Beyond Transmission: Innovations in University Teaching

Higher education today finds itself confronting many challenges, economic, technological, and social. Universities’ reliance on transmissive education, with the lecture as the dominant vehicle for many of their processes, is being thrown into ever greater question. Beyond Transmission: Innovations in University Teaching responds to the challenges to higher education by championing a shift to a constructivist approach. The contributors, from five continents and reflecting 10 national mindsets, represent a broad cross-section of educational disciplines. They argue that innovatory teaching approaches are essential if teachers are to appeal to the mindsets of people entering higher education today, and present detailed examples of new ways of instilling in students a love of, and ability for, learning. Beyond Transmission: Innovations in University Teaching states that any innovatory teaching approach that goes beyond transmission requires consideration of three essential factors: vision, process and practice. The anthology’s contributions are organized around each of these imperatives in turn. The vision for higher education is one in which teachers develop their students as producers rather than as customers. This book, which has been produced by the International Academic Association for Enhancement of Learning in Higher Education (LIHE), shows that across the world an increasing number of faculty members are actively concerned with innovating in their own educational practice. It highlights that, although technology has an important role to play in innovation, technology is not a sine qua non and presents some valuable pointers to the future of learning in higher education.

Claus Nygaard is a professor of management education and the director of research at the Copenhagen Business School’s Learning Lab. His work has been published in leading journals, including Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Higher Education, International Journal of Public Sector Management, and International Studies of Management & Organization. He is the coeditor of Learning in Higher Education: Contemporary Standpoints; Simulations, Games and Role Play in University Education; Student Engagement: Identity, Motivation, and Community; and Teaching Creativity—Creativity in Teaching. Nigel Courtney is an honorary senior visiting fellow at Cass Business School at City University London. He is a chartered engineer, a certified management consultant, and a certified IT professional. His firm, Courtney Consulting, has served the European Commission, the Higher Education Academy, London Underground, Transport for London, and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. He is a coeditor of Teaching Creativity—Creativity in Teaching.Clive Holtham is a professor of information management, the director of the Learning Laboratory at Cass Business School, and a board member of the eLearning Network. He is a founding member of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. He is a coeditor of Teaching Creativity—Creativity in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education—Contemporary Standpoints.Professor Sally Brown is emerita professor of higher education diversity in teaching and learning at Leeds Metropolitan University, a visiting professor at the University of Plymouth, and adjunct professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast and James Cook University (both in Queensland, Australia). She is a former director of membership services for the Institute for Learning and Teaching and is widely published.