Search

Comments on the Green Paper on the future of higher education in Great Britain by Sir Keith Joseph, the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in 1985. Challenge to the conservative complacency of universities; Analysis of the British government's policies on education; Implications on higher education.

Education using the Internet that characterizes the current generation of remote learning, thanks to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a necessity at the beginning of 2020 and the subject of new, previously unknown educational experiences for all actors in the higher education process around the world. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of these experiences with particular attention to the perception of this process and its consequences - by students. The author's intention was to pay special attention to the differences in the perception of selected aspects of the analyzed form of education by students of different modes of study, which, despite the small size of the research sample, fills the gap in this thematic area. In the paper, the results of the analysis of secondary sources and primary surveys were used. The research, carried out using a face-to-face survey and CAWI, was conducted among 119 students of both full-time and part-time studies at two public universities in Rzeszow - Rzeszow University of Technology and the University of Rzeszow. Summarizing the results of the study, it was found that the perceived benefits of e-learning, which mainly include time savings, convenience of studying, less stress during classes, justify the positive attitude of most students towards the remote form of education. The balance of the aforementioned benefits as well as numerous perceived drawbacks of such a form of education implies the preference of the majority of students surveyed for hybrid education, which they expect to continue after the end of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the pedagogical challenges and dilemmas surrounding film and media arts education within Nigerian tertiary institutions against deficient teaching facilities and infrastructure. Teaching film and media arts has rapidly developed in recent years. Many Nigerian universities now recognise the necessity of robust film/media pedagogy to complement and respond to the escalating growth of the country's indigenous film and entertainment industry. The onus is increasingly placed on Nigeria's tertiary institutions to spearhead the advancement of film and media arts education, premised on disseminating adequate practical knowledge, skills acquisition, and integrating international best practices. However, a pivotal issue emerges regarding whether Nigerian tertiary institutions possess the requisite facilities to fulfil and drive this pedagogical mandate. This paper argues that most Nigerian universities continue to emphasise theoretical instruction over practical application, constrained by the unavailability of resources required to execute a technologically immersive media pedagogy tailored to the needs of the nation's thriving creative industries. Drawing insights from a recent experimental pedagogical model undertaken at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, this paper highlights how an integrated pedagogical methodology combining conventional teaching formats with social media tools and platforms may potentially mitigate the difficulties imposed by insufficient practical teaching facilities for film education in most African tertiary institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conhecimento & Diversidade is the property of Conhecimento & Diversidade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article draws attention to local and global attendance monitoring in higher education. The paper outlines benefits of attendance monitoring for both the individual learner and university, and compares traditional paper‐based attendance monitoring systems with an electronic system piloted in the Business School and School of Technology at the University of Glamorgan. Typical problems associated with attendance monitoring are examined, and both attendance monitoring approaches are evaluated in terms of quantity and quality of data capture. Finally, student views on having attendance closely monitored are evaluated. This paper is of interest to anyone who uses attendance data, particularly for those who work in the field of student retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand 4.0 is an ambitious reform strategy that seeks to offset the impact of the Thai aging population by transitioning the economy towards a knowledge-based society skilled in advanced technology. Education reforms are paramount for Thailand 4.0 to succeed; however, significant challenges exist that draw into question the capabilities and quality of the nation's higher education institutions. The low perceived quality can be attributed to government inefficiencies, pronounced education inequality between rural and urban students, declining K12 students' core curriculum performance, and a growing dependence on international students to support higher education institutions' financial stability. This paper discusses the numerous challenges limiting higher education institutions from achieving an improved perception of academic quality both domestically and abroad. The recommendations proposed highlight the need for additional government oversight and educational funding. National and regional education policies must be promoted in a clear, consistent, and measurable method, emphasizing short, medium, and long-term goals. Improved national examinations and institutional collaboration will further support the necessary step to address festering conditions limiting any meaningful transition towards a knowledge-intensive workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss key aspects of knowledge management (KM) education in response to challenges posed by the necessity to improve KM as a discipline and an established professional field.Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a systematic review of the current literature. This review was used as input in a recent panel held at the 2016 International Conference on Knowledge Management (ICKM). The paper brings together current literature with thought-provoking panelists’ presentations and subsequent debates with the audience.Findings KM education from the “why, what, who, where and when” perspectives were first addressed and analyzed, and the end result was a reflection on “how” to approach KM education in the future.Research limitations/implications This paper effectively underlines that, KM being a relatively new phenomenon, there is no clear consensus about roles that KM employees should play in an organization, what KM competencies and skills are needed, and where and when these should be obtained. Broad guidelines on how to approach KM education in the future may serve as a basis for further research.Practical implications The study provides suggestions on how to place KM in adult education.Originality/value The paper tackles the research questions through an innovative combination of a systematic literature review and a panel discussion on the topic of KM and