Feature article

From polarisation to connection: counterspaces and reverse mentoring in higher education

It takes an intersectional approach, empathy and willingness to listen to cultivate affirming environments for marginalised groups, says Mazal Oaknín

Mazal Oaknín

UCL

Female designer working with AI chat bot and an editing software - stock photo

AI use tailored to creative-industry programmes requires institution-wide support

Students working towards creative careers have mixed feelings about AI and its potential effects on their job prospects. So education must consider the best practice in the application of tools but also teach students design fundamentals

Shushma Patel

De Montfort University

An illustration of a robot teaching a class about the human brain

Five tips for using AI in university assessment

Instead of trying to detect students using AI for their work, we need to think differently. Here’s where to start

Tom Oliver

University of Westminster

Three levels of AI proficiency for university educators

To become proficient in GenAI, educators must move beyond one-off interactions to create workflows that increase efficiency and deepen learning. Learn how

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Group of international students in a lecture all

Why ethical internationalisation starts with listening

If the UK higher education sector wants its transnational education partnerships to be socially responsible, academically rigorous and politically resilient, universities must prioritise co-creation and cultural literacy, writes Valentina Cardo

Valentina Cardo

University of Southampton

Building blocks with student, books and an AI chip

An augmented reality tool for accessible learning

Combining GenAI with simple augmented reality tools offers a practical way to support accessible, adaptable and interdisciplinary learning

Cindy Lam, Sai Kit Yeung, Kenichiro Takei

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

How useful are smart glasses in improving accessibility in higher education?

Smart glasses have the potential to support learning for disabled students, but this technology also comes with significant privacy concerns. Helen Nicholson-Benn looks at how to balance functional benefits with data security and safeguarding

Helen Nicholson-Benn

Jisc

Black man working at computer using AI chatbot

A framework for ensuring student AI proficiency

The question is no longer whether students will use AI after graduation but to what extent. So, how can universities best ensure that students are workforce-ready?

Margaret Ellis

Virginia Tech

A robot and a man in a business suit arm wrestle

‘If we make AI the enemy then surely it must become one’

How do we use GenAI without letting it use us? By mastering the tool, and helping students do so too, its much-feared effects on the humanities cannot come to pass, writes Stuart Christie

Stuart Christie

Hong Kong Baptist University

A group of students at a desk working on a project

A ‘smart’ way to get students working together

Reduce the tendency to ‘divide and write’ with a five-step process that draws on individual strengths, promotes constructive communication and ensures equal participation

Ya Zhang, Shuhao Zhang, Yu Liu

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Four steps to design the perfect business school alliance

Alliances offer business schools a resilient way to expand their global reach. By clarifying purpose, building governance structures and defining measurable outputs, leadership teams can turn collaboration into a strategic tool

Marion Debruyne

Vlerick Business School

Look beyond commercialisation to a wider landscape of impact

Instead of seeing commercialisation as an entrepreneurial activity, let’s look at it as part of a broader picture of the value research creates

Andy Phippen, Louise Rutt

Bournemouth University, University of Plymouth

Two happy young students hugging each other on graduation day

We need to teach ‘uncommon sense’

How playful exercises in an intersession course can improve judgement, foster probabilistic thinking and help students stand out in an uncertain job market

William R. Brody

Johns Hopkins University

Man sitting alone in a state of distress or worry

Understanding autistic grief to support staff and students through loss

Autistic grief can present differently from traditional understandings of bereavement. Imogen Varle explores how to better recognise and support autistic staff and students experiencing loss

Imogen Varle

De Montfort University

A woman stands at the crossroads of two diverging paths

Two ways to think about your promotion and tenure file

How to build evidence of your academic career successes when the expectations keep changing? Here are two approaches

Kate Vacek

Independent academic

Biomaterials workshop at Arts University Plymouth

Enter the circle: teaching circularity in practice from the ground up

Creative universities need to move students’ practice from a linear ‘take, make, waste’ ethos to one co-authored with nature. Stephanie Owens explains how to foster a culture of circular innovation

Stephanie Owens

Arts University Plymouth

A biology teacher standing next to a demo human body with its organs exposed

Banning AI won’t make students care about learning

When students don’t see the point of an activity, they often turn to AI for a shortcut. Here’s how to make learning meaningful and relevant

