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Transnational education is rather common in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, with among the highest TNE enrolments of any region worldwide. Approximately a third of the Omani students in higher education are registered in programmes offered transnationally, and a UK university is the main provider. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges that Omani students perceive when studying in transnational education by means of a survey and in-depth follow-up interviews. The findings show that challenges relate mainly to students' adaptation to transnational higher education pedagogies, the challenges of academic writing, and challenges related to the international or UK culture of the programme. It argues in favour of widening the definition of contextualisation from simply including local examples to a pedagogical approach in TNE that supports students in dealing with their challenges in the TNE contexts.

A central aim of university teaching is to transform students' conceptual understanding of disciplinary knowledge. In order to achieve this, lecturers make decisions on subject matter and teaching approaches. However, there seems to be little attention for the role of subject matter pedagogy in university teaching. This study aims to explore a knowledge base of teaching through lecturers' accounts of a relation between subject matter, theory and practice in Child and Education Studies (CES). Four narratives of the lecturers suggest that subject matter is central to how a relation between theory and practice is taught. At the same time, orientation towards teaching was relevant to teaching subject matter. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that every lecture runs into their own limits when teaching theory and practice. The findings suggest that university pedagogy is informed by specific subjects rather than the discipline. Implications for teaching and academic development are discussed.

Musicians nowadays need to be able to work both creatively and collaboratively, often in a wider range of artistic, social and cultural contexts. A strong vision on conservatoire pedagogy is needed to reach this goal and at the same time align with the demands of higher education. At the start of the 21st century, renewal of curricula concentrated on implementing the teaching of a broader range of skills, knowledge and attitudes, including problem-solving, reflective, cooperative and communicative competences, as part of the Bologna process of implementing bachelor and master of music programmes. In semi-structured interviews, leaders of conservatoires in Belgium (Flanders) and the Netherlands reflected on their curriculum and revealed their observations and perceptions of its connection to professional practice. Based on a thematic analysis, conservatoire leaders' observations and perceptions of the process of curriculum reform were identified. They indicated that teaching professionals continue to maintain an autonomous position, practising traditional forms of teaching and learning. Conservatoire leaders were rather hesitant in implementing new pedagogies, teaching principles and guidelines, due to a dedication to craftsmanship and a large amount of respect for the expertise of their teaching professionals.

In the past two decades, transnational education has been increasing and so has the need for staff to teach on these programmes. This study sought the views of non-Anglophone expatriate academics teaching transnationally in Oman by means of a survey and follow-up interviews. It highlights the challenges that they face in a teaching and learning environment that is academically and culturally new to them. These challenges relate mostly to the students, as they need extensive structured guidance, and to maintaining programme quality in meeting the learning outcomes, particularly critical thinking and writing in English. Teaching adaptation and quality assurance were less challenging. Findings indicate that for a more enhanced teaching and learning environment, both the provider and host institution need to continuously invest in face-to-face professional development addressing the challenges expatriate academics experience, and that the sole focus on quality assurance by provider universities is not sufficient to create this.

Opportunities for students to participate in research practices promote student beliefs about the relevance of research for later work practices. Yet engaging undergraduates in learning activities that mirror the way in which research is used in practice settings is not that straightforward. This longitudinal study aims to assess the influence of authentic research practices in the learning environment on medical undergraduates' perceptions of research and their beliefs about the relevance of research. In total, 947 students completed the Student Perceptions of Research Integration Questionnaire. Our findings suggest that research practices promote student motivation for research and foster the belief that research is relevant to learning. We suggest that to foster student learning about research, it is beneficial to include elements of professional practices that stimulate students' enthusiasm for research and focus students' attention on the way research findings are produced. Furthermore, implications are given for further research and teaching practice.