education. Overall, the paper provides a fresh view of the state of the art of knowledge and research on the topic and also shows the common vision of a group of KM researchers and educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The purpose of the article is to study, analyse and present the readiness of Georgia in the modern period to meet international problems - it is the main goal of sustainable development, including higher education. The government of Georgia, since ancient times correctly understood the role of education for future prosperity, currently the government is doing its best to meet the international challenges in the fourth goal of sustainable development - education, including higher education. Methods. The paper is presented based on official documents, scientific research papers, analysis, and the historical-comparative method. Results. The article presents important challenges for the integration of the Georgian state into the European space at the present stage, which is enshrined in the Constitution (Parliament of Georgia, 2018) and several important documents. In this context, promoting access to education is an important international agreement for the country to overcome modern global challenges - one of the most important goals of sustainable development - an important precondition for strengthening the socio-political and cultural development of society. Conclusion. The paper is based on the study/processing of international and local official materials, as well as expert research has the opportunity to assess the readiness of the higher education system to follow the goals of sustainable development. The country's relevant structures are actively creating all the conditions for the convergence/engagement of the Georgian educational space under modern international standards which has been demonstrated in practice by the capabilities of higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing times force us to rethink our academic policies in higher education institutions. Traditional narrow views on students coming to campuses might be problematic for full inclusion. In this paper, we present an innovative model for student inclusion with the goal of producing a new framework for practice in higher education. We suggest re-examining the interactions between student characteristics while taking them into account as a whole and adopting a new holistic view of their identity-derived needs. The New Multimodality Diversified Campus (NMDC) model takes into account multiculturism, multiple technological literacies, multiple identities, multilingualism, multiple religions, and multiple disabilities. This model, based on multiple pedagogies, multiple curricula, multiple evaluations and multiple policies, serves as a compass to reach our desired destination, which is a fully inclusive campus. We present new observations about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a guiding tool that can be used in higher education, contextualising it in the framework of our model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a longitudinal study in the North of England with 13 educators in schools, colleges and universities during two lockdowns. The project was designed to 'unlock' education by providing spaces to co‐create new ways of thinking about education in light of the Covid‐19 pandemic. Focus groups were conducted with school and college teachers as well as university staff at the end of the first and second English lockdowns, in summer 2020 and spring 2021. An initial analysis identified issues with expectations and communication between educators and executive management as well as a lack of agency of educators, and how participants framed them as impacting on their identity as educators. Therefore, the framework of tactics of intersubjectivity was adopted to explore how educators discursively positioned themselves and others through constructions of similarity and difference, realness and power, and how their professional identities were affected by the experience of working through the pandemic and by those around them. Whilst educators took opportunities to authenticate their identity and reimagine education, their agency was undermined by top‐down governing involving little successful communication, leading to denaturalising and illegitimising experiences for educators. Executive management were perceived as lacking engagement with staff and understanding of the implications of their decisions on them. The findings call for relationship building and recognition of educators' voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are there neurobiological reasons why we are willing to trust other people and why ‘trust’ and moral values such as ‘care’ play a quite pivotal role in our social lives and the judgements we make, including our social interactions and judgements made in the context of schooling? In pursuing this question, this paper largely agrees with claims made by Patricia Churchland in her 2011 bookBraintrust. She believes that moral values are rooted in basic brain circuitry and chemistry, which have been shaped over evolutionary time. However, these naturalistic claims raise important issues, including the standard philosophical objection that they fall victim to the naturalistic and/or deontic fallacies. This paper provides an overview of the neurobiology of trust and examines some of the main objections, in the belief that recognising the neurobiological substrate of care and trust can deepen our appreciation of the role these play in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reflective piece on the thought processes individuals and teams have when engaging in decoloniality work in Teacher Training/Education. We argue that until the self is decolonized, the process of decolonialization becomes rhetoric. We also question how much we can decolonize whilst working in the academy whose very culture, symbols and practices are borne out of colonialism and the period of enlightenment; whose very raison d'être is to elevate some knowledge over others and to claim cultural and academic superiority. The current political landscape in England approaches anti-racism as a political ideology that must be avoided in schools and education and this ideological battlefield is evident in teacher education. We aim to recognize the tensions and resistance to decolonialize, which demonstrates the messy and contingent process of moving between shifting positions and subjectivities. It confronts the challenge of the teacher–practitioner who must balance their own moral and philosophical grounding whilst attending the political imperatives of the work. This can take the form of according with the policies and procedures of the institutions in which they are situated which can often be balkanizing and debilitating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author evaluates the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) designed to provide a periodic review of the quality of research in higher education institutions. It is designed to be peer reviwed by a panel of experts chosen from the relevant research community. Several criticisms against REA include the quality across the panels and its effects on research and teaching.

