Students in higher education have been shown to have difficulties in developing their critical thinking skills, such as analysis and problem solving, reasoning and argumentation. Open-ended tasks offer opportunities for students to develop their own interpretations of various sources, to critically analyse domain-specific knowledge and utilize…

The physical and chemical properties of Milk of Magnesia provide examples of chemical concepts and opportunities for investigative practical work for secondary chemistry students of all ages. Basing the lesson on the contents of that familiar blue bottle, which is probably lurking somewhere in a cupboard in most households, also showcases the role…

Traditionally, threats to academic freedom are associated with repressive government actions, and sometimes also with compliant university managers. In democracies, academic freedom can be undermined in more subtle ways. Where public funding for university research and teaching has diminished, universities have increasingly pursued relationships…

Although the ethnography of speaking is one of the approaches used to analyze discourse (Schiffrin, 1994; Cameron, 2012), its benefits and uses can be applied in the field of language assessment when designing a drug-dispensing, classroom-based test task. In this article, pharmacy specialists and students functioning as members of the…

Modern, quality education for health sciences is vital in developing and strengthening the health systems of countries in southern Africa. Medicine, pharmacy, and other disciplines in the region typically admit high school graduates who tend to undertake a science foundation in the first years of study. We report a new resource for improving the…

Research indicates that teachers' conceptions of and approaches to teaching with technology are central for the successful imple-mentation of educational technologies in higher education. This study advances this premise. We present a 10-year longitudinal study examining teachers' conceptions of and approaches to teaching and learning with…

This study investigates the positive impact of the Case Method implemented during a 4- hours tutorial in "therapeutic chemistry module." We view the Case Method as one particular approach within the broader spectrum of problem based or inquiry based learning approaches. Sixty students were included in data analysis. A pre-test and…

Placements have the potential to contribute more effectively to the quality of higher education. The aim of this article is to discuss how placements can be made more worthwhile for individual students, while also contributing to the overall quality of teaching and learning at HEIs as well as to the development of workplace cultures that are…

The discourses around globalisation and internationalisation within higher education to date have tended to focus on institutional change. While recognising the importance of these debates, this paper suggests that issues around curriculum change and teaching and learning through global professions such as health and engineering have so far been…

Globalisation can facilitate improvements in health through the speed and ease of shared information, advances in health care delivery and health policy, and the enhanced pace of discovery through international research collaborations. However, there are associated potential risks to health such as the spread of communicable diseases and…

One central task in higher education is to provide students with interpersonal communication competence in their profession. To achieve this, specialised training, based on an understanding of disciplinary communication practices and appropriate assessment methods, is needed. However, there is a lack of reliable assessment instruments which are…

Professional preparatory health programmes generally involve clinical placements with a focus on integration of theory into real life practice. Reflective writing is often included in the assessment requirements for clinical placement courses. However enabling students to engage in deeper levels of reflective writing in action, on action and for…

[beta]-lactamases are hydrolytic enzymes that inactivate the [beta]-lactam ring of antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins. The major diversity of studies carried out until now have mainly focused on the characterization of [beta]-lactamases recovered among clinical isolates of Gram-positive staphylococci and Gram-negative…

Experiential placements are increasingly recognised as an essential component of university programmes, providing students with real-world contexts to apply their knowledge and to develop practical skills and personal attributes. In Australia, professions such as pharmacy have traditionally developed experiential placement programmes within state…

The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) To contrast the longstanding tradition of private and public courses of chemistry with the public demonstrations of physics. Whether taught in public institutions such as the Jardin du Roi or by apothecaries in their officines chemistry demonstrations were not for the entertainment of their audiences.…