The learning benefits of peer assessment and providing peer feedback have been widely reported. However, it is still not understood which learning activities most facilitate the acquisition of feedback skills. This study aimed to compare the effect of a modeling example, i.e., a model that demonstrated how to give feedback, on the acquisition of feedback skills. The participants were second-year bachelor students in pedagogical sciences (N = 111). They were assigned randomly to a "practice condition," in which they practiced giving feedback on oral presentations, or a modeling "example condition," in which a teacher demonstrated how to give feedback on a good and a bad presentation. Students then gave feedback to a presenter in a video (direct feedback measure). One week later, they gave each other peer feedback on oral presentations (delayed feedback measure). On the direct feedback measure, students in the modeling example condition used assessment criteria more often in their feedback, and produced significantly more overall feedback, and significantly more positive and negative judgments than students in the practice condition. There was no significant difference in the amount of elaboration and feed-forward between the two conditions. On the delayed feedback measure, there were no significant differences between the two experimental conditions. The results suggest that, at least in the short term, a modeling example can stimulate the use of assessment criteria and judgments in feedback. The results and implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Research skills are important for university graduates, but little is known about undergraduates' motivation for research. In this study, self-efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation for several research activities were measured three times during an undergraduate research project (N = 147 students). In order to promote self-efficacy for writing and collaboration, a collaboration script was developed and tested on half of the students. Twelve students were interviewed three times to gather in-depth information about motivational and self-efficacy beliefs. All measures except intrinsic motivation for research increased significantly during the project. Interview results suggest that enactive mastery and positive social interdependence promoted self-efficacy. Feelings of relatedness seemed to promote intrinsic motivation for writing. Lack of autonomy and low perceived relevance may explain why motivation for research remained stable. The script had no impact on self-efficacy beliefs. Relatedness, autonomy and positive social interdependence may boost motivation for research, but more evidence is needed.

Internationally, universities and policy-makers are calling for stronger integration of research into teaching. However, it is unclear how to implement this in practice in different disciplinary areas and contexts. This study contributes to this understanding with a focus on language teaching in the Chinese context. We surveyed 152 university teachers regarding their beliefs about and their perceived actual integration of research in their teaching practice. The teachers highly valued integration of research in teaching in an ideal situation but perceived low integration of research into their actual teaching practice. This gap was smaller for teachers from research-intensive universities and for those who had more research experience and spent more than 25% of their work time on research. Other reasons for this gap included fixed curricula, heavy teaching tasks, lack of student motivation and difficulties reconciling integration of research into teaching with the institutional aim of improving students' language proficiency.

Research integrated into undergraduate education is important in order for medical students to understand and value research for later clinical practice. Therefore, attempts are being made to strengthen the integration of research into teaching from the first year onwards. First-year students may interpret attempts made to strengthen research integration differently than intended by teachers. This might be explained by student beliefs about learning and research as well as student perceptions of the learning environment. In general, student perceptions of the learning environment play a pivotal role in fostering student learning outcomes. This study aims to determine whether a curriculum change intended to promote research integration fosters student learning outcomes and student perceptions of research integrated into teaching. To serve this purpose, three subsequent cohorts of first-year students were compared, one before and two after a curriculum change. Learning outcomes of these students were measured using scores on a national progress test of 921 students and assessments of a sample of 100 research reports of a first-year student research project. 746 Students filled out the Student Perceptions of Research Integration Questionnaire. The findings suggest that learning outcomes of these students, that is, scores on research related test items of the progress test and the quality of research reports, were better than those of students before the curriculum change.

Growing interest in student research projects in higher education has led to an emphasis on research supervision. We focus in this study on novice supervisors' approaches to research supervision as they explore their practices and experience difficulties supervising medical-students. Teacher noticing was used as a sensitising concept and relations with teacher dilemmas were explored in the research supervision context. To provide in-depth insights into supervisors' practices and pedagogical choices, twelve stimulated recall interviews with supervisors were analysed. The supervisors were involved in individual undergraduate or master degree student research projects at a research-intensive university. Analysis revealed four kinds of dilemmas which may influence research supervision practices, namely questions regarding regulation, student needs, the student-supervisor relationship and supervisors' professional identity. We explain the relationship between novice supervisors' practices and dilemmas in detail. Implications are given to enhance initiatives for professional development of supervisors.

