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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in knowledge society by providing and disseminating knowledge. In this regard, academics have been encouraged to collaborate with society, leading to the emergence of new modes of knowledge production. Several institutional and individual factors have been identified as determinants of the academic engagement. Hence, using data from a survey delivered to a representative sample of Portuguese academics, this paper analyses the influence of different modes of knowledge production, institutional diversity and individual characteristics on distinct dimensions of academic engagement (Formal Research Collaboration; Informal Dissemination of Knowledge; Commercialization of Knowledge; and Teaching-related Activities and Supervision of Students). We propose as research hypotheses the existence of an influence of individual academics' values, identity and types of knowledge on the engagement with society, addressing them using a linear regression. Results suggest the influence of CUDOS, (i.e. communalism, disinterestedness and organized scepticism) and PLACE, (i.e. proprietary, local, authority, commissioned and expert) on academic engagement, although this influence differs according to distinct dimensions. The findings also reveal differences according to the type of institutional affiliation. Moreover, the study confirms the relevance of individual characteristics in explaining different forms of academic engagement, such as gender, discipline and seniority. Since the results do not align entirely with the theory, this paper may be of particular relevance to launch a discussion around the type of engagement higher education institutions intend to promote and how far their own characteristics and those of their academics may influence such engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to create a new scale with a validated construct to measure professional identity development in students being prepared to become new practitioners. Using the new survey instrument (named the Professional Identity Five-Factor Scale), data were collected from a polytechnic with students enrolled in a wide range of professions. The confirmatory factor analysis found the construct valid and stable across independent samples from the same student population. When the sample was divided into two groups (high and low scores) based on the overall Professional Identity score, the stronger professional identity group scored significantly higher than the other group in all five factors. Our analysis also found the measure reliable using coefficientHas the indicator. Besides a new scale to measure, the underlying construct can also be used as a general guide or framework for the development and evaluation of professional education programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examined the examination cheating behaviors and attitudes of students in a polytechnic in Ghana. The influence of personal factors on academic dishonesty was assessed using descriptive and inferential statistics following the administration of questionnaires to a cross-section of 384 students selected conveniently. Copying of answers among students was the most common method of cheating during examinations. A statistically significant proportion of male students than female students self-reported academic dishonesty. Engineering students self-reported more academic dishonesty than hospitality students did. Students were indifferent toward reporting observed peer cheating. Peer cheating was found to be a strong predictor of academic dishonesty alongside intention to cheat. This implies that examination cheating will become recurrent and rampant among students unless it is made costly by enforcing punitive measures to serve as deterrent to students who observe peer cheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Singapore Polytechnic underwent a period of both rupture and adaptation as British advisers worked with the post-colonial government to facilitate technical education reform and Singapore’s transition to a nation-state. Established in 1958 and based on the metropolitan model, the Singapore Polytechnic constituted an imperial project for orderly development and decolonisation. It encountered criticisms from nationalists for its colonial links and a brief period of conflict between the advisers and the post-colonial People’s Action Party (PAP) government, underlining colonial Singapore’s uneven transition to its post-colonial future. However, the PAP quickly repaired its relationship with the advisers to plan the next phase of the Polytechnic’s development into a technical university in the 1960s. Unlike many other cases, the history of the Singapore Polytechnic suggests that technical experts, while tied to political interests, did not always fail. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]