Emerging learning environments in higher education: Implications for institutional change and academic developers

Abstract

Wright and O'Neil's (1995) international survey of promising teaching improvement practices in higher education (HE) placed the existence of teaching support centres close to the top of the thirty‐six item scale. One conclusion that may be drawn from their findings is that many of the responding institutions see the role of academic developer as significant in helping to monitor trends and planning activities that can lead to quality of educational provision. This paper outlines several scenarios relating to learning environments potentially emerging in HE, describes implications for institutional change, and defines key assumptions for bringing about a development culture. Additionally, the paper reviews how these contextual factors may impact on the role of academic developer and concludes with a suggestion for a ‘developers’ curriculum’ that may merit consideration by members of the International Consortium for Educational Development in Higher Education (ICED).     

Assessing institutional performance in higher education: a managerial perspective

Although many institutions are expending considerable effort in attempts to assess institutional performance and to utilize the results in improving performance, there are many impediments to the success of these endeavours. These include conceptual problems with the notion of institutional performance, inadequacies in the current measurement techniques and judgement procedures, and the mis-match between the results produced and management's information requirements. Institutional management in higher education has unique characteristics which give rise to particular information needs. The existing approaches to institutional evaluation vary in their ability to provide information meeting management's requirements.     

Internationalisation of higher education: European experiences

‘Internationalisation’ is generally defined as increasing cross-border activities amidst persistence of borders, while ‘globalisation’ refers to similar activities concurrent to an erosion of borders. Study mobility is viewed as the most visible component in this framework in Europe with ERASMUS as the largest scheme of temporary mobility. ERASMUS was a trigger for a qualitative leap of internationalisation strategies and policies since the 1990s: towards cooperation and mobility on equal terms, and towards systematic and strategic internationalisation. The ‘Bologna Process’ aimed to make higher education more attractive to students from other parts of the world and to facilitate intra-European mobility; however, many other activities are needed to stimulate mobility, and the Bologna Process pursues many other objectives. It remains to be seen whether supra-national and national policies and institutional strategies will continue to opt for wide-ranging cooperation based on mutual trust or whether the ‘competition paradigm’ will determine the scene.     

Academics and institutional differentiation in Australian higher education

Similarities and differences are explored between academic staff in four different types of Australian universities. Despite an overall high degree of homogeneity amongst academics, those in pre-1987 universities, especially Go8 universities, are better qualified, have appreciably better publication records, spend more time on research and writing, and show more interest in research than academics in post-1987 universities. Pre-1987 universities are more likely than others to have academic organisational units headed by professors and associate professors. Academics in pre-1987 universities have distinctively different views with regard to research funding and the place of research, as well as about academic standards and recent expansion in student enrolments. While post-1987 universities have pockets of research strength, these are small and relatively small proportions of academics produce the bulk of research output. The views of academics generally coincide with those of their institutions on key differentiation issues.     

Making sense of institutional positioning in Finnish higher education

This paper examines how institutional positioning has emerged in the meaning-making activities between Finnish higher education institutions and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of the performance agreement documents of all higher education institutions filed with the ministry for contract periods 2010–2012 and 2013–2016. The results show that, in the first cycle, higher education institutions used profiling vocabulary in vastly different ways, and their lists of priority areas were quite wide ranging. By the second cycle, profiling statements had become more specific and structurally more alike, but the lists of priority areas continued to have a wide scope. As a response, the Ministry has consistently demanded and rewarded more focused profiling efforts and used the concepts of profiling to support other steering measures.     

Making sense of institutional positioning in Finnish higher education

Tertiary Education and Management - This paper examines how institutional positioning has emerged in the meaning-making activities between Finnish higher education institutions and the Ministry of...     

Digitalisation in higher education: mapping institutional approaches for teaching and learning

This paper explores the digitalisation of teaching and learning understood as external processes, influenced by government and international trends and as internal processes within the institutions, in Denmark and Norway. These are countries with similarities regarding digitalisation and educational systems. In the internal processes, there was some use of digital technology in teaching and learning when initiated from administration including IT-staff, in collaboration with academic leaders. There was little or only limited reported use of technology for teaching and learning, when the processes were initiated by administration together with enthusiasts among faculty staff, who did not have leadership roles or influence on change. There was more reported use of technology in teaching and learning in Denmark than Norway. The paper discusses possible explanations for these findings and thus illuminates how processes of digitalisation are influenced by broader governance arrangements, institutional maturity and academic and administration staffs.     

高等院校组织趋同的制度逻辑

讨论高等教育领域趋同问题有三个基本的制度前提,即组织分层、制度的功能和制度标准化。在政府主导分层的系统下,自致合法地位的院校通过采用已经在先附合法地位的院校中实行的具有标准化和合法性的制度,而努力获得高声望院校所具有的合法性。这些标准化的制度其功能不仅包括解决组织运行效率,而且还承担着提供合法地位以及获取资源的功用。     

How mature-age students succeed in higher education: implications for institutional support

This article draws on stories of success in higher education by mature-age students of diverse backgrounds to highlight some key implications for institutional support. We begin by reviewing the post-World War II background of mature-age study in Australian higher education to provide a context for presenting some major findings from a small, in-depth research project. We examine these findings to focus on the role of institutional support in the success of mature-age students, particularly given recent sectoral factors affecting their access and support. The study findings show students’ primary supports were families and friends. Participants all belonged to equity categories as designated by the Australian government, but many did not use institutional supports. Some lacked the confidence to approach staff; others were unaware support services existed or lacked the time to access them. The participants’ stories demonstrate the complex disadvantages experienced by mature-age students. They highlight universities’ need to ensure support services are ‘student-centred’ in order to ensure improved educational and equity outcomes for their mature-age student populations.     

