Teaching Practices In Higher Education Research Articles

Employability Learning and Teaching Research: A Twenty Year Structured Narrative Review

Employability is a set of key personal attributes and transferable and discipline-specific skills considered essential for effective workplace performance; however, there are numerous perspectives about employability and how to develop it in higher education. Definitions and measurements of employability are influenced by factors such as government policy, requirements of employers, discipline norms and structural barriers. In the context of the Special Issue: 20-year JUTLP Review, this structured narrative review aimed to explore and understand employability to inform higher education learning and teaching practice. Forty-six articles published in the Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice were included, set in the context of 45 review articles on employability sourced from Scopus and ERIC databases and other selected literature. Several definitions of employability drew on existing employability frameworks and researchers’ evolving conceptions of employability within their disciplinary contexts. We propose a composite definition of employability based on the findings from this review: Employability is lifelong, evolving and complex, requiring adaptability and capabilities including knowledge, skills and attributes to obtain sustainable employment and resolve work ambiguities in challenging globalised, sociocultural and economic contexts. Higher education teaching practices, curriculum and assessment develop employability by developing discipline-specific alongside transferable knowledge, skills, attitudes, literacies, competencies, capacities and capabilities relevant to potential workplaces and aligned with employability attributes. Student-centred experiential learning models such as work-integrated learning, internships, industry experience, problem-based learning and reflection promote employability. Higher education also should promote career development competencies to enable students to showcase their skills, experiences, and attributes to employers through e-portfolios.  

Development of a Scale of Skills in Teaching Work and Innovation in University Education

This study aimed to validate a scale for subjectively measuring teaching competencies for innovation in higher education. The scale was developed by creating a set of items that underwent content validity through the Delphi technique and face validity. A survey was then conducted with 523 higher education professors. The resulting scale, called the STW-ICE Scale, consists of four dimensions: continuing education, creativity, digital fluency, and scientificity. We found that the scale has psychometric properties that allow for subjective measurement of the proposed competencies. The SmartPLS and SPSS software were used for data assessment. Additionally, we found high levels of teaching skills in the sample for all dimensions. Based on these findings, this study successfully achieved its goal of developing and validating a scale. We hope that this scale will be used not only for classificatory diagnoses but also to encourage reflection on teaching practices in higher education with a focus on innovation.

Educators as agents of breadth-biased learning: using social reconstructionism as rationale for embracing media multitasking and enhancing teaching practices in higher education.

This perspective article contends that media multitasking has significant implications on cognitive control processes, particularly in how information is processed and utilized. Contrary to viewing media multitasking as inherently negative, the article argues that it contributes to the evolving nature of cognitive processing, without necessarily improving or degrading it. The discussion draws on theoretical frameworks from contemporary cognitive neuroscience to contextualize these arguments. The article provides a nuanced perspective on media multitasking, acknowledging its enduring presence and exploring its influence on cognitive processes, while also proposing strategies for educators to navigate its implications in educational settings.

‘How can I do it?’ Inclusive faculty members make recommendations for carrying out inclusive teaching practices

Inclusive education at the university requires a commitment from staff and faculty to guide higher education towards equality and equity. The scientific literature suggests that the success of students with disability depends, to a large extent, on the attitude of faculty members and their willingness to make adjustments. Faculty who carry out inclusive practices are characterised by being accessible, making adjustments and adaptations and providing adapted materials and flexible assessment. Therefore, the learning context is basic to the educational inclusion of these students and depends largely on the role played by the faculty. The aim of this study was to provide recommendations made by 42 inclusive Education Science faculty members to other faculty members who have students with disability in their classrooms for the first time. A qualitative methodology was followed. Specifically, the biographical-narrative methodology was used, and the analysis of the data was defined by its narrative nature. The faculty recommended their colleagues to interact constantly with their students, adjust their teaching to respond to their needs, be interested in training, gather information about disability issues and learn about certain characteristics related to the teaching role that favour the educational and social inclusion of students with disability. This study allowed identifying several keys related to inclusive teaching practices in higher education.

Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Exploring Ways of Harnessing Pedagogical Practices with the Assistance of ChatGPT

There is a growing interest in using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for educational purposes within the higher education environments, while AI applications (such as ChatGPT) can transform traditional teaching and learning methods. ChatGPT is an advanced AI tool that generates new content and human-like responses. The purpose of this paper is to use ChatGPT as a research assistant in order to explore ways AI can be harnessed to enhance pedagogical practices in higher education. This is a qualitative study, in which the output-responses generated by ChatGPT provided a starting point for the investigation. AI can be harnessed to enhance pedagogical practices in higher education in various ways including personalized learning, automated assessment and feedback generation, virtual assistants and chatbots, content creation, resource recommendation, time management, language translation and support, research assistance, simulations and virtual labs. Other educational affordances that can strengthen the teaching and learning experience regard collaboration and communication, accessibility and inclusivity, as well as AI literacy. When implementing AI tools such as ChatGPT in higher education, ethical considerations (e.g., data privacy, transparency, accessibility, cultural sensitivity), potential misuses and concerns need to also be addressed. Although ChatGPT can aid the generation of content-ideas for further exploration, it is a complementary-supportive tool, and its output necessitates human evaluation and review. The integration of ChatGPT and other AI tools in the higher educational process/practices has implications for educators, students, design of curricula, and university policy makers.

Decolonizing Higher Education in Norway: Critical Collaborative Autoethnographic Reflections on a University Pedagogy Course

Globally, there is a trend in academic development to centralize the importance of decolonizing curriculum and pedagogical practice in higher education (HE). In Norway, despite internationalization, diversity and inclusion being highly regarded values in HE policy documents, efforts towards decolonial change and transformation of curriculum and pedagogical practice in HE seem to be largely ignored. Understanding university teacher education as a driver of institutional educational transformation, this article contributes to the effort of decolonizing HE in Norway. Utilizing critical collaborative autoethnographic methodology, we reflect on our own roles in our early attempts to decolonize a course on decolonization and pedagogical practice offered to teaching staff at a Norwegian university college. Taking our point of departure in decolonial theory and the concept of modernity/coloniality, we critically discuss and question the potency of our own roles—as two middle-aged white cis-men and one middle-aged cis-woman, all lecturers with expertise mainly in decolonial theories, decolonial learning and teaching practices, and critical whiteness and critical discourse analysis perspectives—in transforming the ways that Western epistemology prevail in our pedagogical practices. We also address the implications for university pedagogy courses with respect to future decolonizing efforts in HE in Norway.

Inclusive Teaching in Higher Education: Challenges of Diversity in Learning Situations from the Lecturer Perspective

This paper contributes to the dialogue around how to increase inclusion in higher education, taking the lecturer perspective as the point of departure. Theoretically, disability is understood as an interaction, which means that lecturers partake in the constitution of dis/ability in learning situations. Two qualitative interviews were conducted with an interdisciplinary lecturer employed in an institution of higher education in Norway. These data are used for this single case study to illustrate and reflect on the challenges of diversity in learning situations. Findings suggest that the lecturer struggles to encounter their increasingly diverse student population inclusively. Overall, her experiences unpack the outcome of a structural lack of prioritization to ensure accessibility for disabled students at an institutional level at the university where she is employed. This article emphasizes that the responsibility to ensure an inclusive teaching practice in higher education must be recognized and treated as an institutional obligation. To signal its priority, all institutions of higher education should make inclusive training obligatory for lecturers, as well as assigning hours to work on enhancing the development of inclusive skills in this group.

Teaching English for Specific Purposes in Tertiary Contexts: Navigating Education and Assessment Challenges

ABSTRACT Since its inception in the early 1960s, English for specific purposes (ESP) has been characterised as a materials-driven and a teacher-led movement. Distinctively separated from general English teaching, ESP teachers often function as designers and implementers in curriculum development. Attaining a certain degree of disciplinary expertise is the greatest challenge that they encounter while transitioning from general to specific language teaching. Recognising a dearth of research on ESP teacher development, this study has emerged from in-depth, unstructured interviews conducted with both novice and expert educators. This qualitative inquiry examines the collaborative strategies employed and hurdles encountered by ESP educators within the tertiary education arena, with a specific emphasis on their vital contributions to the English language instruction of undergraduate students in India. The findings offer insights into the evolving specificity of English language education in India, particularly for educators and institutions committed to improving language teaching practices in higher education.

