Pedagogy

Learn more about pedagogy and how different theories of teaching and learning work across higher education. Here, academics offer insights into a variety of pedagogies, drawing on their own teaching experience alongside research, to provide practical advice on what instructional methods work best for different university contexts, disciplines and classes.

By Eliza.Compton, 16 July, 2024

Develop and nurture teaching presence in a learning community

Strong teaching presence helps students facilitate their own learning. Here, Hannah Shaw and Mike Hackman offer quick wins for educators with advice on how to provide clear instruction and a safe learning space, and recognise topics as interconnected

Reading time

4minutes

By Laura.Duckett, 8 July, 2024

The zone of proximal development: how the theory translates to the classroom

Students sitting on a patch of grass talking

Theories of proximal development and social contagion suggest that group activities enhance knowledge-sharing and internalisation through feedback, discussion and the development of skills, writes Shwetha Mudabagilu Krishnappa

Reading time

6minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 4 July, 2024

What does it mean for students to be AI-ready?

Not everyone wants to be a computer scientist, a software engineer or a machine learning developer. We owe it to our students to prepare them with a full range of AI skills for the world they will graduate into, writes David Joyner

By Eliza.Compton, 2 July, 2024

What block learning taught me about meeting diverse student needs

In block learning, where time is condensed, students are at a greater risk of falling behind. Here, Kevin Merry explains how formative assessment can drive targeted instruction and enable students to accelerate their learning

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 1 July, 2024

Australian universities need to do more than pay lip service to multilingualism

How can we train Australian schoolteachers in cultural and linguistic diversity if our universities are English-only zones? Embed translanguaging practices in our courses, writes Sue Ollerhead

Reading time

4minutes

By kiera.obrien, 26 June, 2024

For the future of higher education, we need to educate the whole student

A woman in a mortarboard, holding a scroll, looks off into the distance

In this extract from his book ‘The Learning-Centered University’, Steven Mintz lays out his vision of higher education’s future, and proposes a new way of learning

Reading time

6minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 25 June, 2024

RIP assessment?

Illustration of human and robot in an arm wrestle

How can educators make learning and human intelligence visible in the age of GenAI? Abby Osborne and Christopher Bonfield outline a model to rethink assessment and reward non-AI knowledge and understanding

Reading time

4minutes

By Laura.Duckett, 24 June, 2024

Let’s play! Using games to teach statistics and economics

Students in a classroom on their laptops

Incorporating games into economics classes can enrich the learning experience. Here are some of the factors to consider when designing them

Reading time

6minutes

By Laura.Duckett, 24 June, 2024

Integrating ethics into course design is vital – here’s how to do it

Student and teacher interacting in a classroom

Integrating philosophical enquiry into course design can enrich teaching practice and help our students act justly, writes Cara E. Furman

Reading time

6minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 7 June, 2024

Yes, and… Using improv to build students’ confidence in the classroom

Through exercises borrowed from improvisational theatre, students can use imaginative thinking and creative problem-solving, learn to think outside the box and embrace ambiguity, writes Joe Conto. Here, he offers ways to help the post-Covid generation reconnect

Reading time

4minutes

Pedagogy