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In this special issue, we explore the opportunities and challenges of using Generative AI (GenAI), in particular, text generators in higher education learning and teaching. As GenAI has become increasingly popular with many staff and students, this special issue provides an overview of the current state of the field and offers insights into future research. This introduction paper consists of four parts. It begins by providing an overview of AI and Generative AI, identifying the gap and framing the special issue relating to the gaps. The second part explores the opportunities and challenges of GenAI in higher education, as identified in the literature. The third part provides an overview of the papers included in the special issue. The final part is the self-reflection of the lead author. The special issue aims to serve as a valuable resource for higher education stakeholders, such as students, practitioners, researchers and managers. We hope this collection will help advance knowledge and future research, encourage innovation and inform evidence-based policy and practices in the field of Generative AI in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the influence of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), specifically AI text generators (ChatGPT), on critical thinking skills in UK postgraduate business school students. Using Bloom's taxonomy as theoretical underpinning, we adopt a mixed-method research employing a sample of 107 participants to investigate both the influence and challenges of these technologies in higher education. Our findings reveal that the most significant improvements occurred at the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy. We identify concerns relating to reliability, accuracy, and potential ethical implications of its application in higher education. The significance of this paper spans across, pedagogy, policy and practice, offering insights into the complex relationship between AI technologies and critical thinking skills. While highlighting the multifaceted aspects of the impact of AI in education, this article serves as a guide to educators and policymakers, stressing the importance of a comprehensive approach to fostering critical thinking and other transferable skills in the higher education landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Becoming a researcher is one of the roads travelled in the emotional, social, and intellectual process of PhD journeys. As such, developing a researcher identity during doctoral study is a social undertaking. This paper explores instances and practices where doctoral students identify as becoming researchers. Based on interviews with 30 PhD students from two Australian metropolitan universities, this paper presents students' experiences of moments when they feel like researchers. The paper finds identification as a researcher occurs early on in the PhD, and such instances are underpinned by external and internal validation of the student as a researcher. Validation is gained throughresearch outputs (mainly publications),doing research, andtalking about research. Such experiences are often mundane, occur daily, and constitute personal, social, informal, and formal learning opportunities for researcher development. Supervisors are largely absent as students draw on multiple individuals on and off campus in assuming a researcher identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Academic writing is a vital, yet complex skill that must be developed within a doctoral training process. In addition, becoming an academic researcher is a journey of changing sense of self and identity. Through analysis of a group session, we show how the feedback of peers addresses questions of structure and writing style along with wider issues of researcher identity. Thus, peer learning is demonstrated as a process of simultaneously building a text and an identity as scholarly researcher. The paper advocates ‘borrowing brainpower’ from peers in order to write better texts and, at the same time, ‘share insecurities’ during the development of the researcher identity. Based on a distributed notion of peer learning and identity, we point to the need for further research into the everyday activities of doctoral writing groups in order to understand the dynamic relationship between production of text and creation of researcher identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

System models are commonly used in tertiary education as a mechanism for describing the interacting components of educational phenomena, but have hitherto been uncritically accepted. This paper provides a critical review of existing systems models, including the 3P model defined Biggs, and outlines their conceptual challenges. A revised model developed for curriculum research is presented. The paper would be of interest to those undertaking education-focused research, scholarly teaching practitioners as well as those with an interest in the use of systems models as a framework for educational alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I reflect on the current state of critical internationalization studies, an area of study that problematizes the overwhelmingly positive and depoliticized approaches to internationalization in higher education. I note that, despite growing interest in this approach, there is a risk that critiques will circularly result in more of the same if we do not attend to the full complexity, uncertainty, and complicity involved in transforming internationalization. In an effort to continue this work, and clarify the distinctions between different approaches to critical internationalization studies, I offer two social cartographies: one of different theories of change in relation to internationalization, and one of different layers of intervention. Finally, I ask what kind of internationalization might be adequate for responding to today's