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

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A user’s guide
Heather Fry, Steve Ketteridge
and Stephanie Marshall
SETTING THE CONTEXT OF ACADEMIC PRACTICE
This book starts from the premise that the roles of those who teach in higher education
are complex and multifaceted. Teaching is recognised as being only one of the roles
that readers of this book will be undertaking. It recognises and acknowledges that
academics have contractual obligations to pursue excellence in several directions, most
notably in teaching, research and scholarship, supervision, academic administration and
management and, for many, maintenance of standing and provision of service in a
profession (such as teaching or nursing). Academic practice is a term that encompasses
all these facets.
The focus of this book is on teaching and the supervision of students. The purpose of
both of these activities, and all that is associated with them (for example, curriculum
organisation and assessment), is to facilitate learning, but as our focus is on what the
teacher/supervisor does to contribute to this, we have stressed the role of the teacher in
both the title and the text of this handbook. However, effective teaching (and supervision,
assessment, planning and so on) has to be predicated on an understanding of how
students learn; the objective of the activities is to bring about learning, and there has to
be insight and knowledge about learners’ needs for teaching to be successful.
The authors recognise the fast pace of change in higher education. The past decade
has seen continuing increase in student numbers, further internationalisation of the
student population, and wider diversity in the prior educational experience of students.
All these factors have placed yet more pressure on resources, requirements for income
generation, improved flexibility in modes of study and delivery (particularly in distance
and e-learning) and continuing scrutiny in relation to quality and standards. Commonly,
academics will now work with students who are not only based on campus but also at
a distance. A further challenge facing the higher education sector is the expectation
to prepare students more carefully for the world of work. For many students the need to
take on paid employment during term time is a financial reality. Other themes within
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