University students are experiencing increasingly high levels of psychological distress globally, presenting a significant concern for students as well as universities. Numerous stressors contribute to psychological distress, including impostor phenomenon (IP). The extent, impact and management strategies of IP in university students are less explored in the literature. This study measures the prevalence of IP in graduate health science students, its association with self-efficacy, and evaluates the impact of an educational workshop designed to address it at an Australian university. First, anonymous surveys assessing IP, self-efficacy and demographic information were collected from 115 graduate health science students. Subsequently, a 90-minute workshop on IP awareness and coping strategies was delivered to Master of Clinical Audiology students, with a post-workshop assessment. Our findings showed 77% of graduate health science students had high levels of IP, and students with higher levels of IP had lower levels of self-perceived efficacy. A significant reduction in levels of IP was observed immediately following workshop participation. The findings of this study highlight the pervasiveness of IP among graduate health science students and demonstrate the potential of educational workshops as an effective short-term management strategy.
This editorial examines the use and reporting of interviews and focus groups as methods in higher education research. Such an editorial is helpful in addressing reviewer concerns that many studies lack clarity and transparency in the reporting of their qualitative methods adopted. Drawing on our editorial experience, and the scholarly literature, we identify common issues, including weak alignment between research questions and methods, limited transparency in design and analysis, and underdeveloped interpretation of findings. This paper positions methodological rigour as a relational concept and explores four key dimensions: alignment of methods to research purpose, design and conduct, analysis, and the presentation of findings. Practitioner principles are shared at the end of the editorial to guide the design and reporting of interview and focus group studies, emphasising coherence across the research process, interpretation, and evidentiary grounding. These principles aim to help writers produce more methodologically rigorous reports of interview and focus group studies.
Kindness can be conceived as a transformational power that can reconfigure higher education institutions away from reductionist, performative, and corporate sensibilities. However, an absence of kindness can also play a significant role within a student’s tertiary experience, leaving students who receive unkindness with a diminished sense of self, belonging, and achievement. Underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and positioning theory, our article explores students’ experiences of the absence of kindness during interactions with lecturers in the higher education context, and the impact of such interactions on students’ academic success and personal wellbeing. Survey data of 23 students from a larger study who described an absence of kindness from lecturers were analysed via reflexive thematic analysis. Using the metaphor of dance, findings revealed several themes about the impacts of the absence of kindness on students, including Out of Step, Side-Stepping, Stepping on Toes, Walking on Tiptoes and Bowing Out. These findings have significant implications for higher education institutions.
Providing feedback to students is an important yet time-consuming part of teachers’ work. Advances in AI technologies, especially generative AI, have introduced innovative solutions to automate the feedback process. The use of AI for feedback has generated interest in higher education, mainly attributed to its potential to reduce teachers’ workload and enhance feedback timeliness in response to the massification of university education. However, there remains a gap in empirical research that focuses on the ethical implications of this practice. In view of this, the paper draws on a diverse dataset (i.e., university policy reviews, social media posts and interviews with university teachers and students) to extrapolate eight key areas of ethical considerations regarding teachers’ use of AI for feedback purposes. Building on these areas, we call for a more nuanced understanding of what it means for teachers to use AI for feedback, considering various contextual complexities such as the purposes of assessment, the features of student assignments, and the types of feedback automated by AI. The study also highlights the need to move beyond the binary question of whether teachers should use AI or not towards exploring how feedback activities and teacher AI use could be designed and operated in ways that maintain and even enhance care, trust, and human connections central to effective feedback processes. While the study focuses on teachers, promoting the ethical use of AI requires a collective effort from multiple stakeholders in and beyond higher education.
Although undergraduate thesis finalisation tends to improve when combining individual and group supervision activities, the theoretical justifications for forming such combinations and the evaluation of their sub-components’ comparative impact on students’ progression is lacking. We introduce the concept of thesis finalisation self-efficacy (TFSE) and explore the application of the TFSE-supporting supervision model in one undergraduate programme. The five-stage design research, including the analysis of input from surveys and interviews with participating students and supervisors, showed that the TFSE-supporting supervision model supported TFSE the most through vicarious experiences provided by group meetings, mastery experiences stemming from the supervisor’s feedback to thesis plans and thesis drafts, and verbal persuasion by the supervisor during group meetings. Improving students’ abilities, through activities for the entire student cohort, and interactions between students outside of group meetings had a less strong impact on TFSE. Still, complementing traditional individual supervision with group supervision and cohort activities, in the form of thesis seminar courses, appeared to be rewarding. Our application of such a model led to an improvement in graduation rates, without a decrease in thesis quality, while simultaneously improving students’ thesis writing experience. It also created time-savings for thesis supervisors and enabled more focused attention on the content of the thesis.
