Teaching and learning

David Willetts has been challenged over his assertion that university class sizes are the same as they were 50 years ago

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on the inanity of questionnaires assessing teaching

A new generation of ‘dual-intensive’ universities can do the job, argues Edward Acton

By Scott Jaschik, for Inside Higher Ed

Malcolm Gillies hesitates before marking any documents ‘For your eyes only’

Teachers will be motivated to improve if internal assessments are made public, says John Colley

David Matthews investigates the scale and threat of the custom essay industry

Douglas Anderson on the results of his active approach to pedagogy

An ‘unconference’ inspires Kevin Fong to rethink his lecture material

Generalists on fair terms would offer the flexibility the sector needs, argues Philip Roddis

The winner of an annual pan-European award for teaching has put his success down to traditional methods of classroom “chalk and talk”.

Anthony Seldon says the best way to improve teaching in universities is through tough appraisals based on student feedback

Academics at Avans University in the Netherlands revamp seminars to promote student engagement

Higher Education Academy chief executive Stephanie Marshall explains her plans for institutions to have autonomy over staff CPD

Mobile phone ownership across the continent is rocketing, but can it expand higher education’s reach and quality?

Harvard Business School’s teaching model offers consistency but also allows unscripted ‘discovery’, explain Michel Anteby and Caitlin Anderson

David Gewanter recalls the time he spent studying under the late poet

How did David Mould end up teaching journalism in Kazakhstan’s frozen capital? He was a political pawn, he says

Rethinking classroom design needn’t be expensive, but keeping users in mind is key

This year’s small deflation of A-level results still has a big impact on the sector, says Ucas head

Academics fear thin end of wedge

Using silence effectively in the university classroom has pedagogical benefits, asserts Helen Lees

Students get deeper insights when writers and poets such as Dickens and Neruda are on the syllabus, David Aberbach argues

Will Michael Gove’s reform plans endanger the traditional values he seeks to promote? Jack Grove investigates

Yearly improvements are an inevitable by-product of social progress, says Gary Thomas

“Eugenics was created by Charles Darwin’s cousin Gollum,” according to a student gaffe that formed a late entry in our annual exam howlers competition

Sian Lawson on how to align expectations in the social media age

‘Not just money-making exercise’, says company founder

Robert Zaretsky on sustained and sustaining pauses for thought during university lectures

The former deputy head of the Higher Education Academy has taken over at the helm of the organisation.

Times Higher Education analysis adds to fears about degree comparability

How a ‘freelance ghostwriter’ haunts the sector

Participants in Edinburgh Napier study did better than expected

Plans were abandoned only after ‘extensive negotiations’ with union

Thomas Docherty warns of an obsession that threatens the university

Myshele Goldberg on a numbers-based approach that doesn’t add up

Aaron Rosen on how the UK is improving on a US staple

HEA study finds efforts to promote pedagogy have yet to pay off

Dramatic falls in part-time and mature student numbers must be tackled to ensure people from poorer families have the chance to go to university, access head Les Ebdon has warned.

A chemistry professor whose lessons have been viewed on YouTube by thousands of students across the world is one of this year’s winners of the Higher Education Academy’s National Teaching Fellowships.

Kingston scheme encourages feedback from all types of undergraduates

University lecturers should be required to take teacher training classes, according to an EU commission on higher education led by the former president of Ireland Mary McAleese

V-c points to reform’s intellectual and vocational benefits

Teacher-turned-scholar Jon Berry sends a message to the education minister on the theory behind best practice

Austin Williams on eager-to-please students fired by a passion for knowledge

Fluent instruction no more effective than poor delivery in teaching terms

Graham Gibbs asks what ‘study skills’ consist of and whether they can actually be learned by students

Today’s students are impoverished by a scant knowledge of culture and context, but the story of art should be a sine qua non of any well-rounded curriculum, argues Brian Sewell

Alastair Bonnett visits Lincoln’s Social Science Centre, a cooperative, free university attempting to build a different kind of knowledge economy

National Union of Students and businesses say stick to the Hear

Technology augments but cannot supersede intuition, argues Annette Karmiloff-Smith

Somewhere, in a class past or future, your nemesis awaits. John Kaag on the existential terror of a pedagogical puzzle

The humanities classroom offers reflection of a healthier sort, says Robert Zaretsky

There is “no sign” that students paying up to £9,000 in tuition fees in 2012-13 are receiving more for their money from universities, according to a survey of contact hours, workload and satisfaction.

Undergraduate-led learning environment is eroding academics’ authority, Jack Grove writes

It’s not what you teach but how that matters, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

If creativity can’t be taught, the invaluable craft of writing can, says novelist and Bath Spa professor

Education academics must demonstrate their practical relevance if they wish to save their discipline, argues John Furlong

Starting university-level study in secondary school pays financial and academic dividends, writes Jon Marcus

Informal group admits reform will require more work than previously thought