Flipped learning in higher education is becoming increasingly widespread. Although the number of flipped learning articles has increased since 2011, systematic reviews of flipped learning have been criticized for lacking a theoretical framework. The aim in this article is to explore the link between flipped learning and active learning:…

This article reviews research that consistently, across borders and over time, reveals inertia in Higher Education institutions related to innovation in academic teaching. Despite frequent calls for more student-active learning, studies find that teaching remains predominantly traditional and teacher-centred. While research is recognised as…

The application of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) has increased in higher education institutions, fostering student transversal competencies, knowledge of sociotechnical problems, and collaboration with industry and community actors. However, a broad range of different frameworks, hybrid approaches, and educational interventions are using this…

This study examines how authentic assessment could nurture students' epistemic agency: their sense of agency in using, evaluating and producing knowledge. Authentic assessment commonly emphasises 'realism' and 'employability skills'. As important as these ideas are, this approach to authentic assessment neglects the key academic value of…

This paper analyses student perceptions of Active Blended Learning (ABL) during the transition to an institutional pedagogy at the University of Northampton. In focus groups with 227 student participants across all four faculties, we explored factors mediating student engagement with ABL. Students expressed a preference for face to face teaching…

This study addresses the attitudes of academic staff towards a large-scale pedagogic shift to Active Blended Learning (ABL). Beliefs about the shift and how it is translated into practice are explored. Four main categories are derived: 'Active Innovators' who believe change is positive and apply it to their academic practice; 'Lagging Innovators'…

This paper examines undergraduate students' perceptions of when and how active learning and engagement were supported by group-based collaborative learning. Collaborative learning is a prevalent constructivist approach that has been promoted for its capability of assisting students' shared knowledge construction. Existing research has,…

Through an evaluation of an institution-wide curriculum change process, this paper analyses how strategic policy is variously enacted in departmental communities. Linguistic ethnography of public, institutional and internal policy documents illuminates departments' engagement with the change process. With curriculum change positioned as a…

Based on qualitative data on students' approach to reading this paper argues that student learning be significantly improved by facilitating reading to unfold as a method of inquiry. Identifying how students currently orient and interact with texts and further what learning outcomes reading affords we develop the concept of 'Text-Centred Reading'…

It is often asserted that to facilitate student engagement, encourage participation and create optimal learning environments, the classroom should be a safe space. In this paper, we explore the idea that 'safety' is at odds with the very nature of academic enquiry. Using data from a qualitative study with staff at a UK University, we illustrate…

Any pedagogy of media practice sits at the intersection between training for employment and education for critical thinking. As such, the use of projects is a primary means of structuring learning experiences as a means of mirroring professional practice. Yet, our understanding of the nature of projects and of project-based learning is arguably…

This paper addresses the perspectives of students of social science research methods from a UK study of their holistic experience of learning during two years of their postgraduate research training/ early careers as researchers. Unusually the ten participants span diverse institutions and disciplines and three became co-authors. The study used a…

The flipped classroom is gaining acceptance in higher education as an alternative to more traditional methods of teaching. In the current study, twelve students in a Norwegian higher education institution were in-depth interviewed about their learning experiences in a two-semester long mathematics course. The first semester was taught using…

To date, learning spaces in higher education have been designed with little engagement on the part of their most important users: students and teachers. In this paper, we present the results of research carried out in a UK university. The research aimed to understand how students and teachers conceptualise learning spaces when they are given the…

Despite the emergence of collaborative project-based learning in higher education settings, how it can be supported has received little attention. We noted the positive impact of socially shared metacognitive regulation on students' collaboration processes. The purpose of this study was to present a framework for the design and implementation of…