The typology of organizational effectiveness in Australian higher education

This paper briefly summarizes the new developments emerging from a major ongoing research program in Australia in higher education that tested and extended Cameron's dimensions of organizational effectiveness. Framed in this context, the paper then reports on the second national study in Australia to replicate earlier findings. The results confirm earlier findings and unequivocally establish the four-group typology that existed until recently. Finally, discussion includes consideration of micro and macro benefits of the framework with particular emphasis on recent structural changes to the Australian higher education system with reference to organizational culture and quality standards.This paper was prepared during a recent period as visiting professor in the School of Business at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.     

Social media in higher education: A literature review of Facebook

The rapid adoption of social media technologies has resulted in a fundamental shift in the way communication and collaboration take place. As staff and students use social media technologies in their personal lives, it is important to explore how social media technologies are being used as an educational tool. The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of social media, in particular, Facebook, as an educational tool in higher education. Through a review of the literature, this paper explores the myriad ways in which Facebook is being used as an educational instrument for learning and teaching. Multiple benefits of Facebook usage for learning and teaching have been identified such as increased teacher-student and student-student interaction, improved performance, the convenience of learning and higher engagement. The paper also highlights the potential problems and limitations of Facebook usage ranging from educators’ dominance to privacy concerns. Finally, Facebook usage guidelines that can be adopted by educators to encourage social media adoption are proposed. As social media usage continues to grow in higher education, future empirical research is warranted.     

The assessment of quality in higher education: A critical review of the literature and research

The article discusses the elusive concept of quality and the problems involved in attempting to assess it. The article provides a comprehensive yet critical review of the literature and empirical research studies undertaken on the subject matter. Three types of studies are identified and are reviewed relative to their major findings, strengths, and weaknesses. Issues that remain to be resolved are also identified and discussed.     

Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective

Peer review is a reciprocal process whereby students produce feedback reviews on the work of peers and receive feedback reviews from peers on their own work. Prior research has primarily examined the learning benefits that result from the receipt of feedback reviews, with few studies specifically exploring the merits of producing feedback reviews or the learning mechanisms that this activates. Using accounts of their experiences of peer review, this study illuminates students’ perceptions of the different learning benefits resulting from feedback receipt and feedback production, and, importantly, it provides insight into the cognitive processes that are activated when students construct feedback reviews. The findings show that producing feedback reviews engages students in multiple acts of evaluative judgement, both about the work of peers, and, through a reflective process, about their own work; that it involves them in both invoking and applying criteria to explain those judgements; and that it shifts control of feedback processes into students’ hands, a shift that can reduce their need for external feedback. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. It is argued that the capacity to produce quality feedback is a fundamental graduate skill, and, as such, it should receive much greater attention in higher education curricula.     

The educational use of social annotation tools in higher education: A literature review

This paper presents a literature review of empirical research related to the use and effect of online social annotation (SA) tools in higher education settings. SA technology is an emerging educational technology that has not yet been extensively used and examined in education. As such, the research focusing on this technology is still very limited. The literature review has aimed at presenting a comprehensive list of SA empirical studies not limited to a particular research method or study domain. Out of more than 90 articles that were initially found, only 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. Among the included studies were eight experimental or quasi-experimental studies and eight evaluation/survey studies. The SA empirical research has provided some evidence regarding the potential effectiveness of integrating social annotation tools into learning activities. Findings from the gathered literature were synthesized to provide recommendations for using SA technology in educational settings.     

Peer tutoring and social dynamics in higher education

Peer tutoring in Higher Education is being used with increasing frequency to aid in student learning, motivation, and empowerment. Although an extensive body of research documents the efficacy of such programs, it exhibits a surprising lack of awareness of the social dynamics involved. This study focuses on peer tutors and students as they interact in higher education classrooms. Results indicate that this interaction does not always occur smoothly and that tutors often spend an inordinate amount of time engaged in impression management. Additionally, findings suggest that the tutor/student relationship can be rife with misunderstanding and power struggle.     

The relations between acculturation and creativity and innovation in higher education: A systematic literature review

This systematic literature review focuses on research findings from 20 peer-reviewed studies on the relations between the constructs of acculturation and creativity as well as acculturation and innovation in higher education. The overall research findings suggested a primarily causal relation between acculturation and creativity through statistical modeling. However, acculturation was also found to be correlated with and predict creativity. Moreover, attributes of acculturation discovered to engender creativity included multicultural learning experiences, individualistic culture type, homogeneous cultural dyads and the acculturation strategy of biculturalism. In contrast to its well-founded relation with creativity, acculturation was tentatively found to be a positive and significant predictor of innovation. This review highlights the strength of acculturation aspects, particularly biculturalism and the integration of contrasting cultural ideas, in influencing the ability to be creative or innovative in postsecondary environments.     

Tutoring interventions within special education settings: A comparison of cross-age and peer tutoring

In two experiments, cross-age and peer tutoring interventions conducted within special education settings were compared. In Experiment 1, learning disabled (LD) and behaviorally disordered (BD) students acted as tutors of younger LD and BD students. In Experiment 2, same-age LD and BD students alternated tutor and tutee roles. In both experiments, tutors and tutees exhibited academic gains. Only in Experiment 1, however, were attitudinal gains observed. Implications for future research and practice are given.     

