a Senior Lecturer in Food Studies, teaches Biochemistry and Sensory Science on Food/ Nutrition courses at Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels. Her research revolves around food structure, food sensory properties and consumer perception. She has an interest in developing teaching resources and exploring techniques which can enhance student learning experience. Gladson Chikwa, a Learning and Teaching Officer, works with academic staff supporting the strategic enhancement of learning and teaching and the development of the student academic experience. His research interests are divided between technology enhanced learning, teaching quality and assessment and feedback in higher education.

Very little is known about the impact of the different types of feedback on students' academic performance. This article explores students' preference in the use of audio and written feedback and how each type of feedback received by students impacts their academic performance in subsequent assignments. The study involved 68 students who were divided into two groups that received either audio or written feedback in their first assignment which was then recalled and applied into the second assignment. An analysis of results obtained in the second assignment was conducted and comparisons made between students in the audio and written feedback group. Students were also surveyed using an online questionnaire to ascertain their perceptions about the type of feedback they had received. The study established that the type of feedback received did not impact students' grades in the subsequent assignment. In addition, while students were broadly positive about audio feedback, they indicated a strong preference for written feedback in future assignments. The study recommends, among other things, further investigation into the link between students' learning styles and their preferences for different types of feedback.Keywords academic performance, audio feedback, feedback, feed-forward, written feedback Students' use and engagement with feedbackIn our effort to understand how students engage with and make use of the feedback they receive, there is a need to explore how students use audio and written feedback and how these impact their

This paper reports findings of a small-scale descriptive study that was conducted to assess the level of study skills possessed by undergraduate students enrolled in Engineering, Business Studies and Computing programs at a private University College in Oman. The study explored whether there is any correlation between study skills and academic performance and whether study skills vary in terms of gender, specialization and levels of study. A pre-tested Study Skills Inventory developed by Dennis Congo was administered on the sample. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Among other things, the study established that most of the students lack some fundamental study skills such as critical and creative thinking as well as time management and test preparation.

Cognisant of the wide range of cooperation between China and Africa and the existing strong Sino-African relationship, this article explores the international cooperation between Africa and China in the higher education domain, especially in the field of Open Distance Learning (ODL). The study employed data triangulation relying on both secondary and primary sources to address the main research questions. It sheds light on the development of ODL in Chinese Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a focus on professional development of university teachers. The article argues that ODL is crucial for emerging economies’ sustainable development. Key factors such as political, technological and socio-cultural features play a crucial role in the development and effective implementation of ODL. By exploring the potential opportunities and identifying related challenges, this article contributes to an understanding of how mutually beneficial partnerships between African universities and Chinese HEIs can be developed within the wider framework of Sino-African relationship.

This paper presents accounts of four UK doctoral students' engagement in a Higher Education Academy project which used digital video to promote reflexivity on their doctoral journeys. Proceeding from participants' accounts of the production of their videonarratives, the paper analyzes the relations between doctoral research, reflexivity and the use of digital video, and their articulation in different ways by the participants. As an 'assemblage', the written form of the paper aims to evoke both the collaborative design of the project, in that it is constructed as a multivocality, a series of 'plateaus ' (Deleuze and Guattari 1987, 22), and also the multiple, shifting and always in-process nature of identity, immanent in each individual's account. The accounts address how epistemological, ontological and ethical considerations are articulated within visual and vocal re-presentations of the self in the individual videonarratives. Each narrative both does (and doesn't) resonate with the other narratives and each offers insights into the specificities of particular doctoral journeys. In experimenting with this form of presentation, we aim to bypass traditional accounts of research 'findings' as a form of transparent knowledge production and, instead, work within a mode of representation which seeks to acknowledge the 'masks of methodology ' (Lather 2007, 119).