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Within the Caribbean, the number of students pursuing postgraduate studies in higher education institutions (HEIs) has increased over the years. Consequently, locally contextualised epistemologies and empowering methods are needed to help adult learners in Caribbean higher education (HE) navigate their studies. This paper presents findings from a photovoice study undertaken with postgraduate adult learners at an HEI in Jamaica. Participants used photographs, written reflections and group discussions to explore their HE journey. Given the intervening nature of the pandemic in the immediate period after the study was conceptualised and participants engaged, this paper focuses on the ways in which photovoice offered participants opportunities to make meaning of their HE journey. Findings demonstrate that the use of photovoice was transformative in how it empowered participants through the opportunity to engage in self-discovery and discuss their thoughts and emotions, facilitated peer support, and how it enabled adult learners to forge resilience as they undertook their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education has seen a significant shift in the last two decades, with contemporary students representing more diverse cohorts who are increasingly balancing study alongside competing life-roles and responsibilities. Given the rise in student attrition and concerns regarding engagement, we saw a visible need to consider how our students could be better supported in managing their study requirements which might improve retention and engagement. We asked students what best helps them to manage their learning and time, and this study reports on responses from 430 students over 8 course offerings between 2019 and 2021. Responses were coded using inductive category development and grouped into internal and external locus of control. The findings reveal 52.6% students demonstrated an interplay of internal and external locus of control factors, while 29.5% identified fully internal and 17.9% indicated fully external LOC. The study highlights that flexible, multi-pronged strategies and institutional supports are fundamental in supporting diverse modern tertiary student populations. The paper concludes with considerations for educators and higher education institutions, drawing on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and pedagogical care that may address many aspects raised by students that are outside their locus of control, which may consequently benefit student retention and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In immersive block models students learn over shorter teaching periods and with fewer concurrent units than in typical semester or trimester models. A core aim of many such innovations is to enhance students’ learning outcomes; however, there are few investigations of student satisfaction at scale in immersive block models. This paper reports on an exploratory study of results from an institution-wide student feedback survey administered at an Australian public university that has introduced a 6-week immersive block model across the institution. Two strands of analysis were undertaken. Strand 1 (N = 4,157) compared satisfaction ratings across units delivered in the immersive block model in 2021 with ratings from the trimester model in 2019. Strand 2 (N = 1,925) explored the relative strengths of correlations between individual survey items and overall unit and overall teaching satisfaction in the immersive block model. The research found that overall, five of seven unit satisfaction indicators and all six teaching indicators improved to a statistically significant degree in the immersive block model. While student perceptions of workload appeared to be most susceptible to negative change, the correlation between workload and overall unit satisfaction was relatively weak compared to other unit indicators, suggesting that students have some tolerance for reduced satisfaction with workload. Meanwhile, the data suggest that students’ overall satisfaction with their units in the immersive block model appears most strongly tied to their satisfaction with teaching. Overall satisfaction with teaching appears most strongly associated with academics presenting content in a clear manner while showing concern for students’ learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching quality assurance has become a common concern and a common pursuit for institutions of higher learning around the world. This paper takes teaching quality as a governance issue in higher education, as different governance systems entail different approaches to quality assurance. Through a detailed examination of the Chinese system in teaching administration in comparison with the Canadian system, this study aims to provide insights on different approaches to teaching quality assurance in more centralised and decentralised governance structures. Based on the findings of this study, no winner can be declared between centralised and decentralised systems in the area of teaching quality assurance. Instead, the study points to different strengths in each system. With more local autonomy, the decentralised system better respects disciplinary uniqueness and academic freedom in teaching. With more national planning, the centralised system secures a system-wide threshold in teaching quality and an optimal long-term development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge exchange (KE) is increasingly important in higher education internationally, yet relatively little attention has been paid to it as a pedagogic opportunity for students. This paper draws on 26 interviews with stakeholders within and outside HE to develop a model of studentled knowledge exchange as a guide for learning through KE. The model includes the following elements: Preconditions, Prior Knowledge, Planning and Place, Pedagogic Context and Product, and offers an analysis of different forms of KE which occur between individuals in a learning triad consisting of student, facilitator and external participant. The research foregrounds a social view of learning where valid knowledge comes from diverse participants in the exchange, including students themselves. Students act as a catalyst for multi-directional KE – a finding which challenges the implied hierarchies evident in much of the literature on this topic. The model is offered as a starting point for developing a pedagogy of KE in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on findings from the From Adversity to University project, a unique widening participation initiative developed by one university to support a diverse range of people into Higher Education through engagement with a 12-week bridging module. This small-scale case study presents an in-depth exploration of how learning space shaped students' experience of a bridging module during the COVID-19 pandemic. Space is conceptualised through a theory of embodied cognition which recognises the complexity of social, cultural, and cognitive inter-relations between space and students' learning experience. An interpretative narrative methodological approach was taken, drawing on the Listening Guide [LG]. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with five students who completed the bridging module during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. All had been affected by homelessness and most were in recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction. For all participants, there was a complex and dynamic interconnectivity between learning spaces and their experience of the bridging module. The findings demonstrate for the five students how learning spaces (including the flexibility of the space) contributed to participants' sense of belonging, recovery from drugs and alcohol addiction, mental health and well-being. Implications of the study point towards the need for further research into the connection between learning space and the creation of a sense of belonging particularly for students from marginalised groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]