Enter the Dark Would and let your imagination run free New learning space at University of Warwick aims to let students and academics explore issues in a more creative and curiosity-driven fashion By Chris Havergal 22 October
Africa’s ‘teaching shops’: the rise of private universities Are the continent’s for-profits exploiting students or have they helped to widen access?, asks Chris Havergal By Chris Havergal 22 October
A lesson in teaching across time As academics age, they need wisdom and maturity to bridge cultural gaps and reach their students, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto By Felipe Fernández-Armesto 22 October
TEF metrics plan attacked by academics Open letter to Hefce and UUK chiefs attracts 169 signatures as quality assessment and TEF proposals debated By Chris Havergal 20 October
How to give a good academic conference paper Tricks of presenting a successful academic conference paper are revealed by co-author of a popular public speaking guide By Jack Grove 15 October
Interview with Simon Piasecki We talk to the Liverpool Hope lecturer who featured in the finale of This Is England ’90 By John Elmes 15 October
We must instil a love of reading in students Academics have to affirm reading’s value and help undergraduates develop this high-level skill by setting them whole books, argues Frank Furedi By Frank Furedi 15 October
Sajid Javid: priority for TEF is to ‘get it right’ Business secretary responds to fears that 2017 is too soon to bring in new teaching excellence framework By David Matthews 14 October
Lecture theatres should be ditched for ‘21st-century teaching spaces’ Education and design consultant says institutions must bring their infrastructure up to date with modern forms of learning By Ellie Bothwell 13 October
Teaching excellence framework: a case of history repeating? Roger Brown urges the current government to learn from the mistakes of past teaching assessment exercises By Roger Brown 12 October
London Met to focus teaching on single campus Teaching on its Aldgate and Moorgate campuses will be moved to Holloway Road from 2017 By Jack Grove 12 October
World University Rankings blog: the challenges facing world-class universities Ellie Bothwell reflects on the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit By Ellie Bothwell 11 October
Only one in four new degree courses attracts enough students, study suggests Study recommends that universities use financial and market data to assess whether programmes are likely to succeed By Chris Havergal 8 October
How to engage with sullen students Academics offer advice on how to turn glumness into enthusiasm By Contributors 8 October
Why you shouldn’t go on holiday with an academic There’s no rest for the lifelong learning brigade, says Shahidha Bari By Shahidha Bari 8 October
Janet Beer: ministers should not publicly criticise university teaching University of Liverpool vice-chancellor says remarks harm UK’s global reputation By Ellie Bothwell 8 October
Standard tests for students: a big leap forwards or moving in the wrong direction? Academics debate whether non-subject-specific exams could be used to measure ‘learning gain’ in English higher education By Chris Havergal 8 October
NSS 'yea-saying' may be due to image-conscious universities Study says that importance of survey results may lead to ‘overzealous promotion’ and encourage more generous responses By Chris Havergal 8 October
TEF must include independent peer review, says new QAA chief Interim chief executive Douglas Blackstock warns teaching excellence framework will lack credibility without external assessment By Chris Havergal 8 October
Oxford vice-chancellor: funding cuts risk ‘throwing away’ strengths of UK higher education Andrew Hamilton warns politicians against ‘false economies’ in his final annual speech By Chris Havergal 6 October
Mass-produced PhDs lie at heart of Russia’s ‘plague’ of doctoral fraud Academic ‘scallywags’ are gaining doctorates thanks to the circulation of dodgy theses within some universities, says the founder of plagiarism pressure group By Jack Grove 4 October
LSBF fails to meet standards on sub-degree courses One of England’s biggest private colleges admitted students ‘who could not complete’ programmes, finds Quality Assurance Agency By John Morgan 2 October
OECD’s Dirk Van Damme says debate on Ahelo was ‘low quality’ Super-selective institutions do not always offer value in teaching and learning, THE World Academic Summit hears By Ellie Bothwell 2 October
Japan and the social sciences: behind the headlines Kenn Nakata Steffensen takes an in-depth look at the challenges facing Japan’s public universities 30 September
Publishing PhD papers ‘improves a university’s profile’ Theses in open-access repository at Dublin City University have been downloaded almost 1.4 million times By Jack Grove 30 September
'Heir to Merkel' denies plagiarism allegations Potential leader-in-waiting is fighting for her career after becoming latest German politician to face academic fraud claims By Jack Grove 30 September
Use graduate earnings data to shape university teaching, says Cambridge professor Anna Vignoles argues salary statistics can be used to identify in-demand skills By Chris Havergal 30 September
TEF will mean more exploitation of academics on short-term contracts Jess Patterson on why she fears the teaching excellence framework will be bad news for early career academics 28 September
This is why traditional lectures are better than watching a video Effective engagement and social interaction are key, says Stefan Rennick-Egglestone 24 September
