Restructuring tertiary education in Malaysia: the nature and implications of policy changes

The Malaysian Government is currently implementing policies aimed at major restructuring of tertiary education throughout the country. The stimulus for change derives from the needs of rapid economic development, and in particular a demand for a skilled and well-educated professional labour force, a long-established shortfall in the number of domestic places available in higher education, and a desire to raise participation rates. Measures include corporatisation of the universities in the public sector and active encouragement of state-owned enterprises and private corporations to establish universities in the private sector. While such changes represent a radical departure from the structure of the earlier system, retention of principles favouring such measures as affirmative action for student places and entry requirements for the majority bumiputera and promotion of Bahasa Malaysia as the predominant medium of instruction is likely to limit the effectiveness of the anticipated revolution in higher education which the Government proclaims this to be.     

Social Background and Education of Swedish and Finnish Speakers in Finland

This article analyses how social background affects completed upper secondary education and completed tertiary level education of Swedish speakers and Finnish speakers in Finland. Longitudinal register data are utilised. The results of logistic regression models indicate that the impact of socio‐economic and family background is strong and declines with education level. For upper secondary education, the impact of social background seems to have decreased over cohorts, which could be attributed to the education reform in the 1970s. The effects of background factors are very similar among Swedish speakers and Finnish speakers. In the Helsinki and Turku areas Swedish speakers have a higher upper secondary education propensity, whereas no such differences between language groups can be found in the other urban, nor in the rural, areas. Swedish speakers are more likely than Finnish speakers to have tertiary level education, which may be attributed to the relatively higher number of student places for Swedish speakers.     

Expansion without equity: An analysis of current policy on access to higher education in Brazil

Access to higher education in Brazil is to a large extent restricted to the higher socio-economic groups. Public universities have limited places and entry is determined by highly competitive exams, thereby excluding those who have not had a high quality secondary education or attended an expensive preparatory course. There has been considerable growth in the private sector to absorb the excess demand, but the majority of Brazilians cannot afford the fees. This paper develops a concept of equity in higher education in which, firstly, there should be sufficient places in the system as a whole and, secondly, all people should have a fair opportunity of attending the university of their choice regardless of socio-economic background. Recent efforts to expand access are analysed, including incentives for the growth of private universities, student loans and the new Prouni initiative, in which private institutions provide free places to low-income students in return for tax exemptions. While these initiatives have the potential to increase the total number of places, they will not lead to an equitable expansion, as disadvantaged students will still be confined to courses of lower quality or with lower subsequent value on the employment market. Initiatives aimed at the public sector such as the introduction of quotas and changes to entry examinations are also discussed. Finally, some implications for future policy development are outlined. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, Havana, 25th–29th October 2004.     

职前教师的实践性知识形成——基于实习的个案分析

职前教育是教师实践性知识的萌芽阶段。本文选取了信息技术职前教师教育实习这一关键场景,通过对实习生胡老师的个案描述,以叙事探究的方式分析了其实践性知识的形成与变化。研究发现,学徒观察对职前教师教学信念的影响是复杂的甚至是充满矛盾的,而在初次接触教学真实场景后,职前教师的生存关注一定程度上阻碍了其实践性知识的养成。研究建议,职前教师教育应更加重视对师范生教育前概念的揭示、分析,在课程上重视引导其实践规则与原则的建构,并通过提升其自我反思能力以进一步促进其实践性知识的养成。     

A collaborative governance approach to improving tertiary education in Papua New Guinea

Tertiary education in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is in a critical state, as the sector struggles to address increased demand for student places with severely curtailed capacity. Recent thinking about improving public services in PNG has emphasized “whole of sector” or collaborative governance. Such an approach in tertiary education has the potential to improve the sector’s outcomes within its existing resource constraints. This exploratory paper examines the challenges involved in applying a deliberate collaborative governance approach to tertiary education in PNG. In particular, two theoretical models of collaborative governance are employed to gain insight into possible issues through the consideration of four main criteria: power, incentives, history, and leadership. The paper shows that the challenges to introducing collaborative governance to PNG tertiary education are substantive, and that any effective effort will require committed leadership and a carefully measured strategy that acknowledges the country’s particular circumstances.     

Another Perspective on Assessing the Significance of Information Technology in Education

Summary

The significance of information technology in education is usually assessed or evaluated on terms of some measures of effectiveness. In different school settings the effectiveness is operationalized in different ways, and in the literature various methods of determining the effectiveness have been discussed (e.g., Secretary's Conference on Educational Technology 1999). In this article, models for assessing the significance of information technology in education based on the teachers' subjective perspective are introduced. Theoretical backgrounds of the models are based on methods developed in information management science to assess the impact of information technology (IT) in industry and business. The first model is comprised of categorizing the rationales for using IT in education, the second model assesses the strategic impact of existing IT applications on one hand and of future IT applications on the other on education, and the third model assesses the roles of applications of IT in teaching. Also, the empirical findings of a small scale test of the two latter models in the Teacher Training School in Rauma (TTSR), a primary school in Finland with about 260 pupils and 19 teachers, are introduced.     

