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This article synthesizes ideas that emerged over the course of a 10-week symposium titled "Teaching Reproducible Research: Educational Outcomes" https://www.projecttier.org/fellowships-and-workshops/2021-spring-symposium that took place in the spring of 2021. The speakers included one linguist, three political scientists, seven psychologists, and three statisticians; about half of them were based in the United States and about half in the United Kingdom. The symposium focused on a particular form of reproducibility--namely computational reproducibility--and the paper begins with an exposition of what computational reproducibility is and how it can be achieved. Drawing on talks by the speakers and comments from participants, the paper then enumerates several reasons for which learning reproducible research methods enhance the education of college and university students; the benefits have partly to do with developing computational skills that prepare students for future education and employment, but they also have to do with their intellectual development more broadly. The article also distills insights from the symposium about practical strategies instructors can adopt to integrate reproducibility into their teaching, as well as to promote the practice among colleagues and throughout departmental curricula. The conceptual framework about the meaning and purposes of teaching reproducibility, and the practical guidance about how to get started, add up to an invitation to instructors to explore the potential for introducing reproducibility in their classes and research supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on developments relevant to education in Great Britain as of October 1973. Nigel Grant, reader in education at the University of Edinburgh, joined the Editorial Board of "Comparative Education" magazine. The eight session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education was held in June 1973, which focused on "The Educational Needs of the 16-19 Age Group." UNESCO released its latest publication "Present Problems in the Democratization of Secondary and Higher Education." The Schools Council and the Standing Conference on University Entrance published the Working Paper 46, entitled "16-19: Growth and Response, 2. Examination Structure" and Working Paper 47, "Preparation for Degree Courses."

Hospitality management provision in higher education in the UK is well established, though most courses are overly concerned with developing "how to do" skills in graduates. This paper argues that this "how to do" culture is reinforced by student learning needs, as well as the industrial experiences and learning preferences of staff. This "how to do" agenda is also reflected in much research output. The paper reports briefly on the 2018 Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) research conference, and confirms that much research is practitioner linked and overly reliant on a narrow band of research methods. A more research-active academic culture would lead to more critical thinking in research methods as well as in course delivery and assessment. The inclusion of increased social science content in hospitality management programmes would also create a scientific underpinning to these courses that engage critical thinking. Finally, the paper suggests that programmes might benefit from the deliberate inclusion of topics that are purposely not relevant to the vocational mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the literature on degree-level education in Geography is concentrated on 'western' countries such as the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. This paper, in contrast, includes a strong focus on Turkey. Its aim is to compare the development of Turkish education in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with the UK experience. While identifying some common features, the paper also highlights important differences, particularly the extent to which Engineering, rather than Geography, has led GIS education in Turkey. The paper examines the reasons for this, and in reflecting on the possible relevance to Turkey of the UK experience, it sets out some potentially valuable ways forward in which Turkish Geography could strengthen its role in GIS provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is positioned at the junction between the requirements of the manufacturing industry for a significantly increased number of professionally registered engineers in the UK employment pool and the excellent work which is ongoing in and around the education sector to encourage more young people to follow a career in this field. Higher Education (HE) is a natural stepping stone between these two stakeholder areas of the skills pipeline and has an opportunity to make a unique contribution to ensure an effective HE engineering provision for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) engaged applicants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student dissatisfaction with assessment and feedback is a significant challenge for most UK Higher Education Institutions according to a key national survey. This paper explores the meaning, challenges and potential opportunities for enhancement in assessment and feedback within the authors' own institution as illustrative of approaches that can be taken elsewhere. Using a qualitative design, a review of assessment and feedback, which included an exploration of students' perceptions, was made in one College of the University. The findings highlighted variations in assessment and feedback practice across the College with dissatisfaction typically being due to misunderstanding or miscommunication between staff and students. Drawing on the review, we assert in this paper that students' dissatisfaction with assessment and feedback is not a 'tame' problem for which a straightforward solution exists. Instead, it is a 'wicked' problem that requires a complex approach with multiple interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the origins of the concept of personalisation in public sector services, and applies it to school education. The original conceptualisation stressed the need for ‘deep’ rather than shallow, personalisation, if radical transformation of services were to be achieved. It is argued that as the concept has been disseminated and implemented through policy documents, notably the 2005 White Paper, it has lost its original emphasis on deep personalisation. The focus in this article is particularly upon gifted and talented students whose education provides the best case example of how the theory of personalisation might work in practice. Two examples of the lessons in a sixth form college are used to illustrate the character of personalised pedagogy in practice. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioscience students in the UK higher education system are making increasing use of technology to support their learning within taught classes and during private study. This experimental study was designed to assess the role for multimedia interactive eBooks in bioscience laboratory classes, delivered using a blended learning approach. Thirty-nine second-year students on a Biomedical Science undergraduate course in a UK university were grouped using an experimental design into alternating trial and control groups and provided with pre-configured iPad tablet devices containing multimedia interactive eBooks. Data collection involved weekly surveys including quantitative and qualitative responses, and analysis of summative assessment marks. Analysis of the results using descriptive statistics methods showed that students made extensive use of eBooks in practical classes and over 70% of students agreed that the eBooks were beneficial for learning. However, less than 40% of students indicated a preference for eBooks over traditional paper protocols for practical-based classes. Although the eBooks were well used by students, they had no statistically significant effect on assessment marks. Overall, the study highlighted the positive feedback from students relating to multimedia interactive eBooks for supporting students’ learning, but illustrated that there are other factors affecting adoption of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the changing nature of professional practice in English further education. At a time when neo–liberal reform has significantly impacted on this under–researched and over–market–tested sector, little is known about who its practitioners are and how they construct meaning in their work. Sociological interest in the field has tended to focus on further education practitioners as either the subjects of market and managerial reform or as creative agents operating within the contradictions of audit and inspection cultures. In challenging such dualism, which is reflective of wider sociological thinking, the paper examines the ways in which agency and structure combine to produce a more transformative conception of the further education professional. The approach contrasts with a prevailing policy discourse that seeks to re–professionalise and modernise further education practice without interrogating either the terms of its professionalism or the neo–liberal practices in which it resides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the first policy paper regarding the use of computers in higher education in the United Kingdom. The publication of this paper represented the beginning of the field of learning technology research and practice in higher education. In the past 40 years, policy has at various points drawn from different communities and provided the roots for a diverse field of learning technology researchers and practitioners. This paper presents a review of learning technology-related policy over the past 40 years. The purpose of the review is to make sense of the current position in which the field finds itself, and to highlight lessons that can be learned from the implementation of previous policies. Conclusions drawn from the review of 40 years of learning technology policy suggest that there are few challenges that have not been faced before as well as a potential return to individual innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government has recently raised the issue of differential rates of participation in higher education. The overall aim of this paper is to present an example of the kind of detailed research necessary to identify factors associated with low rates of participation in higher education by some groups of young people. A number of studies have suggested that in addition to educational attainment, issues such as social class, gender and parental education also influence a young person's likelihood of entering higher education. In this paper we undertake exploratory analysis of a series of nationally representative data and through statistical modelling we then identify the factors that influence a young person's chances of entry into higher education and participating on a degree level course. Through sample enumeration, an innovative statistical methodology, we were then able to quantify the substantive effects of these factors. We found that net of educational attainment a number of factors (e.g. gender and social background variables) influence the likelihood of a young person entering higher education and participating on a degree level course. In addition our analysis highlights the interwoven effects of parental education and schooling and we discuss the complex nature of the effects of ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the latter part of the 1980s registered nurse education was transferred from hospital-based training to higher education in Australia and the UK. Examining this transfer process, analytical attention is focused on the contrast in subsequent funding arrangements for registered nurse education between the two nations. It is argued that the difference in funding arrangements can be explained by an analysis of two separate movements impacting on health care policy in both Australia and the UK: those of professionalisation in nursing and economic rationalisation. This paper discusses the implications of these movements and the subsequent differing educational funding arrangements in terms of the professionalisation of nursing in Australia and the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenges the conclusions obtained in James Murphy's recent article on British higher education which appeared in the `Oxford Review of Education' journal. Suspect interpretation of statistics; Selective reading of the literature; Weak conceptual foundations; Imperfection of markets for both vocational training and higher education.

