Is the Europe of Knowledge the talk of the town? Exploring how members of the European Parliament refer to higher education

While the European Parliament is increasingly involved in EU governance, its role in policy developments in domains of strategic importance for the EU has not been the focus of many studies. In this article, we analyse a new digital dataset containing more than 10,000 speeches delivered in the European Parliament plenary between 1999 and 2014 and identify patterns related to temporal increase or decrease in the Parliament's focus on higher education, the topics linked to higher education discussions and patterns concerning the country and party group affiliation of the European Parliament members who speak about higher education. Our findings suggest that the total number of speeches, either specifically dedicated to higher education, or mentioning higher education when addressing other issues, did increase over time and particularly during the adoption of action programmes and related budgetary decision. Furthermore, higher education was less referred to in the Parliament speeches as a stand‐alone issue than in relation to other policy areas in which the EU has strong jurisdiction. Finally, our findings indicate that the variance in whether a Member of the European Parliament speaks about higher education is more closely linked to country of origin than party affiliation, highlighting the persistent national dimension of higher education discussions at the European level. These findings attest to the increasing – yet largely overlooked – role of the European Parliament in higher education policy making.     

Nationalisation, Localisation and Globalisation in Finnish Higher Education

This article analyses and discusses the interplay between the social processes of nationalisation, localisation and globalisation in a single European nation state. The view of nationalisation put forward draws on a national case study based on historical and sociological research findings. The second part of the article presents a case study of the nature of globalisation and localisation in an average Finnish university. The article shows that nationalisation of Finnish higher education has created a cultural understanding of higher education institutions important for competition with other nations. As for localisation, on the one hand higher education institutions support their local communities and provinces to gain social and economic benefits. On the other hand, local communities and provinces support their higher education institutions in the hope of benefiting from them. The case studies also suggest that economic globalisation creates new dynamics within higher education institutions both through strategic alliances between higher education and commercial enterprises and through the emergence of alternative new funding sources for research.     

The activities and impact of personalisation in a UK business school

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to consider the activities and impact of personalisation in a UK higher education setting. It considered how personalisation has affected outputs in terms of progression, achievement, internship, enterprise project and international placement uptake within the Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with members of the personalisation team and those delivering personalisation. The quantitative data pertains to outputs in terms of success rates, particularly with regard to when the personalisation project began, in 2015/16. The findings suggest that the personalisation process involved engagement, interaction and reflection to meet the needs and requirements of the learner; it also provided them with options. This contributes to improving success rates, particularly when the Personalisation project began.     

Student faculty evaluation (SFE) at Jordanian universities: a student perspective

This study is the first to address student evaluation of faculty members (SFE) from a student perspective at a major Jordanian public university using a comprehensive (71-item) questionnaire administered to 620 undergraduates. Addressed are students’ perceptions of the SFE process in terms of: (a) their paper-based vs. online-format preferences; (b) their beliefs about the process; (c) the standards they adopt in the evaluation; (d) the fruitfulness of SFE outcomes; and (e) their opinions about the evaluation instruments currently used at their institutions. It also explores whether students’ beliefs vary according to their gender, GPA and college (Educational Sciences vs. Sciences). The results reveal that most students prefer online evaluation, adopt academic rather than interpersonal criteria in their evaluation, have a low level of satisfaction with the impact of previous evaluations on faculty teaching behaviours and the evaluation instruments used at their institution. Additionally, the findings suggest that gender has a less influential role in shaping students’ beliefs about the SFE process compared to their college or GPA. The findings of this study and their implications are very useful pointers for faculty and higher education administrators, faculty members and students towards further improvement at higher education institutions.     

PURSUING EXCELLENCE: THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF DENVER

This article is based on an in-depth, yearlong qualitative case study focusing on the Community College of Denver and a comprehensive review of research examining developmental education and institutional effectiveness issues in higher education. The authors identify critical issues, discuss implications, and suggest recommendations for improving accountability of practices; (b) increasing student success, with an emphasis on valuing diversity; and (c) implementing a new developmental program of strategically improving an existing one. Recommendations include (a) being knowledgeable about accountability mandates required of others and initiating self-imposed action; (b) establishing a commitment to quality results and sharing results with internal and external constituents; (c) creating an internal grassroots process that regularly provides for open discussion, planning, promoting and supporting student performance, and celebrating success; (d) cultivating informal leadership; (e) recruiting and hiring the best faculty members available then monitoring, mentoring, and training them; (f) creating a centralized developmental education model; (g) integrating technology into all college services and instructional plans; (h) seeking external funding to support retention and achievement initiatives; and (i) being committed to and taking steps toward leveling the educational playing field. Study results suggest that, when implemented as a combined effort by an institution committed to student learning, these actions can contribute to significantly higher levels of student success.     

