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Purpose
– The purpose of this multiple-case study was to examine the ambiguity surrounding course learning outcomes and how they are perceived by faculty members in four private universities, while simultaneously investigating the dominant teaching perspectives, practices and assessment techniques. In parallel, theory of constructive alignment was shared with faculty members and students as a possible teaching-learning model.


Design/methodology/approach
– This study is a qualitative multiple-case study designed based on Yin's (2009) case study protocol and Stake's (2006) cross-case analysis report. In the process, 52 faculty members were interviewed, and 38 of the 52 were observed teaching, plus 15 of 52, faculty members participated in separate focus groups about constructive alignment. Further, 18 students were interviewed in separate focus groups to find out how they perceive effective teaching and constructive alignment.


Findings
– The findings showed why faculty members misunderstood the course learning outcomes. Both faculty members and students withheld similar perceptions when it came to efficient teaching; however, they disagreed regarding the utility of constructive alignment as a proposed teaching-learning model. The 52 faculty members were mainly knowledge transmitters and this contradicts with the notion of the learning outcomes, which is student-centered. In addition, they are not familiar with the teaching-learning theories or with the various pedagogical tools that may render learning constructive.


Research limitations/implications
– The fact that this study is a multiple-case study automatically implies that the results cannot be generalized within the larger higher education context. Nevertheless, the research findings can help to clarify the reasons hindering the proper implementation of the learning outcomes in other institutions, as it can serve as a guide to improve all the detected weaknesses, which may be applicable in other contexts. It can also aid administrative bodies at the different institutions in dealing with the obstacles that restrict the workability of the learning outcomes.


Practical implications
– Teaching in higher education must be nurtured through continuously investing time and effort in supporting faculty members to develop their teaching-learning skills to suit the changing profiles of students to render learning a durable experience.


Originality/value
– The study is unique in how it combined Yin's protocol with Stake's cross-case analysis report. Additionally, the classroom observation instrument was, to an extent, a precedent in terms of higher education research in the Lebanese context. Further, the results obtained added to the results of previous research, i.e. the reasons why the learning outcomes were not functional. Plus, a cyclical/retrograding motion learning model emerged in the process, and the practicality of the theory of constructive alignment in the Lebanese context was questioned.

British (Rampton Report 1981 & Swann Report 1985) & US studies on the interaction of schooling, race, & education are reviewed; more discussion of race & higher education has taken place in the US than in GB. The practice of teaching topics concerning race in the British social science courses is complex, due to the contested nature of race. Teaching race cannot really be addressed in full with either pluralist multiculturalist or essentialist forms of antiracist education. Using interview data from lecturers & students, possibilities for a synthesis of the two forms in GB are discussed, including issues of curriculum, the teacher's subject position, student backgrounds, & conflicts among students in the seminar room. M. Pflum

British (Rampton Report 1981 & Swann Report 1985) & US studies on the interaction of schooling, race, & education are reviewed; more discussion of race & higher education has taken place in the US than in GB. The practice of teaching topics concerning race in the British social science courses is complex, due to the contested nature of race. Teaching race cannot really be addressed in full with either pluralist multiculturalist or essentialist forms of antiracist education. Using interview data from lecturers & students, possibilities for a synthesis of the two forms in GB are discussed, including issues of curriculum, the teacher's subject position, student backgrounds, & conflicts among students in the seminar room. M. Pflum

