Community-based learning and teaching in higher education, and other versions of it, such as service learning, are now part of many curricula worldwide. In the UK, there is a growing community of practitioners interested in student learning in partnership with local communities. With this expansion, however, there is little institution-based…

Background: UNESCO [(2015). "Quality Physical Education Guidelines for Policymakers." Paris: UNESCO Press.] highlighted the importance of developing physical literacy (PL) from childhood, although it remains unclear how best to evidence an individual's PL journey. The aim of this study was to explore key stakeholders' views of current…

This paper explores social capital development between operational faculty members delivering Sino-British transnational partnerships. Research focuses on two Sino-British 'joint programme' partnership case studies in order to investigate boundary spanning and the development of social capital between UK and Sino academics involved in programme…

In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic the higher education sector, in the United Kingdom and internationally, transitioned to online assessment, at a speed and scale which might have been unimaginable under normal circumstances. The priority in the sector was to ensure that fundamental principles of assessment, including integrity, were…

This cross-national comparative study examined "internationalization" and "quality" in the English and Turkish higher education (HE) sectors, thereby presenting a comparative discussion of the state of HE in the two countries. Using a phenomenological approach, the study generated qualitative and quantitative data from…

Do the narratives of employability constructed by higher education institutions for marketing purposes differ from the conceptualisation and/or the realisation of employability within those institutions? The study reported here drew on interviews with 16 senior academic and student support staff who were tasked with developing student…

This paper focuses on understanding the vocational skills required by graduates and assessing the competence of graduates for the management accountancy profession. It explores "expectation gaps" by examining whether the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, practitioner employers and university educators have different…

In an ideal world, university teaching and research would be valued equally; however, this is not currently the case. The notion that university reputation should be judged predominantly by research metrics has been challenged by a global trend towards a demand-driven system that encourages widening participation, student choice and social…

This study, commissioned by the HEA and the QAA focuses on directed independent learning practices in UK higher education. It investigates what stakeholders (including academic staff and students) have found to be the most effective practices in the inception, design, quality assurance and enhancement of directed independent learning and explores…

This viewpoint article provides a critical reflection on the gatekeeping and academic language practices of Anglophone universities, evaluating these in light of the promotional claims universities make about internationalization and global reach. I then consider the arguments put forward in each of the main articles in this special issue from…

The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1996) chaired by Lord Dearing envisioned a university sector central to the UK's knowledge-based economy. With successive government support the university-business partnership ideology has been put into practice. Widening participation has increased in emphasis over recent years, providing…

In 2004 the University of Nottingham opened its branch campus, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). Degree-awarding powers for UNNC remain with the UK, but there is recognition that Nottingham must understand the specific context of its Chinese branch; provision therefore operates according to the principal of equivalence rather than…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…