High-Impact Teaching Practices in Higher Education: Understanding Barriers, Concerns, and Obstacles to Their Adoption

This research explores the barriers, concerns, and obstacles undergraduate STEM educators face when implementing high-impact teaching practices (HIPs), the application of which may improve student learning outcomes. Because our study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, our results also shed light on the unique challenges of utilizing HIPs in asynchronous online-learning environments. Thirteen undergraduate instructors were interviewed about their current teaching practices in order to identify barriers to or support for adopting HIPs. Data collected through semi-structured interviews revealed administrative and financial restraints as barriers to effective teaching which have been found in previous research. A number of new and unique obstacles emerged out of teaching remotely or online during the pandemic, including a heightened concern over the instructor’s ability to connect with students and engage in the best teaching practices. This research extends our current understanding of barriers and concerns about adopting HIPs in undergraduate STEM courses because of the unique perceived threats that emerged during the pandemic. We identify strategies to equip faculty with the support they need to provide equitable learning experiences, including access to consultants who support curriculum development and implementation in the classroom, ongoing educational coaching, and increased access to professional-development opportunities and a community of inquiry to discuss teaching strategies.

PRÁTICA DOCENTE NO ENSINO SUPERIOR EM TURMAS DO PARFOR/UEA NO MUNICÍPIO DE SÃO PAULO DE OLIVENÇA

This article brings a report on the teaching practice in Higher Education of the PARFOR Program - National Plan for the Training of Basic Education Teachers in the municipality of São Paulo de Olivença in the State of Amazonas. In the study we present a brief history of the Training Program and also the educational reality of the State of Amazonas, also focusing on the implementation of the Program and the permanence of teachers in these Training courses. It can be seen that ethnic-racial issues need to be debated, discussed and analyzed by teachers who participate in PARFOR training courses, as they allow refl ection on the positions adopted in the social context, as well as in the school context. Pedagogical practices should prioritize the development of didactic strategies to combat discrimination, in particular, racial discrimination in the school environment of teachers.

Beyond traditional teaching: a systematic review of innovative pedagogical practices in higher education

Background Pedagogical best practices play a pivotal role in ensuring the academic success of students within the higher education landscape. This study aims to systematically synthesize innovative pedagogical best practices within the university context. Methods We conducted a thorough systematic review using the rigorous PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology. Our review involved comprehensive searches of scientific databases, including Eric, Scopus, and Proquest, covering both Spanish and English publications. We strategically employed Boolean operators like AND and OR to create a robust search equation. Our primary research question guiding this investigation was: “What innovative pedagogical practices have been developed in university settings to improve teaching and learning effectiveness?” This central question led us to delve deeply into the strategies utilized, pedagogical approaches adopted, and the noticeable impact achieved after their implementation. Additionally, we carefully established stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to ensure methodological rigor. Results A total of 25 scholarly articles that met the pre-established criteria were meticulously identified and included in this systematic review. The results were thoughtfully categorized into three distinct teaching strategies: the first emphasizing student-centered approaches, the second showcasing the integration of educational technology, and the third highlighting evaluation and feedback methodologies. Conclusions This systematic exploration of pedagogical best practices underscores their paramount importance in driving continuous improvement in teacher training and fostering innovation within the educational arena. Such practices not only create an engaging and effective learning environment but also set the stage for ongoing advancements in the teaching and learning processes.

Cinema as a pedagogical practice in higher education: a case study applied to labour law*

The aim of this article is to discuss the use of cinema as a pedagogical resource in higher education in the legal field and, more specifically, in the teaching of labour law. It emphasises the importance of multimedia resources, focused on art and aesthetics, as an aggregating element for the formation of a humanist conscience that is essential in legal training. The purpose of this pedagogical practice is to use cinema as a means of reflecting on labour relations, starting from the reality portrayed and grasping the reality of each era. By watching and analyzing films, the objective is to study labour law and encourage social reflection (Russell, 2009). There are two general objectives: to provide a reflection on the evolution of Labour Law and to raise awareness of the reality of labour relations. The specific objectives are to use cinema as a teaching tool and to discuss film narrative and its different components.

About This Issue: From the Editor

Welcome to Volume 27, Number 2 of the Journal of the International Society for Teacher Education. In this issue, we present a collection of articles organized under the theme: Education and Teaching Practices: Enhancing Learning and Support for Diverse Student Needs. Some of these papers were presented at the Annual ISfTE Seminar in Bhutan in 2023. Together, the articles in this issue cover various aspects of education and teaching, including pre-service teacher self-efficacy, teacher feedback, self-determination for students with disabilities, student perceptions in health education and continuity of teaching practices in higher education in our post-Covid context. This compilation of articles presents research carried out in Bhutan, Norway, Nigeria, and the USA. It underscores the diversity of educational research and its relevance to improving teaching and learning practices across different settings.