Research should be explicated in undergraduate teaching in a way that stimulates student learning. Previous studies in higher education have shown that student perceptions of research integrated into teaching could promote student learning, but have also indicated that it can be difficult to confront first-year undergraduates with research during courses. In this study, we describe relationships between first-year medical student perceptions of research, learning outcomes and beliefs about the value of research. The Student Perception of Research Integration Questionnaire was filled out by 261 students. Answers were related to student achievement. The findings suggest that student motivation for research is strongly related to merging current research into teaching. Students rather recognised an emphasis on research methodologies than research engagement. Particularly student beliefs about research are related to achievement. It is suggested that to foster positive beliefs about research, teachers should familiarise students with current research and create enthusiasm for research.

This study explores how academics who expanded their teaching-only positions to include research view their (re)constructed academic identity. Participants worked in a higher professional education institution of applied research and teaching, comparable with so-called new universities. The aim is to increase our understanding of variations in academic identity and to be better able to support academics' 'role making' within and across different worlds of practice. Data from semi-structured interviews with 18 academics at a Dutch new university were analysed using a grounded theory approach. This revealed six well-rounded academic identities reflecting participants' personal scholarly objectives: the 'continuous learner', 'disciplinary expert', 'skilled researcher', 'evidence-based teacher', 'guardian of the research work process' and 'liaison officer'. The researcher role served to promote the overall development of participants' identities. The 'disciplinary expert' matured through participation in the academic world and research activities. Participants discovered what 'being' and 'becoming' a researcher in the new university might entail, and contributed to the professions' knowledge base. Participants learned to apply various research-based teaching approaches. As brokers, they linked research projects to practices in meaningful ways. The six identities embodied an emergent power in creating and preserving a complete academic profession. Participants' accounts showed tensions inherent in an extended role portfolio and constraints in 'role making' given inconsistencies between the university's espoused research mission and the one in use. These imply challenges for university managers in aligning policies and practices, and scaffolding academics' attempts to integrate their academic roles in different worlds of practice.

Faculty development in learning-centred medical education aims to help faculty mature into facilitators of student learning, but it is often ineffective. It is unclear how to support educators' maturation sustainably. We explored how and why medical educators working in learning-centred education, more commonly referred to as student-centred education, mature over time. We performed a qualitative follow-up study and interviewed 21 senior physician-educators at two times, ten years apart. A hierarchical model, distinguishing four educator phenotypes, was employed to deductively examine educators' awareness of the workplace context, their educational competencies, identity, and 'mission,' i.e. their source of personal inspiration. Those educators who grew in awareness, as measured by advancing in educator phenotype, were re-interviewed to inductively explore factors they perceived to have guided their maturation. A minority of the medical educators grew in awareness of their educational qualities over the 10-year study period. Regression in awareness did not occur. Maturation as an educator was perceived to be linked to maturation as a physician and to engaging in primarily informal learning opportunities. Maturation of medical educators can take place, but is not guaranteed, and appears to proceed through a growth in awareness of, successively, educational competencies, identity, and mission. At all stages, maturation is motivated by the task, identity, and mission as a physician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a variety of research approaches and instruments, previous research has revealed what university students tend to see as benefits and disadvantages of the integration of research in teaching. In the present study, a questionnaire was developed on the basis of categorizations of the research-teaching nexus in the literature. The aim of the Student Perception of Research Integration Questionnaire (SPRIQ) is to determine the factors that capture the way students perceive research integration in their courses. The questionnaire was administered among 221 students from five different undergraduate courses at a research intensive university in The Netherlands. Data analysis revealed four factors regarding research integration: motivation, reflection, participation, and current research. These factors are correlated with students' rating of the quality of the course and with their beliefs about the importance of research for their learning. Moreover, courses could be distinguished in terms of research intensiveness, from the student perspective, based on the above-mentioned factors. It is concluded that the SPRIQ helps to understand how students perceive research integration in specific courses and is a promising tool to give feedback to teachers and program managers who aim to strengthen links between research, teaching, and student learning.