Higher education systems need to rethink the way teaching content is delivered to face the evolution of education and breakthroughs in educational online services. One way in which systems can innovate is by allowing students to apply their knowledge to real research problems. The benefits are dual: the students work on highly innovative topics and real examples; and for teaching staffs, there is a seamless integration of their research into their teaching. We present a case study in the form of an observational analysis of an Engineering & Applied Science undergraduate lecture taught in the UK at master level and teaching skills in electronic and rapid prototyping. We present the rationale chosen to better integrate research aspects in the unit and the results of an observational study: we used thematic analysis to expose eight guidelines for better integration of research in teaching as well as consideration for higher education curriculums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National HE STEM Programme has funded the production of a series of guides on transition, induction and retention of students in STEM subjects. The guides cover transition to HE, the first year experience, social engagement, curriculum development to support retention, maths support, optimising the part-time experience, and using data to understand the issues. The paper discusses why the guides were produced and how the project was managed. The literature forming the general background to the project is presented, together with the research underpinning particular guides. The paper summarises the content of each guide, and discusses the lessons learned from the project as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is a key issue in Higher Education (HE). HE's approach to the overlapping challenges of sustainability will determine its future success. Sustainability research and policy at all levels recognise the need for deep changes to HE and student learning, yet these changes are largely missing from campus and classroom practice. This paper reports on collaborative, in-depth research with Transition Tours, a social enterprise emerging from the Transition Town Movement and considers its potential to foster transformational learning for sustainable education within Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) fieldwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the co-evolution of third stream activities in UK higher education from 1970 to 2008. Drawing on interviews and archival analysis it identifies four distinct periods through which third stream activities have co-evolved. The research suggests that the co-evolution of the third stream mission in universities is inextricably linked to the emerging requirement for universities to demonstrate they have a purpose in society. It concludes that the rise of third stream activities has presented both universities and government with a means of doing this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the introduction of access agreements following the establishment of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) has consolidated how English higher education institutions (HEIs) position themselves in the marketplace in relation to widening participation. However, the absence of a national bursary scheme has led to obfuscation rather than clarification from the perspective of the consumer. This paper analyses OFFA's 2008 monitoring report and a sample of twenty HEIs’ original 2006 and revised or updated access agreements (2008) to draw conclusions about the impact of these agreements on notions of ‘fair access’ and widening participation. The authors conclude that, unsurprisingly in an increasingly market-driven system, institutions use access agreements primarily to promote enrolment to their own programmes rather than to promote system-wide objectives. As a consequence of this marketing focus, previous differences between pre-1992 and post-1992 institutions in relation to widening participation and fair access are perpetuated, leading to both confusion for consumers and an inequitable distribution of bursary and other support mechanisms for the poorest applicants to HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications for places in UK Higher Education are usually made before the results of A-level examinations are known, so references from schools and colleges normally refer to expected (or predicted) grades. Inaccuracies in these predictions may be systematically related to key characteristics of the applicant and could lead to under-representation from various groups of students. This paper examines data on predicted A-level grades for 415 recently-enrolled university students. In contrast to the findings of previous studies however, we find that prediction bias is not particularly related to the gender, class or schooling of the student, but is closely linked to the predicted grades themselves—students predicted low grades performed above expectations, and vice-versa. The implications of this for current UK government initiatives intended to widen participation in Higher Education are considered briefly in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contract researchers constitute an expanding occupational group in UK higher education and contribute significantly to national research output Despite recent concern and debates over their marginal status and inferior conditions of employment, little is known about the actual complexities of contract researchers' working lives. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, an attempt is made to remedy this lacuna, by portraying certain kinds of occupational knowledge and practices utilised by social science contract researchers. The paper focuses on the understandings and strategies which are developed and refined as researchers attempt to sustain employment in a highly insecure realm. What is portrayed is not the technical expertise required for this kind of research, but rather the knowledge, acumen and action which are more informal, tacit and indeterminate. This paper examines the cognitive and interactional processes which need to be developed and combined with technical expertise, if employment is to be maintained in such a competitive and insecure field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, the marketisation of Higher Education (HE) increasingly constructs students as 'customers' rather than 'learners'. Prospective students are faced with an array of published material to enable them to compare and contrast the 'products' on offer from UK institutions, including the Government website, Unistats (http://unistats.direct.gov.uk), which provides at-a-glance information about each programme to help inform the choice of university. It can be argued that such marketisation constrains pedagogical aspects of HE provision and renders obscure the responsibilities required of each learner when considering the effectiveness of a programme of learning; raising challenges for managing the expectations of students. This paper examines the challenges to HE Institutions (HEIs) in ensuring that the provision they offer is evaluated and developed in more ways than simply as that of 'product'. The challenges to be addressed are discussed and a good practice example of using National Student Survey (NSS) data for quality enhancement is detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fieldwork is an important and often enjoyable part of learning in Bioscience degree courses, however it is unclear how the recent reforms to Higher Education (HE) may impact the future funding of outdoor learning. This paper reports on the findings from a recent survey of 30 HE Bioscience practitioners from across the UK. Their current level of fieldwork provision and factors affecting this provision in the future were explored. The data showed that the level of fieldwork had remained similar over the past five years and this was set to remain so over the next academic year and also into the next five years (when it may even increase). Funding of fieldwork was under review in most institutions due to the increase in student tuition fees and it was found that in some cases the cost of compulsory fieldwork will be subsumed within the overall course fee. Many influencing factors were discussed, but the most frequently raised topics were that of the development of employability skills during fieldwork and its importance in attracting and retaining students. Both topics are high on the agenda of HE institutions going forward into the new funding model, suggesting that fieldwork will remain a central part of the Bioscience curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provision of higher education for international students has become an important source of income for Western universities and these students have attracted research attention. Based on an evaluation of international students as tourists, by conceptualising the international student experience in relation to different tourist experiences theorised in the existing tourism literature, this paper considers the experience of international students from developing countries at one British higher education institution. It reports the results gained from an empirical survey. The research indicates a high level of student satisfaction, although there is still much scope for improvement of particular facets; for example, language concerns and the mixing of UK-domiciled students with those from overseas. The conclusion focuses on the potential and implications for British universities to use the research results to highlight positive experiences and encourage good practice, and also provides some suggestions to international students on how to study and live in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, within the higher education system in the United Kingdom, there has been close examination of the way institutions teach and assess students. This scrutiny has been intensified by central government with the proposed introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The anticipated TEF demands that higher education institutions evaluate their teaching and learning practices and think of new ways to develop excellent student experience. Self-determined learning has resurfaced as a popular approach in the higher education sector. At the centre of self-determined learning is the concept of heutagogy. This approach enables the student to apply what they have learned in an education setting and relate it to the workplace. The aim of this paper is to critically explore the theoretical framework behind the self-determined learning approach. The authors of this paper argue that, from a social science perspective, a determined learning approach is in the best place to provide a contemporary, exciting teaching and learning experience in a competitive higher education market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rapid growth in UK postgraduate education and a current focus on issues of access to higher education, consideration of possible social class differentials at the postgraduate level is missing from the sociological literature. Using Higher Education Statistics Agency data, this paper presents a preliminary investigation of the relationship between social class and progression to postgraduate study in England and considers the interplay with other salient variables, including subject of study, institutional type and first–degree achievement. Evidence of a social class differential in progression to higher degrees is used to test various sociological theories, particularly those proposed by Bourdieu. There is support for the concept of ‘institutional habitus’ developed in recent UK studies. It is concluded that there is scope for further in–depth empirical research into social class and postgraduate study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship in education beyond school has developed largely outside university departments of education, and has rarely engaged systematically with the study of education in schools. The paper concentrates on three areas: adult education, higher education, and further education. The development of the extra-mural tradition meant that adult education was less an object of scholarly study than a means of spreading scholarship to the wider population, with important exceptions such as historical studies. Since the 1970s, the volume of research and postgraduate education in adult education in British universities has grown considerably. The study of higher education was marginal until the 1960s; its subsequent development was relatively slow until the 1990s, when the quality of university teaching came under wider external scrutiny. The study of further education and vocational training is characterised by disciplinary fragmentation, with much activity taking place in departments of psychology, economics, sociology and management, as well as in those former polytechnics that specialised in training further education teachers. The rise of integrative concepts such as lifelong learning suggest greater potential for crossdisciplinary scholarship that can engage the diverse body of those interested in teaching and research about this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the peer review and quality control in higher education in Great Britain. Aim of the government to inform students, employers and those in education about the quality of teaching and learning being offered; Need for public accountability for the substantial public funds invested in higher education; Complexity of the notion of quality in education.

This article examines changes in the culture of universities in Great Britain. The government's White Paper, "Higher Education: A New Framework," aims to encourage the youth to participate in university education. Through it, the government adopted and promoted a polytechnic type commitment to quality in teaching, course design and efficiency and to the widening of access to the university system. The country's education system has awakened to the idea of student centered learning through modular degree patterns. The British university in the future could well be a modular regional and yet international centre of learning and excellence.

Focuses on the concept of quality control in higher education in Great Britain. Need for proper accountability for the substantial public funds invested in higher education; Analysis of quality assurance into a number of components amongst which are quality control, quality audit and quality assessment; Importance of the choice of institution in which to pursue higher education for personal happiness and professional satisfaction.

This section presents several articles offering sociologists' views on cuts in British higher education as of 1984. John Brennan contributes a nation-wide view of the cuts in the public sector, outlines institutional policies and prejudices and suggests strategies for survival. His paper also shows that the distinctive ecology of public sector higher education poses both threats and opportunities for sociology. Meanwhile, Alan Waton provides a macro-view of the UGC action. Rosemary Deem writers of her experience as a County Councilor involved in working for the retention of courses in a public sector college and provides the only contribution with a happy ending. Also Ivan Reid discussed the problems and potentials of strategies for survival. According to Brennan, there never was a golden age for the polytechnics. He further said that they have experienced cuts and financial stringency over a long period of time. He also said that the effects have been gradual and have become almost taken for granted. Ivan Reid stated that it is difficult to establish whether sociology and sociology of education face threats over and above that posed to higher education in general. The intimate relationship of sociology of education with teacher education has meant that it has shared the fate of closures and cut-backs with the other disciplines of education and faced many of these well before the present situation.

The article focuses on increasing prevalence of hierarchical and centralised management structures in the development of Great Britain's higher education. Topics discussed include neo-liberal transformation of Great Britain, necessity of internal authoritarianism, and marketization of higher education to penetrate the University of Warwick in Warwickshire, England.

Although the famous Blair mantra 'education, education, education' was applied by his government mainly to the compulsory education sector, there was no shortage of initiatives in Higher Education (HE). The scene was set by the Dearing Report in 1997 which effectively determined the direction of Blair's first term. The second term enabled Blair to pursue further an agenda of public sector reform, yet the simultaneous commitment to market principles of choice and diversity and to social inclusion created major tensions and dilemmas. Funding the expanded HE was the stimulus which led to Dearing, and has continued to be the major challenge of the ten-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computing, Computer Science and Information Science are the nearest UK equivalents of the European Informatics degree. Informatics is a term more often associated with research or multidisciplinary applications of Computing. Barely five percent of UK departments concerned with the discipline actually use the word Informatics in their title, and potential students searching the application clearing house for university undergraduate courses would not find Informatics in its subject index. However the components of European understanding of the Informatics discipline are widely researched, taught and studied throughout UK Higher Education. If we are to support mobility of study in Europe or to successfully pursue international educational collaboration, then understanding the realisation of the discipline in the UK and how it relates to understanding in other countries, is important and necessary to support constructive future discussion, planning and action. This paper presents data collected via surveys of existing practice, individual interviews and group discussions. It summarises and analyses the structure of current practice, and draws on current debate and technological trends to suggest future direction of our fields of study in the short and medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Widening participation' and increasing student diversity are currently key concerns across the higher education sector, and particular attention has been drawn to the persistent under-representation of working-class students within British universities. It is thought that widening participation in higher education (HE) can result in a number of social and economic benefits, at a national level, for under-represented social groups and for individual participants. Less is known about the viewpoints and understandings of working-class non-participants, such as whether 'official' perceptions regarding the value of HE are shared or contested. Focus group discussions were conducted with 109 non-participant Londoners, aged between 16 and 30 years, from a range of working-class backgrounds. Findings focus upon non-participants' constructions of risks, costs and benefits during application, participation and graduation. These perceptions of 'value' are discussed with relation to widening participation strategies amongst ethnically diverse 'working class' groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides validated statistical information and a delineated historical context on doctoral degrees in the humanities in Great Britain. Use of computerized database of candidates; Rates of completion and submission; Length of time taken; Students' nationality, gender and age.