Exploring Social Justice Issues That Inform the 21st-Century Curriculum in Higher Education: Lecturers’ Voices and Experiences

Higher education systems across the globally have adopted policies to provide a curriculum which is underpinned by the fundamental values of equality, inclusivity, and diversity. However, owing to lack of transformation and the practical implementation of these policies, higher education is still significantly entrenched in Eurocentric epistemologies which expose students to a learning environment which does not represent their social identities. This has led to the intensification of discourses on decolonisation epistemologies. At the centre of these decolonisation epistemologies is their advocacy for the recognition of indigenous epistemologies and ontologies in the learning environment. Of importance to these discourses is social justice issues that influence the 21st-century curriculum. Guided by the Critical Theory of Education, this study explored social justice issues that inform the 21st-century curriculum from a lecturers’ perspective. Data was collected from thirty-two purposefully selected lecturers from all universities in South Africa using a questionnaire with a Likert scale. The findings demonstrate that academic imperialism, language equity, equality, inclusivity, and diversity are the major issues of social justice that influence the 21st-century curriculum.  To promote these social justice issues, this study advocates for radical transformation in language policies and pedagogical practices in higher education. The study further calls for the practical dismantling of the current dispensation in higher education which perpetuates social injustice and inequality. Educational policies need to respond purposefully to calls to decolonise the 21st-century curriculum holistically and create an education system which works for every student on these social justice issues.

From black screens to mediating means

The paper reports on an empirical case study that explores innovative teaching practices in higher education, including digital, physical, and blended learning activities. The study followed the Master’s course ‘Experts in Teamwork’, where the students worked with practical assignments based on real-life challenges formulated by an external collaboration partner, which included actors from the health care department, the school management, and the ICT management in the local municipality. The students also gained experience with creative media production and worked with various digital tools and software.
 The findings show that the students experienced the project as motivating, highly educational and relevant to working life. It seems that digital tools contributed to flexibility, particularly for interactivity with the external partners and for group work. Both for students and the teachers the use of screens and software like Zoom and Teams opened for new ways of thinking about collaboration and provided an extended learning space and increased learning potential. However, screens also imply limitations, for example in terms of communication noise, possible passive forms of participation or even withdrawal from some of the students. Moreover, practices that include digital, physical and hybrid learning activities are highly complex, which require that the activities are particularly well planned and thoughtfully organized. The learning situation is therefore characterized by increased demands and expectations - for both students, teachers, and the institutions.

Comparison of problem-based and team-based learning strategies: a multi-institutional investigation

ObjectivesOver time, pedagogical practices in higher education have evolved significantly, which has led to the development of collaborative learning strategies. The study aims to compare the two most prominent ones – problem-based learning (PBL) and team-based learning (TBL). The comparison, integrated with Virtual Scenarios (VSs), involves student cohorts from various European institutions, specifically focusing on both PBL and TBL methods. The study is distinctive in its use of a consistent PBL/TBL methodology, ensured via joint staff training, and explores the perspectives of students and educators on these learning techniques. The overarching aim is to examine how PBL and TBL, coupled with VSs, influence problem-solving skills, independent learning, and student engagement.MethodsThe examination was made using feedback from 399 students and 11 tutors collected in four trials held in three institutions based in Czechia, the United Kingdom and Romania. The data gathered from surveys and a focus group discussion contained qualitative as well as quantitative data, such as Likert scale questions. To analyse the overall trends in learners’ satisfaction with PBL and TBL sessions, the mean score calculated from the transformed Likert scale questions was compared between sessions and among institutions using multivariate ANOVA.ResultsThe students’ satisfaction and learning experience are heavily influenced by specific conditions, primarily their prior experience, room and technical set-up, group composition and especially the personality of a tutor. Overall, both strategies were found to be well-received by students used to traditional teaching methods. Students accustomed to PBL did not find TBL more engaging or useful. The identified advantages of TBL over PBL were the presence of a content expert, readiness tests, acquiring the same knowledge ensured through the collective presence of all students in one session and unified pre-class materials. However, TBL is more demanding on room set-up and teaching staff coordination.ConclusionBoth strategies have been found to have pros and cons and neither showed clear superiority over the other one. An institution newly implementing PBL or TBL needs to focus on different aspects than an institution planning to switch from PBL to TBL.

