Internal quality assurance: A new culture or added bureaucracy?

This paper analyses teaching and non-teaching staff perceptions on the implementation of internal quality assurance (QA) practices at their higher education institutions. The aim is to understand how far different perspectives on quality – as culture, as compliance or as consistency – are reflected in the views of these two groups on such practices. Data from a survey sent to all Portuguese institutions show that, to some extent, the perspectives of quality as culture and quality as compliance seem to permeate both groups’ views. This is evident in regard to the factors identified as supporting the development of internal QA, the main features underlying the implementation of such practices and their main effects. As the study allows for a better understanding on how these practices are perceived by teaching and non-teaching staff, it can contribute to promoting the critical reflection of institutions about QA and the way it can be both more effective and aligned with academia’s needs and expectations, contributing to influencing institutional practices.     

Bologna 2010. The Moment of Truth?

Government policies are central factors shaping the environment of higher education institutions. European governments have included in their higher education political strategies the principal goal of implementing the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The perceptions that key actors of higher education institutions (HEIs) have about political developments are important as they may influence the achievement of government policy. The Bologna Process is at the heart of policy coordination, the instrument selected at European and national levels to establish EHEA. This article seeks to discuss empirically the views of institutional actors about the Bologna Process, taking into consideration the achievement of EHEA. The discussion is based on the analysis of the EHEA implementation in seven HEIs located in four higher education systems — Germany, Italy, Norway and Portugal. This paper draws on the theoretic-methodological approach of the policy cycle to analyse the perceptions of HEIs' constituencies about Bologna.     

Cohorts and Relatedness: Self-Determination Theory as an Explanation of How Learning Communities Affect Educational Outcomes

This study examines whether feelings of relatedness constitute a substantial means by which learning communities (cohorts) improve learning outcomes in higher education. It applies Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory to an analysis of the National Survey of Student Engagement. The SDT hypothesizes that environments that support perceptions of social relatedness improve motivation, thereby positively influencing learning behavior. The authors propose that participation in cohort programs constitutes such an environment. Measuring student perceptions of the contributions of their institutions, the study found increased relatedness to peers and faculty and increased higher order thinking assignments (a control variable included in the research model) to be substantial predictors of educational outcomes relevant to literacy, critical thinking, and, especially, job preparation. The researchers suggest that institutions will want to ensure that their learning community designs enhance student feelings of relatedness.     

1997: Track Merging Across the Board

The year 1997 is one that holds extraordinary significance for China's higher education. The national conference on educational work that has just concluded has proposed the following: In 1997, the vast majority of colleges and universities in China must implement a merged-track system in student admissions, and students will have to pay certain fees to go to college or to a university. Because 661 colleges and universities have already merged tracks in admissions in 1996, and these already cover nearly two-thirds of all institutions that admitted students, the person in charge of the Division of College and University Students in the State Education Commission (SEC) says, with great confidence, that it is highly possible that we will complete the work of merging tracks in student admission in colleges and universities across the board throughout the nation in 1997.     

民营企业并购国有企业中的问题及对策

民营企业并购或重组国有企业已成为我国国有企业改革的一个有效途径。然而,民营企业在并购国有企业中,存在着观念滞后、准备不足、人资难以分离、法律体系不健全、政策上有歧视现象等问题。因此,加深对民营经济的地位和国有企业改革作用的认识、营造民营企业并购国有企业的“软、硬”环境、培育产权交易市场、提高企业内部管理水平、做到人资分离、强化资源整合,是做好民营企业并购国有企业的关键。     

Bursaries and Student Success: a Study of Students from Low-Income Groups at Two Institutions in the South West

This article draws on quantitative and qualitative data from two institutions to compare the student experience of those with and without bursary awards. Using the student life cycle model, the article examines the ways in which bursaries impact on the student experience before they enter the institution, in the early weeks of their studies and as they progress through their programmes. At these two institutions, students with bursaries were more likely to be retained and to perform well during the first year than those without bursaries. The study found that bursaries can ease financial pressures during their transition to higher education (HE) and that institution‐specific bursaries can affect students’ perceptions of an institution and their commitment to succeed. After 2006, those institutions wishing to charge variable fees will be required to provide bursary support for low‐income students. The findings from this article suggest that HE providers should consider the timing of the bursary payments and the implicit message the bursary sends to applicants if they want to ensure that their bursaries have a positive impact on the student experience.     

Academics’ perceptions of the challenges and barriers to implementing research-based experiences for undergraduates

How can universities ensure that strategic aims to integrate research and teaching through engaging students in research-based experiences be effectively realised within institutions? This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study exploring academics’ perceptions of the challenges and barriers to implementing undergraduate research. Academics were asked about perceived constraints and enablements, how they defined undergraduate research, the forms of undergraduate research used, and they were encouraged to provide examples. Perceived constraints included particular institutional policies and structures, academics’ mindsets and lack of skills and questions of time and money. It was found that different definitions of undergraduate research lead to different practices and varying opportunities for further development. This paper presents different forms of engagement in undergraduate research allied to these different definitions and it draws on interviewees’ ideas about what has been enabling in their context to suggest possible strategies for institutions to move forward.     

