The evaluation turn in the higher education system: lessons from Italy

This article explores how new public management policy ideas and technologies circulating in the globalised education space have been re-contextualised in the re-design of the Italian Higher Education System. In doing so, it uses the governmentality studies as a sensitising framework to problematise what we term here as the ‘calculative and instrumental turn’ in the evaluation of Higher Education. The work reflects on the complex assemblage of forms of knowledge, technical means and collective and individual subjects through which the evaluation of the Italian universities unfolds in its current form. The attempt is to highlight the changes produced in how Higher Education and its ethical subjects are thought and their qualities are conceived and appraised. The article presents some conclusive remarks on some of the paradoxical risks of the Evaluation turn, namely contractualisation, depoliticisation and fabrication, but also insists on its reflexivity potential, interpreting the current developments as a missed opportunity.     

Professional learning in higher education: making good practice relevant

Professionals working in a range of contexts are increasingly expected to engage in ongoing professional learning to maintain their skills and develop their practices. In this paper, I focus on professional learning in Higher Education and challenge the standardisation of professional learning that is becoming prevalent in a number of countries. I argue that professional learning must challenge accepted wisdom, and that this is possible while still adhering to the standards required for professional legitimacy. Developing praxis is suggested as a way of producing relevant and active professional learners while still addressing the professional standards required for quality assurance.     

Exploring learning and fit in the transition from higher education to the labour market: A systematic review

The transition from higher education to the labour market is an important period for youngsters, characterised by extensive changes which act as triggers for learning. Furthermore, students’ educational background and the (in)congruence with their work context is important. Accordingly, the aim of this systematic review is to explore the role of learning and fit in the transition process. Results indicate that most emphasis is put on theoretical knowledge, communication, problem-solving, and learning skills. Although the perception on what has to be learned differs for employers, educators, and graduates, each group valued generic competences most. Results show that transfer can be experienced in three ways and the need for learning at work is stressed. Concerning fit, four types of fit are distinguished: vertical, horizontal, competence, and person-environment fit. Several personal background characteristics are shown to influence fit and findings indicate that fit has an influence on career progress and personal resources.     

Using mid-semester course evaluation as a feedback tool for improving learning and teaching in higher education

The way in which mid-semester course evaluations are structured, administered and reported is important for generating rich and high-quality student feedback for the enhancement of learning and teaching. Mid-semester evaluations usually contain open-ended questions that trigger more elaborative feedback about what is going on in a class than that from end-of-semester evaluations with Likert scale-type questions. The anonymity of the process for students and the confidentiality of the process for instructors make the process more reflective for students and less stressful for instructors. This study describes how the mid-semester course evaluation process can be used as a feedback tool for improving the quality of teaching and learning at an institutional level. Through a longitudinal analysis of 341 mid-semester course evaluation reports, positive areas and areas of concern with respect to learning and teaching were identified, and changes in student evaluations over the years were examined meticulously to make an overall evaluation of the quality of learning and teaching at a non-profit Turkish university. This research showed that the value of mid-semester course evaluations can go beyond course-level if we use open-ended questions and are able to gather the reports together to make some comprehensive analysis at university level.     

Advantages of authentic assessment for improving the learning experience and employability skills of higher education students: A systematic literature review

This study is a systematic review of literature that investigates the advantages of implementing authentic assessment for improving two major categories that are relevant to academic and professional success of higher education students: learning experience and employability skills. Authentic assessment involves students in challenging tasks that closely resemble those of the workplace settings. 26 papers from 2010 to 2019 that were relevant to the topic of this paper were selected for the review process. Findings of this review indicate that authentic assessment can play a role in improving the learning experience of higher education students through enhancing their engagement in learning and improving their satisfaction as well as positively influencing their efforts to achieve educational goals. We also discuss the benefits of authentic assessment for equipping students with essential skills for their future professional life, such as communication skills, collaboration skills, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, self-awareness, and self-confidence.     

高等职业教育教学改革的若干思考

高职教学改革应以不断适应时代要求为目标 ,推动高职教育的发展     

对高校公共体育教学改革的思考

分析高校公共体育教学的培养目标和存在的问题,提出了要以“终身体育”作为高校公共体育教学改革发展的方向以及进行高校公共体育教育改革的具体措施。     

高职餐饮课程实施项目教学的研究与实践

项目教学法是师生通过共同实施一个完整的＂项目＂工作而进行的教学活动。通过项目教学法在高职酒店岗位能力课程＂餐饮服务与管理＂教学中实践,对实施项目教学法的可行性、具体实施、考核评价、实施效果、须进一步探索的问题等进行了分析。     

论和谐高等教育评估体系的构建

经过二十多年的发展，我国高等教育评估事业取得了飞速发展，但其中也遇到了许多问题和矛盾。本文试从我国高等教育评估的实践出发，对制约我国高教评估健康发展的主要矛盾即评估中的行政本位与学术自由，评估中政府、高校与社会的矛盾进行系统分析，提出构建和谐高等教育评估体系的方法途径。     

