Dear colleagues,
We’re seeking offers to undertake blind peer-review of the following submissions to the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (JLDHE).
If you would like to complete a review of one of the submissions, please email the designated editorial contact below.
If you haven’t reviewed for us before, please include a brief description of your interest in the topic, your relevant qualifications, expertise and/or experience in relation to the submission (up to 200 words). This might include your knowledge of the subject and/or your experience acting as a peer reviewer for academic papers or as an author or researcher in the field.
Please also join our register of reviewers and list your interests via http://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/user/register.
New reviewers are very welcome! We provide a developmental environment for those interested in this important community service—so why not try something new today!
| No. | Type | Title and abstract | Editorial contact |
| 1651 | Brief communication | An unfolding blueprint of Learning Development for sustainability in higher education As Learning Development (LD) professionals, our mission extends beyond supporting individual academic success; it encompasses shaping a responsive, holistic higher education ecosystem capable of advancing global sustainability. This communication, drawing from a recent thematic synthesis of open access scholarship on sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs), argues for the pivotal role of Learning Development in driving sustainable futures. The synthesis reveals key pedagogical shifts, the necessity of whole-institution approaches, and the ongoing tension between global frameworks and local contexts. I contend that LD is uniquely positioned to influence these transformations by advocating for pedagogical innovation, equitable institutional strategies, and culturally responsive learning environments. This commentary seeks to ignite reflection and inspire action within the LD community, illustrating how our work can transcend supporting green initiatives to cultivating green mindsets capable of championing systemic, enduring change. | Laura Barnett: l.barnett@surrey.ac.uk |
| 1652 | Paper | ‘Co-working and writing’: supporting and creating writing spaces for undergraduate health students Literature highlights that university students have diverse abilities and varying levels of education, and it can be a challenge for lecturers to standardise assignment support. Providing students with assistance in a less structured, volunteer format such as co-writing workshops has been used with promising results. The aim of this research was to explore the use of ‘co-working and writing workshops’ to support and create writing spaces for the Undergraduate Public Health (PH) and Mental Health, Wellbeing and Society (MH) degree in the UK. This was an action research study. The students reported positive benefits from engaging with the co-writing workshop. This study found the use of ‘co-working and writing workshop’ to support and create writing spaces for the Undergraduate PH and MH degree was beneficial. | Vic Boyd: Victoria.Boyd@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk |
| 1654 | Paper | Whose feedback matters? Exploring human and AI-supported writing feedback practices in a South African writing centre In the context of growing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) tools for academic writing, this study explores how undergraduate students at a South African writing centre perceive and use feedback from both human tutors and AI-based tools. Drawing on Feedback Literacy and Critical Digital Pedagogy, this study investigates the strengths and limitations of AI and human feedback and how resource constraints shape student practices. Using qualitative interviews with ten undergraduate students across diverse disciplines, the findings reveal that while AI tools offer efficiency for surface-level corrections, students overwhelmingly value the relational, dialogic, and context-sensitive nature of human feedback. Students strategically blend AI and tutor feedback, demonstrating emerging feedback literacy but remain constrained by infrastructural barriers and algorithmic biases. The study highlights the risk that AI-driven feedback may reinforce educational inequalities if digital divides and linguistic diversity are not adequately addressed. It calls for feedback ecologies that balance technological innovation with human care, supporting equitable and inclusive writing development in under-resourced, multilingual higher education settings. | Vic Boyd: Victoria.Boyd@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk |
| 1661 | Opinion piece | Perspectivism: a new theory for Learning Development There have been recent calls for renewed focus on the theory of Learning Development (LD; Slawson and Eyre, 2024). A range of theoretical approaches are used across the profession (Slawson and Eyre, 2024; Johnson and Bishopp-Martin, 2024), though some of the more prominent, social constructivist, approaches have been critiqued in terms of their applicability and appropriateness to LD (Hilsdon, Malone and Syska, 2019; White and Dhillon, 2024). This piece responds to this call by introducing Perspectivism, a theory on how individuals perceive, create and interact with their environment (Alrøe and Noe, 2012). This broadly critical realist model may provide a stronger way to describe LD than social constructivist aligned models. The theory also offers a defence against criticisms of generic academic skills support (Richards and Pilcher, 2023) and an associated provocation to the centrality of discipline literacy practices in social constructivist theories in LD. | Vic Boyd: Victoria.Boyd@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk |
N.B. it is essential to be respectful of the writers of submissions to our journal, especially when they are at the draft stages. Please do not comment publicly on the list or elsewhere on any aspect of the paper title or abstract above.
Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you!
With warm wishes on behalf of the Editorial Board,
Chad
Dr Chad McDonaldManaging Editor, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education