A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

Supporting student learning
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Students’ confidence can be enhanced by clearly valuing their prior experience and
knowledge in discussion and writing assignments.
Study skills and academic integrity
The skills and capabilities required of students in higher education are complex and vary
to some extent between different subjects. Many of these skills are acquired over the
whole period of study and cannot be learnt as separate and identifiable skills at the
beginning of a course. However, it can be valuable to introduce some fundamental study
skills, particularly when students are unfamiliar with the demands of studying at higher
education level. It is important that the skills are perceived by students to be timely, useful,
appropriate and relevant.
Study skills that are specific to higher education include conventions of academic
writing, styles for references and bibliographies, searching for and selecting information
in libraries and using the internet, note taking from lectures, making presentations, and
revision and exam techniques. In order to reduce the incidence of plagiarism, increasing
importance is being attached to introducing students to the notion of ‘academic integrity’
and helping them to appreciate that using material from sources other than their own
work requires appropriate referencing.
Research has also shown that it benefits students to pay attention to their metacognitive
development and belief in their own self-efficacy (Knight and Yorke, 2003). This
means providing opportunities for students to reflect on what they know, how they are
learning and how they can make a difference to their success through, for example,
learning journals, discussion and reflective writing.
Online course handbook
A component of responding to students’ anxieties about the course they are embarking
upon is having all the information they need on the university’s intranet or within a
virtual learning environment. This is an online student handbook that can be regularly
updated. It should be an important point of reference for students, containing all the
essential information they need to pursue their studies. This will include course structure,
options and information on credit accumulation, descriptions of modules, their content
and assessment methods – typically with learning outcomes and assessment criteria
specified. It will also contain information about teaching staff, their availability and how
to contact them; libraries and ICT facilities, location and opening times; bibliographic
and referencing conventions; calendar for the year with significant dates and timetable
for assessments; any special regulations relating to laboratories, studies, field trips; and
support services which are available.
The VLE is also a portal to the internet and to the library, with access to journals and
other materials, including course-specific learning materials, a noticeboard and discussion