This study examines the participant feedback from pre-service teachers who engaged in the Reflexivity Workshop (RW) during their campus training in religious education (RE). Based on their feedback and key principles of design-based research, which aims to develop design and theories that are useful for practice, the study proposes initial guidance for incorporating reflexivity into RE teacher education. The RW was designed to activate reflexivity, a key concept in RE research related to self-reflection and worldview positionality. Exploring the feedback with attention to what we can learn from their reported experiences and perceived outcomes, the study aims to initiate a discussion on teaching strategies for reflexivity. The feedback comprises data from students enrolled in an integrated 5-year teacher education at four Norwegian universities and includes 76 written responses as well as semi-structured interviews with 11 participants. Findings suggest overall satisfaction with the RW experience and perceived learning outcomes were articulated in relation to reflexivity and core teaching values. Recommendations for practice are suggested.
Australia’s increasingly marketised higher education ecosystem relies on postgraduate coursework (PGCW) students. In this study we adopt the position that PGCW students are important customers or consumers of university offerings, and examine how we can provide them with value in co-badged (dual-listed) courses—units where undergraduate and postgraduate students share curricula and learning environments. Using Appreciative Inquiry and the Determinants of Student Satisfaction in Higher Education (DSSHE) framework, we analysed interviews with 16 PGCW science students. Participants valued practical, industry-relevant content, inclusive learning experiences, and opportunities to benchmark their progress and identity against undergraduate peers. Their sense of educational value was shaped not only by curriculum design but also by emotional and relational factors such as belonging, recognition, and self-efficacy. The adapted DSSHE-PGCW framework and the practitioner notes provided here offer tools and guidance for designing co-badged courses that meet the complex needs of postgraduate learners and support their transition into advanced scholarly roles.
Microlearning has been identified as an effective strategy for teaching and learning in various settings. However, little is known about its application in training and coaching research skills for junior researchers. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the perception and experiences of graduate students in the social sciences in Vietnam. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 20 participants who had undergone a research skills training and coaching program using a microlearning approach. Self-Determination Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory were used as analytical lenses. The findings support the effectiveness of microlearning in this new context of training and coaching junior researchers in the social sciences. Learners’ motivation functions as a dynamic, self-reinforcing system in which psychological needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) and perceived values (attainment, intrinsic, utility, and cost) co-develop and interact. This process gives rise to key outcomes, including academic achievements and continued use of microlearning, which in turn further reinforce both psychological needs and perceived values. The findings suggest the emergence of a new framework termed micro-researching for guiding both learning and supervision. The findings offer theoretical and practical insights into how microlearning can support motivation and capability development in research training contexts.
Universities internationally are entering a new phase in their response to gender-based violence, shaped by shifting regulatory expectations and the growing influence of digitally-mediated misogyny among students. This commentary suggests the rise of the ‘manosphere’ (loosely connected online networks promoting misogynistic ideas) has reconfigured the conditions under which gendered harm emerges on campus, creating a mismatch between institutional responsibilities and existing responses. Drawing on Australian policy developments and school-based research, we argue that current approaches—which are largely compliance-oriented—are insufficient to address the diffuse and relational dynamics of this ‘new misogyny.’ We contend that universities must move beyond compliance toward enhanced stewardship capacity, requiring executive-level leadership to develop expertise in gender, masculinity, and digital culture, and to embed this across institutional strategy and practice.
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has rapidly emerged as a dramatic disruptor across multiple sectors, significantly impacting higher education and workplace dynamics (Baidoo-anu & Owusu Ansah, 2023). Understanding how students and educators engage with the complexities, challenges, and affordances of GenAI is essential to developing robust institutional educational responses. In 2023, we administered a survey to academic staff at our Australian-based University to explore their perspectives, attitudes and experiences regarding GenAI in learning and teaching. Findings revealed substantial concerns regarding academic integrity, ethical considerations, and the potential erosion of essential academic skills such as critical thinking and creativity. Staff highlighted equity concerns related to student access and proficiency in GenAI tools and digital literacy, with uncertainty about staff responsibilities in training students. Conversely, staff recognised substantial opportunities for using GenAI to enhance teaching practices through streamlined administrative processes, improved curriculum and assessment design, and innovative, student-centred learning activities. Given our findings, there is an urgent need for clear governance frameworks, structured professional training programs, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the active inclusion of student perspectives.
