Teaching and learning

If universities want to keep teacher training, their courses must be more relevant to the real school world, argues Susan Bassnett

A mentor provides far more than inspiration and sage advice, says Tom Palaima, who fears for the future of such guiding relationships in the era of Moocs

Despite government optimism over UK’s future role, university provision remains limited, forum hears

Students work with female prisoners on The Beauty’s Inside project

Intellectual ‘flash mob’ meets in Westminster Cathedral crypt to debate the nature of Hell

Six Russell Group universities are among the 20 higher education institutions who will take part in a pilot of US-style degree classifications

Teaching complicated psychological constructs and statistical procedures to students can be a tough task at the best of times.

During THE podcast, universities minister points to Robbins’ example

Panagiotis Tsigaris found the online learning tool to be a positive addition to his courses

Some institutions’ appeals panels deny students a chance of justice, says Daniel Sokol

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?

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

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

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

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

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

“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

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

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

National Union of Students and businesses say stick to the Hear