Further Education Opportunities in Scotland for Young People with Special Needs

Abstract

In order to achieve rapid growth in student numbers, a number of Higher Education Institutions have borrowed some of the concepts of franchising from the private service sector. A franchise involves one party — the franchisor — developing a service and monitoring standards, whilst a second party — the franchisee, delivers the service in return for a share of the reward.

This article draws comparisons between private sector and higher education franchising and analyses the franchise strategies open to the HE sector. It concludes that if managed correctly, franchising will bring benefits to the higher education sector, colleges of further education and students alike. The uncertain start to higher education franchising mirrors the early days of private sector franchising, but like the latter, it has potential subsequently to achieve rapid mutually beneficial growth.     

Cost analysis of televised instruction for continuing professional education

As knowledge expands in many professional fields the provision of continuing education for full-time employed professionals becomes increasingly important. The Stanford Instructional Television System, which entails open air broadcast of programs received by students at their places of employment, represents a feasible alternative for accomplishing the taks of continuing education. The emphasis in this study is on the costs of the system. Costs and utilization for the years 1968 through 1974 are presented along with annual projections to 1987. Two types of cost models are used to analyze this data. The first model provides information of the change in annual total cost with increased student utilization and course hours. The second model provides information on the average costs per student per year, over any assumed project length from any initial year. The two models are consistent. The initial equipment investment was US $ 1,187,300. In 1974 recurrent costs were US $ 206,800 (exclusive of teacher costs) to service 3,762 students and produce 6,290 hours of programs.San Jose State University     

信息技术与课程整合 --论信息技术在中学英语教学中的应用

现代科技的飞速发展,不断地为教育提供更多、更新的技术支持．信息技术服务于教学,即信息技术与课程整合这样的改革已得到了广大教育工作者和学生的认同．英语是一门实践性很强的学科,网络信息技术作为学习的工具,优化了英语课堂教学,给学生提供更多的语言实践机会,本文主要对信息技术在英语教学中的重要性作用,对信息技术与英语课程整合的认识,信息技术与英语课程整合的方式进行了初步探讨．     

信息技术教育是素质教育的重要组成部分

从计算机基础教育到信息技术教育的变迁，是信息社会发展的必然结果，对照发达国家的标准，介绍了信息教育的内容，并结合我国高校的信息教育情况，指出了信息教育的内涵是以培养信息素养为核心，加强信息教育是全面实施素质教育的重要组成部分。     

Do our engineering students spend enough time studying?

In higher education one of the most important learning goals is deep understanding. Achieving this goal needs time and effort. The authors discuss their observations of student time use on the basis of several case studies which they have conducted in the field of engineering education in Finland. The time that the students spend studying is clearly less than has been stipulated in curricula. Also other time-use studies reveal controversy between the curriculum and actual studying. The authors raise questions dealing with reasons for this problem such as is the workload too high or are the courses too easy. The observations and discussion will hopefully motivate courses to be dimensioned more realistically when taking the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in use.     

Practical Experience of Blended Mentoring in Higher Education

The need of a guided and supervised learning has become the cornerstone of the new model of higher education. One response to such need has been the introduction of mentoring programs to facilitate student learning and to provide guidance. In this way, the main aim of our study is to determine the extent to which the implementation of information technology (IT) into a traditional mentoring program, improves students’ global satisfaction, and therefore its effectiveness. A survey was conducted of program participants’ overall satisfaction with the mentoring and also with each of the activities carried out. We concluded that the inclusion of IT in a traditional (face-to-face) mentoring model increases overall student satisfaction with the program, and thus its effectiveness. The findings obtained can serve as a resource to clarify the importance of educational interventions in the field of student guidance, to design new mentoring programs and to improve existing ones.     

Financing higher education in Colombia

All countries and particularly the less developed face serious difficulties in the financing of higher education. This has also been true of Colombia, where private higher education has grown more rapidly than the official sector to the point of accounting for 60% of total enrollment due to the State's inability to increase the number of its institutions and to provide them with growing budgets.Given the greater efficiency in expenditure demonstrated by private institutions, a comparison is made of their income and expenditure structure with that of public institutions and differences are established in order to define those areas in which greater internal efficiency can be achieved.In spite of the total cost of higher education in Colombia it is relatively low due to the prevalence of low salaries and lack of equipment or sophisticated facilities and due also to the fact that research is still in an incipient stage.Faced with problems of fairness toward lower income families that must pay more than they can afford, or on the other hand, those who could pay more but are receiving free state education, a state subsidy is proposed to carry out a direct transfer to the student, while all state universities would charge tuition that would cover the cost of instruction. This subsidy should be channelled through ICETEX, a pioneer institution in the world in the field of student financing through credit. Several sources of student financing are examined that reflect a more realistic way of responsibly subsidizing study.     

