Preparing academic staff to use ICTs in support of student learning

There is pressure on academic staff to respond to changes produced by the increasing globalization of education markets, and the capacities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to transform the ways education is delivered. This presents a serious challenge for many academics whose own formative educational experiences and professional orientations were shaped under different circumstances. This paper will focus on an innovative scheme designed to support university staff in their understanding and application of ICTs in student learning. The course was delivered to a small pilot group of experienced teaching staff who wished to explore the uses of ICTs. It aimed to provide an understanding of the available technologies, and how these might be utilized in the support of teaching, learning and assessment. Throughout the course's duration, one of the authors conducted an independent evaluative programme of research involving confidential questionnaires and observation sessions. The paper's two remaining authors have made further contributions as participant and course leader. Combining these sources of data, the paper reviews the course evaluation and discusses how staff approached the development and use of ICTs with varying levels of confidence, and with different practical issues and agendas concerning the incorporation of ICTs in teaching and learning. Placing the study's major themes within the changing contexts facing university staff, it concludes with a discussion of its wider implications for all practitioners involved in staff development that is both general and ICT-specific.     

Institutional transformation at South African universities: Implications for academic staff

In South Africa the restructuring of the higher education system and the transformation of higher education institutions are located within the country's broad political and socio-economic transition to democracy. This paper focuses particularly on institutional transformation, and pays attention to the implications of the process of transformation for academic staff.The following five interlinked and interdependent issues characterizing institutional transformation in South African higher education are identified:democratising the governance structures of institutionsincreasing access for educationally and financially disadvantaged studentsrestructuring the curriculumfocusing on developmental needs in research and community serviceredressing inequalities in terms of race and gender.Although the overall effect of institutional transformation is experienced rather negatively by many academic staff members, the paper concludes that academics have to be empowered by means of staff development to remain active partners in the transformation process.     

Relative academic performance of college transfer students at The University of Calgary

This paper compares academic achievement of The University of Calgary undergraduate population with that of transfer students from Alberta community colleges for the four academic years 1968–1972. The comparison is made using four measures: percentage distributions of student grade point averages, percentage distributions of grades, course grade point averages, and withdrawals. The measures were taken along several dimensions, including faculty of student registration, year of student academic program, and academic discipline and level of courses taken. Transferring students do not succeed academically as well as the total university student population. For example, in 1971/72 the average grade points achieved in all courses was 2.49, while the college transfer student subset achieved only 2.33. The corresponding figures for 1970/71 were 2.45 versus 2.24; for 1969/70, 2.41 versus 2.23; and for 1968/69, 2.38 versus 2.16.     

Allocation of academic staff in universities

This article is concerned with allocation of academic staff between departments in a university. The article considers general principles of staff allocation and then goes on to consider specific techniques for university staff allocation. Practical problems likely to be associated with implementing the results of a given method of staff allocation are also discussed. Finally the question of decentralised decision-making and possibility of allowing some freedom of choice between appointment of academic staff and other resources is considered.     

试论图书馆电子资源与纸本资源的协调发展

纸本资源和电子资源属于公共图书馆文献资源中两个非常重要的资源类型,纸本资源和电子资源的协调发展在图书馆的可持续发展过程中起着非常重要的作用。本文对如何实现图书馆电子资源和纸本资源之间的协调发展进行了探讨,希望能够为图书馆文献资源的管理提供一些参考。     

高校后勤人力资源开发与管理的思考

本文指出了高校后勤人力资源开发与管理的重要意义。分析了高校后勤人力资源的现状,并提出了一系列改善当前高校后勤人力资源经营现状的举措。     

A University for Nigeria,West Africa

The Purposes of Higher Education by a Huston Smith, Harper &; Brothers. New York. 1955. $3.50.

Administering Community Education by Ernest O. Melby, Prentice Hall, Inc. 314 pp., $6.00.

Education at Amherst: The New Program by Gail Kennedy (ed.) Harper and Brothers, 330 pp. $4.00.

Guidance Policy and Practice (Revised Edition) by Robert Hendry Mathewson. Harper and Brothers. 401 pp. $4.50.

Principles of Elementary Education (Revised Edition) by Henry J. Otto, Hazel Floyd, and Margaret Rouse. Rinehart and Company. 455 pp. $5.00.

Principles of Secondary Education (Third Edition) by Rudyard K. Bent and Henry H. Kronenberg. McGraw-Hill Book Company. 542 pp. $5.50.