Factors impacting the ability of ‘EdAdvisors’ to support and enhance technology-enhanced learning and teaching in Australian Higher Education

Technology-enhanced learning and teaching practice in Higher Education is facilitated in different ways by ‘Third Space’ support staff including Learning Designers, Education Technologists and Academic Developers, broadly defined as ‘EdAdvisors’ – educator/advisors. EdAdvisors offer rich experience and expertise across both pedagogy and technology can be hampered by workplace factors that diminish their ability to have meaningful impact. The work that EdAdvisors do is increasingly represented in existing research but there less is known of the barriers to their practice, particularly across different role-types. This doctoral research uses a Practice Theory lens and mixed methods to examine the complex web of factors in Australian Higher Education that shape the practices of EdAdvisors, including cultural, epistemic, material, organisational and relational, in an attempt to identify problems and suggest solutions. One significant problem is that EdAdvisor roles are often poorly defined. This work adds clarity to the understanding of these roles by comparing core activities and knowledge areas associated with them and using this analysis to find distinguishing characteristics and areas of overlap. It contributes to deeper understanding of the ways that teaching is and should be supported in Australian Higher Education. Feedback is sought on the theoretical lenses and methodology 

Factors Affecting Faculty Members’ Readiness to Integrate Artificial Intelligence into Their Teaching Practices: A Study from the Saudi Higher Education Context

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for about three decades. However, use of AI in pedagogy on a large scale and examination of its impact on teaching practices in higher education are under-researched topics. This study examined the readiness of 465 faculty members at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia to integrate AI into their teaching practices as well as the factors influencing that readiness. A 46-item online survey was used to collect data. The results show that the respondents demonstrated an average readiness to integrate AI into their teaching (M = 3.40, SD = 0.841). Statistically significant correlations were found at the 0.01 significance level between faculty members’ readiness to incorporate AI into teaching and the perceived benefit of AI in higher education and teaching; attitudes towards AI; behavioral intentions to use AI; and facilitative conditions for AI use. Significant differences were found at the 0.05 significance level regarding faculty members’ readiness to integrate AI into their teaching according to gender, age, and teaching experience. However, no statistically significant differences were found at the 0.05 significance level in terms of faculty members’ readiness to integrate AI into their teaching according to college type or academic rank. Thus, it is recommended that faculty members’ readiness to integrate AI and their knowledge of and skills concerning AI and how to use it to improve educational institution outcomes be enhanced.

Remote Pedagogical practices in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered many changes, including the need for physical distancing to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2. As a result, Brazilian educational institutions, both public and private, had to resort to a special regime to continue their classes. Considering this context, this research aims to identify applications and programs, in addition to their relevance, used in remote teaching. The technical processes used were bibliographic, documentary, and ethnographic research. For this purpose, we developed a questionnaire via Google Forms and the data were subjected to descriptive and qualitative analysis. It was possible to conclude that education professionals and students were not prepared to change the way of teaching and learning. Thus, continuing education, including technologies and institutional resources, is of particular relevance for education.

Team teaching in languages: a scoping review of approaches and practices in higher education

ABSTRACT This paper aims at understanding the extent to which languages are taught collaboratively in higher education (HE), which team teaching (TT) models have been implemented, and what lessons were learnt from the experiences. Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework [2005. “Scoping Studies: Towards a Methodological Framework.” International Journal of Social Research Methodology 8 (1): 19–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616], a scoping review was conducted to map TT practices in HE language classrooms around the world. The review uses narrative analysis to describe those practices and provides an overview of the settings in which the studies were undertaken, the characteristics and models of TT applied, the outcomes and recommendations as well as the implications for practice in relation to language teaching and learning in HE. The results reveal that TT in this context is currently fluid, experimental, innovative and non-traditional, and therefore it is rather an ad-hoc strategy which is mostly practised to enrich teachers’ professional development or to enhance students’ language learning experience and cultural understanding. This study offers a comprehensive global picture of a collaborative experimental teaching practice in HE using a scoping review approach rare in the field of language teaching and learning but critical for identifying innovative practices.