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This paper recognizes the way in which scientific knowledge has reached center stage, have opposed the dogmatic arguments, cultural and ideological beliefs uncritically established for years. The scientific achievements allow for changes inhuman conceptions to transform the perception, interpretation and interaction between humans and their environment critically and reflectively. This essay re-creates the complexity and impact for which they had to move evolutionary ideas in some states of the American Union, the situation in Argentina and finally the case of Mexico, which all fall similarities and differences. Similarities in the difficulties and differences in the acceptance, management of time and the influence of beliefs about the origin and formation of our planet. Beyond the passage of a controversial debate, this paper frames a reflection that searches there adersaw are of the role played by the University in the transmission of knowledge and critical discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the last decades of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, the teaching of English for specific and/or professional and academic purposes has probably constituted one of the most innovative areas in the Spanish University. With the advent of the Bologna reform, the theory and praxis of this dynamic field of knowledge has enhanced its range of activity, so as to include not only students, but also lecturers, whithin its concerns. The result can be measured by the innumerable variety of CLIL (Content Language Integrated Learning) teacher training experiences carried out along the Spanish Tertiary Education geography. This paper has two main purposes: on one hand, to give the account of the CLIL teacher training at the UPCT (included in the larger frame of teaching innovation programs), under its corresponding theoretical approach and bearing in mind the particular circumstances of the institution. On the other hand, to pose questions about the future perspectives of similar experiences in a teaching context that is becoming more and more complex and 'hybrid' from its very foundations. The partial conclusions of this study depict a global teaching/professional scenario that is both challenging and appealing, which must be seriously dealt with from the Universities and our common European administrative framework alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, the English Higher Education system witnessed one of the biggest hikes in the cost of university participation seen in the sector, with the annual fee for most undergraduate degree programme raised to a new limit of £9,000. Accompanying this rise in 'headline' fees was a series of changes to the repayment mechanism that allowed the move to be framed in progressive terms by policymakers and other advocates. A small dip in applications followed, but the UK's widening participation agenda seemed not to be bruised by the hike, with the proportion of students from less advantaged backgrounds applying to higher education institutions (including higher prestige universities) remaining constant. This paper examines the messages that were communicated alongside the 2012 fees rise, its aim being to help shed light on how public discourses about participation in the higher fees era are framed. It is argued that the greater overall expense for most students in terms of lifetime repayments was partially obscured in favour of a narrative that emphasised the short-term benefits for middle-earning graduates and long-term concessions for lower-earning graduates. Using the contemporary English model as a case study, the wider implications for quality and, more particularly, equity of a less regulated, more market-driven higher education system are explored. Attention is also paid to the impact on selection procedures and on broader questions about the extent to which university is (and is perceived as) a public or private good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic writing in European higher education is a little explored field hidden behind fifty major language and fifty national educational systems of which it is part. The article aims at developing a perspective for studying the diversity of writing in Europe and finding a shared language for analyzing student writing. The article recaps baselines theories for the teaching of writing and reports on three important European writing traditions. The main part of the paper is devoted to three foundational conceptions for writing: The role of genres in understanding student writing, the function of writing practices for the organization of student writing and the meaning of writing competences for the teaching of writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes a comparative and systematic study on staff development between Chinese and European universities with North American universities as background studies. The conceptual analytical lens is two-fold, one is Boyer's multiple-scholarship perspective and the other is a four dimensional faculty development framework proposed by America National Education Association. The specific investigation framework of case studies pays attention to the following aspects: conceptual underpinning, context and policy, organizational structure, program and program delivery, incentive and reward scheme for staff development work, evaluation and effect of programs and future staff development trends. The objective of this study is to find out the staff development practices in European universities to shed light on the next phase of staff development policies and programs in China [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]