Fun and games in higher education: an analysis of UK student perspectives

ABSTRACT

In an increasingly neoliberal Higher Education sector, there is increased pressure on institutions to enhance learner engagement and student satisfaction. Many academics believe that students expect their university learning experiences to be enjoyable, and discourses of game-based learning reflect this, with a dominant narrative highlighting the fun of educational games. Whether students expect learning to be fun or see a relationship between fun and games is under-explored. To address this, we investigated student perceptions of fun in Higher Education using a thematic network analysis based on data from 37 in-depth interviews with undergraduate students. Here, we highlight five themes that encapsulate what students perceive to be a fun learning experience: stimulating pedagogy; lecturer engagement; a safe learning space; shared experience; and a low-stress environment. These aspects are not unique to games, and we conclude by considering the relationship between educational games and fun, and alternative playful approaches.     

Social stratification in Higher Education: What it means at the micro‐level of the individual academic scientist

The academic profession is internally divided as never before. This cross‐national comparative analysis of stratification in Higher Education is based on a sample of European academic scientists (N = 8,466) from universities in 11 countries. The analysis identifies three types of stratification: academic performance stratification, academic salary stratification, and international research stratification. This emergent stratification of the global scientific community is predominantly research‐based, and internationalisation in research is at its centre; prestige‐driven, internationally competitive, and central to academic recognition systems, research is the single most stratifying factor in Higher Education at the level of the individual scientist today. These stratification processes pull the various segments of the academic profession in different directions. The study analyses highly productive academics (‘research top performers’), highly paid academics (‘academic top earners’), and highly internationalised academics (‘research internationalists’) and explores the implications for individual scientists.     

My tongue on your theory: the bittersweet reminder of every-thing unnameable

ABSTRACT

Across research in UK Higher Education, the most immanent demands for quality have taken the shape of the Research Assessment Exercise and the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The theorist, Martin, is cautious of the relationship academics have engendered with the process of the REF, asking are we actually creating a Frankenstein monster, becoming complicit in generating quality thresholds and standards that will become our own tormentors? I am taken by the idea of the monster when pursuing alternative discourses of childhood in educational research – fear of its potential to torment seduces me with the promise of dis-order, de-formity, chaos and mutation. The aim of this paper is to resist a fixed, knowable form of ‘quality’ (in) research, moving between the idea of ‘monster’ and the formlessness of ‘monstrosity’ to oppose the epistemological, ontological and ethical paradigms of reason.     

高职院校教师课堂教学质量学生评价的问卷编制及信效度检验

为编制一个可用于高职院校的教师课堂教学质量学生评价测量工具,根据高职院校教师课堂教学质量学生评价存在的问题,在《大学教师教学效果评价问卷(学生用)》基础上创新性地设计了高职院校教师课堂教学质量学生评价问卷(简称VSEEQ),开发了符合教育测量学标准的、现代教学与学习理论支持的VSEEQ评价问卷,施测并搜集了信效度资料。结果表明,VSEEQ评价问卷具有合理的维度结构,较好的内部一致性信度、重测信度、内容效度和结构效度。     

Development and validation of the sources of parental anxiety in children’s education scale

Parental anxiety in children’s education is closely related to children’s developmental and educational outcomes. The current study reported the development and validation of a self-report instrument to evaluate the Sources of Parental Anxiety in Children’s Education (SPACEs). Qualitative analyses suggested that the construct of parental anxiety in children’s education was multidimensional, representing learning performance anxiety, educational environment anxiety, educational input anxiety, and educational outcome anxiety as four primary sources. The results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported this four-factor structure comprising 17 items to capture this multidimensional construct. The scale also demonstrated adequate internal consistencies, convergent validity, discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and test-retest reliability. A series of multi-group tests across age, locality, and children’s grades provided evidence of measurement invariance. Overall, the SPACE scale appear to be a reliable and valid tool to measure educational anxiety in parents in the Chinese context.     

The work of an academic: Jack of all trades,or master of one?

