The supposed demise of Fordism: Implications for distance education and higher education

The recent shift in Australian Government policy for Distance Education at the Higher Education level, as intimated by the increasing usage of the notion, Open Learning, is outlined. Such an emphasis on Open Learning contrasts markedly with the concerted effort to centralise and rationalise distance education in the late 1980s. This shift is related to a more general debate concerning the restructuring of industry which is formulated using an analysis grounded in the conceptualisation of Fordism, its crisis and its likely successor. The complex and contested nature of the debate about Fordism is revealed, as is its important connection with postmodernism. The relevance of this broader debate to higher education is then displayed and linked to the particular place of academic staff and their opportunity and ability to influence future policy.     

高等教育强国视野下的高校人才培养制度改革

培养人才的大规模、高质量是高等教育强国建设的基本内涵之一。近10年来我国高等教育规模迅速发展,为高等教育强国建设目标的确立奠定了重要的基础。但人才的高水平、高质量是高等教育强国建设对于人才培养的根本要求所在。建设高等教育强国,需进一步重视人才培养理念的不断更新,人才培养结构的不断协调,人才培养制度的不断改革。     

建设高等教育强国的关键是多样化

<国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要>(2010-2020年)(公开征求意见稿)明确提出加快建设高等教育强国的任务.要建设高等教育强国必须解决高等教育规模、质量、结构、效益的协调发展,关键是实现多样化.高等教育的多样化涉及高等学校举办者的多样化、进一步拓宽办学类型、办学层级的多样化、办学形式的多样化、学科门类的多样化、学生来源的多元化、教学模式和评价的多样化、师资来源的多元化、办学规模的多样化、管理的多样化等问题.     

Contract cheating in Australian higher education: a comparison of non-university higher education providers and universities

Abstract

This article reports on one aspect of a nationally funded research project on contract cheating in Australian higher education. The project explored students' and educators’ experiences of contract cheating, and the contextual factors that may influence it. This article reports the key findings from non-university higher education providers (NUHEPs). It compares survey responses from 961 students and 91 educators at four NUHEPs with previously reported findings from eight universities (14,086 students and 1,147 staff). NUHEP and university students report engaging in contract cheating in similar ways. However, while NUHEP educators spend more time teaching academic literacies and discussing contract cheating, NUHEP students are 12 times more likely than university students to report use of a professional academic writing service. Both NUHEP and university educators require systematic professional development regarding the relationship between the teaching and learning environment and students’ contract cheating behaviour. NUHEPs need to be cognisant of students’ vulnerability to commercial contract cheating services, and ensure they have access to timely academic and social support.     

建设高等教育强国视野下的技术本科院校发展路径

通过对技术本科院校在高等教育强国建设中地位和作用的分析,从院校、政府、企业和社区等不同角度开展对技术本科院校发展路径的探索.院校层面强调增强准确定位,主动服务地方社会经济发展的意识;紧密贴近地方要求培养高素质技术人才;主动围绕地方要求开展技术研究;主动融入地方经济建设提升服务社会能级.政府、企业与社区层面强调由政府牵头架构"共建共管"新机制;以企业为主体架构"产学研合作"新机制;由社区领衔架构"区校联动"新机制.     

Democratic environment in higher education: The case of a Turkish public university

This study describes the expectations of undergraduate students regarding the characteristics of a democratic university environment. It then goes on to explore whether there are any significant differences among the dimensions of democratic university environment, namely respect for ideas, participation in decision-making, and promotion of tolerance. Last, it examines the effects of certain variables (gender, student club attendance, newspaper reading, and home residence) on student perceptions of their university environment. The results showed that there was a significant difference among three dimensions of democratic university environment. In addition, gender, student club attendance, and home residence had significant effects on differing dependent variables.     

高等教育强国目标下的高等教育区域中心建设

推进高等教育区域中心建设是提升高等教育自身发展水平、提升高等教育对经济社会发展的贡献力和高等教育国际竞争力,实现建设高等教育强国目标的重要载体和途径.在高等教育强国建设进程中,要站在全局看教育,立足教育谋划全局,在把握演变规律和发展态势的基础上,从体系建构、内涵提升和机制创新等方面.扎实推进我国的高等教育区域中心建设.     

Constructing the university: Towards a social philosophy of higher education

Almost 40 years ago, a book appeared by J.S. Brubacher entitled On the Philosophy of Higher Education. Today, we have neither its successor nor a sense as to what such a book might contain. The argument here is that we currently lack a recognised subfield of study that might be termed ‘the philosophy of higher education’. The paper attempts to begin to remedy this situation by assembling the main planks of such a field, and identifying broadly the kinds of resources that might be brought together. A particular approach is argued for that builds from a recognition of the university both as institution and as idea. This approach would understand both that the university possesses a social ontology and that the university is accompanied by a widening conceptual hinterland. An undue pessimism is noted, such that the contemporary university is sometimes seen as being subject to overwhelming global forces, which underplays the university’s potential as an agent. It is suggested that an adequate philosophy of higher education would seek to widen the conceptual landscape by identifying universal and imaginative concepts that can assist not merely in understanding the university or in defending the university but in changing it.     

