Modular instruction in higher education: A review

The principles and purposes of modular instruction (MI), its advantages for both students and instructors, and a comparison between the conventional and modular approach are presented. Separate sections deal with implementation and management of MI and include a discussion of evaluation and cost. Several examples of modular formats in use at North American universities are described.Present evidence suggests that MI meets the needs of today's students more adequately than traditional instruction both with respect to the quality of learning and the content. However, certain problems may arise in implementing MI. These are presented from the perspective of the student, instructor, and administrator. Given its emphasis on individualized learning and its adaptability to large numbers of students, MI has emerged as one of the most promising alternatives in higher education today.     

Peer teaching in higher education: A review

In the last decade, peer teaching has gained momentum in higher education. Socio-psychological, pedagogical, economical and political considerations have all contributed to this recent interest. A number of peer-teaching models including discussion groups led by undergraduate students, proctoring (PSI), student learning groups, the learning cell, and student counseling of students (parrainage) have evolved. Several issues and problems may confront the instructor who wants to use undergraduates as teachers: selection of student partner, functions of student teacher, cooperation vs. competition, the structure of the learning situation, preparation of the student teachers, benefits of peer teaching, the role of the professor, financial aspects and instructional facilities. The evidence reviewed suggests that peer teaching, best used in conjunction with other teaching and learning methods, has great potentials for both student teacher and student learner, especially if one seeks to enhance active participation and develop skills in cooperation and social interaction. A student's colleagues often represent the least recognized, least used and possibly the most important of all the resources available to him. (Mackenzie et al., 1970).Portions of this paper have been presented by the second author at the International Symposium on Ingenieurpädagogik '75, 14–16 April, 1975, in Klagenfurt, Austria and at the International Conference on Improving University Teaching, 9–11 May, 1975, in Heidelberg, Germany.     

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.     

Individualizing instruction through pacing procedures

Conclusion The ideal outcome of individualized instruction is both effective and efficient instruction. Confining ourselves to a consideration of fixed-paced instruction which is offered because the medium requiredhappens to be fixed-paced in character, how can such instruction be both effective and efficient? When slow, it tends to be effective but inefficient. Unless it can be demonstrated that slow students can be sped up, inefficiency may be the price that must be paid to make effectiveness possible for them. The trade-off is no different than that which is currently necessary in selfpaced instruction. The research described in this paper was performed under a grant (No. 7-48-0000-159) to the Metropolitan Pittsburgh educational television station, WQED, from the Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, under Title VII of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The research was performed under the direction of George L. Gropper, principal investigator.     

English-medium instruction in Chinese higher education: a case study

With the relentless internationalization and marketization of higher education in the past decades, English has been increasingly adopted as a medium of instruction at universities across the world. Recent research, however, has shown that despite its various optimistically envisioned goals, English-medium instruction (EMI) is not without problems in practice. This article reports a case study of an EMI Business Administration program for undergraduate students at a major university of finance and economy in mainland China. Informed by Spolsky’s language policy framework, the study made a critical analysis of national/institutional policy statements and interviews with professors and students to uncover EMI-related language ideologies, language practices, and language management mechanisms. Findings evinced a complex interplay of these three constitutive components of language policy in the focal EMI program and revealed considerable misalignment between policy intentions and actual practices in the classroom. These findings raise concerns about the quality and consequences of EMI in Chinese higher education. The article concludes with recommendations for further research on EMI policies and practices in China.     

Evaluation of instruction in higher education: Some critical issues

Critical issues arising from the evaluation of instruction in higher education are reviewed. The purposes of evaluation (for reward and accountability, for improvement of instruction) and identity of the evaluations (students, reporters, peers, administrators, consultants) are discussed and a plea made for tying evaluation to systematic training schemes.     

The department-wide approach to improving faculty instruction in higher education: A qualitative evaluation

This study applies qualitative methods to evaluate a model for the improvement of university teaching. According to this model, a departmental instruction specialist comprehensively treats issues concerning the quality of instruction within the department. This specialist gets to personally know all faculty members in need of teaching improvement and initiates preventive measures prior to the development of severe problems in instruction. Two years of implementation in the Physics Department at Tel Aviv University have shown an increase in quality of instruction and in faculty motivation and attitudes toward both instruction and students, suggesting that this approach has potential for department-wide teaching improvement. This article illustrates the complexities of the processes underlying teaching improvement, the longitudinal effort required to comprehensively improve instruction, and the reasons for failure and success in these efforts.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, GA, April 1993.     

A review of rubric use in higher education

This paper critically reviews the empirical research on the use of rubrics at the post‐secondary level, identifies gaps in the literature and proposes areas in need of research. Studies of rubrics in higher education have been undertaken in a wide range of disciplines and for multiple purposes, including increasing student achievement, improving instruction and evaluating programmes. While, student perceptions of rubrics are generally positive and some authors report positive responses to rubric use by instructors, others noted a tendency for instructors to resist using them. Two studies suggested that rubric use was associated with improved academic performance, while one did not. The potential of rubrics to identify the need for improvements in courses and programmes has been demonstrated. Studies of the validity of rubrics have shown that clarity and appropriateness of language is a central concern. Studies of rater reliability tend to show that rubrics can lead to a relatively common interpretation of student performance. Suggestions for future research include the use of more rigorous research methods, more attention to validity and reliability, a closer focus on learning and research on rubric use in diverse educational contexts.     

高职院校体育教学改革初探

详细分析目前高等职业院校体育教学中存在的各种弊端，通过对番禺职业技术学院体育教学内容进行四项改革和建设的探讨，建立起“淡竞技，重健身，强素质”的教改方案，初步将“竞技型”体育课向“健康型”转轨，进一步丰富和完善了高等职业院校体育教学改革内容。     

A review of twenty-first century higher education

This article is predominantly concerned with the global challenges associated with managing an academic workforce in an era characterised by increased demand for higher education. In scrutinising global trends in higher education and academic workforce management, the article will address two research questions. First, what are the global trends that most affect education in the twenty-first century? Second, what are the transformations that have taken place in the academic workforce amid these trends? Last, the article calls for a need for researchers to profoundly explore the management of the academic workforce cross-nationally between developed and developing economies, with a particular focus on Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.     

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.     

Student characteristics and academic performance in higher education: A review

This is a review of the recent literature on student characteristics and their predictive potential for academic achievement. Results are not optimistic, often contradictory, and on the whole account for little variance beyond that accounted for by tests of intellectual ability. Researchers often use different performance criteria and so results are not comparable. However, there has been much complex, diverse, and unique work done on personality and motivational factors but no clear trends have emerged. Other factors investigated have been home and class background, study habits, previous withdrawal, and expectations. The review concludes by demonstrating the usefulness of the cluster analysis approach which indicates groups of students with similar patterns of characteristic criteria.     

A review of higher education reform in modern Japan

A number of different parties in Japan have been discussinghigher educational reform for over thirty years. Many of theseideas finally started to take form in the 1990s as the Ministryof Education's University Council began implementing many of thepropositions that had been put forth during the deliberations ofthe 1970s and 1980s. As Japan enters the 21st century, its18-year-old population has decreased by over half a million since1992. It will decrease another 300,000 by the year 2010. This has added an increased urgency to make reforms, especially atthird-tier universities, which are now starting to have troublerecruiting students. Japan's Ministry of Education would alsolike to bring the quality of its university educational standardsup to par with the rest of the advanced nations. Moreover, industryis demanding a new breed of employee – and one much different thanthe Japanese educational system has been known to produce. Finally, a new generation of Japanese is starting to reach adulthood, who – raised on consumerism, and material abundance – have acompletely different value system than their parents' generation. This paper looks at the present higher education reform movement and its history extending back approximately thirty years. It then goes on to offer some suggestions as to what more can be done to alleviate many problems still inherent in the system.     

