Robert A. Ellis – författare

Many universities around the world are finding that the structures and processes they have put in place to further their educational missions are being tested by rapidly changing circumstances. These changes involve new pedagogies, new course designs, new technologies and updating of the physical campus; reflecting diversifying student needs, growing student numbers, increasing competition and more demanding stakeholder expectations.

The Education Ecology of Universities examines these issues, starting with the challenges identified by university leaders who have responsibility for education, digital and campus planning. Sharing an analysis of in-depth interviews with more than 50 leaders, it identifies a range of conceptual and procedural gaps that undermine the full development and alignment of education, digital and campus strategies. The second half of the book provides practical ideas for taking a more holistic – indeed ecological – approach to understanding and improving university learning environments.

Setting out a case for a new applied science of educational ecology, this book offers foundational concepts and theoretical perspectives, introducing methods for analysing and evaluating teaching and learning ecosystems. It will be of interest to anyone who wants better ways of understanding how local systems function and can be improved. It is a must-read text for all leaders and researchers in education, and indeed for anyone concerned with the future of higher education.

Many universities around the world are finding that the structures and processes they have put in place to further their educational missions are being tested by rapidly changing circumstances. These changes involve new pedagogies, new course designs, new technologies and updating of the physical campus; reflecting diversifying student needs, growing student numbers, increasing competition and more demanding stakeholder expectations.

The Education Ecology of Universities examines these issues, starting with the challenges identified by university leaders who have responsibility for education, digital and campus planning. Sharing an analysis of in-depth interviews with more than 50 leaders, it identifies a range of conceptual and procedural gaps that undermine the full development and alignment of education, digital and campus strategies. The second half of the book provides practical ideas for taking a more holistic – indeed ecological – approach to understanding and improving university learning environments.

Setting out a case for a new applied science of educational ecology, this book offers foundational concepts and theoretical perspectives, introducing methods for analysing and evaluating teaching and learning ecosystems. It will be of interest to anyone who wants better ways of understanding how local systems function and can be improved. It is a must-read text for all leaders and researchers in education, and indeed for anyone concerned with the future of higher education.

This integrated collection of perspectives on the spaces of teaching and learning uses ‘learning space’ to place educational practice in context. It considers the complex relationships involved in the design, management and use of contemporary learning spaces. It sheds light on some of the problems of connecting the characteristics of spaces to the practices and outcomes of teaching and learning. The contributions show how research into learning spaces can inform broader educational practices and how the practices of teaching, learning and design can inform research. The selection of chapters demonstrates the value of gathering together multiple sources of evidence, viewed through different epistemological lenses in order to push the field forward in a timely fashion. The book provides both a broad review of current practices as well as a deep-dive into particular educational and epistemological challenges that the various approaches adopted entail. Contrasts and commonalities between the different approaches emphasise the importance of developing a broad, robust evidence-base for practice in context. This is the inaugural book in the series Understanding Teaching-Learning Practice.

Higher education has undergone a massive transformation in teaching and learning in a very short period of time since the onset of Covid-19. Students, teachers and universities have had to adopt online and blended learning, often with little or no experience or models of good practice to draw upon. It is clear that blended and online learning are here to stay. This book draws on research from universities that have adopted online and blended learning to facilitate the expansion and diversification of their intake; which resulted in considerable experience and expertise in online and blended teaching. The book describes a model, tested with qualitative and quantitative data, which shows how teachers can support the retention and success of online and blended learners with four high-quality pedagogical elements: bite-sized videos of interest and relevance; learning materials that are well organised and provide a clear learning roadmap; discussion forums which are set up and moderatedso as to result in lively student-student and student-teacher interaction; and, online teachers being approachable and responsive to communication with individual students through email, phone and online communication platforms. This model is explained and profusely illustrated with examples from the teaching of award-winning teachers. 

This book introduces the concept of a spectrum from traditional to contemporary models of admission and course delivery in higher education. It explains how universities which have adopted a contemporary model, with high levels of blended and online learning, have been able to expand their intake and markedly diversify the student body. It discusses how to support the retention and success of online and blended learners. Student support services are examined from the perspectives of service providers and online and blended learners and the case is made for support services being aligned with student needs. The book has a discussion of university management systems which utilise feedback at all levels to improve alignment between support service provision and student needs.