Student–staff co‑creation, particularly involving the development of e-learning materials and digital environments, is increasingly recognised as a driver of student engagement, curriculum relevance, and professional development in higher education. Parallel to this trend, the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) framework has become the reference point for describing and assessing teachers’ technology‑related capabilities. Building on earlier work, this systematic review synthesises 29 peer-reviewed publications published between January 2018 and March 2025 that intersect technology-enhanced student co-creation and educator digital competence. Employing a methodological three‑phase coding protocol adapted from Rienties et al. (2023) and a double‑coder reliability of κ = 0.87, we map how co‑creation initiatives relate to DigCompEdu areas, identify three recurrent engagement archetypes (DigCompEdu‑Light, Project/Hands‑On, and Full DigCompEdu), and expose persistent measurement gaps. Results indicate that technology‑supported co‑creation is most effective when educators operate at least at the DigCompEdu Integrator level and when co-creation designs deliberately cultivate community, collaboration, and cohesion. The discussion highlights methodological deficits and regional imbalances, while practical recommendations emphasise validated measurement and inclusive capacity building.
In higher education institutions, students and staff with increasingly diverse walks of life learn and work together. In response, universities frame diversity as a strategic asset, positioning difference as a strength in the light of different, conflicting, priorities. This study systematically explores why and how lecturers in a superdiverse context aim to unlock these alleged strengths in the context of specific courses. Taking a longitudinal approach, the study sheds light on lecturers’ rationales for harnessing diversity across classrooms and how these rationales inform instructional design choices. Building on this exploration, we offer a model for holistic, agile instructional design that supports lecturers in exploring and making intentional design choices to harness diversity across the classroom in dialogue with their team and students. Our findings underline the need to bridge and synthesize multiple rationales to design purposeful learning experiences that resonate with all stakeholders involved.
Navigating the landscape of Higher Education can be particularly challenging for Enabling students, with their ability to persevere and maintain feelings of ‘hope’ likely to impact their confidence to complete their Enabling program. This paper explores the impact of hope on student perseverance and progress within an Enabling program. Using data collected from in-depth interviews with two participants, we investigate how hope shapes students’ motivation, resilience, and ultimately their ability to cope with academic challenges. The findings reveal that hope serves as a critical psychological resource, fostering a sense of agency and goal-directed behaviour that can enable students to flourish in their educational journeys. Through interpreting participants’ experiences using the lens of hope theory (Snyder, 2000) educators in the Enabling space can better appreciate how students navigated obstacles and sustained their commitment to the program. This paper contributes to the understanding of hope as a vital resource in educational contexts, situated within the growing discourse on equity, access, and the emotional dimensions of learning in transitional educational contexts.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Generative AI (GenAI), is profoundly reshaping assessment practices in computer science education by enabling automation, scalability, and personalized feedback mechanisms. AI-enhanced tools facilitate adaptive testing, real-time learner support, and data-driven insights that foster deeper engagement and learning outcomes. However, the integration of AI also raises critical concerns related to academic integrity, algorithmic bias, transparency, and ethical implications of AI-driven evaluation. This theoretical paper critically examines the opportunities and complexities of GenAI-enabled assessment in CS education. Drawing on contemporary literature, pedagogical theory, and emerging use cases, the paper explores how GenAI can enhance student engagement, support equitable learning, and relieve instructional burden—while also highlighting the need for ethical safeguards and pedagogically grounded frameworks. It argues that the successful integration of GenAI depends not solely on technological capability but on deliberate, human-guided design that upholds transparency, fairness, and educational purpose. By advancing a nuanced and critically reflective perspective, this paper contributes to the evolving discourse on AI in education and provides actionable insights for educators, researchers, and policymakers seeking to harness GenAI responsibly in the future of computer science education.
The rapid expansion of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in higher education presents a critical pedagogical challenge for research training: how to integrate these tools without undermining methodological integrity. In qualitative research, unstructured GenAI use may encourage overreliance, superficiality, and unreflexive judgment among novice researchers. Despite growing debate, limited empirical evidence shows how GenAI can be deliberately designed to strengthen rigor in undergraduate qualitative data analysis. This study proposes and analyze the Sequencial Augmented Analysis a structured instructional model that embeds the use of chatbots within Human-Centered AI in Education and Experiential Learning frameworks. Using an exploratory multiple-case design with final-year pre-service teachers, we examined how GenAI-enhanced investigator triangulation and guided reflexivity support methodological integrity. Findings indicate that introducing chatbots after manual analysis stimulated collective reconsideration of decisions, systematic returns to original data, and clearer justification of methodological choices. It also surfaced personal biases, methodological assumptions, and ethical concerns regarding authorship and disclosure. Rather than replacing human judgment, GenAI functioned as a catalyst for dialogue and critique. The study offers a replicable pedagogical design for integrating GenAI into qualitative research courses while reinforcing academic integrity.