many global challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores supervisor development in the light of information generated by the Erasmus-funded project on the modern doctorate. It is structured in four phases. Firstly examining interview data to isolate some distinguishing features of the modern doctorate. Secondly re-examining that data to see if these distinguishing features can be mapped on to an existing framework of approaches to research supervision. Thirdly looking at the survey responses relating to that same framework. Fourthly, having found coherence with the five approaches, the initial outcomes from a Norwegian project are examined. The project worked with experienced academics nominated to ‘support and develop their colleague supervisors’ primarily by designing and leading supervisor development programmes. The findings show that the original framework is also appropriate for supervisors of the modern doctorate and that there are some important organisational factors that need to be taken into account when developing the developers of supervisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between quality and management in higher education. It considers the nature of management, the meanings ascribed to management and related concepts such as leadership, and the appropriateness of these concepts in the context of higher education. These preliminary considerations provide a basis for considering the connections that may exist between management performance and institutional performance. In addressing these issues, the paper aims to confront such questions as: what part does management play in ensuring high quality institutional performance? to what extent can judgements about management performance be separated from judgements about institutional performance? and so on. This necessitates consideration of how these hinds of performance can be judged, and the paper offers frameworks for analysing judgements of institutional and managerial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational education is becoming a popular way for students to earn an attractive credential from a foreign university in emerging education hubs in Asia. In an era where students are staying closer to home for their education, this paper offers insights into the motivations or choice criteria used by students currently enrolled at international branch campuses in Malaysia. Findings from a survey of 218 undergraduate and postgraduate students plus semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with 18 students indicated that the motivations for studying at an international branch campus are a function of the combined pull–push factors (i.e. institution and academic reputations, marketability of the degree, low tuition fees compared to home institution, low cost of living, safe country for study, similarity of education systems as well as cultural proximity). The study proposes a model of student destination and institution choices based primarily upon ‘push’ factors which apply to international branch campuses in Malaysia. The success of a given university operating in a foreign market is shown to be influenced greatly by the destination's costs, attractiveness attributes, and locational convenience for students. The findings of the paper are especially relevant to developing market policy-makers of higher education in crafting specific management and marketing strategies targeting students to study at international branch campuses, particularly in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The literature on higher education policy points to changes in the dominant discourse over the years. In particular, the ascendance of a discourse marked by concepts of new public management, using language inspired by neoclassical economic theory which characterizes education as a marketplace where students are customers, has led scholars to critically question the foundations of modern higher education policy. This paper uses critical discourse analysis to trace the development of higher education policy discourse in Denmark from the late 1970s until today. The authors find that the discourse has moved from a pluralistic one embracing not only the economic benefits of education, but also emphasizing on democracy, citizenship, and equality, towards a predominantly economic one, focused squarely on notions of globalization and competitiveness in a knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As higher education (HE) comes under increasing pressure from policy-makers, nationally and internationally, to contribute more directly to economic development, tensions between more traditional missions of universities and their more recent entrepreneurial makeovers create major dilemmas for academic staff regarding their roles and responsibilities. Using the lens of professional responsibility and accountability, the paper takes Initial Teacher Education as an instrumental case study to illustrate how these tensions, in terms of policy documents, and perceptions of teacher educators unfold. Analysis strongly suggest that when external prescription is increased, and reforms under-resourced, pressures for accountable conformist compliance render the exercise of professional responsibility extremely difficult if not impossible, compromised rather than finding ‘legitimate compromise’. The paper argues that HE has significant lessons to learn from this case while signalling that current challenges within teacher education are already becoming a gauntlet that the entire HE community needs to consider seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Various studies show that higher education institutions contribute to regional economic development by R&D, creation of human capital, knowledge and technology transfer, and by creation of a favourable milieu. It is brought out that the basic procedure is to sum expenditures of the college community (students, faculty, staff and