Learning in Higher Education: Contemporary Standpoints

Students today are in many ways different from students in the past, though people disagree on how. Some say they have a shorter attention span while others say they are more focused; some argue that they waste their time on the internet during lectures while others argue that, as digital natives, they are using the technology in ways we have not experienced before. Such arguments continue to thrive in the university sector as it tries to develop and reinvent itself to cope with the change from the industrial era to the digital era. For the editors of this book, they find this development of the university sector to be a fascinating challenge. They purport that this process will succeed only if student learning is seen as the nexus of both curriculum design and teaching practices, and they hope that cases on collaboration, design, identity, and transformation serve as inspiration for individual teachers, as well as faculty groups, striving to take their own university teaching to the next level. The book starts with reviews of theoretical aspects and follows with successful practical applications and case studies in a range of contexts. Each chapter is free-standing but also follows a logical sequence and has been double-blind refereed and subjected to peer review. Useful cross-links are offered to other chapters in which key points are expanded. This anthology is ideal for courses such as the Postgraduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching (PG Cert ULT) and for any teachers wishing to innovate their practices in order to improve student learning outcomes.

Claus Nygaard is a professor of management education at Copenhagen Business School and a former director of research at the institution’s Learning Lab. His research has resulted in several books and anthologies, including Simulations, Games and Role Play in University Education; Student Engagement: Identity, Motivation and Community; and Teaching Creativity—Creativity in Teaching, and he has been published in leading journals such as Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Higher Education, International Journal of Public Sector Management, and International Studies of Management & Organization. John Branch is a lecturer of marketing and strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and a faculty associate at the Center for Russian and East European Studies, both of the University of Michigan. Clive Holtham is a professor of information management at Cass Business School, the director of the institution’s Learning Laboratory, and a board member of the eLearning Network. He is a founding member of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. Ronald Barnett is a professor emeritus of higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education. He is the author of Being a University, Beyond All Reason: Living with Ideology in the University, Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education, Realizing the University in an Age of Supercomplexity, and A Will to Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty.