Beyond Transmission - Innovations in University Teaching

Beyond Transmission - Innovations in University Teaching

Higher education today finds itself confronting many challenges, economic, technological and social. Universities’ reliance on ‘transmissive education’, with the lecture as the dominant vehicle for many of their processes, is being thrown into ever greater question.   

Beyond Transmission: Innovations in University Teaching responds to the challenges to higher education by championing a shift to a constructivist approach. The contributors, from five continents and reflecting ten national mindsets, represent a broad cross-section of educational disciplines. They argue that innovatory teaching approaches are essential if teachers are to appeal to the mindsets of people entering higher education today and present detailed examples of new ways of instilling in students a love of and ability for learning.

Beyond Transmission: Innovations in University Teaching states that any innovatory teaching approach that goes beyond transmission requires consideration of three essential factors: vision, process and practice. The anthology’s contributions are organised around each of these imperatives in turn.

The vision for higher education is one in which teachers develop their students as producers rather than as customers. Discussion of process explores the use of online tools for collecting and storing evidence of students’ learning, but these are found to be even more valuable in fostering learning development. Teaching practice is addressed in the final chapters, which emphasise the way in which innovative practices have achieved improved outcomes and give examples of achieving results through practical tools and techniques.

Beyond Transmission: Innovations in University Teaching, which has been produced by the International Academic Association for Enhancement of Learning in Higher Education (LIHE; www.lihe.info), shows that across the world an increasing number of faculty members are actively concerned with innovating in their own educational practice. It highlights that, although technology has an important role to play in innovation, technology is not a sine qua non and presents some valuable pointers to the future of learning in higher education.

About the editors

Claus Nygaard is Professor in Management Education and Director of Research at CBS Learning Lab, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. He was a driving force behind the formulation and implementation of the Learning Strategy for Copenhagen Business School in 2005. He has received distinguished research awards from Allied Academies, outstanding paper awards from Students in Free Enterprise and he was voted ‘best teacher’ at Copenhagen Business School in 2001. His research has resulted in several anthologies and he has published in leading journals including Higher Education, International Studies of Management & Organization, International Journal of Public Sector Management, and Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

Clive Holtham is Professor of Information Management and Director of the Learning Laboratory at Cass Business School, London, UK. In 2003 he was awarded a UK National Teaching Fellowship and is a board member of the Non-Profit E-learning Network (2008–11), a major initiative to promote management education through informal online learning. He is author of a large number of publications and lectures, broadcasts and consults in the UK and internationally. He was a founding member of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, the City of London's 100th livery company.

Nigel Courtney is an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School, City University London, UK. He is a chartered engineer, a certified management consultant and a certified IT professional, with extensive experience in project and general management. His firm, Courtney Consulting, has served the European Commission, Transport for London, London Underground, the Higher Education Academy and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. At Cass he teaches Business Information Management on the Executive MBA.

Claus and Clive are the founders of LIHE, an international academic association for the enhancement of Learning in Higher Education. www.lihe.wordpress.com