Videoing lectures ‘has no impact’ on attendance, says study Queen’s University Belfast research finds that students use footage to reinforce traditional learning, not replace it By Chris Havergal 24 September
The week in higher education – 24 September 2015 The good, the bad and the offbeat – the academy through the lens of the national press By THE reporters 24 September
The story of a shy academic Joe Moran on the little-known benefits of being a shrinking violet By Joe Moran 24 September
TEF fees link is ‘daft’ and ‘stupid’, say Coventry University leaders University’s v-c and deputy also raise concerns about teaching excellence framework’s timescale, choice of metrics and impact overseas By John Morgan 24 September
Africa student mobility is starting to soar, say scholars Continent’s youthful population will soon require many more university places, with high numbers likely to study outside their home country By Jack Grove 22 September
Hefce to pilot standardised student tests Exams could measure 'learning gain' but may also form part of planned teaching excellence framework By Chris Havergal 21 September
OECD’s Ahelo will fail to launch, says education director Project to measure learning outcomes globally could have got off the ground ‘if UK had signed on’ By John Morgan 21 September
NSS results unrelated to teaching quality, study claims Research by University of Oxford academics provides evidence that student satisfaction scores are unconnected to exam performance By Jack Grove 17 September
Quality assessment must be more than a tick-box process Hefce chief Madeleine Atkins on what a simpler, less burdensome QA system might look like 16 September
NUS president vents anger on Twitter as anti-TEF motion is passed Megan Dunn and NUS national executive committee clash as policy to formally oppose the teaching excellence framework is passed By Jack Grove 11 September
Svetlana Boym, 1959-2015 A scholar, novelist and photographer whose work drew on her past as a Jewish émigré from the Soviet Union has died By John Morgan 10 September
News blog: what it is like to study in a Chinese university Having attended classes in Shanghai for a year, David Matthews returns a little more sceptical about education in the country By David Matthews 9 September
Top tips for finding a permanent academic job Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor identifies the top academic ‘habits’ postdocs need to reach the next level By Jack Grove 9 September
Should we compare the refugee crisis and the Holocaust in the lecture hall? There is no easy formula for distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate comparisons, says David Tollerton 8 September
UUK president Julia Goodfellow aims to ‘keep sector together’ First female president of Universities UK jokes that ‘it’s only been 100 years’ before a woman filled the post By John Morgan 8 September
EU backs project to test students across Europe Calohee learning outcomes project criticised by OECD, whose own scheme has failed to get going By John Morgan 4 September
Translation is a powerful teaching tool Dale Salwak explains why he focuses on the people carrying out the translation process and their effects on the text we read By Dale Salwak 3 September
The essay is a 1,000-word bore. Discuss The traditional medium for assessing students is a tired, restrictive form. It’s time for more dynamic, creative ones, argues Karen Harris By Karen Harris 3 September
Kick-start learning by giving students a lecture ‘trailer’ Nicholas Morton is road-testing some unusual ways to get, and keep, students’ attention By Nicholas Morton 3 September
University of Glasgow mulls turning away from Turnitin Scottish university signs up with rival plagiarism detection service after complaining about ‘operational difficulties’ By Chris Havergal 2 September
Have ‘young academics’ been betrayed? We need to stand up for early career researchers, says Catherine Fletcher 31 August
Minecraft: striking gold in the classroom? University of Hull demonstrates pedagogical potential of world-building game By Chris Havergal 27 August
New HEA chair: paying members could enshrine it as professional body Rama Thirunamachandran says role and financing of sector’s teaching champion must be rethought By Chris Havergal 27 August
News blog: would academics pay for HEA membership? The TEF is likely to prove critical in deciding the fate of higher education’s teaching champion, says Chris Havergal By Chris Havergal 27 August
Let’s be more frank with colleagues and students Being head of undergraduate studies was an eye-opener for Stephen Curry By Stephen Curry 27 August
Canterbury Christ Church vice-chancellor is new HEA chair Rama Thirunamachandran to lead sector body while teaching excellence tops the political agenda By Chris Havergal 20 August
PhDs from overseas: the rocky road to success for students and supervisors Cultural differences can complicate relationships between international doctoral students and supervisors, Jack Grove hears By Jack Grove 20 August
University staff in London are least happy in work High costs, long commutes and insecure jobs may explain figures from Best University Workplace Survey 2015 By Jack Grove 20 August
Candy Crush: is it a model for online courses? Paper argues that mobile game’s addictive appeal could be harnessed to improve course retention By Chris Havergal 19 August
Internet’s role in rise in student plagiarism exaggerated, study suggests Older papers with unattributed material had higher similarity index than more recent ones By Jack Grove 18 August
Female lecturers ‘suffer from gender biases’ in student ratings French research finds that undergraduates give higher scores to male teachers By Matthew Reisz 14 August