Education in Practice Journal

Read the latest issue: Education in Practice Volume 4 issue 1 (May 2023)

In support of sharing effective practice in teaching and learning and educational enhancement the University of Birmingham has established the journal 'Education in Practice'.

Education in Practice has been designed for all University staff working to enhance the student learning experience, be they academic members of staff or those from professional or support services. It provides an accessible publication route for those looking to disseminate teaching and learning practices, ideas and developments or outcomes from internally and externally funded projects, or from those studying on the PGCHE. Contributions are also welcomed from both undergraduate and postgraduate students discussing learning, teaching, and educational matters. All submissions will be reviewed and edited in a way that is consistent with standards expected by established higher education journals. Submissions will be reviewed by a cross-University editorial board.

Education in Practice is a publication route that ‘bridges’ the interface between newsletters and journals of educational research. It is an ideal first publication route for those new to publishing on teaching and learning, and an opportunity for those who are more experienced to share and test their ideas with other colleagues from across the University. Although intended as an institutional journal, it is available Open Access, and so has the potential for authors to reach an audience beyond the University of Birmingham.

Latest Issues

Volume 4, Issue 1 (2023)

Complete Journal (PDF, 885Kb)

Improving transition to higher education by developing students’ academic self-concept. Neil Drury (PDF, 263Kb)

Student mindset: emotional responses to the university learning journey. Lloyd Jenkins, Kamilya Suleymenova, Anke Büttner and Ruth Whittle (PDF, 377Kb)

Neurodiverse students within higher education –initial thoughts from a collaborative project. Barbara Sandland, Andrea MacLeod and Neil Hall (452Kb)

Decolonising the academic atmospheres of higher education. Pilar Rojas-Gaviria and Chloe Preece (PDF, 283Kb)

Meta-planning as a collaborative approach to creating a presessional summer teacher development programme. Chris Martin (PDF, 270Kb)

Small steps on the journey to "flipping the classroom". Kamilya Suleymenova (PDF 251Kb)

Types of contributions and criteria

Education in Practice is focused upon practices in teaching and supporting learning within the University of Birmingham. A range of contributions are sought from colleagues including: original papers; case studies;reflective or discursive papers; reviews; and, examples of practice.

Contributions that explore the findings from education research and discuss or apply these within the context of University of Birmingham teaching and supporting learning are also warmly welcomed. In general contributions should:

Be practical, focusing upon informing the work of others and be aimed at directly influencing approaches and practices that impact upon students and their learning.
Be written in a style that enables the transferability of ideas; either within a discipline or between disciplines. Whilst submissions may be grounded within a specific discipline, they should be written in a style that allows those from other disciplines to understand and appreciate the ideas, and in a manner that ensures their content is accessible and readable by all.

Submission details and guidance 

Education in Practice will be typically published twice per year¹ and may include special thematic issues which may be relevant to the strategic priorities of the University, including Educational Enhancement Fund (EEF) themes.

Submissions are welcome at any time, and accepted contributions will be prioritised for publication based upon submission date. All contributions submitted for publication will be subject to a peer academic review process prior to them being accepted for publication.  

Original Articles and Papers

Original articles may include: reports of educational research; evaluations of teaching and learning activity and innovation; summaries of outcomes from teaching and learning projects; or discussion papers. Original articles should contain an appropriate level of data and evidence to support any arguments made or conclusions reached; such evidence may be obtained either individual work or an analysis of existing educational literature to support the ideas. They should offer a high degree of academic integrity by being evidence informed, reflective and scholarly in nature.

Each original paper should typically be around 2,000-3,000 words, not normally exceeding 7 pages of A4 (Arial 12-point font) and have no more than 15 references, although exceptions will be made for papers that contain a substantial element of original qualitative data. They must contain no more than 5 graphical items (figures, tables, photographs, etc.). They should begin with referenced text explaining the background and context of the work, before proceeding to a concise, focused account of the activities and findings, ending with discussion, conclusions, implications and recommendations as appropriate. Submissions should be organised in the sequence: title (10 words maximum), author name and School/Department or team, abstract, main text, acknowledgments, references, supplementary Information (if any), tables, and figure legends.

Case Studies

Case studies, typically up to 2,000 words in length, are sought that describe examples of current individual and departmental activity and practice and outcomes from teaching and learning project. They might relate to ongoing activities and projects, or initiatives that have proved particularly successful or insightful. Where case studies describe successful or insightful interventions, they should contain a level of data or evidence in support of any claims that are made. They should briefly describe the activity and its context, before describing key findings or impacts. They should not typically have more than 10 references and 2 graphical items.

Reviews

Reviews, which may be literature reviews of particular thematic areas, analyses of topical areas of interest, or, ‘think pieces’ exploring applications of theory to inform practice, should typically be no more than 3,000 words, not normally exceeding 7 pages of A4 (Arial 12-point font) and have no more than 20 references. Their focus should be upon critically analysing the current literature to identify the implications of current or emerging findings to University of Birmingham practices and approaches towards student learning. On occasions, the Editors will commission reviews on topical areas of teaching and learning activity.

Letters

Letters to the Editors are welcome on any relevant topic, and submissions articulating how ideas contained in previous issues have been applied to practice are particularly sought. They may be up to 250 words and include 3 references; they should not contain any tables or figures.

To submit your paper email HEFi.EiP@contacts.bham.ac.uk.  

Editorial Board and Contacts 

You can contact members of the Editorial Board individually, or by emailing HEFi.EiP@contacts.bham.ac.uk .

Alternatively you may wish to discuss your ideas or seek advice and guidance from a member of the Journal’s Editorial Review Team who each have expertise in particular disciplinary or thematic areas – individual email addresses are provided.

Become a contributor or reviewer

Colleagues wishing to submit papers for the journal, or interested in becoming reviewers, please contact hefi.eip@contacts.bham.ac.uk.