Learning and Teaching for Social Diversity and Difference

This project will explore the experience and expectations that university students and teachers bring with them to higher education and how this impacts on and creates the learning and teaching environment. Knowledge gained through the research process will be used to help university educators to work towards improving the academic engagement and participation of all students within an expanding and diverse student population.
The project will do this through exploring the relationships between university students' and teachers' conceptions of themselves and each other within their respective roles, of knowledge and knowing and of learning and teaching.
Using a range of investigative techniques, data will be collected through interviews, questionnaires, classroom observations, learning groups and video diaries. Students and teachers will be brought together to reflect on their understanding of the learning they undertake. Comparisons will be made between the expectations and conceptions of students and teachers, encouraging a dialogue on improving classroom practice to enhance student learning for all students.
Drawing on established research into the experience of students within higher education and theories of knowing and knowledge the project aims to provide practical help in the development of good teaching practice within the higher education classroom.