Research in non-university higher education institutions. The case of the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences

This paper presents the development of research in the Swiss non-university higher education sector and frames it in the debate on the organization of higher education systems in Western Europe and on the dynamics between university and non-university sector. It shows that, in the Swiss case, the applied research mandate has been used to differentiate these institutions from universities and that this endeavor has been to a large extent successful in technology, while it has been a source of major tensions in the other domains. I conclude that the development of research in the non-higher education leads to complex dynamics of convergence and of differentiation and that this process is strongly influenced by the specificities and differences between different subject domains.     

Self-regulated learning and the role of ePortfolios in business studies

Students’ work in ePortfolios was assessed through a case study supported by observation techniques and eQuestionnaires to gather data from a sample of eighty students over a period of 4 years (20 students per academic year). The main purpose of the study was to explore whether ePortfolios can be used efficiently to support the learning process of postgraduate business students taking a course where finance modules were a major component. The use, role and learning value of integrating ePortfolios into the learning process in a higher education institution was analysed over the period of study. The empirical findings suggest that ePortfolios could be used to facilitate and enhance students’ self-regulated learning. Additionally, the role of the instructor was found to be fundamental during early stages of the learning process to guide and coach students on how to use the tool. This role diminished as students became familiar with the course requirements. Overall, students judged the ePortfolio as being positive to their education, noting a significant improvement in their learning experience when compared to a traditional learning approach. The evidence suggests that ePortfolios could be used to support technical and complex modules in a controlled environment. At the same time, ePortfolios were found to be flexible enough to give students creative space by helping them to integrate their own ideas and views through their learning process. Students were also able to offer their instructors feedback on their learning achievements.     

Practicing What We Teach: Trauma-Informed Educational Practice

This article presents the starting case for applying the elements of trauma-informed care (TIC) to education and outlines the authors’ initial efforts to develop guidelines for what they call trauma-informed educational practice. To this end, the article starts with a literature review related to the potential for vicarious traumatization and retraumatization among students in clinical training, followed by a discussion of the TIC framework and past efforts to be trauma sensitive in social work education. The authors then describe what drew them to this perspective and inspired them to apply it to educational practice. They then present guidelines for implementing the trauma-informed principle of safety in the classroom in several domains.     

Qualitative research and making meaning from adventure: A case study of boys' experiences of outdoor education at school

This article details the process and analysis of a case study, conducted over a six week period, involving an outdoor education class in an all-boys Catholic, New Zealand secondary school. The questions explored by the case study were the subjective meanings of adventure experiences in outdoor education and the benefits of qualitative research for assessing the value of outdoor education. The methodological techniques used were observation, involving some researcher participation, and in-depth interviewing. Subsequent data analysis was based upon theories of experiential education and adventure education, and concepts of leisure and human agency. The results of the study suggest that the meanings participants make of their experiences, and the value they derive from them, exceed those that may conventionally be sought and measured as an improvement in self-concept. These findings suggest that learning through adventure is potentially valuable as a holistic and life-long form of activity that enhances the capacity to enjoy and engage in living. This is an important extension beyond its often limited and compartmentalised applications, which are rationalised by specific outcome based objectives. A qualitative methodology was indispensable to an inquiry of this kind and warrants further attention in the process of understanding the meanings of adventure and learning.     

A Profile of Giving Patterns and Donor Behavior at a Suburban Community College

Community colleges have become increasingly reliant on diversifying their revenue sources, and turning to private fund raising has become a common strategy for many of them. Although fund raising has been a common practice in higher education since its inception, it has only emerged in the two-year college sector in the past several decades. The current study sought to identify donors at a case study, suburban community college, specifically exploring giving patterns over time and testing the conceptual framework of a pyramid of giving that overlays institutional involvement and commitment with giving levels. Major infrastructure inconsistencies prevented much of the framework testing, but data were capable of creating an initial donor and giving profile for a typical community college. This profile demonstrated that board members and employees were the most loyal and consistent in making contributions, but that these gifts often were stable over time and did not increase to become major gifts. Also, private business and industry gifts were often given at the same level as individual gifts, perhaps illustrating the responsiveness and cooperation between community colleges and the local workforce.     

Qualitative research and making meaning from adventure: A case study of boys' experiences of outdoor education at school

Abstract

This article details the process and analysis of a case study, conducted over a six week period, involving an outdoor education class in an all-boys Catholic, New Zealand secondary school. The questions explored by the case study were the subjective meanings of adventure experiences in outdoor education and the benefits of qualitative research for assessing the value of outdoor education. The methodological techniques used were observation, involving some researcher participation, and in-depth interviewing. Subsequent data analysis was based upon theories of experiential education and adventure education, and concepts of leisure and human agency. The results of the study suggest that the meanings participants make of their experiences, and the value they derive from them, exceed those that may conventionally be sought and measured as an improvement in self-concept. These findings suggest that learning through adventure is potentially valuable as a holistic and life-long form of activity that enhances the capacity to enjoy and engage in living. This is an important extension beyond its often limited and compartmentalised applications, which are rationalised by specific outcome based objectives. A qualitative methodology was indispensable to an inquiry of this kind and warrants further attention in the process of understanding the meanings of adventure and learning.     