In a post-colonial age of persistent and sometimes pernicious change in higher education contexts and with increasing pressure for academics to demonstrate impact beyond their immediate spheres of teaching, critical perspectives on the dissemination of research is paramount. As individuals who are impacted by institutional structure and can impact on institutional structure, all practitioners and researchers are required to critically appraise their positionality and agency in higher education teaching and learning research. This includes reflecting on epistemic (in)justice, i.e. how their research activities feed into current power structures that determine whose knowledge counts and whose voices, ideas and perspectives are marginalised. Concurrently, all stakeholders involved in the publication process need to reflect on how the knowledge, or indeed, knowledges, that we prioritise either continue to colonise or decolonise the research field. Rather than only focusing on what we have added to the field, at all stages of the publication process, we need to question how this has possibly come at the expense of other equally valid but marginalised ways of doing and being.
Online learning widens access to higher education for underrepresented students. A safe learning space that fosters relational dialogue is crucial for recognising the “complexities and wisdoms” that diverse learners bring to their studies as “whole people” (Motta & Bennett, 2018). However, flexible delivery can be challenging for engaging online learners in class dialogue, especially students who lack confidence to engage with peers and teachers (Lawrence et al., 2024). In response, action research was undertaken with “equity-like” students enrolled in all-online human service degrees to understand more about the barriers and enablers for joining class discussions. An applied framing of pedagogical care was then used to co-design and evaluate a dialogic learning activity dubbed the “care-full Zoom” with multiple ways to join the conversation in synchronous and asynchronous modes. Mapping care-full teacher qualities to student learning outcomes revealed practical ways that pedagogical care can be exercised in online learning design. Results show considerably improved student engagement with content, peers, and teachers following implementation of the care-full Zoom. Crucially, students reported greater confidence in their capabilities as students and as emerging lived experience practitioners. The findings are significant for supporting the growing numbers of underrepresented students accessing higher education through online study options.
In Southeast Asia, English language education has been influenced by the import and integration of various curricula and frameworks originating from the west. In response to this, English language teachers at various educational levels have demonstrated how they have had to adapt these imported materials. To critical scholars, this may be viewed as a process of decolonisation. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to examine how university English language teachers responded to the integration of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) through an extent of resistance. To this end, three English language teachers from a Malaysian university and three others from a Thai university were interviewed. Specifically, they reflected on how they reconfigured the framework to be more contextually and locally meaningful. Through the examination of the participants’ reflections, it was found that their resistance was shaped by both their individual perspectives and practices, as well as the context. The former was marked by enacting agency and a reluctance to accept external forces, while the latter was illustrated through structural mismatch and a cultural misalignment. Findings of this study ultimately contribute to our understanding of how western educational frameworks and English language education were decolonised. This study also illustrates how the classroom is a pivotal space for the displacement of dominant forces in education.
This study investigates the teaching approaches used by faculty members at a Latin American university to identify distinct pedagogical profiles influenced by demographic, disciplinary, and institutional factors. Data were collected from 385 university lecturers using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (S-ATI-20) within a quantitative, cross-sectional design. The analysis revealed three faculty profiles that differ in how they balance content delivery with student engagement, the extent of their pedagogical preparation, and their use of reflective teaching practices. These results suggest that teaching approaches are shaped not only by academic background and professional experience, but also by the degree of institutional support available to lecturers. While grounded in a Latin American setting, the study offers insights that may guide faculty development and teaching policy in a wide range of higher education institutions facing similar challenges.
This paper critically evaluates the third prototype design iteration of an immersive reality (XR) enhanced simulation project in healthcare higher education. Drawing from design principles developed since the project’s inception in 2016, the research addresses a gap in current literature: whilst XR has demonstrated positive impacts on clinical skill development, examples of longitudinal studies and engagement with learning theory to inform the design of these environments remain limited. The MESH360 project applies design-based research (DBR) to explore the impact of XR-enhanced simulation for training novice and professional paramedics, triangulating participant feedback, observation, and biometric data. The resulting XR design principles provide a framework for transferable learning designs in high-risk, practice-based environments.