Describes trends in access to higher education in Great Britain, taking into account factors of social class and gender. Expansion of the tertiary education system; Access to institutions and qualifications; Late entry.

Examines several areas in American higher education which offer lessons for Great Britain's education policy makers. Alternative approaches to teacher education; Quality control and monitoring of education indicators; Access to higher education.

This study explored the use of video screencasts to supplement written feedback with a small cohort of early-career academics (n = 29) undertaking a postgraduate programme aligned to the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching in higher education. The aims were to support the academics' professional development following their summative assessment as well as introducing the technology to inform their own feedback practice. Whilst staff, as learners, were positive about the video feedback, only 50% would consider providing it to their students. They would, however, consider other ways to incorporate video screencasts into their teaching. In addition, the differences between the marks awarded for the first and second assessment were analysed and compared to those of a previous cohort (n = 32) that received written feedback only. The findings would suggest that in spite of positive perceptions about video feedback, there were no differences in performance between the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning gain is considered to be the distance travelled by students in terms of skills, competencies, content knowledge and personal development. This article discusses the administration experience and tests results from a first year cohort of 675 students at the University of Lincoln who undertook a self-assessment and standardised psychometric test as part of a project to develop measures of learning gain in UK higher education. The tests themselves are shown to be potentially suitable for this purpose however the biggest challenge was student participation and engagement. Various approaches to improve engagement were trialled. Whilst some of these approaches are shown to increase the number of responses, there is no evidence that they increase meaningful task engagement, leading to the conclusion that until this challenge is addressed the validity of learning gain data from bespoke tests is potentially questionable and the value of participation to students as individuals is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the current use of case studies in the teaching of Operational Research (OR) in the UK: how and where they are used; how they are developed; and whether there is an interest in training this area. It is aimed at lecturers teaching OR who are using or planning to use case studies in their teaching. It may also be of interest to policy-makers who wish to know what is being done in OR. The article focuses on the results of a survey sent to lecturers of OR in higher education in the UK. These are combined with an examination of the literature on using case studies in teaching in general and a small number of specific examples of how case studies are used in OR teaching. Case studies are included in OR teaching in a variety of ways and to develop a range of skills; particularly the ability to transfer academic knowledge to real-life contexts. The article identifies that the most significant barrier to the use of case studies in OR teaching is the development of new case studies; suggestions are made to address this, including providing training and collaboration opportunities. Overall this article provides an assessment of the ways in which case studies are used in OR; the advantages and limitations of using them; and specific examples of their use which will provide ideas to assist in improving OR teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses changes in Great Britain public policy and position of higher education within it. Topics discussed include neo-liberal knowledge regime in higher education, marketization of higher education and social democratic knowledge regime. Also mentioned are the Great Britain Education Act of 1944, transparent approach to costing (TRAC) and full economic costing (FEC).

