High school computer science education paves the way for higher education: the Israeli case

The gap between enrollments in higher education computing programs and the high-tech industry’s demands is widely reported, and is especially prominent for women. Increasing the availability of computer science education in high school is one of the strategies suggested in order to address this gap. We look at the connection between exposure to computer science in high school and pursuing computing in higher education. We also examine the gender gap, in the context of high school computer science education. We show that in Israel, students who took the high-level computer science matriculation exam were more likely to pursue computing in higher education. Regarding the issue of gender, we will show that, in general, in Israel the difference between males and females who take computer science in high school is relatively small, and a larger, though still not very large difference exists only for the highest exam level. In addition, exposing females to high-level computer science in high school has more relative impact on pursuing higher education in computing.     

Trends of diversification and expansion in Israeli higher education

Israeli higher education faces in the last decade growing pressures to alter the elitistic homogeneity of its universities and to enhance greater diversity of academic styles and traditions. Some calls for reform advocate the implementation of changes into the existing institutions, while others argue for establishing totally new higher education frameworks, both private and public. This paper discusses the emerging changes in the Israeli higher education in the broader context of trends and developments in higher education systems in other parts of the world.     

精英高等教育与大众高等教育:两个体系的解读

高等教育机构应该按功能分化,而不是趋同。精英高等教育与大众高等教育作为两个体系,既是概念层面的划分,也是操作层面的划分。绝大部分的高等教育机构应该有清晰的定位,或者属于精英高等教育,或者属于大众高等教育。有质的差别的教育应该在不同质的教育机构内完成。精英高等教育与大众高等教育的关系既是冲突的,又是和谐的。我们既要防止精英高等教育压抑大众高等教育,又要防止大众高等教育消解精英高等教育。     

The stratification of Israeli universities: Implications for higher education policy

Despite the growing body of literature on thestratification of the university systems in the US andthe UK, the treatment of all universities in countrieswhere the system of higher education is publiclycontrolled tends to remain monolithic. This iscertainly true of Israel, where all universities andcolleges are regulated by the Council for HigherEducation (CHE), which considers all universitiesthe ``first layer' of higher education versus the``second layer' of degree-granting colleges. We claimthat the six major Israeli universities – the fiveregular universities and the Technion – are highlystratified into three elite institutions, aiming atacademic excellence, versus three ``targetuniversities' aimed at specific or peripheralpopulations. Drawing on periodical university figurespublished by the Central Bureau of Statistics between1985–1996, we show that the growth of various academicfields and of graduate studies has been limited in thetarget universities. Subsequently, their studentcomposition differs from that of the three eliteuniversities. They have larger than expectedproportions of older students, women, and minority students (Sephardic Jews and Arabs). Threeimplications of these stratification patterns forhigher education policy in publicly controlled systemsare discussed: the extent and stability of universitystratification in these systems; the benefits andlimitations of this stratification process; and itsimpact on further developments in higher education,mainly the expansion of degree-granting colleges.     

Comparing higher education systems

This paper discusses the range of comparative studies which might legitimately be attempted. It considers the separate issue of whether they must necessarily be directed towards the testing of pre-constructed hypotheses. It describes how the Brunel-Gothenburg-Bergen international team is attempting to compare their three national systems and academic working within them.     

The reverse transfer student: A growing factor in higher education

Study purposes were (a) to identify factors associated with academic performance of students enrolled at a four-year university and a two-year community college; and (b) to determine if students who (1) dropped out of a four-year university, (2) entered a two-year community college, and then (3) returned to the same four-year institution improved in academic performance. The 195 undergraduate subjects began their college careers at a large university and subsequently transferred to a community college, a type of student mobility referred to as reverse transfer student. Following a poor academic performance at the university, the students achieved satisfactorily at the two-year college. Students who later returned to the university improved their grades with each quarter's course work. Factors associated with academic performance at the two institutions were identified.     

The visible and invisible crises in Israeli higher education in the 90s

This study focuses on the Israeli experience of developing higher education as part of the expansion of a nation-building economic project. Educational development and the current crises are examined in the context of a particular history and a unique socioeconomic, political, and cultural experience. Nevertheless, the purpose of this research is to allow the drawing of meaningful inferences, so that researchers into other national cases might profit from the insight into the sources, both visible and less visible, for the break in equilibrium (Bourdieu's term) in the Israeli academy. At stake is the most characteristic feature of the old Israeli academic model, namely the conflation of the missions of teaching and research. To discover the present state of the research-teaching nexus, we examined faculty perceptions as reflected in a recent (1993) survey. This survey was part of the first Carnegie International Survey of the Academic Profession, and its international scope allowed us to undertake some comparative analyses. The Israeli case-study, as well as the analysis of the International survey, shows that devotion to research and meeting teaching obligations, collaboration on research with others, obtaining funds for research, and scholarly publication have strong disciplinary relevance in the day-to-day shaping of academic life in all post-industrialized countries, Israel among them.     

Evaluation systems and the pace of change – The example of Swedish higher education1

Abstract

The aim of¹ this article is to illuminate and discuss evaluation and evaluation systems in relation to the pace of change. It is argued that evaluation promotes and accelerates change. The article will thus contribute to a critical scrutiny of evaluation as a societal phenomenon and as a widespread practice in education. To accomplish this aim, the inherent purpose of evaluation and evaluation systems is brought forward. National evaluation systems for Swedish higher education are used as an empirical example. An analysis using Rosa’s three aspects of social acceleration (technical acceleration, acceleration of social change, and acceleration of the pace of life) is offered to demonstrate how the evaluation systems are related to, sustain, and promote an increase of the pace of change (acceleration) in educational practice in higher education.     

