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This paper argues that student orientation (SO) is a high order construct that should be measured formatively rather than reflectively. Using a discovery-oriented approach, conducted by supplementing educational and marketing literatures with in depth interviews from 23 academic staff in seven different universities, the authors identified three second-order formative constructs and one first-order reflective construct to measure the concept of SO. The study then developed a self-administrated survey to validate the four identified constructs that form SO. Through using rigours statistical analysis, the study confirms that the measurement instrument for SO is the 53-item which can be validly and reliably measured using the nine multi-item components of: Measuring and Adapting Teaching Practices, Promoting Best Teaching Practices, Assessment and Feedback, Adopting Outside-In-Approach, Student Engagement, Employer Engagement Initiatives, Intrafunctional Coordination, Interfunctional Coordination and Effective Personal Tutoring System. The effect of SO on student satisfaction and university reputation was also hypothesised and tested using a structural equation modelling (SmartPLS 2.0)., Author(s): Ibrahim Alnawas[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Marketing Department, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan Introduction Different market forces have cast their shadow on the higher education (HE) sector. Such forces have [...]

The British Government white paper 'Excellence in Schools' and the subsequent report of the Advisory Group on Citizenship Education for Citizenship recommend that schools educate pupils in citizenship and democracy. This recommendation is considered in the context of reasons why there has traditionally been no formal or well articulated political education in schools. Among these reasons a pervasive antipathy to politics and to government is identified as one of the most powerful. This antipathy is expressed from the left and the right wings of the political spectrum, and the 'critical' opposition to both, as well as from interests such as those defending professional and personal autonomy. These arguments imply that 'politics' is optional, not a set of practices and institutions with which individuals must be familiar. It is argued that this proposition cannot be valid.

The politics of governance in higher education is dominated by a discourse of quality assurance which assumes the external regulation of academic activity to be the natural state of affairs. This article analyses the ideological origins of that discourse and its resonance with more general trends in the public management of welfare, the nature of the opposition from traditional university values, the stages in the translation of ideological advantage into specific forms of regulation, and the consequent shifts in the balance of power between the major players in higher education. Underlying this analysis is a framework which views the governance of higher education as an arena in which there is a continuing struggle for the control of high status knowledge through the functions of standard setting, evaluation and intervention.

A study of the understanding of various aspects of the nature of science among 793 15-year-old pupils in Britain shows that students understand science better when taught in school and consider explaining and imagining equally important for science. The class in which the students study and the way they answer the questions are significantly related to each other. Less than 50% of the students are able to describe an experiment accurately and only 20% can explain the theory on which the experiment is based. Different responses to questions show the cognitive interpretation of the students without any school knowledge.

The science curriculum's transition from primary to secondary school should be made as smooth as possible by focusing on early teacher training activities. Research to assess the needs of continuous education and to identify training requirements is described. The British government has emphasised the crucial tasks to be covered if the education system is to improve.

This article discusses findings from a small-scale, exploratory study into teaching methods used by UK university adult and continuing education tutors and into how these methods were perceived and experienced by a sample of students. The initial aim was to uncover trends in usage of experiential methods, but both students and tutors were more concerned about pigeonholing different teaching and learning methods, with labels such as 'experiential' and 'interactive.' Not many tutors used role-play, simulation, and games on a regular basis. The types of materials frequently discussed in the pages of Simulation & Gaming were conspicuous by their absence. A number of reasons were given for this, including the expectations and preferences of adult students. This became the focus of the second part of the research, which found that more traditional methods, especially lectures, predominated, with only a few respondents having experience of any others. There were some negative opinions and perceptions of more experiential methods, even among those who had never experienced them, as well as some confusion in the minds of the students. Students preferred what is described here as the 'interactive lecture,' where they can participate within the framework of what remains a tutor-led learning situation. KEYWORDS: adult education; continuing education; evaluation; experiential; interactive; student control; student participation; teaching methods; traditional teaching.

Social Work and other higher education courses in the United Kingdom regularly receive criticism involving racism, although the arguments used are repetitious, pessimistic and not at all useful. More black lecturers are needed to balance black students' experiences within the education process. Black students should be encouraged to express their views in a positive and constructive manner.

Formula-based funding by the Higher Education Funding Council for England encourages planning and ensures accountability but still results in grave anomalies. The formula used lacks a sound logical base despite clarity of function. A funding based on practical assumptions and logical deductions may produce a relatively fair distribution of funding and boost the confidence of research units.

This paper summarises changes in geographical education in the UK over the last 20 years, culminating in the inclusion of geography in the National Curriculum 5-16. Principles and priorities are identified for future developments in school geography, and the implications for teacher support and linkages with higher education are considered.

Since 1945 Britain's intelligentsia have rejected their country's history with a vengeance. They have rejected the past with a vehemence which is beyond the reach of reasoned argument. This has [...]

The contribution of Ninian Smart to religious education is discussed, with a focus on British religious education. Smart's arguments contributed to the undermining of confessional religious education and the establishment of a phenomenological approach in its stead.

Today businesses and potential employers can regularly be heard bemoaning the fact that many graduates emerge from university poorly equipped to deal with the demands of the workplace. This is [...]

Many public employees in the UK have been lured by the attractiveness of getting a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree at the expense of the employer. Public finance has become more businesslike and the need for MBA public sector managers have been increasing since the start of the course's popularity during the 1970s. However, MBA graduates are facing competition from another sector, the Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree graduates. MPA advocates believe that an MPA is more comprehensive than an MBA since the former deals specifically with relations between the public and private sectors.

UK food industry technical staff are being trained at the University of Worcester, UK, on a Higher National Diploma course designed to provide an industry overview for students. The course covers basic business skills, food hygiene, quality control and safety aspects within the food and drink industry. Further training may be continued if students which to enhance their career prospects.

Several universities and colleges have struggled to reap the benefits of private finances initiatives due to its stringent rules and requirements. Aside from the high cost of preparing finance initiatives, higher education administrators often fail to attract private lenders to venture into these kind of projects. PFI proponents, on the other hand, believe that these projects would easily be carried out if universities and colleges find the right partners in the market.

Transport planners are being urged to take a more active role in the delivery of good urban design by a partnership launched last week. The programme, funded by the Commission [...]

Paul Ryan [*] Lorna Unwin [**] British apprenticeship, now dependent on the Modern Apprenticeship programme, is compared in this paper to both German apprenticeship and its national predecessor, Youth Training. [...]

The analysis uses new data matching parents and their young adult children to study the impact of family background on young people's educational attainments. The data is derived from the first seven years (1991-97) of the British Household Panel Study. Parents' educational attainments are found to be very strongly associated with their children's educational attainments, and for an important part of the population these associations can be given a causal interpretation. In addition, young adults who experience single parenthood as children and those who come from families in the bottom income quartile have significantly lower educational attainments.

WHAT CAN BE DONE to encourage civic engagement in youth? The observations here draw on a ten-year study of citizenship education that I conducted in five countries: Denmark, Germany, the [...]

Department of Sociology and East Asian Insitute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, U.S.A. International Journal of Comparative Sociology Vol. 31 (1990) pp. 139-155 The paper empirically examines four propositions [...]

The 2001 Research Assessment Exercise in British universities is discussed. Topics include accountability, UK higher-education policy, the scientific model of research, debates over the nature of research, and effects on research quality.

I found Brian Caldwell's response to my article both illuminative and informative. He is quite right to point to the differences in the policy context between the United Kingdom and [...]