Shifting Sands: Why Pedagogical Research In Higher Education Matters To Us All
The validity and relevance of Higher Education is being challenged by the marketisation, value for money and negative discourse of educational relevance within society leading to ever-increasing pressure and opportunity for us to scrutinise, discuss and interrogate the purpose of teaching in HE. Since it is only through researching our pedagogic practice that we will be able to confidently respond to, and inform, the ever changing ‘shifting sands’ of the HE landscape. As we look forward we must better articulate the benefit and impact of our pedagogical research both within and beyond the sector, strengthening our collective insights and findings to further understand current and emergent teaching and learning challenges. By encouraging a wider discourse across all forms of HE pedagogic research, we will be able to confidently respond to, and inform, the ever-changing ‘shifting sands’ of the HE landscape.
A mathematical modelling study assesses the role of peer behaviour and ‘herding’ behaviour in aggregating information through the peer-review process; peer review works best when reviewers exercise intermediate levels of subjectivity.