Student Learning Through Participation in Inquiry Activities: Two Case Studies in Teacher and Computer Engineering Education

The two case studies reported in this article contribute to a better understanding of how inquiry tasks and activities are employed as resourceful means for learning in higher professional education. An observation-based approach was used to explore characteristics of and challenges in students’ participation in collaborative inquiry activities in two first-year introductory courses in teacher and computer engineering education. The findings highlight that the students’ activities varied with regard to focus and structure and were shaped by the types of inquiry tasks, i.e. case analysis and project-based work, by how the inquiry process was guided and supported and the way the domain-specific knowledge resources and practices were introduced. An exploratory strategy and rather confined use of resources characterised the teacher education students’ inquiry, while collaborative programming, a trial-and-error approach and extensive use of external resources that of the engineering education students’. For the teacher students, the main challenge was to construct meaning of conceptual knowledge and to integrate different forms of knowledge as a lens for analysing practice. The computer engineering students experienced challenges with unpacking the underlying principles and knowledge black-boxed in the widely available resources. The article suggests that future research and curriculum designs should depart from a more refined understanding of inquiry as a learning means, by connecting inquiry activities to the specific knowledge domains, the type of tasks most suited to explore each of this domains and the challenges that may arise for students.     

大众化与高等教育体制变革的理论观察

高等教育体制是高等教育体系与制度的综合体,我们从不同的角度可以将它划分为不同的类型。一定类型的高等教育体制适应于一定的社会功能,因此高等教育承担的社会任务决定一个国家的高等教育采用什么样的体制。在大众化过程中,高等教育体制会发生一系列的变革。我们要注意处理好变革过程中的各种矛盾,以保障高等教育的健康发展。     

The Gangstas in Our Midst

While conducting this ethnography on 50 male African-American gang members, I sought to create a picture of the culture in which these young men existed. Over a two-year period, I observed and interviewed members from such groups as the Bloods, the Crips, and the Blackstone Rangers in order to uncover the values, language, and rituals that defined membership in a gang, as well as the reasons why these males joined these groups in the first place. For the majority of these males, an education was not something that they thought would help them survive in their neighborhoods. One unexpected element that emerged during this project centered on the factors that helped 11 of these gang members begin the process of escaping gang life. What they received from their families, teachers, and peers to help them succeed mirrored the same factors that were often missing in the lives of the other 39 informants.     

Voluntary turnover and women administrators in higher education

A salient characteristic about the U.S. workforce is the continual process of voluntary employee turnover, which can be problematic for employers who invest a substantial amount of time and money in recruiting and training employees. This paper discusses the effects of workplace policies and practices on the voluntary turnover of women administrators in higher education. According to the results from in-depth interviews with ex-administrators of one Ivy League university, the top three reasons were conflict with supervisor, inadequate advancement opportunities, and incompatible work schedule. The results from this study revealed several interesting findings which add to our understanding of the staff turnover process for midlevel administrators in institutions of higher education. The findings could offer important insight into implementing cost-effective retention programs to help reduce unwanted turnover among women administrators in colleges and universities.     

Has family involvement migrated into higher education? An investigation of how administrative staff document the phenomenon in students’ university experiences in Cyprus

Families have been getting more and more involved in their children’s education. This paper presents findings of a study investigating family involvement in their members’ undergraduate studies attending a state (non-fee-paying) and a private (fee-paying) university in Cyprus. The data presented in the paper were collected via online logs completed by administrative personnel in the two universities documenting incidents of family involvement. The data analysis demonstrates how similarly the phenomenon manifests in both universities and suggests that where the two universities differ is more in the intensity of the various modes of family involvement. It also projects students’ desires and encouragement of their family’s involvement and their families’ intervention to protect or guide them. The findings of the study are discussed in view of cultural and societal norms and changes about parenthood and the relationship between families and their university age members in a marketized higher education context.     

Transformational Journey of Educators in Technology: A Study of Tenured Business Faculty

ABSTRACT

Recent statistics show faculty in higher education question the value and legitimacy of online education as a viable educational format and are, therefore, less accepting of online degrees. The focus of this study was on business faculty and online education through the theoretical framework of transformative learning. Specifically, tenured faculty members who were initially resistant to teaching online – changed their perspective – and came to value and teach online business curriculum. To examine this phenomenon, a survey was distributed to business faculty worldwide. Qualified responses were received from 206 survey participants. The findings suggest that while business faculty, including those tenured, are resistant to teaching online and prefer to teach in a face-to-face environment, a perspective change toward teaching online resulted after spending time reflecting on various factors considered key to a successful entry to online teaching.     

Course Development Cycle Time: A Framework for Continuous Process Improvement

This article details Edinboro University's efforts to reduce the extended cycle time required to develop new courses and programs. A collaborative process improvement framework is shared, as are illustrated data findings, the team's recommendations for improvement, and the outcomes of those recommendations. It is hoped the case will initiate dialogue among higher education professionals on ways to reduce course development cycle time in order to increase student satisfaction.