School Superintendent in Action in Five Cities by Frank E. Spaulding. Richard R. Smith Publisher, Inc., (Rindge, New Hampshire.) 693 pp. $6.50.

Special Education for the Exceptional edited by Merele E. Frampton and Elena D. Gall, Vols. I, II, III. Porter Sargent, Publisher, II Beacon Street, Boston 8, Massachusetts. Vol. I, 453 pp. $5.50; Vol. II, 677 pp. $5.50; Vol. III, 700 pp. $5.50.

Supervising Instruction in Secondary Schools by Robert C. Hammock and Ralph S. Owings. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 316 pp. $4.75.

Philosophies of Education in Cultural Perspective by Theodore Brameld. The Dryden Press, Inc. 414 pp., $4.50.

This World of Ours by Abram Glaser. Philosophical Library, 492 pp. $5.00.

Counseling Psychology (New Second Edition) by Milton E. Hahn and Malcolm S. MacLean, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 302 pp., $4.75.

Educational Psychology by Garrison, Karl C., and Gray, J. Stanley. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 505 pp., $5.00.

Human Development and Learning by Lester D. Crow and Alice Crow. American Book Company. 578 pp. $5.50.

Making the Most of Marriage by Paul H. Landis. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 532 pp. $5.50.

1,000,000 Delinquents by Benjamin Fine. The World Publishing Company. 377 pp. $4.00.     

Development of professional culture for academic staff and students by European projects

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of University of Miskolc has been involved in six European Union Tempus projects since 1991, with the objectives of upgrading academics, modernizing laboratories and introducing new curricula, courses and up-to-date teaching methods in order to approach EU university standards. Microelectronics, electrical drives in automation, mechatronics, energy engineering, PhD engineering programmes in English and telecommunications were focused by the projects. One hundred and thirtytwo Miskolc students prepared their diploma theses at EU universities and academics could spend 1100 weeks within the mobility scheme at EU universities. To enlarge the European dimension and prepare academic staff, students and engineers working in industry, two Jean Monnet projects for European integration studies were also awarded.     

The scholarship of teaching: A comparison of conceptions held by experts and regular academic staff

Over the past decade the scholarship ofteaching has received considerable attention inthe higher education literature as a reactionto the widely cited Carnegie Foundation'sreport ``Scholarship Reconsidered'; however, theconcept has remained devoid of a unifieddefinition. A recent Delphi study conductedwith a selective group of scholars whoseexpertise lies in the area of universityteaching and learning indicated the extent towhich these ``experts' agreed with each other onimportant features and unresolved issues theyassociate with the scholarship of teaching. Building on the results of the Delphi study,the present article discusses the results of asecond survey comparing these ``experts' 'conceptions with those of a larger group ofscholars whose expertise lies in a differentacademic field (``regular academic staff'), inorder to identify the similarities anddifferences in the conceptions of thescholarship of teaching held by each of the twogroups. While regular academic staff werefound to associate the scholarship of teachingmore with good or effectiveteaching ``experts' pointed to notions such aspeer review and scholarly standards. Thediscussion of the results focuses on the notionof consensus reached within and betweenthe two groups. It is argued that in order topromote changes in policy with respect to whatis to count as scholarship, identifying andreporting ``experts' ' conceptions, thoughclearly necessary for promoting moreenlightened discussions on the issue, willremain insufficient. Policy change in academeis more likely to ensue as a result of thewider academic community reaching consensus onthe meaning, and nature, of the scholarship ofteaching. The wider academic community includes``experts', as well as colleagues in departmentsand disciplinary associations. The articleconcludes by exploring the notion of consensusthrough the lens of critical social theory.     

Strategies to increase the representation ofwomen on the academic staff of the Faculty of Medicineat Monash University

This study used focus groups to develop strategies toincrease the representation of women in the seniorlevels of academia in the Medical Faculty at MonashUniversity. The aims of the study were to: raiseawareness of a wide group of Faculty members on issuesassociated with equal opportunity; achieve greaterinvolvement in implementation of equal opportunitystrategies; and to obtain a broad base of opinions andideas from which to develop strategies that wouldincrease the representation of women on the academicstaff of the Faculty. The focus group method of datagathering resulted in `faculty ownership' ofaffirmative action and an implementation plan that hashigh priority and incorporates a number of peoplecommitted to achieving the target outcomes.     