Abstract

This paper stems from conversations between the authors who recently came to work together in staff and educational development. Having pursued different academic careers in Higher Education (HE), we questioned whether we had a common understanding of our academic community. In particular, we discussed two aspects. First, the extent to which our different disciplinary backgrounds influenced our perspectives on academic practice and our attitudes and approaches to staff and educational development. If we held different views on academic practice, how many other variations were we likely to encounter? Second, we felt it important to be sensitive to the needs of our colleagues in terms of their practices. The research that emanated from our discussions began with an empirical study, reported in this paper. We explore tensions between the various work activities performed by academics at the University of Sheffield. Eighty staff maintained a diary over a specified week early in the academic year 1997‐98. They recorded time spent on the activities of research, teaching, administration, external work, and professional development. Biographical data, including staff grade, length of service in HE, and length of service at the University were collected via a questionnaire attached to the diary. It would appear that the majority of academics surveyed support a role in both teaching and research, with a preference to spend more time on research at the expense of administration but not at the expense of teaching. These empirical data help us to understand more about the role of academics in changing times, and how we, as staff and educational developers, might become more effective and efficient.     

Evaluating the perception of disability and the inclusive education of teachers: the Italian validation of the Sacie-R (Sentiments,Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education – Revised Scale)

This study aimed to verify the factorial structure, internal validity, reliability, and criterion validity of The Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education Revised Scale (SACIE-R) in an Italian sample. The SACIE-R is a useful tool to measure three aspects of teachers’ perceptions about inclusion, which are Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns, providing valuable information to address the needs of teachers working with special students. A measure of this construct is currently not available in Italian, and a validation process is required. In order to provide an initial psychometric evaluation of the Italian adaptation, the SACIE-R was translated for use in Italian-speaking populations. Four hundred Italian teachers enrolled in educational teaching courses completed the SACIE-R. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated a good fit to the hypothesised 3-factor model, and adequate internal consistency for the scale was evidenced. A confirmatory factor analysis showed the same factor structural validity as the original instrument (although some items in the original version were deleted). Furthermore, taken together, the results showed a good level of reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, the Italian version of the SACIE-R has good psychometric characteristics that can make it a useful measure of teacher attitude toward inclusion in the Italian educational context.     

The entrepreneurial university and academic discourses: The meta‐synthesis of Higher Education articles

The innovative teaching, knowledge and technology production and societal service activities of academics are largely discussed within the entrepreneurial university discourse in Higher Education journals. Therefore, this research focuses on a meta‐synthesis of Higher Education articles to better understand the concepts of the entrepreneurial university and entrepreneurial academic. After the systematic elimination based on keywords and titles, 25 articles have been selected from the top 10 Higher Education journals in the SCImago Journal Rankings. Content analysis was performed on these articles to highlight the common operational areas in entrepreneurial universities and activities of entrepreneurial academics. The meta‐synthesis shows that, both for universities and academics, entrepreneurship is overwhelmingly characterised by the commercialisation of scholarly activities that enrich institutional income revenue as well as academics’ personal income. However, such an approach can distance universities from their mission of public good; so Higher Education administrators should create mechanisms that would allow both to take place in a balanced way.     

Higher education staff and Brexit. Is the UK losing the youngest and brightest from other EU countries?

ABSTRACT

Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, and the formal act of triggering article 50 by Theresa May’s cabinet in 2017, the UK has entered a period of negotiations, the outcome of which, and also the terms of the post-exiting phase, are still uncertain. In this period of uncertainty, the mobility of people is one of the main issues at stake. The topic is important for the higher education sector where the percentage of (other) European Union staff in UK universities has grown at an impressive rate in recent years before the Brexit referendum. This paper draws from official Higher Education Statistic Agency (HESA) data to investigate if there is any inversion of this trend in the British system, arguing that some ‘Brexodus’ of academic staff – meaning a decrease in the percentage of other EU nationals – has already started for some academics, namely the youngest and the brightest.     

Validation of a self-perceived media competence instrument for pre-service teachers / Validación de un instrumento de autopercepción de competencia mediática para docentes en formación

Abstract

Key to guaranteeing the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and information is the development of media competence, particularly in schools. Training teachers in the area of media competence is particularly important for developing these skills in the broader citizenry. In order to provide educators and educational policymakers with a useful diagnostic tool, we have designed a self-perception questionnaire. The questionnaire was applied to a sample of Peruvian education students (N = 501). On the one hand, the results confirm the construct’s coherence, validity and instrumental reliability. On the other hand, they allow us to propose a theoretically based update to the way in which this construct is interpreted and applied, confirming the multidimensionality of media competence. Finally, we use this empirical evidence to discuss the integral, transversal and ecological status of media competence.     