The article explores the relationship between young people and social movements within the context of education, particularly focusing on Asia. It highlights the ambivalent roles of higher education institutions in political citizenship education during large-scale social protests and calls for more research on the unique positioning of students within these movements.

Purpose: This study aims to assess the current knowledge and awareness of environmental and sustainable development of Nigerian students by investigating the influence of their sociodemographics. Design/methodology/approach: This study adapts the concept of using an assessment model in a bespoke application of Sulitest® and Assessment of Student Knowledge. A total of 650 undergraduate students (in the environment, engineering and agriculture programs) were administered a paper-based questionnaire from June to July 2019. Findings: This study determined that Nigerian students performed poorly on the sustainability literacy test (SLT). Furthermore, students majoring in agriculture exhibited higher knowledge in the social and overall topics, followed by students majoring in the environmental field. From the study findings, the authors recommend that periodic assessment using SLT measures will help higher education institutions (HEIs) identify targeted sustainability programs for the development of students and educators. Hence, HEIs in Nigeria and elsewhere should use sustainability assessment tools to promote pro-environmental awareness. Originality/value: The SLT is one of several options to assess sustainability knowledge in HEIs. Several HEIs across the USA and Europe have been known to adopt some SLT assessment techniques to improve environmental literacy among students. However, environmental literacy has global implications; hence, this study contributes to the limited body of literature investigating the level of environmental awareness or literacy among university students from a developing country, focusing on the three main study programs (agriculture, environment and engineering). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU-Russia higher education cooperation has continued despite global tensions including Crimea incorporation. One example of this cooperation is the development of Finnish-Russian double degree programmes. This paper focuses on institutional environments where double degrees develop and asks how and why they produce uncertainty from inside Finnish and Russian universities in the period of this unfavourable political situation. The matryoshka model is applied to understand the institutional environment of a university and the institutions around it. The institutional nature of a double degree is determined by comparative analysis of how internal university stakeholders in Finland and Russia perceive a programme’s benchmarks. The study is based on the analysis of interviews conducted in partner universities. This paper discusses how perceptions of double degrees influence uncertainty in programme provision within and between institutional environments in Finnish and Russian universities. In addition, the level of institutionalisation of the double degrees may be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the development of the hensachi system in Japanese education from the 1960s when it first appeared as a de facto measure for scholastic achievement. Unlike absolute scoring systems (such as A-level grades) hensachi gave an indication of the probability of getting a place on a particular course at a particular school or university rather than telling applicants where the bar was set in order to have a chance of being offered a place. Private companies quickly saw the opportunity to collate the huge amounts of data needed to obtain accurate hensachi bell curve distributions and began operating practice exams (mogi shiken) in schools across Japan. From the mid-1970s onwards, hensachi increasingly became seen as the source of many educational ‘evils’ in Japan and there were many attempts to ban its use. It was blamed for cramming, examination hell, and a focus on educational scores rather than learning. The system was also being used by teachers and schools to short cut the real examination system. The final section of the paper explores why, despite these concerns, repeated predictions of the demise of hensachi have proved to be premature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the nature of the contemporary planning school in the global ‘North’. It argues that every education, including planning education, inculcates values; a necessary condition for doing this rigorously in planning is to have a school which coheres around a set of values about planning (and hence around an understanding of the social world of which it is a part); trends in higher education make meeting this necessary condition increasingly difficult. This paper illustrates the approach it advocates with examples from university education within and outside planning schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I take a simple game-theoretic view of educational production within universities to frame a discussion of pedagogical power, effort, and influence in Australian higher education. After introducing the stylised game structure, I first compare the role of teachers in Australian universities to that of university teachers elsewhere in the world, in terms of Australian academics' power in pedagogical affairs relative to the power of the higher-education institutions within which they operate. I then review some existing empirical evidence using Australian data that sheds light on the role of both teacher inputs and student inputs in creating educational outcomes, and discuss some new evidence on students' perceptions of teacher influence. The paper concludes with some recommendations for changes to the current system designed to improve student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching English with digital technology has exacerbated the process of teaching and learning. In youth leisure, computers are more than information devices: they convey stories, images, identities, and fantasies through providing imaginative opportunities for play, and as cultural and ideological forms. In this paper, I report on a project conducted with teacher education students at a university in Johannesburg, South Africa. The focus of the project is to examine how students construct their identities digitally through the multimodal narratives they create in the English classroom. To do this I report on two narratives, as well as a recurring theme, decolonisation. The latter theme is significant because it was during the time of this project that South African universities found themselves in the grip of decolonisation and free education protests. I use New Literacy Studies as a framework to theorise literacy practices, and the work of Hall and others to theorise identity. The paper presents further possible implications of digital identity construction for teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The paper aims to deal with the education for sustainable development (ESD) competences of university educators. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of opportunities for the development of ESD competences in higher education (HE) institutions in Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia. In addition, the paper explores the drivers and barriers experienced in this area using a process-oriented approach. Design/methodology/approach -- For the purpose of collecting data, internet and desktop research was carried out, which was then followed by interviews with key respondents and experts in HE. The interviews were carried out face-to-face or via telephone. In addition, information collected from the interviews was compared with both data found in the literature and official documents. Findings -- The comparative analysis indicated how specific institutional and cultural contexts affect the development of ESD competences in HE in the region. There were differences but also common opportunities for developing the ESD competences of university educators in the countries analysed. For each country, the drivers and barriers, as well as their relevance, were manifested differently and specific key constructs were identified to explain the implementation process for developing ESD competences of university educators. Practical implications -- This paper tried to respond to this diversity of perspectives, contexts and initiatives and attempted to extract the benefits of different approaches to the ESD professional development of university educators in Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia. It is hoped that this paper will provide valuable insights into the development of ESD in HE and support the development of ESD competences in the region. Originality/value -- This is one of the first papers that provide a comparative analysis of the ESD professional development of university educators in Balkan countries. The value of the paper lies in its potential to help us to understand the role that different drivers and barriers play in different patterns of implementation for developing the ESD competences of university educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of the current paper is to develop and validate a scale for measuring and managing the acquisition of competences provided by higher education studies. Design/methodology/approach – A representative sample of Spanish graduates was obtained in the framework of the REFLEX project. In this questionnaire, a battery of 19 self-assessed items was used to measure the contribution of universities to the acquisition of generic competences. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Findings – The main competences acquired in higher education according to Spanish graduates can be grouped as follows: innovation, interpersonal, knowledge management, communication, organisational and professional development. Results indicated excellent fit indexes of this six-factor model to data. Research limitations/implications – This scale may be particularly useful to understand the process of transition of higher education systems according to Bologna principles. It also represents a significant contribution to the existing research in competency-based education. Practical implications – This paper may help higher education institutions to identify improvement areas in their study programmes. Besides, the proposed scale may offer crucial information in the determination of which Bologna principles have been successfully implemented. Social implications – Organisations may use these findings to design formal or informal training for new graduates hired by the organisation. Originality/value – Despite the recent increasing research in the field of competency-based learning and competences required in graduates’ workplaces, this is the first paper that aims to present a validated scale designed to measure graduate self-assessed competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the environmental sustainability practices at the campus operations between two Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs) at different stages of the implementation of an Eco-School Programme. It also seeks to analyse the involvement of the students in the process of implementing these practices in their institutions. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was carried out in two HEIs (a green and a non-green institution). Data were collected from a total of 832 students. Techniques of descriptive statistics and inferential statistical techniques such as the Mann-Whitney test, χ2 and Spearman correlation test, were applied. Findings: The results obtained show that, from the students' perspective, and in both institutions, there is still much to be done on the path towards sustainability, particularly in transport and landscaping. Significant differences were found only between some environmental sustainability practices at the campus level. However, students from the green institution are more participative in sustainability activities. Practical implications: This study provides a picture of two HEIs' sustainability behaviour from the students' standpoint, which can be important for decision-makers in HEIs, in as much that students are one of the HEIs' major stakeholder groups; furthermore, it enables them to better guide their efforts towards sustainability. Originality/value: This paper focusses on the students' perspective and their role in the sustainability initiatives undertaken by HEIs. It can be useful for future research that attempts to analyse the importance of HEIs' stakeholder participation in sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a briefing on milestones of Malaysia