Understanding the relation between teachers' goal statements and students' experiences about the position of research in undergraduate coursework can give use insight into ways to integrate research and teaching and foster undergraduate research. In this study, we examined to what extent teachers' goal statements agreed with students' experiences of research during undergraduate science coursework. Interviews were held with university science teachers and a questionnaire was presented to their students. The results suggest that teachers' goal statements about the research dispositions of students often tend to disagree with students' experiences, while the emphasis on teachers' own research or explicit participation of students in research activities tends to be in agreement with students' experiences. It is suggested that if students are to appreciate the intangible elements of research, teachers need to emphasise these elements in their communications to their students. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

A wide variety of studies has been carried out regarding the way academics view the research-teaching nexus, while other studies have focused on the students' experience of research-intensive environments. This study links these two research streams, and describes how 12 staff members in a faculty of humanities integrate research into their teaching, and how their students perceive these learning environments. Data were gathered from both teachers and students. The 12 teachers opted for different ways of integrating disciplinary research into their teaching. The study produced some unexpected benefits, as the attained learning environment yielded more and other outcomes than intended. It was possible to attribute dispositional learning outcomes to students bringing the academic disposition into practice, and discussing their efforts with their teachers, while awareness of research increased as a result of getting a close look at the teacher's own research. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Research and teaching are supposed to be closely related in universities. Among academics the belief in a symbiotic relationship is strong. However, it is unclear what form this relationship can take. Several authors have presented categories and dimensions to clarify this relationship and the aim of this project was to contribute to this discussion by understanding what academics' ideal research-teaching nexus would look like. The ideal images of 30 academics were investigated using a mental visualisation assignment. Respondents were encouraged to describe in detail what for them the linkage between research and teaching would look like in the ideal situation. Five profiles of the research-teaching nexus could be distinguished: teach research results; make research known; show what it means to be a researcher; help to conduct research; and provide research experience. These profiles are related to dimensions proposed earlier in the literature on the research-teaching nexus. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Universities are supposed to be institutes where research and teaching are closely related. To understand this relationship fully, it is necessary to learn how academics perceive these key components. Different conceptions among academics may stem from varying conceptions of knowledge. Thirty academics were interviewed by means of metaphors about their conceptions of research, teaching and knowledge. academics' conceptions of knowledge ranged from knowledge as facts in an external world to knowledge as a personal construction. Their conceptions of research ranged from research as disclosing patterns to research as creating patterns. Their conceptions of teaching ranged from teaching as knowledge transmission to teaching as encouraging critical thinking. Regarding the relationships between these conceptions, academics' conceptions of knowledge and research were shown to be closely linked, while their conceptions of teaching had a weaker association with their conceptions of knowledge and research. (Contains 6 tables.)

This paper explores how to strengthen the research-teaching nexus in university education, in particular, how to improve the relation between policy and practice. The focus is on courses and curricula for undergraduate students. From a review of policy documents and research literature, it appeared that the research-teaching nexus can be shaped according to two dimensions. One concerns an emphasis on either the research content and products, or the research processes and problems; the other concerns the role of students as either learning existing insights, or as "participants in research" who contribute to insights which are new to the field (e.g., by conducting research themselves). It is concluded that if a university chooses to strengthen the research-teaching nexus in undergraduate curricula, this implies involving students more often in the role of participants in research. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

The article focuses on the undergraduate research and inquiry in the Netherlands. It notes that the rise of mandatory teaching qualifications for faculty has followed on all research universities and colleges in the country working toward pedagogical training required for faculty members. Expectations for Dutch higher education institutions has increased as well as other universities and institutes for higher professional education growing on their importance and role in society.