Motivations,barriers, & understandings: how students at four universities perceive student–faculty partnership programs

ABSTRACT

Extracurricular student–staff partnership activities are increasingly common in higher education institutions, but concerns have been expressed about their relative inclusivity. In order to contribute to understanding of why students do and do not take part in such initiatives, this study draws on data from a survey of students at four institutions, in three different countries, with established extracurricular partnership programs. Though the findings indicate some preliminary differences between participants at the four institutions, they also demonstrate a number of shared perceptions, including similar understandings of key features of partnership and shared perceptions of barriers to participation. Implications for partnership practice and research are discussed.     

Merging divergent campus cultures into coherent educational communities: Challenges for higher education leaders

Mergers in higher education areviewed here as a sociocultural issue. Concentrating particularly on mergers inAustralia during the late 1980s and beyond,highlighted are some cultural challenges thatarose and strategies adopted by institutionalleaders in trying to create integratedcommunities from the merging of campus culturesthat were historically and symbolicallyun-complementary. By viewing a number ofcases, how hoped-for post-merger integration or`coherent educational communities' were andwere not achieved is a specific focus. Evidence indicates that in newly mergedcampuses integrated as opposed to federal structures provide more scope for tightercultural integration. In particular, expertleadership is needed that keeps culturalconflict to a minimum and pays specialattention to developing new loyalties, highmorale and a sense of community within thenewly created institution.     

以科学发展精神推进地方高校重点学科建设

阐述了在当前竞争激烈的形势下,地方高校应树立科学发展观,坚持以学科建设为核心,确定主攻方向,突出学科优势和特色,促进学科的交叉、渗透与融合,不断提高重点学科的学术研究水平及人才凝聚功能,不断促进重点学科的可持续发展,从而推进学校整体办学实力的提高.     

高校合并办学与校园文化构建

合并办学的目标之一就是对原有分离的校园文化作有效的整合,建立博大、深远、影响力强的校园文化。一方面,合并办学有助于形成高层次、开放性、影响力强的校园文化;另一方面,合并办学中校园文化的构建要处理好校园文化与社会文化的关系,继承与发展的关系以及统与分的关系,并从物质文化、行为文化、制度文化、精神文化四个层面加强校园文化构建。     

合并高校办刊管理模式的探讨--以《扬州大学学报》为例

高校的合并促使学校学报的办刊体制发生改变。合并高校学报必须从中国高等教育发展的客观实际出发，进行重组和再分工，改变办刊管理模式，为合并高校学报的健康发展提供科学的制度保障和坚实的物质基础，以利于合并高校学报适应新的环境变化，保证刊物的可持续发展。     

A model to predict educators’ attitudes towards technology and thus technology adoption

Abstract

“Technology”, the buzz word for the last ten to fifteen years in South Africa. Technology availability is quite often mistaken for technology adoption and use. Technology has been made available to almost all tertiary institutions and at least some public schools. However, in most tertiary institutions many professors still refuse to use technology to enhance their lectures and many educators in schools have not yet “come on board” in a manner of speaking. The South African government has indicated its intention to ensure that every school has access to a wide choice of diverse, high quality communication services that will benefit all learners and local communities (DOE 2004). It is important that the Department of Basic Education recognizes that regardless of the amount of technology and its sophistication, technology will not be used unless educators have the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to infuse it into the curriculum. The aim of this paper is to determine educators’ attitudes towards technology and thus technology adoption in teaching and learning. In doing so, this study attempted to determine what educators’ attitudes/perceptions (used synonymously) are towards constructs (e.g. relative advantage, perceived behavioural control, complexity) extracted from the different information systems (IS) technology adoption models. Thereafter, regression analysis was used to determine the best predictor of educators’ attitudes and thus technology adoption. The findings of this study suggest that overall the educators perceptions are somewhat positive across most IS constructs with the notable exception of Perceived Behavioural Control and Facilitating Conditions where the mean are below 3.5. The analysis suggests that the independent variables explaining the greatest amount of variance in computer attitudes are in order of predicative value: extrinsic motivation, perceived usefulness, complexity, perceived behavioural control and relative advantage. The results point to the importance of educators’ vision of technology itself, their experiences with it, their perceptions towards computer attributes and the conditions that surround its introduction into schools in shaping their attitudes towards technology and its subsequent diffusion into their educational practice.     