Centre of Tourism and Hospitality Education (MyCenTHE) regarding its role as a nation-building exercise in developing human capital talent for future sustainable hospitality and tourism in Malaysia. Under a national initiative by the ministry of education, hospitality and tourism educational institutes in the country have set out to better prepare graduates for industry. MyCenTHE aspires to build a hospitality and tourism cluster (threefold) so that Malaysia is able to increase its annual output of hospitality and tourism personnel from 20,000 in 2009 to 50,000 in 2020 and increase the share of graduates with diploma- or degree-level awards from 13% to 50% by 2020. These expectations can only be achieved by creating a sustainable pool of workers for this sector. It was in this context for which "MyCenTHE" was conceived. Design/methodology/approach: The current study is based on documentary analysis of secondary sources, qualitative in nature, and presents a case study of MyCenTHE with its key accomplishments in promoting hospitality and tourism education in Malaysia. Findings: The hospitality and tourism industry in Malaysia is set to create 600,000 new job opportunities and in so doing, will need many more skilled, work-ready graduates in the coming decade. This paper highlights the collective efforts of the private higher education sector together with some selected public institutions (polytechnics) under the umbrella of the ministry of education through the MyCenTHE platform in promoting hospitality and tourism education nationwide via national awareness campaigns, conferences, skill competitions, seminars, forums and corporate social responsibility projects. Originality/value: This paper is of value in its own context and in particular support from ministry and related authorities, 26 institutions of higher education working together, approaches to hundreds of local schools and thousands of audiences/participants in awareness campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the phenomenon of a rapidly aging population and low birth rates, Taiwanese universities face a shortage of traditionally aged students and as a result must respond to older learners' needs. In response to this demand, the Ministry of Education issued the Lifelong Learning Act in 2002 and White Paper for implementing education for older persons in an aging society in 2006. Universities now face unprecedented challenges as they play a leading role in facilitating these programs. The purpose of this article is to explore the challenges Taiwanese universities face in educating an aging society and to provide some suggestions. First, this article notes current challenges. Second, the development of the status quo of senior education is presented. Third, the changing landscape of universities is discussed. Finally, some suggestions are presented for both university administration and program developers. In conclusion, universities should grasp this opportunity to modify strategies for involving older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie is the property of Hogrefe AG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: The present study analyses the design of programming literacy in the sixth grade of Primary Education, starting from the use of simple activities with visual block‐based programming, through Scratch, and progressively linking difficulty to the use of the Unity engine, and the C# language, with simple activities identical to those created in Scratch. Objectives: This research aims to evaluate future teachers' abilities and attitudes regarding programming and its educational possibilities. We intend to evaluate the viability of a teaching proposal that combines a visual block‐based programming environment and a more advanced one, based on C#. Method: In the settings of two public Spanish universities, we analyse the possibilities in the training of future teachers who are studying for a degree in Primary Education Teaching and a degree in Pedagogy. Based on a test and three scales, descriptive data and statistical inference are detailed through a quasi‐experimental design with a Student's t‐test in the first dimension, and a Wilcoxon test in the second dimension. Results: The participants improved their performance and attitudes towards programming with the intervention of the study in the use of coding. Conclusions: It can be concluded that coding is essential in teacher training, and that a greater presence of programming training in higher education is essential. The benefits are visible in the pedagogical approach of coding related to creativity, innovation, motivation, an active approach and interest, highlighting the fact that the implementation of visual block‐based programming by blocks and engines is feasible in Elementary Education. The training proposal—provided by appropriate progression, selection, and sequencing of content—fosters basic and practical teacher training, and this can be defined as an apt training solution. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Visual Programming Language (Scratch) provides benefits in educational contextsEducational Technology in classroom provides motivation and encouragement.Active methods and interactions are interesting and beneficial to elementary school students What this paper adds: Visual programming and game engine are feasible in Elementary Education, detailing significant improvements regarding academic outcomesWe found benefits in this pedagogical approach related to creativity, innovation, motivation, active approach and interest. Implications for practice and/or policy: Due to the benefits and positive results obtained in this research it is recommended to implement Visual Programming LanguageWe recommend the introduction to engine in educational settings in 6th grade in primary education though a cross‐curricular implementation.We recommend to apply an active approach, innovation, and learning computational concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and encapsulate the enablers that can facilitate education for sustainable development in higher education (HE). The study also aims to understand the interdependence between the enablers. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts the total interpretive structural modelling approach to comprehend the interaction and transitivity between the enablers. Cross-impact multiplication matrix analysis was applied to rank the enablers and classify them on the basis of the driving and dependence power into dependent, autonomous, independent and linkage enablers. Findings: An extensive literature review and expert opinion helped in identifying 10 enablers that can promote sustainability in higher education. The structural model revealed government policies, media, accreditation/sustainability audit, sustainability leadership and institutional commitment as the crucial enablers that can drive sustainability and activate the enablers with high dependence and low driving power. Practical implications: The results of this study will assist the policymakers and management of universities and colleges in understanding important factors that can facilitate sustainability in higher education. Universities and colleges to incorporate sustainability in their system need to transform not only the core higher education activities of learning and teaching, research and engagement, also the way the colleges operate its culture, governance, structure and how it supports the staff and students. Originality/value: So far, research on sustainability in higher education has looked into each factor in isolation. This research provides a comprehensive view of the factors and has attempted to establish a multidirectional interplay between factors facilitating sustainability in higher education (SHE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Didáctica. Lengua y Literatura is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education are presented as capable of resolving several issues of education provision, financing, management, access and quality. This paper aimed at analyzing the impact of PPPs on access to and quality of higher education in Tanzania. Secondary research was used to gather data and critical review of the data and its analysis made. The focus of the paper was on higher education financing and on private higher education institutions. The findings indicated that PPPs have had a positive impact on increasing access to Tanzania higher education. However, although private universities and university colleges are many in number, enrolment has continued to be higher in public universities. It was further noted that an increase in higher learning institutions and subsequent increase in access to higher education has not meant an improvement in the quality of education provided by the institutions. As such, PPPs have had no significant impact on the improvement of quality of education. This is mainly accounted for by the number and qualifications held by academic members of staff in private universities, the infrastructure as well as the programmes they offer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a cultural positioning of care at the margins of academia, student parents now represent a significant proportion of the higher education population in England and in other Western countries. Research shows that, beyond the diversity of their experiences, time, childcare, financial, and well-being related issues prevail among them. However, extant research concentrates mostly on the experiential level - often alluding to policies, yet rarely focusing on their role in compounding or easing the issues experienced by this group. Using the lens of sociological and feminist theories and drawing on data collected in ten English higher education institutions, this paper addresses this dearth of research. It does argue that, through policies that overall tend to be geared towards childfree students, universities contribute to the marginalisation of student parents within higher education. However, despite the prevalence of such policies, attempts to redefine the student body/ies in more inclusive ways are also identified, suggesting a partial transformation of academic cultures. Through its identification and discussion of various institutional policy approaches to student parents, this paper attempts to further the development of a sociology linking areas of society and of people's lives (in this case, care and academia) which have historically been constructed as separate, and to understand how institutional policies reproduce or challenge this binary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are good reasons for higher education institutions to use learning analytics to risk-screen students. Institutions can use learning analytics to better predict which students are at greater risk of dropping out or failing, and use the statistics to treat 'risky' students differently. This paper analyses this practice using normative theories of discrimination. The analysis suggests the principal ethical concern with the differing treatment is the failure to recognize students as individuals, which may impact on students as agents. This concern is cross-examined drawing on a philosophical argument that suggests there is little or no distinctive difference between assessing individuals on group risk statistics and using more 'individualized' evidence. This paper applies this argument to the use of learning analytics to risk-screen students in higher education. The paper offers reasons to conclude that judgment based on group risk statistics does involve a distinctive failure in terms of assessing persons as individuals. However, instructional design offers ways to mitigate this ethical concern with respect to learning analytics. These include designing features into courses that promote greater use of effort-based factors and dynamic rather than static risk factors, and greater use of sets of statistics specific to individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is dedicated to the problems identified by the Bulgarian business in terms of staff with higher education. In practice, businesses believe that research and educational institutions must provide an educational service that corresponds to their requirements for the level of competencies. The paper investigates the industries and sub-industries where the need for staff is most urgent. The model of more general education is embedded in the new global realities, which largely means that universities offer educational services of a more general nature. In this situation, it is difficult to overcome the divide between knowledge and skills of graduates and business requirements. This fact shows the objective gap between students' preparation for workforce and business expectations. The