The importance of developing cultural competence / Tiffany Puckett -- Language and culural competence: embracing multilingual ideologies and language policies / Natalie J. Mullen -- Bridging the ivory tower: culturally responsive education connects content to people / Velma L. Cobb -- Cultural humility: expanding our view / Candice Dowd Barnes and Chayla Rutledge Slaton -- Transforming curriculum, exploring identity, and cultivating culturally responsive educators / Cynthia Zwicky and Tonya Walls -- Assessing multicultural competence in student affairs and other higher education professionals programming: a preliminary research study / Gianina R. Baker -- Faculty and staff perspectives on internationalization and intercultural competence at a state comprehensive university (SCU) / Jermain Griffin -- Educators as the gatekeepers: promoting a race informed, culturally responsive pedagogy for human service professionals / Deneca Winfrey Avant, Doris Houston and LaTasha Nesbitt -- Cultivating cultural competence through cultural engagement: experiences of undergraduate service learning in a play-based after-school program / Sophia L. Ángeles, Lucas Cone, Sarah Jean Johnson and Marjorie Faulstich Orellana -- Using classroom composition in delivering cultural competence education / Norissa Williams -- Developing cultural competence in future healthcare professionals / Melissa Gomez and Linda Darnell -- Raising racial awareness: strategies for teaching students about racial microaggresions / Christina B. Chin and Erica Morales -- Toward a pedagogy of cultural self-awareness in the first-year law school classroom / Mikah K. Thompson -- Teaching cultural competence through the lens of restorative justice / Kimberly A. Nelson and Joshua C. Nelson -- Using technology to teach cultural competence / Tai A. Collins, Kamontà Heidelburg and Meagan N. Scott -- On teaching and learning: integrative reflections on intercultural competence through dialogue education / Runchana Pam Barger.

AbstractIntegrating digital technologies to benefit teaching and learning has long been driving higher education. The uptake of technology has been supported by teacher training focused on developing teachers' capabilities to design for learning. However, in this paper, we raise the point of moving towards teaching-sensitive technology as a clear alternative to current strategies focusing on teachers' mental processes. To develop this point, the paper offers a qualitative study that explores teaching to identify critical features of technology supporting teachers' work. Analysing teaching from a hermeneutic perspective, we arrive at six fundamental dynamics within which teachers operate. Based on the factors identified, we present three principles to guide future design of technologies for teaching and two approaches to designing technology sensitive to teachers' values.

Purpose– This research aims to examine the main findings of the SusTEACH study of the carbon-based environmental impacts of 30 higher education (HE) courses in 15 UK institutions, based on an analysis of the likely energy consumption and carbon emissions of a range of face-to-face, distance, online and information and communication technology (ICT)-enhanced blended teaching models.Design/methodology/approach– An environmental assessment of 19 campus-based and 11 distance-based HE courses was conducted using questionnaire surveys to gather data from students and lecturers on course-related travel: the purchase and use of ICTs and paper materials, residential energy consumption and campus site operations. Results were converted into average energy and CO2emissions, normalised per student per 100 study hours, and then classified by the primary teaching model used by lecturers.Findings– The main sources of HE course carbon emissions were travel, residential energy consumption and campus site operations. Distance-based HE models (distance, online and ICT-enhanced teaching models) reduced energy consumption by 88 per cent and achieved significant carbon reductions of 83 per cent when compared with campus-based HE models (face-to-face and ICT-enhanced teaching models). The online teaching model achieved the lowest energy consumption and carbon emissions, although there were potential rebound effects associated with increased ICT-related energy consumption and paper used for printing.Practical implications– New pedagogical designs using online and distance-based teaching methods can achieve carbon reductions by reducing student travel via residential and campus accommodation.Originality/value– Few studies have examined the environmental performance of HE teaching models. A new classification of HE traditional, online and blended teaching models is used to examine the role of ICTs and the likely carbon impacts.

Although generally considered beneficial, little is known about how videoconferencing can enhance the quality of Politics and International Relations teaching in traditional classrooms. Studying the author's own practice, this article examines data gathered from a variety of sources including survey questionnaires, Twitter feeds, and online course evaluations to highlight the usefulness of this technology for higher order learning. By integrating videoconferencing technologies into learning designs, lecturers can utilise them to assist students with formulating questions geared towards higher order learning, provide varied learning opportunities to fit their students' disparate needs, enhance class interactivity, and increase students' intercultural learning by exposing them to non-Western viewpoints.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how the principles of Black Lives Matter can be used to enact a culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) in higher education settings, particularly in small colleges that serve significant populations of students who are underrepresented in higher education.


Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on examples from college courses in media and society, organizational communication, and interpersonal communication, the case study shows application of the principles of Black Lives Matter in the college classroom at two different institutions in the urban Northeast USA, where the majority of the students are young people of color and/or first-generation college students.


