Continuing education and the universities in Britain: The political context

The starting point for this paper is the current ambition in Norway and other countries to increase the rate of entry into higher education of mature students. Intransigency amongst suppliers of higher education on entry standards means that any such increase must involve a greater preparedness amongst adults to pursue access to higher education via participation in higher secondary education. The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of the preparedness of adults, or lack of it, to pursue access to higher education through participation in the examination‐based higher secondary education (HSE) for adults. In doing so we must confront the general underutilization of theory in research into participation in adult education coupled to the failure by researcher and theoretician alike to acknowledge the heterogeneity of the field. The article develops a conceptual framework of perspectives on participation in HSE for adults within which the core perspectives are derived from the prevailing theoretical approach to understanding participation in adult education, viz. the motivation‐barriers paradigm. We argue, however, that these perspectives are ultimately only of intermediary status, and that a conceptual framework that does not include their major causal antecedents would be overly reductionist. The framework contains therefore perspectives of a sociological character that not only shed light on the development of the necessary motivation for participation in HSE for adults, but that also seek to account for the structural forces that hinder participation.     

The research environment of universities

Part‐time study is one of the foci of the widening participation agenda in the UK. The experiences of part‐time students, however, have received remarkably little attention from scholars, especially in a comparative context. This paper explores existing historical data going back over a decade to identify the main themes of part‐time experience at a number of UK higher education institutions and how it compares and contrasts with the full‐time experience. The surveys use the Student Satisfaction Approach. The main themes emerging from institutional survey data over time are the work/family/study balance, assessment and feedback, access to learning and catering resources, and students' financial situation. There is sometimes a question of identity, but unlike many studies of part‐time student experience, which focus on aspects of disadvantage, social, and cultural capital, the data for this paper indicate that many part‐time students have a sense of themselves as being ignored or at worst marginalised in contemporary higher education.     

The research function of universities in Japan

Japan has long led the trend towards privatization of Research andDevelopment (R&D). With the recent establishment of corporate R&Dfacilities overseas, this has become more international in character. Therelative impoverishment of Japanese academic science has only recently begunto be addressed by the government. Despite the neglect, there appears to bea gradual increase in Japanese academic research, but international researchcollaborations are still quite limited in number. There are growing tieswith industry, but industry has been slow to recognize the value of graduateschool training. Stronger links may promote greater research activity, butwithout reforms to the structure of the education system and Ministry ofEducation policies, Japan will not be prepared to meet the challenge of the21st century, and the need for a highly-skilled, innovative workforce.     

The research orientation of British universities

British universities differ considerably in the strength of their research orientation. Those of higher prestige tend to have a stronger orientation towards research, while those of lower prestige have a weaker research orientation, A university that is strongly research oriented in one group of subjects is likely to be so in the others it teaches too. It is the conventional wisdom that a good researcher is likely to be a good teacher at undergraduate level, and the negative relationship between the degree of research orientation and undergraduate wastage rates provides some slight support for this. The relationship between research and teaching seems to be more an indirect one (that anyone with the ability to do good research is likely to have the ability to teach well at university level) than a direct one (research makes a university teacher a better teacher).     

两次学术革命与研究型大学的发展

科学研究被引入大学的第一次学术革命 ,造就了研究型大学。此后科学研究这一大学(主要是研究型大学 )的社会职能逐步走向职业化和专业化 ,从“小科学”步入“大科学” ,研究型大学也由此在今天成为新知识与新经济的策源地 ,以致人们提出大学正经历着把经济发展也引为学术使命的第二次学术革命。     

全面从严治党背景下高校廉政档案建立与管理研究——以广西高校为视角

开展廉政档案建设,是新形势下高校党委、纪委贯彻落实全面从严治党工作的重要抓手,是创新纪检监察监督方式的重要体现。本文立足高校纪检工作实际,着眼于廉政档案的建立与管理,重点探讨廉政档案收集、整理、保管、鉴定等内容。     

高校科研管理评价机制的研究

高校科研工作的开展需要有良好的保障机制。当前,高校科研管理评价机制存在与科研工作的实际需求不相适应、理念落后、缺乏灵活性等现象。高校要合理有效地整合科研管理资源,不断创新和完善科研管理评价机制,以推进科研成果的转化,有效提高科研管理的水平。     