authors also study the provision of educational services in the real sector, in particular the opinion of employers regarding the strength of young professionals outside the educational environment. Thus, there is a need to determine connections in the different areas of the labour market, e.g., business, services and production, to higher education. Analysis of the trends and conditions in the selection of specialists with higher education is an important aspect here. The authors believe that a flexible and adaptive economic environment is needed, which is focused on the global and regional peculiarities of territorial development and available human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the complex mix of rationales behind major change initiatives in the Swedish higher education sector. In three case studies, the paper investigates how changes are motivated, communicated and made sense of by higher education institutions. The cases show that the external drivers, related to the need for quality improvement, resource accumulation and reputation-building, are highlighted in the official communication by the institutional management. Interviews with various internal and external stakeholders reveal additional, internal rationales such as economic rationalization opportunities and the personal motives of individuals. It is argued that the notion of legitimacy is fundamental to the understanding of this mix of rationales. References to the state and the EU are frequent and so are similar comparable universities and the need to adapt to globally circulated ideas. Furthermore, administrative rationales are not enough to make a change process legitimate in these cases. A grander, structural rationale related to quality and reputation is also perceived to be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies that acknowledge the association between knowledge management (KM) and organisational performance (OP) are replete in extant literature. However, there are few of them providing empirical evidence of this relationship especially in academia. Multiple conjectures are made about this little-known relationship. This paper aims to explore the impacts of KM on OP in the public higher education institutions (HEIs) of Vietnam. Results of the studies were generated based on survey data collected in 30 universities located in three regions of Vietnam during 2017 by means of structured questionnaire. The hypothesised relationships between KM and OP are tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings of the research showcase that KM does exert its impacts but not on all dimensions of OP in the public HEIs of Vietnam. Besides adding to the literature on performance management in academia by demonstrating the impacts of KM as a managerial tool for increasing OP, the paper also presents measurement dimensions with specific scale items measuring KM and OP of a HEI. Avenues for future research are also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 20th century, formal higher education has expanded very rapidly all over the world. Investment in human resource development has been considered to be a powerful metaphor for a healthy competition in the new world order for various reasons thus an increasing private demand for higher education. The view that education is a fundamental human right contributed to the rapid expansion. Special economic, social and political power attached to the positions given to graduates of higher education, attracted more and more students. There are economic and political reasons for the expansion of higher education. For all the countries, a university has been a symbol of national or regional prestige and this, too, has been responsible for the increasing number of universities around the world. In Nigeria since independence, various governments have spent substantial portion of their national budgets to develop education. Investments in this magnitude have been justified at all times as a means of producing rapidly the skilled manpower required for national development. This paper is concerned with the quality of universities in Nigeria. The main purpose is to show that the Nigerian university system is at the crossroad. What is happening in Nigeria today is certainly widespread in Africa, but not necessarily universal. Three strong evaluative words: relevance, usefulness and identity from the thesis of the paper. The paper notes that universities in have not been particularly pertinent, serviceable and contemporary on consonance with the challenges of the new world order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animated learning materials have the potential to support the teaching and learning process. In this paper, we examine the comparative usefulness of animated and static learning materials for teaching cyber security concepts to a group of UK undergraduate computer science students. The animated cyber security learning materials appeared to be viewed by the undergraduate computer science participants overall as being slightly more informative than the equivalent static learning materials for learning some cyber security concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions in the UK are required, by law, to make anticipatory reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities. Inclusive teaching practice, if adopted across the sector, would ensure that the needs of students with disabilities are considered and provided for, before they even arrive on campus. This paper sets out the background and key findings from an institutional research project at a UK university that aimed to discover if academic staff's attitudes would be problematic or conducive to the implementation of inclusive teaching practice. The paper concludes that there is little evidence of widespread “resistance” but rather, the research discovered a prevailing belief in the rights of students with disabilities to education, albeit a belief which is limited in its practical application in the classroom. The paper also reports on a number of recommendations made to the case study university as a result of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers conceptions of the term 'academic identity' amongst lecturers delivering higher education business programmes (HEBPs) in further education colleges (FECs). A brief look at leading authors' work on the subject of identity is considered