This research investigated how the bug tracker database of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle is developed as an application of crowd work. The bug tracker is used by software developers, who write and maintain Moodle's code, but also by a wider public world of ordinary Moodle users who can report bugs. Despite many studies of the…

This study explores the experiences of five distance learners at a UK university who needed support to resubmit their final assignment following a fail result. Having received written feedback on the submission, we asked how this could be best delivered to inform and motivate a successful resubmission. Written feedback alone was found to be…

We report on a case study using Positioning Theory as the basis for the design of a course to support Chinese international master's students understand and apply critical thinking (CT) within the context of higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom. Our aim was to understand the extent to which students found this helpful in their understanding…

Debate about the value and the effect of both kinds of corrective feedback, explicit and implicit on second language writing has been prominent in recent years. Second language writing researchers investigate whether written implicit corrective feedback facilitates the acquisition of linguistic features. In contrast, L2 writing researchers…

Various forms of proofreading of student writing take place in university contexts. Sometimes writers pay freelance proofreaders to edit their texts before submission for assessment; sometimes more informal arrangements take place, where friends, family, or coursemates proofread. Such arrangements raise ethical questions for universities…

An increasing number of studies are investigating the links between autism and borderline personality disorder. Studies report overlapping differences and the challenges in differentiating between these two diagnostic labels. In practice, there are many people, especially autistic women, who feel that they were misdiagnosed with borderline…

The practice of Corrective Feedback (CF), which is situated within a Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Paradigm, is currently positioned towards an accuracy-orientated delivery based on native speaker norms. This is despite the recognition in different areas of linguistic research that there is considerable variation in the way that English is…

Among neurotypical adults, errors made with high confidence (i.e. errors a person strongly believed they would not make) are corrected more reliably than errors made with low confidence. This 'hypercorrection effect' is thought to result from enhanced attention to information that reflects a 'metacognitive mismatch' between one's beliefs and…

Much remains under-researched in how learners make use of domain-specific feedback. In this paper, we report on how learners' can be supported to overcome logical circularity during their proof construction processes, and how feedback supports the processes. We present an analysis of three selected episodes from five learners who were using a…

Generating errors followed by corrective feedback enhances retention more effectively than does reading--the benefit of errorful generation--but people tend to be unaware of this benefit. The current research explored this metacognitive unawareness, its effect on self-regulated learning, and how to alleviate or reverse it. People's beliefs about…

L2 student writers in UK universities often seek the services of a 'proofreader' before submitting work for assessment, and the proliferation of freelance proofreaders and online proofreading agencies has led to debates about the ethics of the proofreading of student writing in publications such as "Times Higher Education". This study…

There has been much interest recently in researching the changes editors, supervisors, and other language brokers make to the writing of L2 researchers who are attempting to publish in English. However, studies focused on the presubmission proofreading of students' university essays are rarer. In this study of student proofreading, 14 UK…

Providing effective written feedback is an important aspect of the learning process, yet very little empirical research has attempted to address the "psychology" of receiving tutor feedback. As a consequence, this remains an extremely under-researched area. This study aimed to find out whether participants' subjective perceptions of…

Anxiety about "performing" in a foreign language in front of classmates may inhibit learners' contributions in the modern languages class through fear of embarrassment over possible error production. The issue of "face", perceived social standing in the eyes of others, presents a sensitive matter for young adolescents…

Learning to ensure patient safety in complex health care environments is an internationally recognised concern. This article explores and compares Finnish (n = 22) and British (n = 32) pre-registration nursing students' important learning events about patient safety from their work placements in health care organisations. Written descriptions were…