The case study method: exploring the link between teaching and research

<p>Despite the increase in massive open online courses (MOOCs), evidence about the pedagogy of learning in MOOCs remains limited. This paper reports on an investigation into the pedagogy in one MOOC - Oxford Brookes University’s ‘First Steps in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’ MOOC (FSLT12).</p><p>FSLT12 was an open and free professional development opportunity for people moving into HE teaching. It was a small course (200 participants registered from 24 countries) which was focused on introducing HE teaching skills, and, uniquely, to deliberately integrate open academic practice as a vital part of professional development for HE teachers. A qualitative, case-study approach was used in the research, based on surveys, interviews, and social media, to provide evidence about how people learned in this course and consider wider implications for teaching and learning in higher education.</p><p>The evidence shows that participants who completed the course were able to learn autonomously and navigate the distributed platforms and environments. The most challenging issues were acceptance of open academic practice and difficulty in establishing an academic identity in an unpredictable virtual environment. An interesting and significant feature of the course was the support for learners from a number of MOOC ‘veterans’ who served as role models and guides for less experienced MOOC learners.</p><p>The research shows that small task-oriented MOOCs can effectively support professional development of open academic practice.</p>

This article investigates the current use of case studies in the teaching of Operational Research (OR) in the UK: how and where they are used; how they are developed; and whether there is an interest in training this area. It is aimed at lecturers teaching OR who are using or planning to use case studies in their teaching. It may also be of interest to policy-makers who wish to know what is being done in OR. The article focuses on the results of a survey sent to lecturers of OR in higher education in the UK. These are combined with an examination of the literature on using case studies in teaching in general and a small number of specific examples of how case studies are used in OR teaching. Case studies are included in OR teaching in a variety of ways and to develop a range of skills; particularly the ability to transfer academic knowledge to real-life contexts. The article identifies that the most significant barrier to the use of case studies in OR teaching is the development of new case studies; suggestions are made to address this, including providing training and collaboration opportunities. Overall this article provides an assessment of the ways in which case studies are used in OR; the advantages and limitations of using them; and specific examples of their use which will provide ideas to assist in improving OR teaching.

This paper considers some implications for teaching in higher education of quality assurance demands made in circumstances of financial restraint. The paper suggests that responses must be anchored in improvement in student learning. This has implications for university teaching, for the evaluation of its effectiveness and for leadership in universities. The paper commences with a discussion of an understanding of the nature of the relationship between teaching and learning in higher education resulting from an Australian investigation of student perceptions of university teaching. The understanding arising from this study suggests that, given that the environment is an educational one, both evaluation of teaching and educational leadership should be in harmony with effective approaches to learning and teaching.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of a whole‐person approach to educating for sustainability (EfS), with a focus on persons' identity, motivation and higher order dispositions. To propose that approach as an alternative to the prevalent focus on specific capabilities and competencies in higher education for sustainability. The paper brings to bear psychological research on the development of critical moral consciousness, research on dispositions for learning in higher education, and field research on spiritually inspired service‐learning.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, critical analysis is undertaken on the discourses that represent two fields of study in order to explore the application of the theory of the ontogenesis of “critical moral consciousness”. The model is applied to two discrete areas to consider implications for higher education – field research on grass‐root Baha'i‐inspired service‐learning and EfS, and students involved in design education.FindingsThe findings suggest that a whole‐person approach to EfS may yield more fruitful societal and personal benefits than traditional, and predominantly, behavioural approaches.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper only refers to two case studies. One case study is of a faith based organisation used to represent a whole‐person approach to EfS in a social context. It could be that the findings of this case are influenced by perceptions of religious activity (for both authors and readers). The second case study is of a particulate discipline area – design. Whilst the findings represent learners in the design context, it may be that learners in different contexts have different (or similar) results.Originality/valueSustainability has now become a common orientation for learning. The paper contributes conceptual understanding of the types of dispositions higher education needs to foster, as well as congruent pedagogies, in order to nurture human motivations necessary to advance sustainability. In particular, there is a need for EfS to focus on the cultivation of critical moral consciousness and higher order dispositions as a specific orientation towards studies, work, and social interactions.