Finding the next ‘wave’ in internationalisation of higher education: focus on Malaysia

This article presents a case study of Malaysia’s inroad in internationalising its higher education system for the past three decades and proposes recommendations and the way forward in internationalisation. Internationalisation is one of the critical agenda in Malaysia’s higher education transformation with an end target of becoming an international hub of higher education excellence by 2020. The country is no stranger in internationalisation as efforts in student mobility, academic programmes and international collaboration have started since the 1980s and 1990s. As with other higher education systems globally, it was the private sector that initiated and sustained efforts in internationalisation of Malaysian higher education. With the growth in international student enrolment, the country has established itself as a student hub; however, greater focus and clarity in direction should be set forward in accelerating Malaysia’s progress in internationalisation, with research and development as a potential catalyst. The article also questions Malaysia’s current standing with regard to internationalisation and the need in facilitating higher education institutions to build their capacity in internationalisation, highlighting the important roles of individual institutions at both public and private sector that drive the country’s internationalisation agenda.     

美国高等教育助学贷款制度及其对我国的启示

随着高等教育门槛降低、规模扩大,贫困学生的数量急剧增加,提供助学贷款无疑是最主要的解决办法。美国是世界上助学贷款制度比较完善的国家,无论是贷款资助的学生数还是助学贷款总额均位于世界前列。为此,借鉴美国在助学贷款制度方面的成功做法对中国高等教育发展具有一定的现实意义。     

信息技术教育课程的改革与思考

信息技术教育开展以来,要改变对信息技术的认识不到位,造成信息技术教育相对滞后现代信息社会的状况,就必须对课程内容、课程地方化、课程创造性、学习选择性等进行一系列的课程改革,探索出新型的教学模式、教学方法:克服信息技术教育就是建网买设备的错误做法;更新观念,加强师资培训;注重信息技术教学在实践中的应用;正视制约信息技术教学的复杂性.     

Diversification in Argentine higher education: Dimensions and impact of private sector growth

Private education is a remarkably dynamic area of change in post-secondary education, particularly in Latin America. Evidence of growth in the number of private institutions and enrollment suggests that higher education is becoming increasingly diversified into two sectors – public and private. While this appears to be true throughout Latin America, and much of the developing world, recent evidence from Argentina casts doubt on the degree to which private sector growth trends may actually translate into a significant increase in the impact of private institutions in higher education, where impact is proxied by the relative share of student enrollment and graduates. This study explores the dimensions and impact of private expansion in Argentina, and places the findings in a comparative (regional) and theoretical framework. The analysis shows that, despite unprecedented growth in the number of private universities, the public sector remains the dominant provider of university education. Private institutions, while certainly more numerous and training a growing number of students, do not account for a larger share of university enrollment. They have, however, developed specific niches (e.g., in graduate level training and in urban areas). Significantly, following a pattern of institutional proliferation found throughout Latin America, some private universities offer elite alternatives to prestigious public institutions. The findings serve to qualify apparent `gains' in private higher education and to underscore the need for further research into the relevant intrasectoral (public and private) dimensions of change in post-secondary education.     

To profit or not to profit: the private higher education sector in Brazil

Brazil has by far the largest higher education system in Latin America, with a sizable share of students enrolled in private-sector institutions. Its recently established and fast-growing for-profit sector is one of the largest worldwide. The for-profit sector already surpasses the public sector in student enrollment, and its role is growing. Public policy has supported for-profit growth, ostensibly for tax revenue reasons, but the federal government has recently launched social initiatives that include tax exemption policies for the for-profit sector in exchange for need-based scholarships. Through exploratory data analysis, this study explores the role, function, and form of the for-profit sector compared with its nonprofit and public counterparts. The findings reveal that the for-profit sector shares some important characteristics with the nonprofit sector but contrasts sharply with the public sector. The study concludes that countries such as Brazil are moving toward public funding for private higher education to meet enrollment targets. These findings may be able to address issues in other countries by considering similar public policies toward private higher education.     

Lesson study: A collaborative approach to scholarship for teaching and learning in higher education

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning has become an important field of inquiry, focusing on the development of new and critical pedagogic approaches in higher education. It is a broad field leading to the emergence of a number of contrasting perspectives concerning the development of insights into teaching and learning. In this article, we explore the potential for Lesson Study to act as a framework for reflecting on and developing pedagogic practice in the university sector. Originating in Japan over a century ago, Lesson Study is a collaborative tool for analysing and developing understanding of student learning. This makes it an ideal tool for capturing and interrogating new and critical insights into teaching and learning. An outline framework is suggested for developing the use of Lesson Study in higher education and we discuss how it can form a positive methodology for extending the work of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.     

Private initiatives in higher education in Kenya

Africa's higher education crisis has prompted the growth of private institutions. Enrollments are very low and in most African countries do not account for a significant proportion of university enrollments. The largest number of private institutions are in Kenya which is the subject of a case study. Private institutions provide professional training in fields of employment opportunity but also offer an education that emphasizes character building functions of higher studies. Private higher education is expensive to provide and costly to attend. Many private institutions are caught in a dilemma. They can not achieve significant efficiencies by reducing instructional costs without damage to the quality of their programs, and they are reluctant to raise tuition and accommodation charges because of the distorting effects on student recruitment. As long as public higher education is provided at low or no cost and private higher education is entirely self-supporting, the private sector will have a peripheral role in higher education in Kenya and other African countries.