In this Point of Departure, we build on the scholarship of Suellen Shay. Shay explored the nature of higher education, examining assessment and the relation between curriculum and knowledge structures across several disciplines. She drew on the work of Bernstein and in her later work responded to the calls for decolonisation. We first…

This paper discusses the nature of higher expertise in society and the role of higher education in constituting that expertise. It is argued that higher expertise relies on disciplined norms against which expert activity can be evaluated, and such norms are the basis not only for knowledge communities in higher education but also for other…

Using the mountaineering metaphor of "natural lines" this article describes the co-navigation of an honours course by students and teachers. It suggests the benefits and possibilities of going beyond the confines of conventional teaching and learning wisdom (as canonised in the notion of constructive alignment) and offering just and…

Nursing and the construction industry arguably enjoy uneasy membership of the academy. As both move closer towards university-based learning, debates remain about where discipline-specific training should best be provided and the importance of softer, graduate skills for the professions. This paper contextualises that debate by describing both…

At a time when the context of teaching in higher education is difficult for many number of factors such as: reduced funding, changing demographics of students and demands to teach in flexible times and spaces, there are also higher levels of quality control, transparency and accountability over teaching which are exerted by institutions. This…

This paper discusses the role of a writing centre in creating spaces for talk about and change in disciplinary writing pedagogy. It asks how collaborative partnerships between disciplinary academics and Writing Centre practitioners might be established and nurtured sustainably. Drawing on insights from two collaborations with academics in…

This paper draws on the experiences of 20 academic developers as they examine the proposition that the organisation and work of academic development in higher education is fragmented. Academic development was seen to have neither the status of a field nor a profession, and there was recognised tension between an institutionally focused service…

Explores broad patterns in Britain's undergraduate curriculum change in five subject areas. The curriculum is understood as an educational project forming identities founded in three domains: knowledge, action, and self. Proposes curriculum models that identify these components and their relationships, and discusses how weightings and levels of…

Describes a medieval history access course at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) in which non-traditional teaching methods were used, specifically collaborative group work and embedded rhetorical training for essay writing. Questions the idea of discipline-specific pedagogical practice. (Author/DB)