The transition from a university college to a university: a United Kingdom study

Tertiary Education and Management - As a result of policy changes, nearly all university colleges in the UK have been redesignated as universities. This transition was studied in one such...     

大学通识课程建设:亟待走出误区的藩篱

我国大学通识课程建设,长期以来深受美国通识教育发展思想的影响。由于中美教育发展之间的不同与差异,我国当前通识课程建设正在面临着很多误区:自身特色不鲜明,盲目模仿痕迹突出;与通识课程相应的政策和制度保障不力;通识课程的目标尚有待完善;对通识课程中的核心课程重视程度和开发不够。我国当下对通识教育本真涵义的体认尚需进一步加强。有鉴于此,我国通识课程建设的整体思路亟需全面转换和科学确定。     

Peer to peer support: the disappearing work in the doctoral student experience

This paper reflects on the importance of study groups in contributing to a positive postgraduate experience and explores specific concepts, such as ‘disappearing behaviours’ in contrasting the ‘official’ languages of universities with the beneficial behaviours found through study groups. Additionally the paper advocates the systematic inclusion of strategies such as study groups in the postgraduate experience. Funding arrangements and research frameworks for higher education in Australia focus on student progress and completion, as well as comparison of research quality within and between universities. As a result, there is a significant emphasis on timely completion of postgraduate degrees. This paper posits that there is an apparent contradiction between the indicators of success in this area, such as completion rates and annual progress reports and the positive contribution that study groups can make to the doctoral student experience.     

Using peer effects to explain retention rates in a private university

This study identifies factors associated with freshmen retention rates at a mid‐size private university. A key finding from our analysis is that roommates' academic efforts, residing on an honours floor and membership in co‐curricular groups increase retention. We also confirm many standard results in the literature regarding the impact on retention rates, such as student motivation and ability, and financial aid. We show that a timely housing application, closer proximity to home, a higher number of schools on a student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid and peer effects impact freshman retention. Our results suggest that a more sophisticated dormroom assignment algorithm matching students' abilities and interests could be considered to increase freshman retention rates among private institutions.     

实行学分制是高校教学改革的必然趋势

本文回顾了学分制的产生及发展,研究、分析了目前高校教育管理模式的特点及分制实施过程中存在的问题,并提出了实行学分制的几点建议和设想。     

The effects of autonomy support on student engagement in peer assessment

Although peer assessment is widely implemented in higher education, not all students are highly engaged in it. To enhance student engagement in peer assessment, we designed and developed a web-based tool, autonomy-supportive peer assessment (ASPA), to support students’ need for autonomy when they conducted peer assessment. Students’ sense of autonomy, and their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement in peer assessment were examined via interviews and surveys. We also examined students’ academic performances, including their improvement from initial to revised essays and the quality of feedback they provided. Survey results indicated that the ASPA group (1) experienced a slightly higher sense of autonomy than the non-ASPA group, and (2) spent much more time on each evaluation criterion than the non-ASPA group. Interviews suggested that both the ASPA and non-ASPA groups were engaged in peer assessment. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in behavioral, emotional, cognitive engagement, and academic performances.     

The transition from school to the university under restricted entry: A Greek tracer study

In this paper we use data from a sample of about 500 high school seniors in 12 schools in the Athens area, followed up one year after graduation, in order to analyze the factors that determine entry into the highly restricted state university system. The analysis documents a very strong social demand for higher education, only a fraction of which is satisfied by the availability of domestic university places. As a result of the restrictions many students go to study abroad or spend at least one extra year in preparation for the highly selective entry examinations. Although attendance at public secondary schools and the domestic university system is free, families spend a sizeable portion of their income for the education of their children. The analysis also documents a high degree of inequity in the distribution of university places, where the offspring of the higher occupational classes have four times the chance of entering university relative to those whose father is a manual worker. The results are discussed in the context of alternative eductional policies that would satisfy the excess demand for higher education in a more efficient and equitable way.We are grateful to Tony Halil, Harry Lambropoulos and Maureen Woodhall for useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The views expressed here are those of the authors and should not be attributed to their institutions.     

Project DAVES: An exploratory study of social presence,e-mentoring,and vocational counseling support in community college courses

A FIPSE-funded project was designed to provide support and training to community college faculty electronically, and to develop a model to offer innovative, interactive strategies to support their students' academic and career needs. The goal of the mentoring/coaching program has been to support instructors in their online efforts, provide resources and assistance to students, and create a community of learning for all. The examination of the process was framed and guided by the concept of social presence theory. Data collected included mentors' weekly logs, researcher-generated weekly prompts, and bi-monthly focus groups. All data were analyzed qualitatively using open and axial coding. Results indicate that creating social presence may depend, in part, on having an authentic, clearly defined role. Reflections throughout the process required continuous revisions to the plans.     

Helping out or hanging out: the features of involvement and how it relates to university adjustment

This study examined the nature of students’ out-of-class involvements with a view to identifying the kinds of involvement that are most conducive to positive adjustment to university. Students from five Canadian universities completed questionnaires in November of their first-year at university assessing the quality of their out-of-class involvements and the extent to which such activities were structured (i.e., supervised, performed regularly, had a goal or purpose). Measures of adjustment to university were administered in November and March of their first-year. Results indicated that the amount of structure present in out-of-class activities was positively related to university adjustment. Activity quality was found to mediate the relationship between activity structure and university adjustment; it seems that activities that are highly structured are related to more positive outcomes because they tend to provide participants with a high-quality experience. Results are discussed in terms of the transition to university, and first-year transition intervention programs.     

The Emotionally Affected University Student: support from the university community

The study measured the general attitudes towards disability of academics, administrative staff, and students in a small rural University. Respondents were also asked to comment on the nature of support that might be provided for a student with an emotional disability. There were some significant differences in level and nature of support for students with an emotional disability among academics, administrative staff, and students. These differences were related to the levels of comfort with, and sympathy felt towards, students with an emotional disability. However, overall the results suggest that university students with expressed emotional difficulties are liable to be relatively negatively regarded and are not liable to receive much concrete assistance for the difficulties they face. It is proposed that the data supports the notion that academics, of all the groups measured, are best placed to decide types of support for students with an emotional disability on a case by case basis.     

创建一流大学需要先进的办学理念

没有先进的办学理念就很难创建一流大学。通过对国外及国内多所一流大学在与时俱进的办学理念指导下发展成长史实之回顾,论述了先进的办学理念的产生、特征及其对创建一流大学的决定性作用;进而分析了我国长期以来存在的轻视高等教育理论和办学理念的指导作用之不足,提出今后应作之努力。     

落实实验室安全准入制度 保障实验室安全

分析了实验室安全准入制度的必要性和安全准入制度的主要内容,阐述了狭义与广义的实验室安全准入的区别。结合国内外高校实验室安全工作的典型做法,从人、物、环境和制度体系4个方面梳理了构建实验室安全准入制度的基本做法。着重介绍北京理工大学的实验室安全管理体系和实行安全准入制度以来实验室安全工作的新思路和新做法。这些做法有效提升了实验室安全管理水平。     

Curriculum continuity and school to university transition: science and technology programmes in Malawi

This paper reports on a study that explored issues of curriculum continuity at the school to university level transition in Malawi. It bases its analysis on the school integrated science curriculum and university science and technology programmes. Data were collected through interviews, documentation and classroom observations. The findings show that gaps do exist, with both the ‘intended’ and the ‘experienced’ curriculum, between integrated science and the requirements of university science and technology programmes in the three categories of the knowledge of science, science as a way of knowing and general knowledge and skills. With respect to the investigative nature of science, gaps exist only with the delivered curriculum. Implications for both the integrated science curriculum and the university science and technology programmes are discussed.     

Listening to student voices: student researchers exploring undergraduate experiences of university transition

This exploratory study presents a different approach to studying transition by involving students as researchers. The aim was to investigate how students talked about their experiences of transition in university. Nineteen first and second year undergraduate psychology students participated in focus groups and semi-structured interviews, conducted by student researchers, to provide in-depth accounts of their transition experiences. Findings showed that students held internal images about university, shaped through cultural experience, which were used to form expectations and interpret experiences. Social relationships were crucial, with the formation of groups facilitating adjustment in an unfamiliar environment. Students also described how negotiating transition contributed to personal changes. The research emphasises the salience of sociocultural factors in transition, and the relationship between transition and identity. Additionally, the value of including students as researchers to provide authentic access to student voices is highlighted.     

以科学的方法培育科学的精神--大学怎样进行科学教育

本文通过分析我国大学科学教育中存在的问题,提出大学实行科学教育应当重视提高教师的科学素质,形成研究氛围,促进学生快速进入准研究状态;同时要在教学内容调整、科学课程知识结构体系建构和问题情境设立等方面采取灵活多样的方法,挖掘科学教育中的人文内涵,培养大学生的科学精神和科学素养以及科学的思维能力。     

实施课程改革的关键在于转变教育理念

为了实践参础教育课程改革的具体目标,教师应改变过去不适应所课程的教育理念,转变旧的教育价值现,树立为了一初学生的教育价值现;课程实施变“照本宣科”为“开发利用”;学科结构变“专科型”为“综合型”。     

Online peer observation: its value in teacher professional development,support and well-being

This article discusses an online peer observation project conceived to enhance language-teacher positivity and creativity in synchronous virtual classrooms. Participants worked part-time at the UK’s Open University (OU) in a blended context and came from two different groups distant from each other and geographically dispersed within their own group. As a result of the project, participants perceived an increase in their confidence and greater willingness to experiment. They appreciated better how they fitted into the wider OU teaching community, built new professional friendships and flexible communities of practice, and developed a better understanding of how to progress their own self-development.     

Funding international student support services: tension and power in the university

This case study aims to contribute some understanding as to why a research oriented university with many thousands of full-fee paying international students was believed not to provide adequate funds for international student support services. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notions of fields of power and disciplinary hierarchy, we suggest that the University must allocate resources amongst competing claimants. In the associated internal contest for resources, international student support divisions and disciplines with little intellectual capital but great capacity to attract international students have relatively little bargaining power. This study indicates that the need to build and sustain research reputation led to inadequate funding of support services in an Australian institution heavily reliant on international student income. Ironically, this can mean students who choose a highly ranked university may not receive the support services they require.