Open research questions in Higher Education Practises and Engagement

What the literature leaves open

• The lack of a clear definition of innovation in higher education. The need for a more comprehensive understanding of innovation. The importance of co-constructing a definition through editorial processes.

  Reconsidering Innovation in Higher Education: Co-construction of a Concept · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies the challenge of sustaining change, where new ways of working become the accepted norm. The paper highlights the need for reinforcement of messages and supportive infrastructure and leadership to sustain change. The paper notes the requirement for systemic shifts in thinking and cross-institutional learning to ensure that changes in approach are recognized in educational policy and practice.

  “How Did You Get the Change to Stick?”—exploring a Change Process in a UK University Via Co-evolution · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding about what makes change stick in higher education institutions. Many innovations in higher education fail to be sustained. There is a need for new approaches to understanding and supporting change in higher education.

  “How Did You Get the Change to Stick?”—exploring a Change Process in a UK University Via Co-evolution · 2026 · DOI

• Limited research has examined STEM students' satisfaction at PUIs. Most educational research is conducted at research universities rather than at PUIs.

  Student Perspectives on Care-centered, Peer-led STEM Learning within a Redesigned Educational Infrastructure at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution · 2026 · DOI

• the study only examined one course over six years, - the available data did not support analysis using later refinements to the social presence indicators, - the study was limited to comparing Discord and Canvas Discussions

  Discord connects: Fostering social presence in higher education · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could investigate whether similar outcomes could be achieved using institutional tools like Canvas Discussions when employed in the same informal way as platforms like Discord. This would help clarify whether the observed effects are a result of the platform itself or stem from students’ familiarity with it. Additionally, it would be valuable to explore whether more experienced students, who are more accustomed to formal university communication platforms, are more likely to engage with these tools as they progress through their studies. Beyond social presence, further work should also examine cognitive and teaching presence, exploring how these dimensions interact with one another across different platforms. Our observations suggest that teaching presence may be more visible in informal, student-oriented platforms because the higher volume of student contributions creates more opportunities for instructor responses. Similarly, the interactive exchanges facilitated by these platforms may offer greater scope for cognitive presence. However, these impressions were not formally analysed in this study and remain important avenues for future research. While external communication platforms like Discord offer many benefits for building community and supporting peer interaction, they also pose risks related to bullying, harassment, and exclusion. Institutions must therefore consider how to manage these risks responsibly, including through clear behavioural guidelines, active moderation, and alignment with existing student conduct policies. Research into best practices for ensuring safety within informal online learning spaces would be valuable, particularly if universities increasingly adopt such platforms to enhance engagement. Finally, because the students in this study were game design majors already familiar with Discord, it remains uncertain whether similar patterns of social presence would emerge in disciplines where students have less experience with such tools. Further research could investigate how varying levels of digital literacy, disciplinary culture, and prior exposure influence the effectiveness of informal communication platforms in fostering connection. These insights would support more inclusive and discipline-sensitive integration of platforms like Discord across higher education.

  Discord connects: Fostering social presence in higher education · 2026 · DOI

• The distribution of studies did not permit meaningful comparison across countries, - The limited geographical distribution limits transferability, - No overall numerical quality score or exclusion cut-off was applied

  Exploring How Lecturers’ Behaviours Relate to Students’ Motivation to Participate in Self-Directed Learning in African Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• The transferability of non-African evidence to African higher education is uncertain due to diverse sociocultural, institutional, and resource conditions. There is a need to identify lecturer behaviours associated with African students' motivation to participate in self-directed learning. The paper highlights the importance of considering the African context in self-directed learning research.

  Exploring How Lecturers’ Behaviours Relate to Students’ Motivation to Participate in Self-Directed Learning in African Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• While assertions are common about what fosters inclusive undergraduate STEM classrooms, few studies have systematically investigated student perspectives.

  Investigating Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Classroom Inclusion—Emergence of the Student Perceptions of Instructor Practices—Inclusion/Exclusion (SPIP-I/E) Framework · 2026 · DOI

• Additionally, findings indicate that most studies focus on undergraduate education, with postgraduate applications remaining underexplored.

  Students as co-designers in health professional education: a scoping review · 2025 · DOI

• Building upon previous work, this study specifically examines co-design as a distinct dimension of student-staff partnerships in HPE, an area that has not been thoroughly addressed in recent literature reviews.

  Students as co-designers in health professional education: a scoping review · 2025 · DOI

• The importance of these roles, the levels of available opportunities, and students'preparedness to play them at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were insufficient from students' perspectives.

  New roles of students as partners: Importance of students’ roles, level of preparedness and available opportunities on the basis of a validated self-assessment questionnaire · 2025 · DOI

• Abstract: While biographical sketches of many publicly elected leaders in the US exist, little is known about the connection between serving in college student government and running for or serving in elected public office after college.

  Student Government as Public Office: Experiences of Former College Student Government Officers in Elected Public Office · 2024 · DOI

• Little is known about utilising co-creation in the curriculum, within medical education.

  From corners to community: exploring medical students’ sense of belonging through co-creation in clinical learning · 2024 · DOI

• : Is there any particular area of research that you feel is lacking at this moment or needs to be done? A.

  Arthur Chickering: Bridging Theory and Practice in Student Development · 1986 · DOI

• Co-creation in community medicine remains underexplored, particularly in settings where students assume dual roles as teachers and learners. There is a need for studies that examine the effectiveness of co-creation models in medical education, particularly in community medicine.

  EVALUATING AN INNOVATIVE CO-CREATION MODEL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN COMMUNITY MEDICINE · 2026 · DOI

• Less attention has been paid to how students and educators themselves conceptualise learning, their roles within this process, and what this means for engagement in workplace-based settings.