Academics’ Perceptions of Good Teaching: Assessing the Degree of Parity with Student Evaluation of Teaching Questionnaires

ABSTRACT

There is a dearth of studies on academics’ perceptions of good teaching in transitional economies such as Uganda and the degree of parity between academics’ conceptions of good teaching and the items in the student evaluation of teaching (SET) questionnaires. Against this backdrop, the article reports on a study that explored how academics at Makerere University, Uganda, perceive good teaching and compared the resultant perceptions with the items in the SET questionnaires. The study employed a qualitative approach and data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and reviewing documents. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data from the interviews while the data from the documents was analysed using content analysis. The findings showed that academics perceive good teaching as: being knowledgeable; being student-centred; demonstrating good communication skills; undertaking research-based teaching; demonstrating professionalism; being approachable; and being organised. Finally, the findings demonstrated a convergence between academics’ perceptions of good teaching and most of the items in the SET questionnaires.     

An investigation of the relationship between reported results of educational psychologists’ assessments and levels of special needs provision determined by statutory assessment procedures

ABSTRACT

This study attempts to investigate the relationship between the reported test results within educational psychologists’ (EP) assessments and the actual provision specified on the Statements of Special Educational Needs issued by a local educational authority within the UK under the terms of the 1993 Education Act. Data were drawn from the EPs operating in both rural and urban areas. A discriminant function analysis was applied to the data which indicated cognitive ability and writing speed assessments were correlated with the provision outcomes of the statementing procedures. The relative insignificance of educational attainments, especially reading scores, in affecting these decisions was an unexpected finding of the study. The results raise the significance of the discriminant function analyses’ ability to produce a probability score, given a particular case's test profile, of the most likely provision that will be allocated on the basis of how such profiles have been interpreted in the past. The feedback of such information to the Special Needs Departments would contribute to the quality ‐monitoring process by stimulating consistency in decision‐making as specifically referred to in the recent Code of Practice     

Educational leadership: Producing docile bodies? A Foucauldian perspective on Higher Education

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a long‐standing critical tradition in the educational leadership literature through an analytical examination of the idiosyncrasies of leadership in Higher Education institutions (based on the UK example). It applies a postmodern way of thinking to the educational leadership phenomenon to problematise and challenge the traditional views on the trajectories of power in Higher Education institutions, utilising Foucault’s key theoretical units of discipline, governmentality and biopolitics as a toolbox for dissecting the implications of neoliberal ideology on the leadership praxes. Significantly, the paper demonstrates how the engagement with Foucault’s three modes of objectification—dividing practices, scientific classification and self‐subjection—can expose the ways, in which the roles of educational leaders become re‐configured into economic‐rational individuals or subjects, who are compliant with the imposed requisites of the government’s neoliberal agendas. The paper concludes that Foucault’s theoretical perspectives could be used as a methodological template for a deeper critical analysis of leadership practices, equipping academics with additional tools for critiquing the existing boundaries of neoliberalism and intervening in the transformation of the social order by undertaking an investigation into the practices of governmentality, as suggested by Foucault.     

Evaluation policy in education: the effects of international standards and performativity on Brazil’s postgraduate programmes of excellence

The educational reforms that began in the 1990s have changed Brazilian universities’ direction from welfare state institutions to market organisations. In postgraduate education, strategic alliances with international agencies, governments and corporations have become closer. At the same time, there has been a push for internationalisation of knowledge and more efficiency – with quality assurance and accountability systems. This study, based on the theory of ‘policy enactments’ proposed by Stephen Ball and collaborators, aims to analyse the interpretation and translation of Brazil’s postgraduate education programmes’ evaluation policy. The data are derived from interviews with co-ordinators of four Brazilian postgraduate programmes in education – all regarded by the Higher Education Co-ordination Agency, CAPES, as programmes of excellence and of international standard (during the assessment triennials of 2004, 2007 and 2010). The data analysis provided a critical understanding of the evaluation policy as policy enactment, and of the small margin for manoeuvre in decision-making in response to the policy and performativity’s effect on academic subjectivity and collective practice.     