first, which then moves on to offer a preconception of the term 'academic'. The data was drawn from a 2009 doctoral study by Feather looking at this subject area, and is based on findings from primary data collected in 2006-2007. Due to the lack of published work (at that time in, and on, Higher Education (HE) in further education (FE)); the study drew heavily on literature from HE. This study highlights the potential issues and anxieties of those who took part in the study about their academic identity, and how they make sense of the environment they work in. In addition, the paper will highlight whether these lecturers consider themselves to be academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly global higher education environment, many universities are taking their educational services overseas. One model of overseas provision is through transnational (offshore) education. Transnational teaching challenges the prevailing understanding of an academic role at every level. Transnational teachers are expected to work in environments, climates and classrooms which are culturally very different to their own. Assumptions about university education are shaken and teachers find themselves having to return to and question the fundamentals of their teaching, learning and assessment practices. This paper argues that the experience of being a transnational teacher and working in a culture very different to one's own forces reflection which can lead to 'perspective transformation'; as such it could be a powerful professional development opportunity which should be nurtured and supported. This paper draws on the growing body of published literature on staff experiences of transnational teaching and my own experiences as a transnational teacher to support this argument. It shows that the 'novel experiences' of transnational teaching encourage content, process and premise reflection that can, with appropriate support, ultimately improve teaching practice not just in the transnational context, but also back home. Dans un environnement de l'enseignement superieur de plus en plus globalise, nombre d'universites etendent leur prestation de services educatifs outremer. L'education transnationale delocalisee (offshore education) est un de ces modeles de prestation de services outremer. L'enseignement transnational pose des defis a la comprehension dominante du role academique a tous les niveaux. Les presupposes au sujet de l'education universitaire sont remis en question et les enseignants doivent des lors revoir et remettre en question les fondements de leurs pratiques liees a l'enseignement, a l'apprentissage et a l'evaluation. Cet article defend l'idee que l'experience de devenir un enseignant transnational et d'œuvrer dans une culture qui est tres differente de la sienne force une reflexion qui peut conduire a une « transformation de perspective ». En ce sens, il pourrait s'agir d'une occasion de developpement professionnel puissante, laquelle devrait etre soutenue et encouragee. L'article repose sur un corpus de documentation en pleine croissance portant sur l'enseignement transnational ainsi que sur mes propres experiences a titre d'enseignement transnational. Il fait la demonstration que des « experiences nouvelles » de l'enseignement transnational encouragent une reflexion au sujet du contenu, du processus et des presupposes, laquelle, en fonction d'un soutien adapte, peut en fin de compte ameliorer la pratique enseignante non seulement dans le contexte transnational mais aussi a domicile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will focus on the neo-liberal 'reforms' of Japanese higher education that have taken the form of incorporating national universities, and are now entering a decisive stage one year afterwards. I will also describe the devastation that has resulted from university incorporation. From these descriptions, I will demonstrate how the incorporation of national universities is a typical example of neo-liberal control in present day Japan. Moreover, we will then be able clearly to see the current situation of the weakening of Japanese intellectuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies, examines and discusses higher education funding policy shifts that have taken place in Kenya. The paper argues that even though Kenya's higher education funding policy shifts, from free higher education to cost-sharing, and privatisation and commercialisation, are (to a greater extent) products of the country's encounter with globalisation, local social, political and economic dynamics have been of equally significant influence. Thus, the country's higher education funding policies have been products of a convergence of both the dynamics of globalisation and local contextual imperatives. Furthermore, the point is made that the shift from free higher education to cost-sharing, and privatisation and commercialisation, was symptomatic of a global transition from a development paradigm that was predominantly based on Keynesianism to a neo-liberal paradigm that privileges mean expenditure on social services (such as higher education) and the market logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the use of situated cognition theory to investigate how new academics learn to judge complex student performance in an academic department at a South African university. The analysis revealed the existence of two largely separate communities of practice within the department, one centred on the provision of undergraduate teaching and the other on the production of research. Newcomers follow a range of trajectories in the course of their identity construction as academics and their learning is strongly shaped by their histories and individual experiences of negotiating their way into and across these key communities of practice. Learning to assess student performance in an Honours research paper was found to be integrally linked to the process of gaining entry into the research community of practice with limited opportunity for legitimate peripheral participation given the high stakes context within which assessment decisions are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first part of an edited version of a Keynote Presentation delivered at the AUA Annual Conference, Queen's University Belfast, on 11 April 2006. The second part will appear in the next issue of perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]