The role of international organisations in the financing of higher education in Cambodia

During the 1960s, when Cambodia dedicated 20% of its annualbudget to education, a higher education system was put in place for thefirst time in Cambodia's 2000 year history. High quality universities werebuilt in Phnom Penh and in a number of Cambodia's wealthier provinces. Inthe early 1970s, Cambodia entered a long period of civil war. Alluniversities except the University of Phnom Penh were levelled during thesewars and as a result of the Khmer Rouge Regime, the entire education systemwas dismantled. The Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia in 1979 saw animmediate restoration of the education system except higher education. Ithas only been over the last few years that the higher education system hasreceived meaningful support. Although the higher education system requiressignificant local and international financial assistance, the system remainsheavily under funded and unresponsive to alterations in the labour market.This article examines provisions for higher education and discusses theissues, gaps and constraints facing the system in the lead up to the year2000. It notes that despite heavy student and social demand for highereducation, international financiers have not been enthusiastic aboutrestoring the system. This omission is not consistent with developments inhigher education throughout the region.     

MOOCs,institutional policy and change dynamics in higher education

The last couple of years have witnessed a growing debate about online learning in higher education, notably in response to the global massive open online course (MOOC) phenomenon. This paper explores these developments from an institutional policy perspective, drawing on an analysis of the initial stages of different approaches to MOOCs and e-learning being taken up at three Australian universities. It points to four commonalities emerging from the institutional constructions of these initiatives including (1) the use of e-learning policy as a vehicle for curriculum redesign; (2) an emphasis on internal curriculum redesign as a core rationale for MOOCs; (3) a desire to capitalise on promotional opportunities but a reticence around wholly embracing the concept and structure of MOOCs and (4) the absence of access-driven concerns in university policy despite the prominence of such concerns in broader public debate. The approach is framed by a consideration of change dynamics in higher education and highlights the emphasis on internal university work within the policy narrative, suggesting this could represent an attempt to reframe the debate about MOOCs away from popular arguments about systemic disruption and instead use them to progress forms of change that align to broader strategic objectives.     

Change of higher education in response to European pressures: conceptualization and operationalization of Europeanization of higher education

This article focuses on change in higher education in response to environmental pressures, more specifically pressures coming from European integration initiatives with respect to higher education, e.g. the Bologna Process. Significant research attention has so far been focused on the supposed impact of European initiatives on higher education systems and organizations. However, while many of such studies would claim that what they focus on is “Europeanization of higher education”, few of them provide a clear definition of the concept of Europeanization and an explicit and elaborate theoretical approach. Therefore, the aims of this paper are: (1) to provide a clarification of the concept of “Europeanization of higher education”, and (2) to provide a systematized and robust analytical framework able to account for identified patterns of change. The article builds on the conceptualization and operationalization of the process of Europeanization developed in international relations and comparative studies literature, using two strands of neo-institutionalism: Europeanization through an external incentives perspective based on rationalist institutionalism and Europeanization through a social learning perspective based on sociological institutionalism. Exploration of the explanatory potential of the two Europeanization perspectives focuses on changes in approaches to quality assurance in European countries. An assessment of said explanatory potential, as well as a discussion about the analytical challenges related to using these two Europeanization perspectives is provided in the conclusion.     

北欧高等工程教育考察

本文介绍了全国工程硕士专业学位教育指导委员会北欧考察团在 2 0 0 4年 8月访问芬兰、瑞典和丹麦等国四所著名工程类高校的有关情况 ,包括调研的背景和目的、所访学校概况、考察调研体会 ,以及值得我国工程教育工作者借鉴的经验和做法等     

An alternative assessment to higher education outcomes: Differentiating by institutional type

In this paper we propose higher education, and community colleges in particular, be evaluated not solely on their functional merits, but on their value in promoting, what Dewey (1966) called an active citizenry. Rather than considering only how well higher education meets the needs of democratic capitalism, we investigate alternative methods of assessing the contribution of higher education to the development of active citizens. In this exploration we consider how higher education preparation differs based on an individual's gender, race, class, academic program and the postsecondary institution attended. We explore alternative concepts of assessment in higher education not as proof we have discovered the method for assessing outcomes of higher education, but, rather, as an alternative approach to understanding the potential outcomes of higher education at its different institutional levels. Of special significance for our study is the finding that although students who attend a community college, for example, may not be as successful economically as university students, attendance at a community college is associated with an increased sense of self-empowerment. When we consider community colleges have a higher proportion of students who are typically marginalized by postsecondary institutions, the community college does appear to offer opportunities for students that are not measured only in economic terms.     

让院校研究走进院校管理

管理落后是制约我国高等学校当前改革与发展的一个重要因素,而造成我国高等学校管理水平落后的一个重要原因是管理中的院校研究缺失。因此,让院校研究走进院校管理是提高我国高等学校管理水平的理性选择。这需要管理者进一步提高对院校研究重要性的认识,加强高校管理队伍的专业化建设,继续深化高等教育管理体制改革,进一步扩大高等学校的办学自主权。