Student learning in higher education: a longitudinal analysis and faculty discussion

Answering a call put forth decades ago by the higher education community and the federal government, we investigated the impact of US college coursework on student learning gains. Students gained, on average, 3.72 points on a 66-item test of quantitative and scientific reasoning after experiencing 1.5 years of college. Gain scores were unrelated to the number of quantitative and scientific reasoning courses completed when controlling and not controlling for students’ personal characteristics. Unexpectedly, yet fortunately, gain scores showed no discernable difference when corrected for low test-taking effort, which indicated test-taking effort did not compromise the validity of the test scores. When gain scores were disaggregated by amount of completed coursework, the estimated gain scores of students with quantitative and scientific reasoning coursework were smaller than what quantitative and scientific reasoning faculty expected or desired. In sum, although students appear on average to be making gains in quantitative and scientific reasoning, there is not a strong relationship between learning gains and students’ quantitative and scientific reasoning coursework, and the gains are less than desired by faculty. We discuss implications of these findings for student learning assessment and learning improvement processes.     

Accounting for structure and agency in ‘close-up’ research on teaching,learning and assessment in higher education

This paper examines research into teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) in higher education in terms of structure and agency. It argues that although issues of structure and agency are seen as crucial in social theory, they are very little discussed in research into TLA in higher education and that a consideration of structure and agency raises some important questions about this research and the quality of the explanations that it generates. It is therefore time to reconsider this research from the standpoint of structure and agency so that more sophisticated approaches to researching, and generating explanations of, teaching, learning and assessment in higher education can be developed.     

Taking stock of sustainability in higher education: a review of the policy literature

Abstract

This paper provides a review of the current literature that examines the uptake of sustainability policies in higher education. Articles were retrieved from both ERIC and Scopus databases and then manually reviewed to ensure that they focused on each of: higher education; sustainability; and policy. A total of 91 articles were analysed using a multi-stage process that involved sorting data according to typologies (i.e. temporal, terminology, methodology, geography), coding the text of the articles based on topical content, and an indexing method used to label data for further analysis and the development of broader code categories. Results suggest that drivers and barriers associated with the integration of sustainability policy in higher education are well known; yet increased research is needed to understand best practices and processes by which sustainability can be furthered through higher education policy. In addition, findings demonstrate the need for future research to focus on various aspects of the policy process, including policy development and enactment, and on implications of policy for practice. While there have been some reviews of sustainability policy in higher education research to date, this review contributes to this literature by highlighting research primarily focused on sustainability policy within higher education.     

论新闻媒体参与高校评估的作用与特点

高校信息是高校评估的重要依据之一.目前我国高校信息在高校和外部评估主体间的分布是不均衡的;高校信息能否及时、全面、迅捷、准确地公布和传递给高校外部评估主体,对于高校评估的理论和实践影响甚大.新闻媒体是信息的最大天然载体和传播者,通过加强新闻媒体在高校评估过程中的作用,可有效解决高校信息的分布不均衡问题.     

对高职《色彩》课程教学的思考

高职色彩教学是设计类各专业的一门重要学科,它除了培养学生用正确科学的方法掌握色彩规律与表现技能外,对学生兴趣的培养和审美意识的提高尤为重要。高职色彩教学应结合学生实际情况及各专业发展方向进行,提高学生的动手能力,体现高职教学特色。     

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.     

Faculty learning communities: improving teaching in higher education

Faculty learning communities (FLCs) are collaborative collegial groups of faculty and other teaching staff who are interested in and committed to the improvement of their teaching to accommodate a diverse student population through group discourse, reflection and goal setting. In this article, we describe our FLC experiences that were supported by a federal grant to ensure accessible learning environments on our campus. The project, Ensuring Access through Collaboration and Technology (EnACT), sought to introduce faculty at a medium‐sized state university to a pedagogical framework to provide universal access to the curriculum for all students and to encourage faculty to adopt accessible technologies. We describe the recruitment process, the FLC meeting structure, our intended outcomes and the challenges we faced in meeting them.     

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.     

Lesson study: A collaborative approach to scholarship for teaching and learning in higher education

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning has become an important field of inquiry, focusing on the development of new and critical pedagogic approaches in higher education. It is a broad field leading to the emergence of a number of contrasting perspectives concerning the development of insights into teaching and learning. In this article, we explore the potential for Lesson Study to act as a framework for reflecting on and developing pedagogic practice in the university sector. Originating in Japan over a century ago, Lesson Study is a collaborative tool for analysing and developing understanding of student learning. This makes it an ideal tool for capturing and interrogating new and critical insights into teaching and learning. An outline framework is suggested for developing the use of Lesson Study in higher education and we discuss how it can form a positive methodology for extending the work of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.