visitors) created by the presence of the institution and apply multipliers to account for the interdependency of economic activity in a local economy, resulting in an estimated ‘local economic impact'. The aim of the paper is to investigate the relationship between students in tertiary education and economic growth in NUTS 2 level in Europe from 1998 to 2008 by looking whether the share of tertiary students (measuring human capital) is correlated with the share of knowledge-intensive employment (KIE) in different regions. The increase in KIE is related to increasing levels of GDP per capita and R&D expenditures. Taking into account regional-level fixed effects, the share of tertiary students is not statistically significant. We found out that the increase in KIE is related to increasing levels of GDP per capita and R&D expenditures. The share of students five periods ago has a positive relation with the KIE: as we assumed, it takes time for the human capital to contribute to the economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Do academics, both directly and indirectly involved with healthcare, have a moral mandate to ensure that Wikipedia has the most accurate, up-to-date and understandable information? From the perspective of a physician who is also a long-time Wikipedia editor, the ethical, moral, and power dynamics of the medical community's interaction with Wikipedia are explored in this paper. An attempt is made to reconcile and identify the key stakeholders affected by Wikipedia's accuracy and credibility, including medical institutions such as peer-reviewed journals, medical schools, research funders and academic reward systems. These stakeholders act as the true guardians of Primum non nocere – first to do no harm. Finally, suggestions are made on how to increase the sharing of medical knowledge on Wikipedia by focusing advocacy towards these 'true guardians' rather than relying on the benevolence of individual academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with other countries, Australia has been grappling with the identification, measurement and impact of disadvantage in higher education. In particular, the measurement of socio-economic status (SES) has been of central concern. The immediate solution in Australia has been the introduction of an ‘area’ measure in which students' SES is categorised on the basis of census data for their neighbourhoods rather than on individual or household data. This paper assesses the veracity of the area measure in capturing individual SES for school-aged entrants, using a longitudinal data set, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, to construct individual measures of SES and a national ranking of sample individuals on the basis of probability of attending a higher education institution. The results demonstrate the tendency for area measures to misclassify individuals' higher education opportunity and the associated potential for perverse policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demands for enhanced quality and quality control in higher education, such as those contained in the 1987 White Paper, often involve increased stress on validation. This emphasis on a peculiarly British system of peer review of courses suggests that an examination of some of the qualities of validation may be helpful in ensuring that it continues to achieve the ends expected of it. The structure of validation generally requires action at course (or department), faculty and institutional levels. Validation can operate in at least three modes: initial approval of new courses, regular monitoring of performance and intermittent but more intensive inspections of course organisation and achievement. In all three modes the basic structures function in a way that uses specific inputs, processes and outputs. Amongst the inputs are admissions, resources, staffing and curricula. The processes involve such feedback mechanisms as continuous assessment together with staff development. Training in validation skills is but rarely provided. Outputs are reviewed through final examinations, the external examiner system and outside visitations. The question which arises is whether this system is an adequate form of quality control. The conclusion is that, while it has certain methodological weaknesses, validation is a legitimate and defensible tool. But, if it is to succeed in new circumstances, more thought about its qualities and the means of developing them is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the themes of the papers featured in the June 1987 issue of the journal "Studies in Higher Education." Changes in the composition and life-style of the student body; Commitment to the life of study; Increase in the amount of part-time provision in higher education.

Within higher education, the importance of learning outcomes has become well-established. They are expected to guide the teaching and learning process, assessment, and curriculum development, while at the same time act as foundational elements to transitions towards national qualifications frameworks, competency-based education, and international partnerships such as the Bologna agreement. However, as essential as learning outcomes have become, very little is known about the quality of learning outcomes within courses. Through a content analysis of publicly available syllabi, this paper examines course learning outcomes from some of the leading teaching universities in the world. Results of this exploratory study indicate that the quality of learning outcomes is quite poor, and that a great deal of work is required until most outcomes would be aligned with internationally accepted best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the 2011 Chilean student movement, the most relevant social mobilisation in Chile since the restoration of democracy in 1990. Based on available material and secondary sources, it describes the main features of this student movement, analyses