A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice

Citation

Marshall, S. (Ed.). (2020). A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice (5th ed.). Routledge.

Chapter Summary

The fifth edition is an edited volume of twenty-six chapters in three parts, with a foreword by Patrick Deane, a user's guide, a glossary and an index; the publisher gives 404 pages. Chapter authors number nearly forty, and the volume also carries a separate list of case studies. The publisher describes it as a guide to the basics of teaching and learning in higher education for new lecturers, for people taking an accredited course in university teaching, and for more experienced lecturers wishing to improve their practice.

Part 1, Chapters 1–3: Global perspectives on teaching and learning in HE; National approaches to teaching and learning in HE; Success as a university lecturer

Three chapters by the editor set the context. The first two look at teaching and learning in higher education from global and national perspectives. The third turns to what success as a lecturer involves.

Part 2, Chapters 4–6: Lectures, seminars and academic advising; Assessment: new developments in design, marking and feedback; Assessment: understanding the basics

Part 2 opens with core teaching formats (lectures, seminars, academic advising) and then gives assessment two chapters, one on new developments in design, marking and feedback and one on the basics. Readers new to assessment can read the second first.

Part 2, Chapters 7–9: Student-staff partnerships in teaching and learning; Blended learning; The inclusive curriculum

These chapters cover working with students as partners, blended learning, and the inclusive curriculum, one of the three subjects the publisher lists as new to this edition. The publisher also notes that the edition discusses digital learning environments and the impact of technological change.

Part 2, Chapters 10–14: Embedding skills development into the curriculum; Supervising undergraduate dissertations; Maximising student learning gain; Student well-being; The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

The remaining chapters of Part 2 deal with embedding skills, supervising undergraduate dissertations, learning gain, student well-being and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Student well-being and SoTL are the other two chapters the publisher lists as new. The publisher says the edition also explores how to engage students in their disciplines and embed skills for employability.

Part 3, Chapters 15–20: The experimental sciences; Learning and teaching in chemistry; Mathematics and statistics; The new engineering; The performing arts: dance, drama and music; Best practice and innovations in economics education

Part 3 turns to teaching in the disciplines. These chapters cover the experimental sciences, chemistry, mathematics and statistics, engineering, the performing arts and economics.

Part 3, Chapters 21–26: Psychology; Teaching business, management and accountancy; Law; Quantitative methods in the social sciences; History; Health and social care professions

The remaining disciplinary chapters cover psychology, business and accountancy, law, quantitative methods in the social sciences, history, and the health and social care professions.

Key Concepts

Part 1: The current world of teaching and learning in higher education

• Global and national contexts: how policy and practice differ across systems, as the chapter titles indicate.
• Success as a university lecturer: the academic role itself as a subject of the handbook.

Part 2: Education, assessment and student support

• Assessment design, marking and feedback: treated at two levels, new developments and the basics.
• Student–staff partnership: students as partners in teaching and learning.
• Inclusive curriculum: designing teaching for a diverse student body, new in this edition.
• Learning gain, skills and employability: the topics of the chapters on learning gain and on embedding skills, which the publisher connects to employability.
• Scholarship of teaching and learning: treating one's own teaching as an object of enquiry.

Part 3: Teaching and learning in the disciplines

• Disciplinary teaching: each chapter takes one subject area, from experimental sciences and the performing arts to law and the health and social care professions.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A modular structure. The three parts separate context, general practice and disciplinary teaching, and the chapters are short (about 9 to 18 pages), so readers can use a single chapter without reading the whole.
• A broad contributor base and disciplinary reach. The publisher cites a large number of expert authors and a range of global case studies; Part 3 gives twelve disciplinary chapters, so a lecturer can find a chapter on their own area. A reviewer quoted by the publisher, Grahame Bilbow of the University of Hong Kong, called it a firm foundation for newcomers that also interests established teachers.
• Updated topics. The fifth edition adds chapters on the inclusive curriculum, student well-being and the scholarship of teaching and learning, and discusses digital learning environments and technological change.
• Two assessment chapters. Splitting assessment into new developments and basics lets readers with different backgrounds enter at their own level.

Limitations

• Overview depth. Chapters of about 9 to 18 pages can only introduce topics such as assessment, blended learning or inclusion; readers needing a research-level treatment will need specialised sources.
• Selective disciplinary coverage. The twelve disciplinary chapters name particular fields; a lecturer in a field not listed (the table of contents has no chapters on languages or literature, for example) must adapt the general chapters.
• Multi-author unevenness. With nearly forty chapter authors, the chapters will differ in style and in how far they rely on research, a normal feature of handbooks that the table of contents makes visible.
• Written for staff, not students. The audience is lecturers and those on accredited teaching courses, so it does not serve as an introduction to studying in higher education.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the higher-education list this is the broad, practical handbook for becoming a university teacher. Lovett and colleagues' How Learning Works organizes research on learning into eight principles with strategies, and Lang's Small Teaching offers small classroom changes drawn from learning research; both are narrower and more research-driven companions to Part 2. Biggs, Tang and Kennedy's Teaching for Quality Learning at University builds an entire approach to course design around constructive alignment and suits readers who want one coherent framework, and Bain's What the Best College Teachers Do is a study of exceptional teachers.

Bastedo, Altbach and Gumport's American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century is of a different kind: it treats higher education as a field of study, with governance, finance and politics, rather than teaching practice. The Marshall handbook is the book to start with when the question is what a new lecturer needs to know across teaching, assessment, student support and the disciplines, and to return to for the chapter on a particular subject.

How to Use This Book

The handbook is written for new lecturers, for people taking an accredited course in teaching and learning in higher education, and for experienced staff who want to improve their teaching. No formal prerequisites are needed, though readers are assumed to be teaching or preparing to teach in a university or college.

A practical plan: read the user's guide, then the three chapters of Part 1 for context. In Part 2 start with the chapters most relevant to current work, for example lectures and seminars, assessment (the basics before the new developments), and the inclusive curriculum, and treat the remaining chapters as reference when a need arises, such as supervising dissertations or student well-being. In Part 3 read the chapter for your own discipline first, then one from a neighbouring field for comparison. Use the list of case studies to find examples from other institutions, and the SoTL chapter if you plan to publish on your own teaching.