The rankings of research funding among universities in Taiwan

With the current trend that universities around the world have gradually stepped into higher education systems of popularization, there has been more diversity in universities; hence it has become necessary to increase the transparency of university governance. Since that university classification or university ranking is a powerful mechanism to demonstrate the diversity of an institute, the rankings of research funding have become desirable and also of great value. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the rankings of research funding among universities in Taiwan, and make relevant suggestions based on the findings. A secondary data analysis was conducted on the data obtained from the database of National Science Council, in order to develop the rankings of research funding among 164 universities in Taiwan. Based on the results, the conclusions are as follows： （1） The top three universities which won the funding of the National Science Council Research Project with the best overall strength were National Taiwan University, National Cheng Gung University, and National Chiao Tung University; （2） The top three universities which won the funding of the National Science Council Research Project with the best average faculty strength were National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, and National Taiwan University. It is suggested that, when rating the strength of a university to win the research funding, both overall strength and average faculty strength should be considered to avoid the unfairness towards universities of smaller scale.     

The research assessment exercise in English universities, 2001

At intervals of 3–4 years, researchquality in English universities has beenexternally reviewed 5 times over the past 16years. Assessment is based on peer-review ofmaterial submitted by universities to 70separate subject panels. The principalcomponent is information on research output,usually publications, from all academic staffidentified as ``research active'. Researchquality is rated on a numerical (1–5*),criteria-based scale. Ratings in all subjectareas and across all universities haveincreased to give an average rating in 2001corresponding to a level of ``attainablenational excellence'. Between universitiesthere are significant variations. In theprestigious Loxbridge group, where almost allacademic staff are research-active, 90% ofsubject areas achieved ratings at level 5 in2001; in contrast, in the New universities,where only 40% of academic staff isresearch-active, level 5 was achieved in 7% ofsubject areas. A combination of high researchquality and high cost research (medicine,science, engineering) concentrated in the Olduniversities is similarly evident in thedistribution of research funding. Income fromboth research subsidy and research grants andcontracts is divided: Old universities, 94%(Loxbridge, 35%), New universities, 6%. High institutional costs of the assessmentprocess, particularly for areas of low-costresearch, and increasing concern about theinadequacies of the rating system and failureof its direct link to funding suggest thatsubstantial revision will be needed for futureassessment exercises.     

研究型大学院系设置的比较分析与理论思考

哈佛大学与北京大学、麻省理工学院与清华大学的对比显示,每所学校与自己的对比方在总的学科设置上非常接近,但我国两所大学的学院数量远大于美国的两所大学。我国研究型大学应当适当减少学院数量,规范学院设置,提高学院内学科设置的综合性;加强和重视特色学院或特色学科的建设;分别设置本科生学院和研究生学院;重视交叉学科项目或研究中心的建立。     

对高校乒乓球选项课理论教学的探讨

运用分散与集中相结合的教学方法将乒乓球理论课的教学贯穿于实践教学中,以理论指导实践,在促进学生深入理解乒乓球运动规律与原理的同时.培养学生的自我评价意识,加快学习进程,从而提高教学效果.     

新时期高校教育管理中存在的问题研究

随着高校招生计划的扩大,越来越多的学生步入大学的殿堂,招生规模的扩大给高校教育管理带来了新的挑战,为了应对新时期高等教育的改革发展必须要加强高校教育管理的创新,本文在分析当前高校教育管理中存在问题的基础上,提出了一些自己的合理建议,希望为促进高校教育管理的发展提供一些参考。     

关于高校职业指导战略的研究

有效的职业指导，能够使大学生接受到最适合自己特点的职业教育，确切地了解所选职业特点，素质要求，帮助他们找到适合自己的职业，为他们事业上的成功和人生价值的实现提供良好的开端。要实现这一目标，转型期的高校毕业生职业指导应重视四方面的战略；实现职业指导理令的更新、加强职业指导理论的研究、培养学生就业心理素质、强化现代信息技术在职业指导中的应用。     

英国与挪威PGCE课程标准比较研究

英国和挪威均以提高教师的素质能力以及师资队伍力量,为本国教育改革的重要内容.本文主要从英国与挪威两国的PGCE课程现状入手,介绍了英国与挪威PGCE课程的概况,并对两国PGCE课程的标准做了比较分析、研究.     

试析美国研究型大学基层学术组织模式

美国研究型大学基层学术组织是以学科为基础的独立的、自主的学术组织。其组织规模主要根据教学科研任务的需要来决定。其内部管理以教授统治为主,采取的是少数服从多数的决策机制。总结和归纳美国研究型大学基层学术组织的现状与改革动向,对于探讨我国研究型大学未来的改革重点与方向具有重要的借鉴意义。