the key components of the students' discourse and its relationship with the Chilean market-oriented educational system, and identifies its impact on the field of higher education. The paper argues that this student movement was a process of expressing accumulated grievances against some neoliberal features of Chilean education. Since this movement is also linked to the emergence of a new generation of higher education students, it identifies relevant characteristics of current students' organisations and protests. Finally, the paper discusses hypotheses for interpreting the recent student movements. This case is informative not only for those concerned with student participation, but also with the potential downsides of market-oriented educational policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Doctoral supervision has attracted significant attention from higher education bodies over the last 15 years, stimulated by shifts in educational and socio-political contexts including what supports the knowledge economy and the stakeholdership of students. This paper conceptualises work worlds through Heideggerian discourse and presents exploratory findings from interviews with workplace supervisors analysed within the framework of the SuperProfDoc research project. It then draws on these findings and the mentoring and coaching literature to contribute to integrating supervision practices between the academy and the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing enrolment of Chinese students has become a key feature of internationalisation for Western universities, but there is limited research into how curriculum internationalisation affects Chinese students’ learning experiences. Using the typologies of curriculum internationalisation as a framework, this paper explores and compares how Scottish and Australian universities integrate international and intercultural elements into their curriculum to support Chinese postgraduate taught students’ study. Interviews, focus groups and a survey are used as the main research methods. Analysis reveals that the practice of curriculum internationalisation in both countries is rather limited, and that Chinese students express a desire for more international perspectives in the course content, and for more mobility experiences, in order to prepare for their future careers. The mismatch between academics’ and students’ understandings of curriculum internationalisation is highlighted as an arena of power differential and an area for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are Asian universities different from those in Western countries? Premised on the hypothesis that Asian universities are different because of hybridization between Western academic models and local traditional cultures, this paper investigates the hybrid characteristics in Malaysian universities resulting from interaction between contemporary external influences and local traditional practices. At the system level, the interaction between external ideology of neoliberalism and local ethnic-based politics has resulted in ethnized neoliberalism in the higher education system. Hybrid characteristics at the institutional level have been operationalized into the domains of governance and management, programmes and curriculum, teaching and learning, and research and service. Based on three types of universities in Malaysia – mainstream, Islamic and Chinese community-based – we argue that Malaysian universities are hybrid universities because many of the policies and practices are distinctively different from the Western academic models. Indigenization of the Western models had taken place resulting in unique form of university governance and management, Islamization of curriculum and the Asian cultural ethos of the campus in Malaysian universities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Through the reinforcement of shared assessment biographies, the provision of performance grades has been socially constructed as an operating imperative within the assessment practices of universities. The drive towards enhanced accountability through the production of quantifiable outcomes has also played a naturalising role in this practice. In so doing, it has ostensibly removed the need for debate surrounding grading practices in general and diverted focus to issues concerning the reliability and validity of assessment instruments and the resulting grades awarded. This article aims to examine the ubiquitous provision of performance grades from both a pedagogical and ideological perspective. It explores the current espoused function of letter and numeric grades within higher education against contemporary educational research and questions the relationship between performance grades and the broader, liberal educational goals of universities. Finally, the paper highlights alternative models and concludes by raising questions regarding the wider social value of university education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines individual and institutional characteristics which may influence the outcomes of university students’ careers. Withdrawals, course changes, delays and graduations of students enrolled in first-cycle degree courses in a large public university in Italy are examined. Individual longitudinal data from administrative archives were used, taking into account both the temporal dimension and the organisational and structural characteristics of the degree courses. Results indicate that the profile of a successful student is defined by both socio-demographic factors and pre-university educational experience. At course level, restricted access to courses, study fields and course size were important for students’ university careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promise of higher education remains elusive for many Indigenous students in Australia. To date, institutional efforts to improve the persistence and retention of