Activating instruction: How to foster study and thinking skills in higher education

New instructional procedures have been developed and applied at the University of Helsinki, Department of Psychology since 1986. The aim of these procedures has been to enhance effective study skills. The idea is to stimulate active learning in students by so called activating instruction, which is theoretically based on a combination of Vygotsky’s ideas, applied cognitive science, and process-oriented instruction. In many courses, students have been able to choose a preferred form of instruction among the new and the traditional methods. A six-year longitudinal study was conducted in order to see, what kinds of choices psychology students (N=114) made and how these choices were connected with their academic progress. On the basis of student’s evaluations, the new methods differed significantly from traditional methods. Students associated the development of study skills and understanding more often with activating instruction than with traditional courses. The number of activating courses taken was related to success in final exam and thesis writing. Those who participated in activating instruction studied slower during the first three years of their studying, but were more successful in the long term.     

浅议高职教育中的专业英语教学

本文针对目前高职教育专业英语教学中暴露出的问题,从教学方法、教学内容,教材建设、考核方式、师资建设等方面提出了自己的一些建议.     

我国高等教育课程制度改革的回顾与评析

我国高等教育课程制度自建国以来,先后经历了由荚美自由教育模式向前苏联计划管理模式转轨和再由计划模式向自由模式回归两次价值取向和目标迥异的改革路径,形成了具有中国特色的课程制度发展模式.当前背景下,及时、系统地总结我国高等教育课程制度改革的特征,问题和成因.有助于我们从根本上认识我国高等教育课程改革的基本规律.并为推进今后的进一步改革提供理论支持.     

Designing instruction for complex learning: 4C/ID in higher education

Objectives‐based instructional design approaches break down tasks into specific learning objectives and prescribe that instructors should choose the optimal instructional method for teaching each respective objective until all objectives have been taught. This approach is appropriate for many tasks where there is little relation between the objectives, but less effective for teaching complex professional tasks that require the integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and the coordination of different skills. For the latter, a task‐centred approach that starts designing instruction from whole, real‐life tasks, is more appropriate. This article describes one task‐centred instructional design model, namely the Four‐Component Instructional Design (4C/ID) model and illustrates its application by reflecting on three educational programs in higher education designed with 4C/ID. The first case presents a design for a course that focuses on the development of mobile apps at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The second case illustrates the integration of information problem‐solving skills at Iselinge University of Professional Teacher Education, a teacher training institute in the Netherlands. The third case is an example from general practice education at the KU Leuven, Belgium. Future developments and issues concerning the implementation of task‐centred educational programmes are discussed.     

Integration of technology in higher education: A review of faculty self-perceptions

The purpose of this study was to examine how faculty technology literacy and technology training impact their pedagogy. This required an examination of how faculty technology literacy skills related to pedagogical practice (integrating technology into their pedagogy), while controlling for training. Respondents surveyed in this study consisted of faculty members in the US colleges of education among the fifteen peer institutions of the University of North Dakota. The results of the study showed significant correlations between technology literacy and pedagogical practice integration. The results also revealed that faculty technology training may be maximized for the integration of pedagogy by using the training strategy of small group faculty forums with a trainer.     

Resilience in higher education students: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

The health, wellbeing and employability of university students are key considerations within higher education. In response, interest in student resilience is on the rise. Reviews of contemporary resilience literature highlight both conceptual and methodological weaknesses, issues which hamper attempts to design effective resilience interventions. To inform the design of a student resilience program, to be piloted at three Australian universities, a scoping review of resilience specific to the higher education context was undertaken. Searches of three electronic databases (PsychINFO, CINAHL and ProQuest) were conducted. Seventy-two peer-reviewed articles published between 2007 and 2017 were included in the review. While the review reaffirms the conceptual and methodological issues found in previous resilience research, it provides a useful critique of key issues in relation to university student resilience and interventions to enhance students’ resilience. Recommendations for educators and researchers are provided.