Refugees and online education: student perspectives on need and support in the context of (online) higher education

ABSTRACT

Online education and in particular Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are often regarded as a way to solve global educational challenges. In this article, we highlight the students’ uptake of such a ‘digital solution’. Presenting initial findings from a research project in Germany, we situate our investigation in the specific context of digital educational offers for refugees, using Kiron Open Higher Education as an example. Kiron has designed an innovative academic model, with MOOCs at its core, to ease refugees’ access into higher education. Drawing from student data of 1375 Kiron students we look at students’ actual usage of the offer and the accompanying support services as well as the difficulties refugee students face while navigating online higher education. Results show, amongst others, rather low completion rates in the online courses and point to a much more nuanced picture of how students make use of the offer – putting online education as an easy, straightforward formula to the integration of disadvantaged students into question.     

The Ford score

Abstract

We combined data from the Office for Standards in Education with those from a large national survey of child and adolescent mental health and developed a simple score that schools or LEAs could use to predict the level of emotional and behavioural difficulties that they are likely to encounter. The final Ford score is based on the rates of free school meals, exclusions, unauthorized absence and children with special educational needs. These data are collected routinely, so the Ford score could easily be calculated to provide estimates of the level of emotional and behavioural problems in mainstream schools without the use of additional resources. It needs further reliability and validity testing but could provide a means of allocating resources.     

Learning Difficulties of Part‐Time Mature Students

Abstract

The parents of university students are one of the major stakeholders in Higher Education, yet there appears to be little investigation of their views. A postal questionnaire was distributed to a sample of some 640 parents or parent substitutes having at least one child currently taking a first degree at a British university. 335 completed questionnaires were returned. These give a very consistent and homogeneous picture, with no important variations related to university, subject studied, or level of parents’ education, and almost none related to sex of parent. In general, parents take a clearly traditional view of Higher Education, with research as the most important activity of universities followed by teaching students. The latter should gain personal maturity and a useful qualification from their studies. There is a very strong preference for students to live away from home. These views are highly consistent with those of students themselves, both at university and before; but less so with trends in Higher Education seen by many experts.     

Exploring the digital natives among pre-service teachers in Turkey: a cross-cultural validation of the Digital Native Assessment Scale

This study aims to explore the digital natives among a sample of pre-service teachers and in the process, examine the validity of a Turkish adaptation of the digital native assessment scale (DNAS) [Teo, T., & Fan, X. (2013). Coefficient alpha and beyond: Issues and alternatives for educational research. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(2), 209–213]. Five hundred and fifty-seven participants completed a survey questionnaire in Turkish measuring their responses on the DNAS, developed from a proposed four-factor research. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple indicators, multiple causes modelling were used to analyse the data and an acceptable fit was found, suggesting that the DNAS is a valid measure for participants who are older living in another culture. While the pre-service teachers had mostly regarded themselves as digital natives, significant differences were only found by years of computer use and perceived competence but no significant differences were found for gender and age.     

Higher education journals as didactic frameworks

During the last 20 years, we have witnessed a growing interest in research in teaching, learning and educational development in higher education (HE). The result is that ‘Higher Education Didactics’ has established itself as a research field in its own right. This article explores Higher Education Didactics as a framework for academics’ professional reflection on teaching and learning, by mapping the didactic topics in all contributions in four journals in the period 2008–2015. Two of the journals are based in Scandinavia, where the European tradition of didactics (Didaktik) has been highly influential, while the others stem from the Anglo-Saxon curriculum tradition. The mapping shows that all journals are strongly occupied with teaching methods, especially methods grounded in theories of active and social learning. In contrast, didactic categories such as goal, content and assessment are rare topics. Students as participants and learners are a frequent topic in especially one journal, but receive little attention in the other journals. Also, educational technologies receive a varying degree of attention across the journals. Based on the mapping, this article discusses Higher Education Didactics as a framework for professional reflection in HE. It concludes that a broader range of research topics would be desirable and asks for future collaboration on the currently uncharted topics.     

Reviews

Mature Women in Higher Education Women Returning to Higher Education. Gillian Pascall and Roger Cox Anatomy of the English Department English People: the experience of teaching and learning English in British universities Bigger But Not Worse? Teaching Large Classes in Higher Education: How to Maintain Quality with Reduced Resources Improving University Teaching Rethinking University Teaching – a framework for the effective use of educational technology Diana Laurillard ‘Learning to Teach in Higher Education’