Private higher education in Australia

In the post World War Two era and prior to the mid 1980s Australia has been characterised by exclusive public provision, financing and regulation of higher education. The 1980s, however, have been marked by considerable turmoil which culminated in the 1988 White Paper. Circumstances provided by the reform of the higher education system, the booming overseas student market and unmet domestic demand have provided a window of opportunity for private providers. This paper charts the growth of private provision, federal and state government responses and the pressures for subsidy and regulation. The paper concludes that the policies of both levels of government are hastening the development of what Geiger (1988) defines as a peripheral private sector of higher education in Australia.     

大众高等教育时代大学的理想

在大众高等教育时代 ,必须对大学教育的内在逻辑进行重新审视 ,从人的发展的角度来讨论大学教育在未来的发展。大学作为社会精神文化的中心 ,应该承诺人的自由和全面的发展 ,重视人的自我完善、生命价值以及终极关怀 ,直面人类处境的有限性与其理想追求的无限性之间的张力 ,最终引导人类从必然王国走向自由王国。     

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.     

Defining the essence of a university: lessons from higher education branding

Branding is a phenomenon that has become increasingly common in higher education over the last few years. It entails defining the essence of what a university “is”, what it “stands for”, and what it is going to be known for, requiring precision and consistency in the formulations as well as internal commitment to the brand. This article details what happened in the process of defining the essence of a regional university in Northern Norway. Addressing the challenges, the article reveals that the notions of consistency, precision, and commitment generated resistance from faculty members and made the process very difficult to fulfill. An important finding is that a university may be too complex to be encapsulated by one brand or identity definition. The article describes this process, explains the reasons for the difficulties, and discusses some implications for higher education branding.     

高等教育强国视域下提高高等教育质量和水平的探析

提高高等教育质量和水平是建设高等教育强国的核心要义,应从人才培养、科学研究和为社会服务三个方面全面提高高等学校的质量。同时要从宏观、中观、微观三个层面提高水平。高等教育质量是核心,高等教育水平是标志,两者相互促进、相互制约,达到质量与水平的辩证统一。应建立多元质量观、内生性质量观、创新性质量观、人本质量观、精英质量观,同时要建立时代水平观、特色水平观和开放水平观。     

Administrative capacity assessment in higher education: The case of universities in Vietnam

Administrative staff are a crucial human capital input in tertiary education institutions. Given the substantial investment in recruitment and selection of administrative staff, efficient and effective use of these staff affects the organisational and financial performance of universities. Whereas much concern has been placed on the performance of academic staff, the ability of a university to obtain an optimal level of administrative staff has not been addressed. This paper investigates whether the usage capacity of administrative staff is maximised in Vietnamese universities. Vietnam has implemented several education reform policies with the aim to improve the standing of its universities in the world’s education market. The process is not only about obtaining and delivering good education quality, but also efficiently using human resources to reach optimal performance and sustainable development. Employing the stochastic frontier input requirement model with data on 112 Vietnamese universities, we examine the presence of excess administrative capacity in these universities, given the existing student outputs and other input resources. We find that, on average, the level of excess administrative capacity is 3.4%, implying an economic loss in universities. In addition, under the analysis of determinants of the variances of the inefficiency effects and the error terms in the input-requirement function, our findings reveal that excess administrative capacity varies according to location and ownership. Some policy implications are discussed to address excess capacity of administrative staff in the Vietnamese context and some key lessons learned for the rest of the world.     

Anomaly-based change in higher education: The case of a large, Turkish public university

This paper analyzes an institutional change in a large, Turkish public university, the Middle East Technical University (METU), by using an anomaly-based change model. The model explains change as an organizational response to anomalies caused by internal and external organizational conditions. The study used a qualitative case study design that included interviews with 51 individuals, and, analysis of institution-specific documents. Anomalies derived from the interview findings compared with a separate set of anomalies, devised from the document study, that are attributed to the strategic change agenda developed by the current president of the institution. The paper argues that human thinking and problem solving as well as organizational cognition and problem solving do proceed through existence and recognition of a problematic situation. So, anomalies are the ID cards of any major change in organizations in that they carry important information about where the organization comes from and where it should proceed to. Implications for the nature and management of change in higher education organizations are discussed.     

浅谈慕课对当前高等教育的影响

慕课作为一种新兴的教育形式逐渐成为热门,慕课的出现对高校教育模式提出新的挑战,促进高校之间的合作与竞争,促进教师由个人向团队合作转变,让高等教育更好的服务于终身教育,势必带来中国高等教育的改革。     

Becoming a female leader in higher education: investigations from a regional university

Issues of gender imbalance in leadership have long been a significant issue in universities, as is the case across most industries. This paper explores the experiences of seven females who have successfully achieved senior leadership positions at a regional university in Australia. While the experiences of these women differ in many ways, there are certainly similarities in the challenges and adversities that they have faced, and their perceptions of what has allowed them to experience success in their leadership roles. This paper provides a number of recommendations for women aspiring to be leaders in higher education, such as committing to ongoing development, taking opportunities when presented, developing resilience, developing a track record, and seeking support, and also recommendations for institutions.