  Co-creating learning: A qualitative exploration of physiotherapy clinical education · 2026 · DOI

• This study has several limitations related to sampling and participant sampling approach was used, and data saturation may therefore not have been achieved, which may have limited the breadth of perspectives captured. However, the study prioritised analytic depth and contextual understanding over exhaustive representation, and the findings should be understood as theoretically statistically generalisable, with transferability dependent on reader judgement. In addition, all participants were female, limiting exploration of how gender may shape experiences of learning, agency, confidence and power in the clinical environment. Academic performance data were not collected, and it is therefore unclear how variations in academic standing may have influenced participants’ engagement with learning. Given the relational and positional nature of learning highlighted in this study, future research should include more gender- and performance-diverse samples to examine how these dynamics may differ across groups. rather than A further limitation is that facilitators included in this study were not clinicians involved in service delivery or the day-to-day running of clinical sites. As a result, some perspectives on learning as it unfolds within service-driven clinical environments may not have been fully captured. Including clinicians directly involved in patient care in future studies may enhance the transferability of findings across clinical contexts and deepen understanding of learning in the clinical environment. We recognise the unique challenges and demands experienced within the South African public health sector, and similar studies conducted in different contexts may add further layers to understanding clinical learning. Given the complexity of learning and the multiple interaction between people, practices and layers of environments, future research should continue to interrogate these layers.

  Co-creating learning: A qualitative exploration of physiotherapy clinical education · 2026 · DOI

• The current education system often neglects the importance of relationships in learning. There is a need for a more relational and cultural approach to education that recognizes the complexity of influences and interactions that impact learners and teachers.

  ReSysting toward Transformative Connections: Envisioning a Relationship-Systems Pedagogy · 2026 · DOI

• The study is limited to a single Scottish university. The sample size is relatively small, with 21 participants. The study is part of a larger longitudinal study.

  The wellbeing of postgraduate taught students: an exploratory case study · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should investigate the long-term effects of COVID-19 on PGT students' wellbeing. Future research should explore the impact of university interventions on PGT students' wellbeing.

  The wellbeing of postgraduate taught students: an exploratory case study · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of a data-informed approach in alumni relations offices. The need for a replicable framework for ‘managing up’ within higher education institutions.

  We cannot do what we cannot track: Transforming alumni relations through data governance and return on investment measurement · 2026 · DOI

• The absence of a clear conceptual foundation for belonging in higher education. The lack of agreement about what belonging fundamentally comprises. The need to develop effective approaches to developing student belonging in practice.

  Belonging, Defined: A Delphi Consensus on What Matters in Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could explore the applicability of the consensus-derived framework in different socio-cultural contexts. Further studies could investigate the relationship between the identified descriptors and student outcomes, such as academic motivation, engagement, retention, and performance.

  Belonging, Defined: A Delphi Consensus on What Matters in Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• The study highlights the challenge of creating inclusive learning environments that support the diverse needs of students. The study suggests that lecturers face challenges in harnessing diversity in their instructional design choices.

  Harnessing diversity based on different rationales: exploring lecturers’ instructional design choices in progress · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Higher Education Practises and Engagement

• Becoming a scientist: The role of undergraduate research in students' cognitive, personal, and professional development · Science Education · 2006 · 822 citations
• Facilitating change in undergraduate STEM instructional practices: An analytic review of the literature · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · 2011 · 754 citations
• Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking · Journal of Technology Education · 1995 · 693 citations
• Assessing What Really Matters to Student LearningInside The National Survey of Student Engagement · Change The Magazine of Higher Learning · 2001 · 635 citations
• Barriers to Faculty Pedagogical Change: Lack of Training, Time, Incentives, and…Tensions with Professional Identity? · CBE—Life Sciences Education · 2012 · 591 citations
• The national survey of student engagement: Conceptual and empirical foundations · New Directions for Institutional Research · 2009 · 544 citations
• Transformative approaches to student voice: theoretical underpinnings, recalcitrant realities · British Educational Research Journal · 2004 · 531 citations
• Collaboration in an invisible college. · American Psychologist · 1966 · 520 citations
• Professional identity development: a review of the higher education literature · Studies in Higher Education · 2011 · 517 citations
• The State of Cooperative Learning in Postsecondary and Professional Settings · Educational Psychology Review · 2007 · 506 citations

Most recent work

• Fitting in, feeling true: student experiences of sense of belonging and authenticity · Studies in Higher Education · 2026
• The Empirical Base of Student Project Collaboration in Higher Education: A Mapping Review · Review of Educational Research · 2026
• Enhancing communicative competence among international STEM postgraduates in Australian higher education · Educational Studies · 2026
• “A supplement, not a substitute” - relational experiences of neurodiverse graduate students with an AI Virtual Mentor · Frontiers in Education · 2026
• Cultivating Belonging Through Longitudinal Engagement: Shifts in Student Motivation, Competence, and Agency in a Networked Improvement Community · Education Sciences · 2026
• How to organise undergraduate lab training: evidence from 10 working social science research labs · Journal of Further and Higher Education · 2026
• Sustaining educational leadership through critical-constructive mediation: the role of academic development units in Swedish higher education · The International Journal for Academic Development · 2026
• Why faculty lead: motivations and benefits for informal pedagogical leadership · The International Journal for Academic Development · 2026
• From classroom to innovation ecosystem: The role of university driving changes through transformative learning · Innovations in Education and Teaching International · 2026
• Are the Students Alright? Faculty Adoption of Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Public Affairs Education · Journal of Public Affairs Education · 2026

Related topics in Social Sciences