Introduction

This handbook has grown out of curiosity towards empirical evidence on learning, teaching and instruction at university and the desire to capture a comprehensive, research-informed and timely overview of the landscape. The overall mission for the handbook is an ambitious one: it maps the current state of empirical research on learning and instruction in universities through systematic (mostly English-language-based) literature reviews conducted with a variety of approaches suitable for the goals and topics in the different reviews. Such an overview of research on university education is aimed to provide a foundation for research-informed university education, including research evidence on what works and what does not work in learning and instruction and what the promising conditions for them are in university education. It is equally important to explicate the challenges and problems related to learning and instruction identified in empirical research. Further, proposing a future agenda for research in university education based on the gaps identified in the current literature is essential for both the development of the research field and practice.