Indigenous students have been largely piecemeal, poorly integrated and designed to remediate skill deficits. Yet, market-led expansion of Australian higher education is driving curricular reform and demands for accountability and quality. Despite this, very little is known about how teaching and pedagogy can be used to support the learning and persistence of Indigenous students. In this context, the paper provides a reconceptualization of current debates and positions that are currently bound up within the limitations of questionable binary divides and oppositions, for example, educational psychology/sociology, transmission/critical or decolonial pedagogies and Indigenous/Western Knowledge. Nakata's concept of the Cultural Interface is mobilized to acknowledge some of the nuances and complexities that emerge when Indigenous and Western knowledge systems come into convergence within the higher education classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a developed higher education quality assessment model (HEQAM) that can be applied for enhancement of university services. This is because there is no universal unified quality standard model that can be used to assess the quality criteria of higher education institutes. The analytical hierarchy process is used to identify the priority and weights of the model criteria and their alternatives. The model has 3 levels with 8 main objectives and 53 alternatives. It included e-services criteria, which is one of the recent modern university components, in addition to new sub-criteria for enhancing the model. It produces important recommendations for university higher authorities for achieving demanded quality services. A questionnaire was developed to examine the quality criteria for evaluating the model at King Abdulaziz University, as an applied case study. The model proposed is flexible and can be applied in many other universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The academic boycott against South Africa has had a limited success. The original idea was proposed by exiled South African students in the late 1950s and social science theorists supported the proposal. The central rationale for the boycott was the inequalities in access to higher education because of race. The paper examines the higher education system in South Africa today and relates it to the established dogma for imposing an academic boycott. It seeks further to establish an extended rationale based on modern sociology of science. The notion of science as a cultural and societal product opens new and radical ways of criticising South African science in general. The paper criticises the defending of a collaboration with South African science. It claims this bears the signs of a scientistic programme, a reminiscence of a technical rationality within the global scientific community. It reviews a number of sectors where science and the scientists are deeply involved in industry, business and government, and which are therefore pivotal for the prolongation of the racist government. It further urges South African scientists to reconstruct an ethically legitimate 'societal contract' with the majority of the South African population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a widespread interest in continuing education in higher education and strong support for its extension in universities. There has been a good deal of discussion of certain areas of continuing education, such as the development of part-time degrees and the provision of courses to increase access into higher education. The fortunes of the other components of this four-fold category, liberal adult and professional and vocational education (PEVE), have received rather less attention. This paper briefly reviews the current involvement of universities in the continuing education field and then goes on to examine recent developments in liberal education and PEVE. The obstacles to implanting continuing education in the mainstream of universities' activities, it argues, are often underestimated. Existing provision is handicapped by competing conceptions of purpose, lack of resources and organisational fragmentation. A greater degree of critical analysis and strategic thinking is required to provide a sounder rationale for continuing education development. The paper concludes with some tentative suggestions as to the future direction a balanced integrated provision might take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on British Council commissioned research in response to concerns about women's absence from senior leadership positions in higher education in South Asia. The study sought existing knowledge from literature, policies, and available statistics and collected original interview data from 30 academics in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. A central finding was that gender is not a category of analysis in higher education policy, research or statistical data in the region. Our interview data suggest that leadership was frequently not an object of desire for women. Being associated with particular types of masculinities, leadership often carried a heavy affective load for those women who transgressed patriarchal socio-cultural norms and disrupted the symbolic order of women being led by men. Leadership was frequently perceived and experienced by women in terms of navigating a range of ugly feelings and toxicities that depleted aspirations, well-being and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores how English universities operating in a ‘quasi-market’ are managing the tension between two policy expectations: the first that they should encourage social mobility by widening the social base of their student population; the second that they should compete with other universities to attract students and thereby remain financially viable, within the context of a stratified higher education system. In doing so we draw on widening participation access agreements