Teaching and learning

University of Cambridge’s examinations arm finds independent school-leavers at Russell Group institutions are a third less likely to get a good degree than state school students with similar A-level results

University of East Anglia centre hosts two master’s courses in space with writable walls and adaptable furniture

Machiavellian tactics used by university leaders and their minions are often viewed as malevolent, but they are vital to running an organisation, says new study

‘Transposition error’ meant funding council wrongly stated that state school leavers were more likely than private peers to get a good degree

Institutions are not developing the key skills employers look for, says David Reed

Funding, staffing and alternative providers among issues to be considered as part of £5 million initiative

Universal challenges demand cross-disciplinary focus, argues Dame Julia King, and a thematic approach to university teaching will be essential

Leading Renaissance scholar hailed as polymath and iconoclast following her death

It was 150 years ago that the University of London teamed up with a college on an island in the Indian ocean. Sir Adrian Smith reflects on the significance of this partnership

Gina Wisker offers some practical advice on cross-cultural supervision

New learning space at University of Warwick aims to let students and academics explore issues in a more creative and curiosity-driven fashion

Are the continent’s for-profits exploiting students or have they helped to widen access?, asks Chris Havergal

As academics age, they need wisdom and maturity to bridge cultural gaps and reach their students, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Open letter to Hefce and UUK chiefs attracts 169 signatures as quality assessment and TEF proposals debated

Tricks of presenting a successful academic conference paper are revealed by co-author of a popular public speaking guide

We talk to the Liverpool Hope lecturer who featured in the finale of This Is England ’90

Academics have to affirm reading’s value and help undergraduates develop this high-level skill by setting them whole books, argues Frank Furedi

Business secretary responds to fears that 2017 is too soon to bring in new teaching excellence framework

Education and design consultant says institutions must bring their infrastructure up to date with modern forms of learning

Roger Brown urges the current government to learn from the mistakes of past teaching assessment exercises

Teaching on its Aldgate and Moorgate campuses will be moved to Holloway Road from 2017

Ellie Bothwell reflects on the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit

Academics debate whether non-subject-specific exams could be used to measure ‘learning gain’ in English higher education

Study says that importance of survey results may lead to ‘overzealous promotion’ and encourage more generous responses

Interim chief executive Douglas Blackstock warns teaching excellence framework will lack credibility without external assessment

Study recommends that universities use financial and market data to assess whether programmes are likely to succeed

Academics offer advice on how to turn glumness into enthusiasm

There’s no rest for the lifelong learning brigade, says Shahidha Bari

University of Liverpool vice-chancellor says remarks harm UK’s global reputation

Andrew Hamilton warns politicians against ‘false economies’ in his final annual speech

Academic ‘scallywags’ are gaining doctorates thanks to the circulation of dodgy theses within some universities, says the founder of plagiarism pressure group

One of England’s biggest private colleges admitted students ‘who could not complete’ programmes, finds Quality Assurance Agency

Super-selective institutions do not always offer value in teaching and learning, THE World Academic Summit hears 

Kenn Nakata Steffensen takes an in-depth look at the challenges facing Japan’s public universities

Theses in open-access repository at Dublin City University have been downloaded almost 1.4 million times

Potential leader-in-waiting is fighting for her career after becoming latest German politician to face academic fraud claims

Anna Vignoles argues salary statistics can be used to identify in-demand skills

Jess Patterson on why she fears the teaching excellence framework will be bad news for early career academics

Effective engagement and social interaction are key, says Stefan Rennick-Egglestone

University’s v-c and deputy also raise concerns about teaching excellence framework’s timescale, choice of metrics and impact overseas

Queen’s University Belfast research finds that students use footage to reinforce traditional learning, not replace it

The good, the bad and the offbeat – the academy through the lens of the national press

Joe Moran on the little-known benefits of being a shrinking violet

Continent’s youthful population will soon require many more university places, with high numbers likely to study outside their home country

Exams could measure 'learning gain' but may also form part of planned teaching excellence framework

Project to measure learning outcomes globally could have got off the ground ‘if UK had signed on’

Research by University of Oxford academics provides evidence that student satisfaction scores are unconnected to exam performance

Hefce chief Madeleine Atkins on what a simpler, less burdensome QA system might look like

Megan Dunn and NUS national executive committee clash as policy to formally oppose the teaching excellence framework is passed

A scholar, novelist and photographer whose work drew on her past as a Jewish émigré from the Soviet Union has died

Having attended classes in Shanghai for a year, David Matthews returns a little more sceptical about education in the country

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor identifies the top academic ‘habits’ postdocs need to reach the next level

There is no easy formula for distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate comparisons, says David Tollerton

First female president of Universities UK jokes that ‘it’s only been 100 years’ before a woman filled the post

Calohee learning outcomes project criticised by OECD, whose own scheme has failed to get going

Dale Salwak explains why he focuses on the people carrying out the translation process and their effects on the text we read

The traditional medium for assessing students is a tired, restrictive form. It’s time for more dynamic, creative ones, argues Karen Harris

Nicholas Morton is road-testing some unusual ways to get, and keep, students’ attention

Scottish university signs up with rival plagiarism detection service after complaining about ‘operational difficulties’

We need to stand up for early career researchers, says Catherine Fletcher