Introduction: In response both to the fundamental changes in the state of the world we are living in and an increasingly closer connection between nature and society, the idea of sustainable development has emerged on the political agenda over the last thirty years, challenging both science and politics. Based on the definition laid out in the so-called BrundtlandReport, sustainable development is about meeting fundamental human needs while preserving the lifesupport systems of planet earth (Kates et al., 2001). According to Grosskurth and Rotmanns (2005), a focal point of the sustainability discourse is marked by the integrative examination of the threat to natural resources and an economic development that is both environmentally friendly and socially just. It is obvious that the journey towards a more sustainable world requires fundamental societal transformations that may only take place as a social learning process (Glasser, 2007). Thus, in the Agenda 21, agreed upon at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, education, both formal and informal, is seen as crucial to achieving a more sustainable development. In this process, educational institutions are named as a key factor for the dissemination of the idea of sustainable development. Consequently, in 2002 the United Nations (UN) proclaimed the years from 2005-2014 the World Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, thus underlining the role of education for sustainable development. Among the various educational institutions, universities are increasingly recognized as playing a crucial role in the context of sustainability by generating, transferring and communicating new knowledge as well as offering education and training as one of their key tasks (Cortese, 2003, Fien, 2002). To meet the challenges mentioned and to support research and network building in higher education for sustainability is the mission of the UNESCO Chair “Higher Education for Sustainable Development”, established at the University of Luneburg. In 2009 the Chair played joint host with the University Sains Malaysia in Penang to the Third International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainability, its topic being the specific implications for higher education in education practice, research and learning. Choosing as its regional focus the Asia-Pacific region, the conference emphasized its international orientation and highlighted its commitment to a crosscultural dialogue.2009 marked the half-way stage of the UN Decade ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ and one of the Conference’s goals was to provide an opportunity for critical reflection on what had been achieved so far and what tasks and challenges remained to be addressed. The conference theme centered around the question of what value is added by integrating questions of sustainability into teaching and learning in higher education. Attended by some 130 participants from more than 20 countries, the Conference aimed to bring together experienced colleagues as well as those newly interested in exploring how higher education is responding to the challenge and opportunities of sustainability. In a 3-day programme of lectures, workshops, poster presentations and round tables, the state of the art in research on higher education was presented. Selected presenters were invited to contribute to a special issue of this journal, and in the end, ten contributions were chosen for inclusion in the present issue. The articles correspond to the three thematic lines that the conference was focusing on:

This study investigates the determinants of youth tolerance in Montenegro and their implications for higher education and societal sustainability. Positioned within the Ed-ucation for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework, it explores how higher education can foster key sustainability competencies—such as critical thinking, empathy, and civic responsibility—through tolerance-oriented education and digital literacy. Based on survey data collected in 2021 from 712 individuals aged 15–30, the study examines how socio-demographic characteristics, political orientations, economic insecurity, and digital media use shape attitudes toward ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity. Statistical analysis reveals education as a strong predictor of tolerant attitudes, underscoring the transformative potential of universities in developing sustainability-related competences. Conversely, economic insecurity—particularly high youth unemployment—correlates with exclusionary views, linking social equity directly to sustainable development out-comes. Digital media exerts a dual influence: it enhances awareness of diversity and human rights yet simultaneously reinforces polarization, highlighting the need for digital literacy within ESD-oriented curricula. Despite Montenegro’s formal frameworks pro-moting inclusion, a gap persists between policy and practice. The findings demonstrate that inclusive education, youth engagement, and digital literacy are essential for culti-vating tolerant citizens and advancing cohesive, sustainable societies in post-transition contexts. This study contributes to the growing body of ESD research in higher education by connecting social inclusion, sustainability competencies, and institutional responsi-bility within the global sustainability agenda.