Interactions and mergers of galaxies

When two galaxies approach each other, we can witness the effects of the tidal forces on a gigantic scale. Peculiar features like galactic bridges and galactic tails may form, or the two galaxies may even merge into each other and form a single system. Merger of two spiral galaxies leads to the formation of an elliptical galaxy. The interaction of gas during such galaxy encounters triggers star formation and activity of the nucleus. It is generally being accepted that galaxy interactions and mergers play a vital role in galactic evolution. S M Alladin is a retired Professor of Astronomy, Osmania University, Hyderabad. He specialized in dynamical astronomy and did research on dynamics of colliding and merging galaxies. He is also interested in interaction between religion and science. S N Hasan is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Osmania University, Hyderabad. His field of specialization is celestial mechanics. His research interests include the three body problem, stellar and galactic dynamics.     

Efficient Quality Systems

Quality is not cheap, and the increasing pressure or legislative requirement for institutions of higher education (IHEs) to: (i) set up their own quality management systems (QMSs) and (ii) submit to external quality review has led to increased costs for institutions and for the whole higher education system. These costs arise from increased use of resources, but more especially from the time spent by staff both within and without the institutions. It is important to achieve the quality benefits as economically as possible. (Increasingly, institutions are being urged to be efficient: it is important to ensure that the quality system itself is also efficient!) Internally, an institution must ensure that its own quality system is efficient. External aspects of efficiency include both the cost and effectiveness of any external quality agencies themselves, and also the activities required within institutions to meet the requirements of these agencies. If external efficiency is to be achieved, consideration must be given not only to the nature of such agencies but also to their number and (if multiple) their interaction. The same government pressure that begets external review is conducive to the establishment of multiple agencies to permit a large quantity of review. While the multiple‐agency approach has advantages, it also has disadvantages, not least the increased difficulty of achieving an efficient system. An efficient way of obtaining the benefits of a multiple‐agency system is for institutions to establish internal quality systems that include reviews of parts of the institution. These reviews, whether internally or externally initiated, should have external input. The external system should then comprise a single agency that is publicly accountable, that may be owned jointly by the institutions, that operates in audit mode, and that coordinates with the institutions' internal systems by explicitly checking and integrating the results of these reviews.     

The mythology of feedback

Much of the general education and discipline-specific literature on feedback suggests that it is a central and important element of student learning. This paper examines feedback from a social process perspective and suggests that feedback is best understood through an analysis of the interactions between academics and students. The paper argues that these two groups will have their own mythology of feedback and that this will inform their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours in the feedback process. Where there are different mythologies, the outcome will be dissonance. The paper reports on a study in which a 15-item questionnaire was distributed to academics and students in a School of Law and a School of Management. Responses were received from 91 academics and 1197 students. The data suggests that academics and students have different perceptions of feedback and this creates dissonance as the two groups offer different interpretations of the same feedback events.     

Teachers in Private (minban) Institutions of Higher Education in Hubei: The Current Situation and What Is Being Done

Quality is the lifeblood of private institutions of higher education; building a teacher base is the guarantee of teaching quality in those institutions. Although there are still some problems, teachers in private institutions of higher education in Hubei will mature and develop if they are given serious attention. A concerted effort needs to be made to develop a rational structure and ensure teacher quality, while management should be strengthened and further education for teachers should be put in place. A good external environment for teachers also needs to be created.     

人性预设差异分析在高校师资管理中的运用

以人为本的人性化管理必须坚持以人为中心和出发点,对人及人性进行科学的分析.以人性预设的差异分析比较及其对管理方式和管理手段的影响为基础,结合高校师资管理的特点,在高校师资管理中实施人性化管理对激发和鼓励教师的积极性、促进高校的发展具有十分重要的意义.     

关于加强高等特殊教育师资队伍建设的几点思考

论述了加强现代化高等特殊教育院校的师资队伍建设的重要性,指出要强化先进的特殊教育理念、先进的现代教育技术、良好的特殊教育师德三种素质,培养学术大师、教学大师、“双师型”教师三种人才．树立以人为本、教学为本、持续发展二三种观念。     

Recent racial incidents in higher education: A preliminary perspective

The goal of this paper is to provide a contemporary perspective on the recent resurgence of racially motivated harassment and violence directed against minority students at predominantly white institutions of higher education. In achieving this goal, first an overview of minority student experiences on white campuses is given. Second, their experiences are linked to general perceptions of racism in contemporary society. Third, a delineation of the scope of racial-ethnic incidents on campuses of predominantly white institutions is made through a content analysis of a national and selected local and black-oriented newspapers. Finally, an assessment is made of the prospects for change. We argue that the recent upsurge in racism against minority students on white college and university campuses was implicitly encouraged by the previous national administration and by majority individuals in leadership roles. Finally, we argue that to combat these problems, university officials must begin to indicate in a direct way that racist actions will not be tolerated and that infractions will be dealt with severely.