Quality and change in higher education

There is increasing evidence that the pressures on British universities for greater quality and accountability, linked closely to funding, are leading to loss of quality. These governmental pressures, exerted through the Funding Councils, are wholly different from those applied in a quite separate way from another government source, the Employment Department. This article analyses the nature and effects of the two kinds of pressures in terms of change theory. This also demonstrates that the observed effects were not only largely predictable but to a substantial extent were predicted, and warns of the danger that the resulting deleterious effects may become irreversible.Lewis Elton obtained an M.A. in Mathematics at Cambridge University and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics at the University of London. He is a Further and Higher Education Adviser to the UK Employment Department and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the University of Surrey. His special interests are in the improvement of university teaching and learning; staff development; distance learning; and organizational change in higher education. Pat Cryer obtained a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Exeter and a Ph.D. in Educational Development at the University of Surrey. She has recently resigned as Professional Adviser of the UK Universities' Staff Development Unit and is now a Consultant in Higher Education. Her special interests are in issues of quality; staff development; and teaching large classes.The opinions expressed in this paper are our own and do not commit the Employment Department.     

Quality indicators in Venezuelan higher education

The development and rational use of quality indicators is a priority need for Venezuelan higher education. This assertion does not mean that such indicators are not needed at other levels of the educational system, but rather that higher education does demand them as a condition for introducing accountability criteria into the system, given the magnitude of the financial resources allocated to higher education: 37% of the 1983 total budget allocated to education (CNU-OPSU, 1984).     

Quality issues in the internationalisation of higher education

Although the quality issue has become a central preoccupation inother domains of higher education, current internationalisation policiesand practices in higher education have developed without much concernfor quality assurance. The central thesis of this paper is that we havecome to a point in the development of higher education whereinternationalisation policies and practices face the limits of theirdevelopment unless the quality challenge is addressed in all itsconsequences. The paper first provides an overview of contemporary formsof and recent developments in internationalisation in higher education.From more or less `traditional' forms such as student and teaching staffmobility, internationalisation policies and practices nowadays move intoactivities such as exporting higher education via branch campuses andinstitutional co-operation, developing transnational university networksand virtual delivery of higher education, and the harmonisation ofhigher education systems. In these recent developments several issuesand challenges arise, which in one kind or another have direct links tothe quality challenge. The quality of internationalisation policies andpractices itself is an important problem, but of more importance are theissues of the recognition of foreign diplomas and degrees and therecognition of credits and credit-transfer. This paper takes a criticalstance towards for example the ECTS, which tries to solve these issueswithout much concern for quality. The way out lies in an integration ofinternationalisation policies and general quality assurance practices atinstitutional and policy levels.     

高等数学素质教育的几点思考

大学数学教育的灵魂是数学素质 ,其实质就是要通过系统的数学教学来启发学生的悟性 ,挖掘其潜能 ,从而达到培养能力、开发智力的目的。因此 ,在整个教学过程 ,应注意“重视基础 ,突出重点”、“精心设计练习”、“优化题型搭配”等几个要素。     

Quality assurance and women in higher education

This paper examines a range of positive and negative consequences for women of Quality Assurance (QA) initiatives in one Australian university. Drawing on Foucaults concepts of governmentality and power/knowledge, it is argued that the popular repressive hypothesis of power via governmentality hides a positive and potentially productive dimension of power. Following recent work by feminist political theorists, my claim here is that a corporatist managerial discourse such as QA can be used strategically for a politics of transformation in the interests of women. The paper begins with an outline of the parameters of debate about and critiques of the QA agenda in the Australian higher education sector, and highlights some potentially negative consequences for women in terms of their structural location in the university. An overview of QA audit processes then leads into a closer examination of one universitys response to QA initiatives. The culture and management style of this regional university was significantly transformed from an informal and pastoral model to one with open systems of accountability and performance targets built around equity issues. In that regard, it is argued, equity target groups including women, became the visible focus of the development and implementation of new systems designed to bring equity into the mainstream. In closing, I argue that in this particular university, the new managerialism of QA was indeed a panoptic mechanism of making visible: productivity, equity groups, procedures and outcomes. But in an institutional context where open systems were lacking and womens contributions invisible and undervalued, the QA agenda brought new opportunities not only for women but for other groups previously marginalised and silenced.     

Salary administration in the management systems of higher education

Faculty productivity and behavior are evaluated in this salary administration system through the use of objective and subjective performance standards. The utilization of control channels that are delineated by moral, legal and functional standards allow faculty to compete against their own records. The replacement of dog eat dog rivalry with self competition permits cooperation to be accentuated among faculty through teamwork, collaboration and group learning. The employment of control channels to monitor faculty productivity with computer technology helps toprotect academicians from coercive practices. In addition,it provides for their success through the use of standards of excellence to push them up to exemplary levels of performance over time.Dr. Gunn earned his undergraduate (B.S.) degree in mangement at West Virginia University and his master's (M.S.) and doctorate (Ph.D.) degree in Marketing and Finance at Louisiana State University. Professor Gunn has produced over 60 refereed articles and program papers in a wide variety of periodicals includingManagement Science, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Education, etc. His current research interests involve developing the theories, concepts and techniques for advancing the acceptance of the Steady State Economy, the Competruistic Ideology, National Economic Planning and the use of Systems Science Methodology in raising organizational productivity.