Teaching Theology & ReligionVolume 15, Issue 2 p. 201-202 Teaching, Learning and Research in Higher Education: A Critical Approach – By Mark Tennant, Cathi McMullen, and Dan Kaczynski Miranda Bennett, University of HoustonSearch for more papers by this author Miranda Bennett, University of HoustonSearch for more papers by this author First published: 04 April 2012 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2012.00797.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume15, Issue2April 2012Pages 201-202 RelatedInformation

This article reports on a study in which a new conceptual framework for fostering a positive attitude towards teaching in higher education (PATTHE) was developed. The PATTHE framework builds on a holistic four‐dimensional theoretical concept and is not limited by the specificity of teaching within a particular discipline or national higher education context. The four dimensions of PATTHE pertain to (a) emotional dimension, (b) professional development, (c) constructivist approaches to teaching, and (d) the teaching and research nexus; all of which are relevant for empowering quality teaching at personal, institutional and/or national higher education policy levels. The purpose of our study was to test and analyse this conceptual framework. Creative qualitative research methods were used including identification of keywords, evoking participant opinions through visual materials, reactions to vignettes, and by documenting discussions regarding the proposed PATTHE conceptual framework. A purposive and critically informed approach was used for the selection of twelve higher education experts as research participants. Responses from the selected education developers were collected through an online protocol system. Research results revealed that participant reflections on a positive attitude towards teaching showed a high level of agreement with the proposed conceptual framework; the proposed theoretical concept is thereby deemed well‐constructed and acceptable with minimal extensions.

In her article "An Analysis of University Definitions of Sexual Harassment" (Signs 8, no. 4 [Summer 1983]: 696-707), Phyllis L. Crocker evaluates the definitions of sexual harassment used by academic, professional, and governmental bodies. Her analysis is astute, enlightening, and important. However, she makes no mention of sexual harassment of women professors by their men students.' There is a general lack of awareness of this type of harassment not only in Crocker's work and the official definitions but also in other research on sexual harassment within

This study explores the perceptions of four visual art teacher educators of what constitutes good visual art teaching in a Malaysian higher education setting. The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of the characteristic features of good visual art teaching in a higher education setting. The study explores the beliefs, values, and life shaping factors that underpin and inform the teaching practice of these visual art teacher educators. What constitutes good visual teaching in higher education has intrigued and challenged those concerned with this sector for many decades and is subject to on-going inquiry and debate. Perspectives of what constitutes good visual art teaching practices are shaped by individual, social and cultural factors, including those pathways taken through visual art education and training. Consequently there is little consensus about what good visual art teaching really looks like. Whilst the characteristic features of good teaching in higher education have been the subject of recent inquiry, the literature concerning good visual art teaching in higher education is limited. This study aims to address this gap. This study adopts a qualitative case study approach and draws on the principles and practices of narrative inquiry. In this study, four visual art teacher educators who have different backgrounds and areas of specialisation from the Art Department of the 'University of Education Malaysia' were interviewed and observed. Each visual art teacher educator participated in a series of three interviews in order to interrogate their beliefs, values and experiences, and access their accounts of good visual art teaching. Observations of each visual art teacher educator's teaching served to triangulate the data generated through interview. In order to obtain a better understanding of the phenomenon, 12 student teachers consisting of six pre-service and six in-service final year student teachers from the same department were interviewed using individual and group interview. Narrative analysis and analysis of narrative techniques were employed in the examination of the data. From this analysis four narrative accounts of these visual art teacher educators' perception of good visual art teaching in a higher education setting were developed. Findings suggest that teaching is shaped by prior experiences as learners in school, community, and tertiary settings, and understandings of the professional teaching situation. For these participants the personal and professional are connected in their lives. This connection is illustrated through the distinctive ways that each visual art teacher educator approaches their teaching and the different beliefs and values they hold. For those participants whose education and/or current practice is studio-based, mastery of art skills and knowledge is of primary importance in good visual art teaching. For these participants good visual art teaching is a specialised area which requires specific knowledge and skills. For those participants whose education and/or current practice is theory based, good visual art teaching is not only about mastery of art skills and knowledge but also involves mastery of pedagogical content knowledge and practical knowledge. Despite these apparent differences in beliefs and practices, concern for pedagogical content knowledge is a feature of the work of all four participants. For all visual art teacher educator participants, lifelong learning through self-reflection, inquiry, peer reviewing, involvement in on-going professional development and continuing education is a hallmark of good visual art teaching. In addition all visual art teacher educator participants view good visual art teaching as a relational activity. This study provides us with insights into the complexity of good visual art teaching from the perspective of the visual art teacher educator. This study has developed ways to listen to visual art teacher educators' voices and to hear them in their own terms, to observe them, to enter their realities, and to see the world from their perspectives. This is deemed as important because in the Malaysian experience, more often than not, visual art teacher educators' teaching practice and their lives have been largely unexamined and taken for granted. The worldviews, stories, and teaching practices we enact are cultural constructions that have become part of the fabric of our everyday lives. Through this study an understanding of the beliefs, values and life-shaping factors that underpin and inform these visual art teacher educators' teaching practices provides us with new understandings of their work in Malaysian teacher education.