submitted to the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and other publicly available material produced by eight universities in one region of England to analyse how universities from different mission groups are responding to these conflicting demands. We explore the extent to which institutional and resource dependency theories offer a framework for analysing universities' responses to such policy uncertainty. We conclude that while institutional and resource dependency theories are a useful tool to understanding both conformity and variation in universities' responses, these responses are difficult to predict without also analysing the specifics of the historical and cultural context of any particular institution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper draws on related research studies in two urban centres (Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia) with South Sudanese men and women engaged in varying degrees with higher education. The co-authors examine some gendered differences in the process and demands of resettlement, including within employment and education, and its implications for rapidly changing public versus private gender roles. We argue against essentialising discourses of the ‘liberatory’ nature of education in the west, versus constructions of ‘cultural knowledge’ as innate, burdensome, and less useful in western contexts. Drawing on Ahmed's critique of discourses of the ‘melancholy migrant’ which position western knowledges and gendered practices as progressive and therefore more desirable, the authors interrogate the possibility of multiple forms of knowledge and new migrants – especially South Sudanese – as enriched by their previous experiences and knowledges, rather than impoverished by them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 'National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030' in the Republic of Ireland (universally known as the Hunt Report) represents the latest and most assertive attempt by the Irish state to re-construct higher education in accordance with economic utilitarian objectives. This paper sets out to analyse the historical context, key themes and theoretical underpinnings of the report, locating it within a European and international context shaped by a dominant 'knowledge based economy' paradigm. This study draws upon broad narratives of public service refonn to offer an initial theoretical insight into contemporary higher education policies in Ireland. The report reflects long-term trends in Irish higher education policy, which promote a reorientation of higher education to serve economic objectives. We argue that the Hunt Report is much more a synthesis of existing policies and previous expert group reports than a manifesto for radical transformation of Irish higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam's higher education is highly centralized in terms of its governance and management. A couple of higher education reform plans have been introduced over the past decade but they seem to result in poor outcomes. This paper addresses the challenges faced in the areas of governance, quality assurance and finance by a ‘key’ university located in the middle of Vietnam. These are explored by means of a case study approach involving interviews with a cross-section of significant former senior managers, current senior managers and current middle managers. Reform at this university is proceeding at a very slow pace. The impediments are both institutional and national. The implications of the case study for the reform of higher education in Vietnam are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The dropout rate is an indicator of complex analysis and there is no consensus on its significance. Universities lack systematized, univocal methods for collecting student dropout data, making measurement problematic. In consequence, the formulas applied to analyze this phenomenon differ between countries and it is therefore an immense challenge to perform comparative studies. The aim of this paper is to provide a general overview of student dropout in Spain and in Catalonia compared to other international university contexts. Compiled data come from several reports produced by national and international organizations as well as by a research project funded by the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU). The perspective provided on how this phenomenon is being studied and dealt with in several contexts may help design actions to increase student retention and performance in higher education institutions (HEIs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 global financial crisis cast a long shadow over Ireland's higher education and research system. The IMF said Ireland experienced an ‘unprecedented economic correction’, while Ireland's National Economic and Social Development Office said Ireland was beset by five different crises: a banking crisis, a fiscal crisis, an economic crisis, a social crisis and a reputational crisis. Despite a return to growth, these circumstances provide the best explanation for the policy choices being undertaken as key actors struggle to sustain the publicly funded mass system, and reassert the country's position as a globally competitive knowledge society attractive to mobile capital and skilled labour. Whatever the outcome, it is unlikely that public funding for higher education will return to levels previously enjoyed. This paper examines the background and policy challenges confronting the government and higher education, and discusses the role of higher education researchers in helping shape options. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the features of the Soviet higher education system that have been crucial to the formation of the current system and then focus on the main changes that it has endured in the past 20 years. We pay special attention to the current challenges in the sphere of higher education and the counter-measures taken by the government and the academic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing the links between research and policy involves taking into account not only who the educational researchers are but also the context in which they act. In this paper, public higher education policies are analyzed, since they represent a principal object of study for researchers and a relevant sphere for their interactions with decision-makers. The group's constituent characteristics and the mechanisms they use to interact with decision-makers as advisers or public opinion makers are also analyzed. Identifying the topics that specialists have dealt with in the last few years, the contents of a shared agenda that will allow for a more profound strategic reflection and a reorientation of public policies are reflected upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the debate on sustainability in higher education through a project conducted in a single Scottish university that incorporated sustainability into undergraduate accounting education through the application of a real-world problem in the form of a social and environmental report. Data from study participants were collected through questionnaires, which were analysed and interpreted through the lens of knowledge creation. The results demonstrate an increase in awareness and positive response to sustainability issues from all parties. It further indicates that opportunities to shape and develop further sustainability initiatives are possible through a dialogical approach. Such an approach is shown to provide an opportunity for knowledge creation and the transfer of sustainability issues in a democratic and emancipatory way. It highlights the importance of developing spaces/opportunities for sustainability dialogue that not only transcend the boundaries of a specific graduate discipline but also the borders of higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest UK White Paper has once again focused attention on the quality of learning, teaching and professional development in higher education. Underpinning the discussion is the premise that teaching excellence and professional development are essential for all academics, in particular new lecturers, which are firmly positioned within the framework of quality enhancement. The research reported in this article focuses on new lecturers’ constructs of teaching, learning and research as identified by Kelly’s personal construct theory. The elicited constructs are considered with respect to the changing demands and expectations made of new lecturers within the higher education community and the implications these may have for higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper raises the question of what is an appropriate research model for studying higher education. It claims that while the traditional research model may be appropriate for situations where the researcher is outside the object of his or her research, the study of higher education by individuals within higher education is essentially reflexive self-study and would benefit from another model which we call the experiential model. We describe one form of this model, the inter-group exercise, derived from the Group-Relations tradition and our successive attempts to adapt and use it for the study of higher education. We show how it can metamorphose into a different model again—the model we call ‘serious play’. We conclude with a discussion on the nature of the ‘findings’ produced by this method and this entails describing a model of the whole research process, including the phases of dissemination and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of British higher education from the 1960s onwards has been achieved without any alteration in the ‘standard’ for entry of two ‘A’ levels or the equivalent—despite the serious technical problems of the examination and its liability to social bias. This standard symbolises the continued public support for ‘elite’ higher education, which is exemplified too in admissions procedures appropriate for an elite system, both in their ideology of personalised selection and in their lack of real diversity. The paper describes some of the drawbacks of the admissions process and the A level examination on which it relies, discusses its implications for the participation rate and for social inequality, and argues that alternatives such as access courses cannot be expected to produce a radical change in either respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses UCCA statistics to examine changes in the demand for entry to university education by mature students in the period 1974-80, in terms of numbers of applications, subject choice and chance of success in application. It concludes that mature applicants have not generally been as successful in obtaining university places as have conventional students, and that, although the number of mature applicants has increased every year, the proportion obtaining places has decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the use of computer assisted learning (CAL) techniques in higher education. The fundamental distinction in computer assisted learning is between learning about computers and learning with the aid of computers. In CAL, two major roles can be distinguished: the computer as a tutor, and the computer as a laboratory. In the tutorial role, the computer communicates directly with the students. In the laboratory role, the computer is treated as a learning resource rather than a teaching medium. There are four CAL paradigms presented in the paper: the instructional paradigm, the revelatory paradigm, the conjectural paradigm, and the fourth paradigm starts from the idea of the computer as a labor-saving device. To achieve these paradigms, students are exposed to the computer and it is in the process of interaction with the computer that the promise of the paradigms is achieved or not.