Mariana Elizondo, Nelly Ramirez Vásquez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Let’s frame preparation as an academic skill

When students struggle to get started, the problem is rarely motivation. Teach them how to build the conditions for thinking by making preparation visible in the classroom

Meeyoung Kim

University of Sharjah

Interdisciplinary research cultures are inclusive, not competitive

Research that crosses disciplines strengthens networks, diversifies expertise and moves thinking beyond inherited boundaries, but effective interdisciplinarity takes time, curiosity and willingness to tackle cultural and structural obstacles

Valentina Cardo, Claire Clarkin , Ingrid Slade

University of Southampton

How we cut daily lab deliveries by 94 per cent

By cutting down deliveries, you can lower your lab’s carbon footprint, reduce clutter and admin and free up researchers to focus on discovering new cures and treatments. Learn how

Kully Sunner, Stephen Shine , Kelly Newman

UCL

What bush turkeys can teach us about adaptability at work

When ‘wildlife relocation’ became an unexpected part of her role, Liisa Partanen found the experience came with insight into workplace resilience and problem-solving

Liisa Partanen

The University of Queensland

A group of students writing and talking together

Writing workshops v algorithms: what we should be teaching in the age of AI

How a simple classroom writing exercise provided an avenue for sharing and connection that moved students beyond AI-style ‘content generation’ towards human understanding

Julia Bell

Birkbeck, University of London

Couscous, among other ingredients, in a marketplace

Less beer, more couscous: gamifying supply chain education

Using the Beer Game to teach business students about supply chains may have had its last orders. Switching to couscous changed how one educator’s class thought

Jawad Abrache

Al Akhawayn University

Two professionals using stick notes to plan

Building internal change management capability as a future-proofing strategy

University staff have institutional knowledge and understand the organisational practices and interpersonal dynamics that influence decision-making. So it makes sense to develop their change competence, writes Karen Mather

Karen Mather

University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

A group of students sitting at a table having a discussion

What we learned from building a queer-straight university alliance

How an anonymous email sparked a growing understanding of what it means to be a queer ally in higher education

Bhawana Shrestha, Sushobhan Chimoriya

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

GrimmGPT? Use AI to rewrite fairy tales – and get your students thinking

A simple strategy to help your students question AI tools from a familiar starting point

India Lawton

Southampton Solent University

Transgender disabled woman talking to a researcher with a laptop

How intersectionality impacts research with LGBTQ+ communities

In designing and conducting studies that involve members of LGBTQ+ communities, researchers need to recognise the diversity and complexity of participants’ experiences. Here are seven ways to apply an intersectional approach for better research

Emerson Zerafa-Payne , Mackenzie Rubens, James A. Fowler

The University of Southern Queensland

Make laboratory teaching greener with VR

Virtual reality should not replace hands-on laboratory teaching. Used well, it can make practical science more sustainable by reducing avoidable waste and helping staff use real laboratory time more effectively

Stephen Hilton, Blanka Hilton

UCL, University of Kent

A graph is volleyed upwards by a tennis racquet-wielding figure

Commercialise research with lessons from the sporting playbook

Looking for investment to turn your research into a company? Don’t think it’s all over – here’s how to knock it out of the park

Paul Sailsbury

Arden University

A group of research participants sitting in a circle

A trauma-informed approach to research

Practical strategies for researchers engaging with trauma-related issues and participants with experience of trauma

Helen Anne Nolan, Vicky Panossian

The University of Warwick

How to build inclusion into a transnational campus from day one

While robust EDI policies are essential, equity, diversity and inclusion efforts become truly meaningful when visible representation and everyday interactions are prioritised across the institution

Anupama Saini

University of Southampton

How LinkedIn helped me create research collaborations

LinkedIn can help researchers build international collaborations, but only when it is treated as a professional community, not just a digital CV. Follow these tips to grow your profile

Julian C. Pena-Bermudez

Universidad del Caribe (UNICARIBE)

A university lecturer explaining a concept while sitting amongst students

Five words and a GenAI prompt to spark deeper online learning

A five-stage framework, enhanced by GenAI, can help educators create more interactive, inclusive and responsive online learning experiences that boost student engagement and learning online

María Robertha Leal Isida, Dania Arriola Arteaga

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Turning student data into student success