A methodological review of systematic literature reviews in higher education: Heterogeneity and homogeneity

The field of higher education research has bourgeoned in the past decades, addressing a wide range of topics. Being in a rapidly expanding and interdisciplinary field of research, higher education scholars have demonstrated exigency for aggregating research findings to map the research landscape, identify future research directions, and bridge the research-practice divide. In this connection, systematic literature reviews have been carried out to consolidate research findings. With a proliferation of systematic literature reviews in higher education, the aim of this meta, methodological review is to provide a state-of-the-art systematic literature review methodologies in the field of higher education. Adhering to the exploratory nature of this study, this review analyses systematic literature reviews published in 16 top-tiered international journals in higher education (n = 160). Through qualitative research synthesis using thematic analysis and informed by grounded theory, a methodological framework comprising six stages and 20 steps is developed, which might help to instigate methodological dialogue between researchers when it comes to conducting systematic literature reviews. A handy checklist for conducting and evaluating systematic literature reviews in higher education is created.     

Service learning in higher education: a systematic literature review

Asia Pacific Education Review - In the last few years, adoption of service learning in higher educational institutions has emerged as a modern teaching and learning strategy. This study is aimed to...     

Intersectionality in higher education research: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a systematic structured review of recent research that explicitly adopts intersectionality as a theoretical framework to interrogate how tertiary institutions manage, cater for, include, exclude and are experienced in ways that produce advantage and disadvantage. The analysis addresses the following questions: Within research that uses intersectionality, what aspects of the HE context are the focus? What methodologies are employed and how do these contribute to the production of knowledge? What vectors of identity are included? We find that gender appeared as the primary identity with which other dimensions of difference were combined to produce intersectional positions. Furthermore, case study and auto-ethnographic designs were primary approaches. This systematic literature review of 50 papers demonstrates that, when considering the workings of multiple systems of (dis)advantage, academic participation is intertwined with social and personal aspects of the HE experience. While intersectionality challenges the dominant instrumental view of HE, our review concludes that there is considerable work to be done to actively address the workings of intersecting systems of inequity impacting on participation and outcomes of students and faculty.     

The provision of higher education in regional areas: an integrative review of the literature

There is a great deal of literature surrounding the needs of regional Australia. This integrative review of the literature focuses on the experience of nursing academics teaching on a satellite campus, many of which are located in regional Australia. Four themes were identified: (1) challenges specific to regional satellite campuses, (2) student characteristics, (3) student experiences and (4) the academics’ experiences. These themes identified not only significant benefits but also considerable challenges to the provision of higher education on regional university campuses. The experience of nursing academics and indeed their students is remarkably different from the experience of their metropolitan counterparts, and therefore the local context needs to be considered in regional education provision. Australian regional nursing academics need to be multi-skilled to address the workload and social inequity in support service provision.     

The purpose, value and structure of the practicum in higher education: a literature review

The practicum constitutes an integral part of many professional courses in higher education; and is manifest in several different forms depending on the discipline: field experience, cooperative education, sandwich programs, internships, clerkships, clinical practicum, and the like. This paper provides an overview of different ways in which the practicum has been conceptualised, implemented and evaluated in higher education. It focuses attention on the purpose and value of the practicum; the relationship between the practicum and the learning outcomes of a course as a whole; and the structure and placement of the practicum within a course. Findings indicate that whilst the practicum is widely accepted as a valuable and successful component of professional education, it has a number of shortcomings; and the lack of good quality research into the practicum makes it difficult to draw unequivocal conclusions. A number of questions are posed to guide further research into the role of supervision during practicum placements; the kinds of learning goals and outcomes that are best achieved through the practicum; and the impact on student learning of the length and structure of the practicum.     

Stress and the higher education student: a critical review of the literature

The available research indicates that the prevalence of stress is increasing among students studying in higher education. Issues such as student retention and student progression are becoming increasingly important for all universities. There are a significant number of studies that have examined stress and this paper critically reviews that research and identifies several issues that as yet have not been explored. The paper also highlights a number of key weaknesses in the current literature base. In previous studies there has been a focus on a quantitative approach, and research studies have been restricted to using as subjects individuals from a narrow range of disciplines. It is also suggested that there is a need to undertake longitudinal research to investigate individuals' stress experiences during the period they study at university.     

Self and peer appraisal in higher education

This paper applies the mathematical technique of Data Envelopment Analysis to the problem of appraisal in Higher Education. The technique can be understood as an idealised self and peer appraisal: evaluating others in the same way that we would optimally evaluate ourselves relative to those others. The technique is applied to examples of student and staff appraisal. Although the main focus of this article is on the technique itself (its rationale, the prerequisites for use, and the insights that it yields), we also discuss the wider implications of having and using such a technique to assist appraisal.     

LeaD-In: a cultural change model for peer review of teaching in higher education

Peer review of teaching is recognized increasingly as one strategy for academic development even though historically peer review of teaching is often unsupported by policy, action and culture in many Australian universities. Higher education leaders report that academics generally do not engage with peer review of teaching in a systematic or constructive manner, and this paper advances and analyses a conceptual model to highlight conditions and strategies necessary for the implementation of sustainable peer review in higher education institutions. The model highlights leadership, development and implementation, which are critical to the success and formation of a culture of peer review of teaching. The work arises from collaborative research funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching to foster and advance a culture of peer review of teaching across several universities in Australia.     

Creativity and higher education: A review

Some recent literature is reviewed to argue that institutions of higher education have made little adjustments to either their admission practices or their curricula to help nurture varied talents among their students. Diversity seems to be lacking throughout the academic community from the undergraduate level to the professional circles. The need for renewed spirit of experimentation and of tolerance of pluralism is pointed out.     

The gender difference of peer influence in higher education

Investigations of the existence of residential peer effects in higher education has shown mixed results. Using data from a Chinese college, we find no evidence of robust residential peer effects. Using the same data we find evidence that females respond to peer influences, whereas males do not, consistent with social psychology theories that females are more influenced by peers.