A history of higher and professional correspondence education in the UK

ABSTRACT

Correspondence education, or learning by post, lasted over 100 years in the UK; it had its roots in the nineteenth century, peaking in the mid-1960s. It was also widespread, numbering hundreds of thousands of enrolments, significantly increasing access to higher education. Yet it has been marginalised in accounts of British higher education. This is partly because it was largely private and for-profit and so distinct from the public education system, while the state declined to play any significant role in its oversight. Consequently, little official data concerning correspondence education has ever been available. This paper constructs an account of the history of correspondence education in the UK in terms of its development as a form of academic and professional provision, and its regulatory framework. The paper also considers the reasons for the eventual demise of the correspondence education sector following changes in teaching methods, and the impact of digital technology.     

会计职业道德教育在高等教育中的实施

随着市场经济的发展，会计伦理道德建设日显重要。在高等教育中加强会计职业道德教育，可通过设置“会计职业道德”课程，开展会计基础道德教育、法制观念教育等途径进行。     

浅谈高职教育与相关教育的关系

随着社会经济和科学技术的迅速发展,社会对它本身所需求的人才结构不断提出新的要求,也即对教育结构、教育类型、教育层次提出了新的要求。本将高职与普通高等工程教育、中等职业技术教育、成人高等教育、高等专科教育从培养目标、教学计划、招生对象、人才类型等方面的关系加以论述。     

论高等教育大众化进程中高等职业教育的地位和作用

在实现高等教育大众过程中，发展高等职业教育有利于优化高等教育结构，促进高等教育向多样化发展；有利于满足社会发展对人才规格提出的客观要求，促进经济发展，为实现高等教育大众化提供物质基础；有利于我国终身教育体系的建立，为实现高等教育大众化开辟有效途径。     

Perspectives of lifelong education in Portuguese higher education: a critical analysis of learning outcomes

ABSTRACT

Nurturing students’ continuous learning is a current trend in the higher education agenda. Curricula and academic contents should enable students to take part in stimulating learning experiences, as well as promoting both developing and training opportunities in the course of their lives and careers. Despite the relevance given to lifelong learning in the educational system, there are still some open questions: how this concept is understood and put into practice by higher education institutions? The paper aims to analyse the conceptions of lifelong learning as reflected on the learning outcomes proposed in a sample of study programs. A qualitative methodology and a data-driven approach are adopted to explore the content of the learning outcomes proposed in 10% of total study programs submitted to quality accreditation, since 2009. Generally, results reveal that higher education institutions are committed to the lifelong learning paradigm, particularly in master and PhD degrees. Students are expected to ‘invest in personal and professional development through life’, to ‘develop learning competences through life’, as well as to ‘foster lifelong learning’. This study provides a better understanding of the range of perspectives and the relevance given to lifelong learning as a valuable learning outcome.     

Civic learning outcomes: a step towards an inclusive higher education

An inclusive education goes beyond the acquisition of discipline knowledge or skills. Inclusion is concerned with the participation and integration of all students (regardless of their intrinsic characteristics), helping them to develop civic competences. Civic and democratic values, equality and social justice became critical dimensions in this broader concept of education. This paper argues that the incorporation of civic dimensions, such as civic knowledge, civic skills or civic values in academic curricula could be an effective step towards more inclusive education. Specifically, this work intends to explore what civic dimensions are emphasised as a learning outcome in Portuguese higher education programmes. Adopting a qualitative methodology, typologies and incidence of civic learning outcomes were analysed and compared across three academic levels (first, second and third study cycles). The results provide a better understanding of what civic dimensions are stressed by institutions. All types of civic learning outcomes have been reinforced, defining civic values, civic skills and civic knowledge as expectable learning results. Both civic values and skills are well represented while civic knowledge is the less mentioned category. The enforcement of such civic dimensions is a valuable approach to enhancing education as a collective societal endeavour and as a common good.     

Three in-course assessment reforms to improve higher education learning outcomes

A current international concern is that, for too large a proportion of graduates, their higher order cognitive and practical capabilities are below acceptable levels. The constituent courses of academic programmes are the most logical sites for developing these capabilities. Contributing to patchy attainment are deficiencies in three particular aspects of assessment practice: the design and specifications of many assessment tasks; the minimum requirements for awarding a passing grade in a course and granting credit towards the degree; and the accumulation of points derived from quizzes, assessments or activities completed during the teaching period. Rethinking and reforming these would lead to improvements for significant sub-populations of students. Pursuing such a goal would also have significant positive implications for academic teachers, but be contingent on favourable contextual settings including departmental and institutional priorities.     

论高等职业教育的多样化

在我国加入WTO背景下,探讨高等职业教育的多样化具有重要意义.高等职业教育多样化有其现实基础,体现了教育发展的必然趋势.高等职业教育具有多重功能,其多样化主要表现在办学体制、培养目标、教育形式、教育层次等方面.多样化可以增强高等职业教育的活力.充满活力的高等职业教育将对提升我国国际竞争力、全面建设小康社会发挥应有作用.     