<p style="text-align: justify;">This study used the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to test a model that hypothesized the influence of self-efficacy, self-control, emotion, and engagement on student academic performance. The structural equation modeling model was developed to link all the study variables with a literature review to describe the interrelationship. Data collected were from 413 college students in their second year. The results show that self-efficacy, self-control, emotion, and engagement predict student academic performance. And through emotion and student engagement, both self-efficacy and self-control predict student academic performance indirectly. Practically the measures used in this study give more information about the learning environment in higher education settings than those usually come from traditional practices faculty received in the classroom, such as student rating forms and feedback. The main findings of this study have some implications for higher education, theory development, measurement, and future research.</p>

Economic Man in the Classroom

The repositories of open educational resources have been expanding in various regions of the world, which leads to the need to reflect on the role of these repositories and their implications for teaching and research in higher education, which is the objective of this study. The qualitative exploratory research was adopted as a methodological approach, to compose the literature review on the phenomenon under study, seeking to support the discussions around it. Bibliographic searches in the Scopus and Web of Science databases were used as search strategies for data collection and analysis. According to the results obtained, it became evident that open educational resources and repositories, as sources of management and dissemination of the resources, brought a new perspective to education, in the sense of openness to access, reuse, and sharing and to encourage collaborative work to adapt, transform and create new content. However, there is a need to broaden the understanding of the limitations and barriers to the sustainability and utilization of open education resource repositories and how they can contribute to innovative practices in teaching and learning, from the perspective of the users of these systems, which requires further studies with this objective.

When the Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice — JUTLP as we have come to know it — was established in 2004, it was to fill a perceived gap in publications related to teaching and learning practice in higher education, with practice being the operative word (Carter, 2004). While other higher education journals existed, they were mainly the purview of academic developers and the most prodigious of disciplinary academics researching their teaching. In contrast, JUTLP was to be built as open-access and its readership as ‘practitioners looking for good ideas based soundly on a body of accessible theory and research’ (McInnes, 2004, n.p.). JUTLP was established in the Australian context at a time when promoting excellence in teaching and learning was regarded as an important government agenda to improve the student experience, and not accidentally, coincided with the creation of the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (later the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, and later again the Office for Learning and Teaching). The Carrick Institute supported national cross-institutional grants and fellowship schemes, and promoted national networks of educational research into practice to support the mission of the then Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to ensure all ‘Australian higher education institutions provide high quality teaching and learning for all students’ (Carrick, 2009). How times have changed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the higher education sector, which is a critical determinant of a country's economic future. The aim is to compare the views of teachers and students on inclusive digital teaching in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The meaning of “inclusive digital teaching” and “view” are studied. The empirical study was carried out in September-November 2020. Forty respondents from Germany, Latvia, India, Ukraine, and South Africa participated in the study. The data were collected via a semi-structural interview. The theoretical findings allow defining inclusive digital teaching and its criteria and indicators. The positive views on inclusive digital teaching in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic were expressed by the university teachers. The students' views were more negative. The novel contribution of this chapter is the implications on inclusive digital teaching in higher education. Directions of further research are formulated.