote two to one against terms that they fear may leave them liable to summary dismissal

Ahelo academic and funder blame research elite for thwarting international graduate tests, but criticisms also levelled at multimillion-dollar ‘failure’

The University of the Aegean is seeking permission to admit refugees arriving in their thousands on the shores of Greek islands

Sir Keith Burnett considers the challenges of introducing a teaching excellence framework

Staffordshire lecturer’s illustrated activity book introduces students to research techniques

Pressure from senior management at Uclan to increase student numbers led to pharmacy school over-recruiting, General Pharmaceutical Council finds

Teaching excellence framework must not be a superficial extension of data already being collected, warns Dame Julia King

As a vague policy commitment moves towards reality, Jack Grove assesses the potential ways and means

Lack of evidence is ‘increasingly untenable’ with TEF gaining traction, says funding council

University of Huddersfield lecturer describes success of using plastic bricks in seminars

Philip Moriarty stands up for the much-maligned presentation tool

Sector questions how government will decide which universities can raise fees on 2017 timescale

Doubts now raised over future of project billed as having potential to shake up hierarchy of world higher education

Small-group teaching can be life changing, for students and their tutors. But it doesn’t come for free.

Nitpicking the TEF to pieces would be a mistake, says Derfel Owen. Far better to engage – and here’s how

Debate may also consider efficacy of running new framework in tandem with REF

Tony Little points to ‘increasing gap’ between teaching standards at sixth form and university

Using employability data to assess a university’s teaching is ‘deeply problematic’, says Graham Gibbs

HEA-commissioned report says those with vocational background may need more support, but also warns against seeing such qualifications as inferior

Senior lawyer criticises Counter Terrorism and Security Act

Universities face having to navigate two quality frameworks as Jo Johnson makes teaching excellence framework a priority amid Hefce reforms

Deputy news editor John Morgan braves the hottest day of the year to take in the new minister's inaugural higher education address

But minister appears to drop reference to teaching excellence framework carrying 'financial' incentives

Universities minister raises concerns about increasing number of students receiving top grades

In this blog, news editor Simon Baker considers whether we’ve seen it all before with Hefce’s proposals

Excellent teaching  ‘key priority’ for government

New system to ‘put student needs at the centre’

Unexpectedly in charge of a room of students fretting over the colour of answer booklets, Emma Rees ponders the potential price in dog lives

Early issues of the journal Studies in Higher Education show how greatly academics’ view of what they do has changed, says Bruce Macfarlane

Survey finds that 46.6 per cent of academics shared family photos and information such as their favourite films or books

Proposals follow recommendations in independent report

Edinburgh principal Sir Tim O’Shea warns such a system would distract from real mission

Since 2003, the number of graduates from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge teaching at state schools has risen from 5,000 to 11,000

The former universities minister discusses the reforms that reshaped higher education and his first steps into academia

Undergraduates are ready to be inspired by the right call, says Alex Valente

University lecturers can learn how to teach creativity by looking at innovative practice found in art colleges and music schools, claims education expert

More than half of female students reading science subjects at the University of Bristol said that they have felt uncomfortable at the institution because of their gender

Fifty-five people working in universities have been named as the latest winners of the sector’s top honour for teaching and learning

New study suggests using phones in class could actually be beneficial, provided students stay on topic

Institution may close one of its engineering schools after a 'disappointing result' in the research excellence framework

Hepi/HEA Student Academic Experience Survey results may intensify pressure on staff to gain formal accreditation

Poor materials, disengaged students and little time or incentive to prepare dishearten one casualised academic

The University of Warwick has scrapped controversial plans to use a scheme called TeachHigher to employ hourly paid teaching and research staff

GPA Advisory Group propose five-year pilot to test GPA alongside traditional honours system

A digital tool created by the University of Edinburgh uses Twitter to engage with Mooc learners

Universities are losing control of what they teach, warns John Cookson

The UK must decide by 31 May whether to take the next step in a project aiming to measure learning outcomes at a global level

A university has launched what it claims is the UK’s first module in ‘drag studies’

Students need to understand assessment criteria in order to spot weaknesses in their own work, says David Carless

The Royal Academy of Engineering has added its voice to calls for new metrics to be used in universities to assess teaching quality.

John Morgan examines the progress of a vision of parity between pedagogy and research

Specialist higher education institution Writtle College has been granted the power to award its own degrees.

Students at Benedictus will spend half their course outside the classroom ‘studying from the object’

Universities must be realistic about crashes and capitalism, says Terry Jones ahead of the premiere of documentary Boom Bust Boom

For teachers, the border between the two is porous, says Shahidha Bari

King’s is to take over Bush House, the former home of the BBC World Service

Are the best assessors your colleagues, or external observers?

Yong Zhao believes China doesn’t foster the free thinkers it needs. What is the state of the country’s higher education system?

University examinations teach students how to compete but teamwork is the vital life skill, says Kevin Fong

The AQA decision to end a promising trial of the subject does a disservice to students, the discipline and the UK, says Joy Hendry