高职教育实施学分制的优越性探析

学分制是在市场经济下适应社会经济发展和个人发展需要的先进的教育教学管理制度。在高职教育中实施学分制管理制度,符合学生的个性差异和发展愿望,可以极大地调动学生与教师的积极性和主动性,有利于培养社会经济发展需要的高素质复合技能型人才。     

Higher education learning outcomes – Ambiguity and change in higher education

The emerging interdependent world order poses new challenges for States and citizens alike. For States, interdependence has meant a new concern with integration, whilst for citizens and authorities alike, greater mobility has raised new concerns about recognition of competences, qualifications, quality and transparency. The introduction of learning outcomes is one of the principal instruments to achieve this in higher education. This article analyses how the implementation of higher education learning outcomes (HELOs) can be seen as ambiguous governance and management tools, manifested as parts of international policy development and policy trends. These ambiguous tools intertwine with different disciplinary and stakeholder networks. The desire to implement HELOs in a more or less uniform way across as diverse contexts (countries, disciplines, institutions) as possible has led to a design strategy that favours generic definitions of learning outcomes. In the implementation process, these generic HELOs are experienced as ambiguous, meaning that they are characterised by an openness to different interpretations. This opens up a space of discretionary and interpretational latitude, either because HELOs are assimilated to traditional path dependencies, or because they allow institutional agents (such as institutional leaders and others) the space to introduce change. The ambiguity of HELOs simultaneously provides the flexibility for contextually‐diverse implementation, ensures less comparability than initially envisaged, and opens up the possibility for change, although change is contingent on structures and processes that are external to the policy process itself. HELOs are thus a paradigm case of the centrality of context in policy implementation studies.     

论高等职业技术教育的特色建设之路

高等职业技术教育要想得以快速发展,必须走特色之路。一要树立与时俱进的办学理念;二要创建自身质量品牌;三要建设名师队伍。     

The place of content and pedagogy in shaping sustainability learning outcomes in higher education

This research investigates the ways in which undergraduate courses dealing with the environment address sustainable development (SD), and contribute to the development of sustainability learning outcomes (SLO). The participants in the study were 13 instructors, and 360 students who were enrolled in 13 courses that addressed the environment in a technical university. Mixed methods were used for data collection and analysis. We found that courses that address the environment are varied in the way that they address sustainable development, and in the pedagogy they use. We also found links between teaching methods and the pattern of reported SLOs: skills development was promoted mainly in courses with a high degree of participatory learning; changes in awareness and attitudes were reported mainly in courses that addressed sustainable development, and motivation to promote sustainable development was reported mainly in courses that addressed sustainable development and also provided opportunities for active and participatory learning. The implications of our research are discussed.     

高职高专教育教学改革探讨

介绍了我们在高职高专教育教学改革中的一些思路和方法,作为一种有益的尝试,取得了较好的教学实践效果。     

高职教育课程观的影响因素及构建

课程观是课程建设的指导,决定课程改革的方向。在对影响高等职业技术教育课程观各因素深入分析的前提下,提出“以综合职业能力和全面素质为中心”的高等职业技术教育课程观。     

Learning outcomes and ways of thinking across contrasting disciplines and settings in higher education

This article describes the ways in which learning outcomes have been, or will be, investigated within the TLRP projects in higher education. It introduces the term ways of thinking and practising which has been used in one of the projects to describe the intentions of staff in higher education. This term covers what staff see as the essential nature of their discipline and so defines learning outcomes more broadly than is typical in the current specification of intended learning outcomes. The article considers the wide range of differences in learning outcomes that exist across higher education, reflecting different institutional missions and priorities, as well as the fundamental differences that exist between subject areas in the nature of learning outcomes, and considers some of the problems encountered in how to conceptualize and assess them.     

发展高等职业教育是调整高等教育结构的手段

我国单一的高等教育结构，虽然培养了大量的人才，但其规格与类型却不能满足社会对高层次实用型人才的需要，致使高等教育与经济的发展不相适应。对部分高等院校实行改革、改组和改制来发展高等职业教育，是调整我国高等教育结构的重要手段。     

Professional learning in higher education: making good practice relevant

Professionals working in a range of contexts are increasingly expected to engage in ongoing professional learning to maintain their skills and develop their practices. In this paper, I focus on professional learning in Higher Education and challenge the standardisation of professional learning that is becoming prevalent in a number of countries. I argue that professional learning must challenge accepted wisdom, and that this is possible while still adhering to the standards required for professional legitimacy. Developing praxis is suggested as a way of producing relevant and active professional learners while still addressing the professional standards required for quality assurance.     

市场需求变化与教育教学改革--论高等职业教育的再发展

实现高职教育的进一步发展,需要加强对市场需求变化的研究,深化教育教学改革,准确定位,调整专业结构,加强学校基本建设,改革传统的办学模式和教学管理体制,创新人才培养模式,提高教育教学质量和人才培养质量,努力办出自己的特色.     

对高职院校公共计算机教学改革的探索

围绕如何加强学生计算机应用能力的培养这一目标,分析了目前高职院校公共计算机教学中存在的问题,讨论了高职院校公共计算机教学的发展方向,提出了几项适合高职公共计算机教学的改革措施。