The induction of academic staff to a university: processes and products

Interviews with 55 new Lecturers at an Australian university focussed upon early experiences in the institution and attitudes and perceptions regarding teaching and student evaluations. Interview data were used to describe the induction perceived by the Lecturers. Expectations for induction experiences and based on background characteristics of Lecturers were used as criteria in one form of evaluation of the induction process. Evidence of effects of induction processes upon orientations to teaching was used as a second form of evaluation. Help in learning about the institution and special consideration in workload were found to favour the more academically qualified rather than the reverse. Help in solving problems favoured the less academically qualified, those without employment experience in the university, those appointed on probation and those with less impressive publication records. Some evidence was found that special consideration in workload, and the perception of unexpected opportunities were conducive to desirable orientations to teaching. Lecturers who were less self-assured about their teaching competence tended to report participation in development activities more than others.     

Organization,management and academic problems in the Arab University: The Kuwait University experience

The modern university is essentially an alien phenomenon in the Arab world where it lacks the societal support base enjoyed by the western university. Moreover, many of the new Arab universities, like Kuwait University, established in 1966, were either modeled after the French influenced Egyptian university — in-turn based on semi-independent colleges — or received their initial administrative and teaching faculty from Egypt. From this legacy is derived a significant share of the obstacles hindering organization and management reform. At the same time a variety of governmental traditions and regulations binding the university to general civil service regulations, an under-developed tradition of university autonomy and faculty participation in university decision-making, and a utilitarian concept of formal education which associates degress with employment status are among the more serious problems confronting the Arab university.Kuwait University can be seen as a microcosm of the organizational, management and academic problems encountered in the Arab university. Although Kuwait University enjoys adequate financial support and is not forced to accommodate an unreasonable number of students, it has peculiar problems arising from unequal admissions standards (Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti), traditional societal values, paucity of indigenous staff, inexperienced administrators, lack of balance in academic ranks, absence of tenure, a fragmented physical plant, inadequate support staff as well as insufficient societal understanding and support. Like most other Arab universities Kuwait University not only reflects the rudimentary societal development but is located on the frontier of that development. Given the small population of Kuwait, the university is especially important in this development role. As the university and its distinctive needs become better understood the total society will be strengthened.     

The e-balanced scorecard (e-BSC) for measuring academic staff performance excellence

This research paper is a pilot study that investigated the suitability of adopting an automated balanced scorecard for managing and measuring the performance excellence of academic staffs in the higher education setting. A comprehensive study of related literature with requirements elicited from the target population in a selected premier university in Malaysia through document analysis, interviews and survey questionnaires provided the foundation for the system development. By adopting the balanced scorecard, the proposed system provided a means for top down alignment of organisational objectives while creating a medium of communication between the lecturers and management. Though the method suggested in this study primarily focuses on the academic staff, it addresses the lack of a representative form of performance measurement for lecturers that accommodates the complexities of the profession while providing the potential adoption of an unconventional method to encourage excellence and development amongst all levels of employees in the industry.     

西南联大时期陈岱孙的学术研究

西南联大时期陈岱孙先生处在一个物质环境极度恶劣同时学术氛围又极度浓郁的联大校园之内。8年间,处理完公务与教书之余,陈先生发表了诸多文章,内容涉及金融、外汇、经济思潮、抗战对策等诸多领域。一方面从当局困境着眼,提出针砭时弊的对策,另一方面从抗战大局出发,为抗战胜利建言建策。这8年与抗战前后一起形成其学术生涯中的第一个高潮期。     

Multivariate prediction of academic performance by Hong Kong University students

Verbal intelligence, English-language skills, personality, and attitude scales were used as predictors of academic performance in 230 male and female arts students at the University of Hong Kong. A series of bivariate, multiple, and canonical correlation analyses were performed. The results showed that verbal intelligence and attitudes, excepting study orientation, were not predictive of performance. English-language skills had the most predictive value, accounting for about 10% of the variance of performance measures. Personality variables failed to predict performance when composite criterion measures (GPAs) were used; however, they proved to be of predictive value when results of individual academic subjects were used as criterion measures. The study points to the importance of using noncomposite criterion measures in prediction and of considering the cultural context of achievement.     

The use of electronic mail in undergraduate teaching

An introductory computing course is described in which the students were required to register their presence and submit assignments by electronic mail. This was found to have advantages in improving class discipline without a schoolroom atmosphere. Returning assignments by electronic mail was found to be an effective method of giving individual help to those who needed it most, and individual student misconceptions could be more easily detected.