Background: This study consists of an analysis of the conceptions that teacher educators have of their work, identifying the relationship between their professional identities and their views of the professional qualities of the future teachers. Method and design: Semi-directive interviews with 19 teacher educators of a primary education teachers course were held, and qualitative analysis was undertaken. It was important to listen to the teacher educators in terms of meanings that were indicative of their identities, of their conceptions of teaching in primary education and of the corresponding professional teachers. Findings: The findings are grouped into four categories of professional identities of teacher educators: academic, cooperative, dual and supervisor (the latter two being mediating identities), and those different conceptions about school education and teacher professional work. The conceptions show similarities and divergences in terms of the knowledge that they think is important, their beliefs and personal values, the matters that they problematise and their performances as professional trainers and educators of future teachers. Conclusions: These findings enable us to understand that the identity of teacher educators, in the case studied, is largely built on a foundation of past and present experience gained in the field of school education. The exception is of the academic sort of teacher educators, whose identity appears to be based on the restricted area of initial teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background:Within Higher Education in the United Kingdom (UK), programme leaders are under increased pressure to be more productive and are expected to undertake a complex range of demanding activities. However, perceptions of the role through the lens of the programme leader have not been explored sufficiently. Clearly, a university’s ability to enhance and sustain improvement in programme delivery depends largely upon its ability to nurture and foster professional learning, most notably at a programme level. The need for a review of programme leader training and support was reinforced through the experience of facilitators at programme leader workshops at one Higher Education Institution in the UK. Critically, these workshops highlighted a need to review and enhance the preparation and on-going training and support available to programme leaders. Aim:The overall aim of this study was to explore the role of the programme leader, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of what the role involves and a detailed appreciation of the knowledge and skills required to discharge the role effectively and efficiently. Such insight would inform the review of the provision of initial and on-going training and support workshops for new and experienced programme leaders. Indeed, the ultimate aim was to drive improvements in programme leader performance. Method:A qualitative design was selected to allow the complexity of the programme leader role to be explored and captured. A purposeful sample (n = 25) was recruited from a range of newly appointed and experienced undergraduate and postgraduate programme leaders and associate deans with academic quality assurance and learning and teaching expertise across seven schools in one post-1992 university in England. In total, four semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. A modified version of the data analysis method advocated by Chenitz and Swanson was employed to examine the data. Findings:Four dynamic, interrelated conceptual categories form the basis of the emergent findings. These areOperational Diversity, which addresses the different duties carried out by participants, highlighting certain tensions in their ability to meet the demands placed upon them;Interaction with Others, which identifies the diverse range of stakeholders that shape and impact on the multifaceted programme leader role and highlights the importance of collaborative working;Mechanisms of Support, which describes the training and personal development experience of the participants and the extent to which it matches their needs; andRequired Knowledge and Skills, which considers the need for initial and on-going training to enable programme leaders to meet the demands of this role. Conclusion:Examination has revealed that within an ever-changing Higher Education sector in the UK, the role of a programme leader is not without challenge as most have to deal with complex academic, pastoral, moral, administrative and pragmatic decisions on a daily basis. Moving forward must involve bespoke preparation and on-going training and support. Specific emphasis should be placed on opportunities for self-reflection, debriefing and the sharing of experiences with peers. At the heart of on-going training and support should be the strategic engagement of students, professional staff and other key personnel from services offered across a university. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Measuring the student experience is becoming increasingly important in higher education in the UK. Student experience surveys are used as indicators of quality and form the basis of rankings of higher education institutions. They are also used by them as tools to assist their quality enhancement initiatives. However, these surveys frequently suffer from low response rates, which can reduce the reliability and usefulness of their data. The UK Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is a relatively new survey and suffers from a low response rate. As this survey is new, little is known about why students do not respond to it. Purpose This study aimed to explore the reasons why postgraduate students do not respond to the PTES. Sample Three hundred and fifty-five postgraduate taught students from four health faculties in one UK higher education institution completed an online survey. Of these, seven participated in one of two focus groups. Design and methods The online survey was completed both by students who completed the PTES in 2011 and those who did not. This provided us with cross-sectional data to compare both groups’ knowledge of PTES and their reasons for completing or not completing it. We used multivariate regression analysis to explore which variables were associated with response to PTES. We led two focus groups to explore the themes that emerged from the survey in more depth. This data was analysed by two researchers using thematic analysis. Results The cross-sectional data found that students who were not clear about the purpose of PTES were less likely to respond, independent of other potential predictor variables. Focus group data indicated that if postgraduate students felt a stronger connection to the university community they may be more likely to respond to PTES. Conclusions This study suggests that higher education institutions may wish to review their strategies for advertising student experience surveys to focus more on their purpose rather than their impact. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Occupational therapy pre-registration education stands at the intersection of the fields of health and social care and higher education. UK Government agendas in both fields have seen an increase in the number of students entering with non-traditional academic backgrounds, a group noted to experience particular challenges in negotiating the transition to, and persisting and succeeding within, higher education. Drawing on data from an ongoing longitudinal case study, a Bourdieuian lens is applied to exploring the early educational experiences of a group of these students during their first year of study and highlights a number of key issues, including the high-value status of linguistic capital and its relationship to understanding the rules governing practices within the learning environment, the processes via which students manage to adapt to or interestingly, to resist, the dominant culture of the field, and some of the barriers to finding a foothold and legitimate position within the new field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a contribution to the sociology of an expanded and newly diversified UK higher education system. How differentiated is the student experience? How sharply is the system polarised? Drawing on interviews and questionnaires conducted in five sociology departments in a variety of pre-1992 and post-1992 universities, it examines students' views on 'what they learn' and their orientations to study. It explores differences in curriculum content and organisation and the extent to which student narratives and identities vary with differences in institutional context. A typology of student experiences and subject engagement is advanced that as well as capturing institutional differences also locates a range of student orientations - and worthwhile student experiences - in all five departments that suggests a somewhat greater commonality of experience and outcome across institutions than the extreme polarisation of institutional experiences and outcomes sometimes suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We detail the research, development and initial outcomes of an intervention process to promote capability building in designing for e-learning at a dual mode university in the UK. The process, called CARPE DIEM, was built on a pilot study and became a Higher Education Academy 'Pathfinder' project named ADELIE. We report on the model workshop, its deployment, research and development over a 12-month period with a variety of subject groups working in small teams with learning technologists, pedagogical facilitators and librarians. Outcomes include improved scores on an institutional e-learning benchmarking exercise and increased capability for designing for online activities for students in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The model is stable enough to be tried in other institutions and continues to develop in scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK Government is calling upon higher education students to see their learning as an investment that will give them direct benefits in the labour market. At the same time, the relationship between educational credentials and their returns in labour market has been changing in recent times. Based on a qualitative study with 53 final-year undergraduate students in a pre-1992 university, this article examines the way higher education students understand the role of their educational credentials in relation to their future employability. It shows that students perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes in what is perceived to be a congested and competitive graduate labour market. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on graduate employment points to cross-national similarities regarding the comparative advantage of higher education, but also to quality differences in initial employment positions. This article asks what makes for a good start after higher education and provides an institutional perspective on the specific "production mechanisms" of graduate career mobility in different countries. It argues that the occupational specificity of higher education is vital for establishing either a close or loose link to the labor market, and, accordingly, for shaping early labor market careers. To test this assumption empirically, it analyzes how the organization of professional and management training influences graduate career mobility in two countries that are significantly different in their degree of occupational specificity--Great Britain and Germany. The institutional analysis points to a tight link between higher education and work in Germany and a loose one in Britain. However, the application of discrete time piece-wise constant hazard models to the German Socioeconomic Panel and two British cohort studies (the National Child Development Study and the British Cohort Study 1970) reveals that the picture is more complex than initially assumed. The degree of occupational specificity can explain only the German pattern, where graduates are experiencing more job continuity and higher employment chances in professional and managerial positions than their British counterparts. In Britain, the more turbulent transition from higher education to work depends on a mixture of occupation-specific training and demographic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education (HE) in Germany and the United Kingdom is being continually subjected to the discipline of market forces. An empirical study was conducted using questionnaires with academic staff in 12 institutions in each country to discover the extent to which their values and attitudes were converging and were in keeping with what might be expected within a marketized system. Academics in both countries felt that HE was seriously under‐resourced, yet they were not strongly in favour of increased executive power for their leaders; they believed that the good functioning of their higher education institution (HEI) was impeded by excessive state‐sponsored interference, but did not agree that their HEIs should act more commercially and entrepreneurially. The British especially were opposed to greater privatization of the system. Attitudes in keeping with a market force philosophy seem to be superficially embedded in the value system of these academics, and though the British were more stressed, more hard‐worked and suffered from a status‐deficit in comparison with the Germans, there was no statistical difference between the two groups on a summative judgement of professional satisfaction. There appears to be an underlying professional ethos that enables the academics to remain positive despite the turbulence that market forces may cause, though their dedication may also make them vulnerable to exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]