Data alone will not ensure effective student support. From careers to well-being and disability services, using it successfully requires collaboration between academic and professional services, training and shared accountability, writes Aleata Alstad-Calkins

Aleata Alstad-Calkins

University of Roehampton

When it comes to AI, faculty are from Mars and students are from Venus

Students and academics are on different planets in terms of AI use, creating a culture of distrust and secrecy. Dina Kamel offers three ways to close the gap

Dina Kamel

The University of Portsmouth

Building a consistent university voice

By combining a comprehensive style guide with practical workshops and continuous feedback, among other strategies, universities can ensure English communications are clear, professional and consistent

Xinmin Han

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Illustration of robot and man on either side of ball of scribble

Faculty must embrace the ‘messy middle’ to guide AI proficiency

The primary source of institutional AI proficiency must be universities themselves, not the technology companies who offer training for their platforms. Without that agency, we risk surrendering educational practice to commercial interests, write Amy Allen and David Hicks

Amy Allen, David Hicks

Virginia Tech

A student looks up from a book to check his smartphone

Equip students to champion human creativity over machine outputs

Publishing educators are ideally placed to encourage students to see through the GenAI hype and recognise the value of human creativity. Explore and reflect on the tools with these tips

Simon Rowberry

UCL

A laptop with a padlocked chain around it

Why AI adoption in universities is really a question of trust

To encourage AI use that aligns with institutional policies, university governance must prioritise transparency, usability and academic autonomy. Learn how

Isabel Fischer , Susanne Beck, Joe Nandhakumar

The University of Warwick

A man reads a book between the aisles of a university library

Making public work count in academia

Practical advice for universities and departments that want to begin including public work meaningfully in hiring, tenure and promotion standards

David Perry

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Man with child on his lap working at computer

It’s time to take the well-being of online postgraduate students seriously

As online taught postgraduate provision expands, programme teams need practical ways to support student well-being at a distance. Julien le Jeune d’Allegeershecque shares five ways educators can make a measurable difference

Julien le Jeune d’Allegeershecque

Imperial College London

Combat sustainability burnout by giving students the tools to act

Students care deeply about climate change – here’s how to design teaching to prevent them feeling powerless as a result

Soheil Davari

University of Bath

‘Employability is more than getting a job’

Careers services go beyond preparing students for immediate graduate positions. They equip students to navigate their professional lives over time, to progress and adapt through change. Gemma Kenyon explains the nuances of delivering employability at scale

Gemma Kenyon

City St George’s, University of London

A student uses a laptop in a lecture hall

How do we teach AI literacy when students already think they’re experts?

Students don’t need help from their educators to keep up with AI. But what we can do is encourage them to question it more. Here’s how

Abderrahim Agnaou

Al Akhawayn University

Defining and developing students’ critical AI literacy

By the time they arrive at university, most students are using AI. So, with the lines between AI use and original work increasingly blurred, academia now needs to teach them how to use the tools critically

Amy Allen, David Hicks

Virginia Tech

Why faculty support should look more like a writing centre

Why do institutions invest in peer writing support for students but not for staff? Anne Brubaker makes the case for a more formalised approach to faculty writing support

Anne Brubaker

Wellesley College

A group of students sitting at a table in the library

Build AI and information literacy through targeted library support

How student-centred AI literacy programmmes can build confidence, critical thinking and playful learning

Amy McEwan, Isobel Eddyshaw, Jenny McGarvey

The University of Exeter

A doctor uses a chatbot on a desktop screen

In AI-enabled healthcare education, critical thinking comes first

As technology shapes the future of healthcare, how can we embed the skills tomorrow’s medical staff will need? Find out how here

Dara Cassidy

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Loading illustration leading to lightbulb on yellow background

‘The first step is to understand what supervisors and students need’

Many academics have limited access to structured training in doctoral supervision. Here, Paul Clarkson and Tahrima Hossain offer takeaways from designing a supervisor development programme

Paul Clarkson, Tahrima Hossain

University of Southampton

Industrial engineer inspecting a residential construction project with a VR app with a virtualisation of the building's interior

Extend reality to make learning more meaningful

To meet the challenges of the modern workplace, students need to encounter environments that simulate professional scenarios during their studies. Read about how to design extended reality activities that boost a range of discipline-specific skills

Daniel Cantú, Claudia Hernández

Tecnológico de Monterrey

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