\u27What is wildlife?\u27: the influence of research informed teaching and work-experience on wildlife conservation students

Survey-based research was conducted into how students taking a BSc degree in Wildlife Conservation perceived the term \u27wildlife\u27, what type of wildlife interested them and what sort of wildlife-related careers they would like. The relationship between these responses and their exposure to research informed teaching, non-HE associated work-experience and hobbies was investigated. Results showed that students tended to perceive \u27wildlife\u27 to be charismatic fauna and their associated habitats, and that students aspired to careers involving such animals, often in exotic, overseas locations. Interests, career aspirations, and perceptions of \u27wildlife\u27 broadened with student age and progression through the degree, and this seemed to be more closely related to their work-experiences than to research informed teaching

Sector reports review: February to August 2017

This paper provides a summary of key reports and papers published by UK HE sector organisations between February and August 2017.  The organisations featured are: Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC); Department for Education (DfE); Equality Challenge Unit (ECU); Government Office for Science (GO-Science); Higher Education Academy (HEA); Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE); Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI); Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA); Institute for Employment Studies (IES); Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); Jisc; Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE); National Union of Students (NUS); Office for Fair Access (OFFA); Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA); Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA); Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS); UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO); Unite Students; Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA); Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA); Universities UK (UUK); and Universities UK International (UUKi).  The election manifestoes of the major political parties in England are also featured in this paper.The themes covered in this paper include: the UK general election; the Higher Education and Research Act 2017; student expectations and experiences; student complaints; the Teaching Excellence Framework; learning gain; quality assurance; accelerated degrees; degree apprenticeships; credit transfer; supporting transition; equality and diversity; student wellbeing; students and public engagement; technology-enhanced learning and digital capability; The Smith Review (of post-16 mathematics education); employability and graduate outcomes; internationalisation (including outward mobility and transnational education); and the HE workforce

Creative interventions with a labyrinth

Whilst researching tools and techniques to enhance creative competencies, I was introduced to a polished stone labyrinth installed on a beach at a creativity conference in Italy in 2008.  For the next five days I walked the labyrinth and spoke with labyrinth experts from around the world including Jan Sellers, a National Teaching Fellow from University of Kent.  Since then I’ve worked with the labyrinth to foster reflection and creativity with commercial clients and explored its infinite applications for a civic university by installing them in public festivals.  This article traces the background of the labyrinth and its potential to impact on the creativity and wellbeing of students and staff

Understanding the experiences and concerns of a multi-national cohort of first year students

Student diversity within British universities is increasing as the number of international enrolments rises. In spite of these demographic changes there is limited research into specific needs particular nationalities and how these compare to the requirements of home students. This paper attempts to compare the experiences, concerns and learning difficulties of a group of first year students of British, Irish, Cypriot and Greek nationality, in order to develop effective and inclusive teaching strategies for an internationally diverse student cohort

Physical literacy & the effect of teacher/learner interactions: insights from Secondary School teaching

 Physical literacy is a concept which can be described as the ‘motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to maintain physical activity throughout the life-course’ (Whitehead, 2011; p2). It has been suggested that people are the result of the interactions they have had with their surroundings, with a Monist view that explains humans as an ‘integrated whole’ (Whitehead, 2010). Therefore the richer these interactions are the more rounded the individual. This study investigated the interaction between three teachers and their mixed sex year seven pupils during a series of gymnastics lessons. A key focus was the effect of the teacher on the development of motivation and confidence in pupils and any progress in their physical competence. Findings highlight the need for a pedagogical model based on respect for both teacher and learner, recognition of effort, progress and achievement and assessment for learning to ensure all learners move forwards on their individual physical literacy journeys. An environment which demonstrates a ‘successful ambience’ encourages pupils to take responsibility for their own learning, resulting in elevated confidence and motivation levels to be physically active (Whitehead, 2011; p167). Research into this field highlights the processes rather than the content, and it is this aspect that enables this research to be considered within a more generic higher education setting

A pilot study investigating the expectations and experiences of international students based on food related undergraduate programmes

The aim of this pilot study wsa to investigate international students\u27 expectations and experiences of teaching and learning in semester one on undergraduate food based courses, and to investigate if there were any difference between level 1, 2 and 3 students. Components of two validated questionnaires were used to address these aims. Expectations and experiences of teaching and learning were generally positive for the whole cohort. There were some small differences between level 1, 2 and 3 students. Furthermore, 4 components from the experiences of teaching and learning part of the questionnaire showed significant differences between the groups. Future research may focus on comparisions between \u27home\u27 and international students, and studies should be suitably powered and include males and females, mature students and students from varied international background

Enhancing student representation: the Liverpool John Moores University way

Student representatives have been part of university decision-making processes for as long as there have been universities.  However, with growing emphasis on the importance of student engagement in all aspects of university life, the significance of representation is greater than ever.  This paper reflects on how representation is located in broader debate around student engagement in higher education.  It identifies many of the challenges facing representation systems and offers some possible solutions.  There is a specific focus on how student representatives operate in LJMU.  In line with this, the paper reports some of the most recent initiatives to incentivise representation activity.  Allied to this, the paper considers efforts to recognise more explicitly the important impact that student representatives have on university life

Does a feedforward approach improve students\u27 assignment grades?

The use of a feedforward approach was investigated on an analytical chemsitry module in order to improve report grades and overall course marks. A significant difference in report marks was found between the students that had attended a tutorial and those that had not. However, the study raised the issue of student engagement with tutorials, and the factors that determined attendance. In particular, the study highlighted perceptions of fixed intelligence in poorly performing students and their ability to self-regulate and benefit from feedback or feedforward approaches

The relationship between handout content, student attendance and learning

The quality of teaching and learning may be directly linked to the class size. Across many universities, traditional didactic lectures are the most economic and convenient way to disseminate information to large numbers of students. However, does this ceom at a cost of poor motivation and learning, and what simple techniques could be employed to maintain deep learning and high level of student interaction during these sessions

A review of critical race pedagogies in university diversity seminars and the multicultural curriculum

What are the political and pedagogical underpinnings of university diversity seminars and the multicultural curriculum? Can this sort of diversity work contribute to antiracist education in ways that demonstrate commitment to legal and professional standards? Can it be delivered in ways that enable students to engage critically with race and racism beyond the conservative and liberal approaches that typically dominate univesrity diversity seminars and the multicultural curriculum, if not the higher education sector per se? In order to respond to these questions, this review draws on the work of a number of critical race pedagogues, for example, bell hooks whose teaching and learning activities highligt power dynamics within university diversity seminars, thus providing an important alternative to dominant approaches to race and racis