Findings
The paper shows how founding principles of Black Lives Matter, particularly diversity, intersectionality, loving engagement, and empathy, can be used to guide concrete pedagogical practices. It provides examples of how to use Black Lives Matter as a framework to enhance and improve college teaching to make it more diverse and inclusive.


Research limitations/implications
This case study is based on the author's experiences teaching at two majority-minority colleges in Greater Boston, Massachusetts, USA. This paper is not the result of a systematic research study.


Practical implications
This paper has significant implications for how to enact CSP in higher education settings. This paper is valuable to those looking for specific strategies to include more diverse and inclusive teaching strategies. This research also shows both the utility and impact of Black Lives Matter when applied to higher education.


Social implications
This paper improves public understanding of Black Lives Matter as a social movement.


Originality/value
Since the Black Lives Matter movement is fairly new, there is limited academic research on it. Further, there has not been attention to how Black Lives Matter provides insight into pedagogy, particularly in higher education.

Although generally considered beneficial, little is known about how videoconferencing can enhance the quality of Politics and International Relations teaching in traditional classrooms. Studying the author's own practice, this article examines data gathered from a variety of sources including survey questionnaires, Twitter feeds, and online course evaluations to highlight the usefulness of this technology for higher order learning. By integrating videoconferencing technologies into learning designs, lecturers can utilise them to assist students with formulating questions geared towards higher order learning, provide varied learning opportunities to fit their students' disparate needs, enhance class interactivity, and increase students' intercultural learning by exposing them to non-Western viewpoints.

In the midst of massification, targeted funding has been used in various countries to address inefficiencies in teaching and learning. In South Africa, arguments have been made for significant investments to be made and the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) in particular is being used as a driver for improved outputs. Prior to its implementation in 2018, the UCDG comprised the Research Development Grant and the Teaching Development Grant. The Teaching Development Grant was intended to address low retention and throughput rates and ZAR5.5 billion was spent to this end over a 12-year period. The analysis presented here of all Teaching Development Grant budget plans and progress reports from 2007 to 2015 shows that the undifferentiated implementation of the Teaching Development Grant within a differentiated sector limited its potential for system-wide gains. Institutions without adequate resources tended to divert Teaching Development Grant funds to attend to backlogs rather than to address teaching and learning practices and such universities lost much of their allocation through the withholding of unspent funds. This blanket practice addressed the symptoms of underspending but not the structural, cultural and agential mechanisms that led to such under-expenditure. Uneven access to the limited teaching development expertise also impacted on the use of the grant. This call for a context-based approach to funding has been identified as a key success factor in grant interventions in both African and European universities. We recommend a sector-wide response in the form of a national body or plan for the benefit of all universities and investment in financial management enhancement. The study contributes to a better understanding of how government funding interventions can achieve intended goals. The study calls for a more contextualised approach to funding and to greater collaboration across the sector to maximise limited capacity.

In this article, I address the issue of how we can instil pedagogical practices in higher education with ethical and political significance so that the hegemonic rationalist epistemology of educational development is interrupted. To do this, I take up two recent streams of response to this challenge; one focused on care and the other on discomfort. Illustrating the tensions and possibilities that the notion of the 'ethic of care' and 'ethic of discomfort' may have in discourses of educational development is the focus of this article. In particular, the following three questions structure my discussion: What are the contributions and limits of the ethic of care in exploring issues of educational development in our contemporary globalised world? How can the scope of care and caring teaching be extended through an ethic of discomfort? Finally, what are the implications for educational development of such a reconceptualization of care on the basis of 'pedagogies of discomfort'? To approach these questions I first consider some theoretical conversations regarding caring teaching in (higher) education, pointing out the possibilities as well as some limitations. Then I discuss the reconceptualisation of caring teaching in higher education on the basis of an ethic of discomfort. Following this, I lay out some implications for educational development and teaching in higher education and answer the question of how a reconceptualised ethic of care through discomfort can contribute to reconsidering mainstream perceptions of and pedagogical practices in higher education.