Exploring the heterogeneity of class in higher education: social and cultural differentiation in Danish university programmes

This paper examines the relationship between social background, choice of university programme and academic culture among Danish university students. Statistically and sociologically, university students are often treated as a homogeneous group, but the ever-increasing number of students in higher education demands a closer examination of the hidden heterogeneity in the students’ social origin and educational strategies. Using a mixed-method approach (register data and ethnographic observations and interviews) the paper focuses on the students’ class origins and on different cultural practices in three Danish university programmes. It is shown that the Danish university field is characterized by a significant variation in social selectivity from programme to programme, and it is argued that these different social profiles correspond with distinctively different cultural practices in the programmes. Correspondingly, the students have distinctively different strategies towards education and future work life.     

The emergence of doctoral programmes in the Colombian higher education system: Trends and challenges

The international literature contains few formal analyses of the state of Colombian higher education and its most critical issues. This article systematically and comparatively analyzes the emergence of Colombian doctoral programmes within a national and international context. It shows that, while Colombia has experienced a significant growth in the number of Ph.D. graduates per million people over the last decade, it continues to lag behind other Latin American countries. Further, it is critical for Colombia to increase funding for doctoral training, both by increasing the number of scholarships for graduate studies and by improving the mobility of researchers and strengthening the infrastructure of doctoral programmes. Increasing its numbers of Ph.D. holders is vital if Colombia is to succeed in entering the knowledge-based economy.     

The role of foreign language programmes in internationalising learning and teaching in higher education

This article proposes that foreign language programmes have a central role to play in the internationalisation of learning and teaching in the university. Looking at institution-wide programmes in the UK, it cites two main reasons for this claim: University language programmes teach multilingual and multicultural groups in which students from a range of disciplines may trial the skills required of international graduates. Furthermore, language programmes employ student-centred forms of learning in response to the heterogeneity of their student body. Their composition and innovative pedagogies, it is argued, suggest the university-wide foreign language programme as a central discipline of internationalisation which develops good practice to be rolled out across the university. The article describes the learning opportunities international language classrooms offer and presents an overview of the pedagogies employed in institution-wide language programmes.     

多学科研究与高等教育学学科建设

学科是高等教育研究领域的重要范畴 ,但高等教育学本身却不是一门成熟的学科。在这种情况下 ,高等教育研究面临着学科建设的重任。在整个社会科学界大声疾呼“开放社会科学”、“重建社会科学”的今天 ,高等教育学学科建设的取向至关重要。展望未来 ,将高等教育学建设成为一个真正的多学科研究领域 ,将是高等教育学学科建设走向成熟的第一步     

加强大学文化素质教育课程建设

关于大学文化素质教育,当前需要探讨的,是如何以课程体系的方式,使之规范化。文化素质教育可以有多种方式并存,如举办讲座、学生社团活动等,但是,根据大学的特点,课程教学的方式相对稳定,也比较全面,应成为最主要的方式。一从1995年开始加强大学文化素质教育,至今整整八年,已进入第九个年头。今后主要问题已经不是在大学要不要文化素质教育,大家对此都加以肯定,而是使文化素质教育在大学内生根发展,具体说,这就是它的课程体系的建立和探讨。现在已经见到的,关于大学文化素质教育的课程体系,大体相同,如人文学科、社会科学、自然科学、中国文…     

高等教育大众化进程中教学质量保障体系探索

随着我国高等教育进入大众化发展阶段及高等教育连续几年扩大招生,出现了生源质量差别较大、学校教学资源相对紧缺等问题,给学校的教学管理、教学改革以及学校的可持续发展带来了严峻的挑战。在这种情况下,高校必须切实构建高等教育大众化进程中教学质量保证体系。一、树立以学生为本的教学质量观,是保证教学质量的前提只有树立以学生为本的教学观念,充分调动广大师生参与教学质量保障体系建设的积极性和主动性,形成讲质量的良好氛围,才能真正建立起具有高校特色的自我约束、自我激励、自我促进的良性教学循环,教学质量才能不断提高。北方工…     

Transnational approaches to teaching and learning in higher education: challenges and possible guiding principles

The higher education sector has become increasingly internationalised over recent decades. This paper examines a range of challenges that can arise where teaching staff in one context support and implement learning and teaching initiatives in another international context – transnational teaching. We use examples and experiences from our own practice to highlight challenges that arise from implementing cross-cultural and transnational teaching and that warrant further exploration, including differing expectations; differing views of learners and learning; the illusory nature of transformed practice; and time constraints. We discuss these challenges in the light of Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions as well as critiquing this model. We then highlight some possible guiding principles for transnational higher education work that include modelling good practice; ensuring reciprocity and mutual benefit; ensuring individual integrity and institutional credibility; and developing and supporting transnational staff.     

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.     

和谐文化建设与中国高等教育

建设社会主义和谐文化对我国高等教育改革与发展特别是对建设中国特色的高等教育具有深远的战略性意义,也指明了我国高等教育改革与发展的方向。认真学习、积极探索如何建设社会主义和谐文化是教育界、教育研究界的一个非常重要的任务。首先,我们要提高高等教育文化自觉,重视文化建设,加强文化建设。第二,社会主义核心价值体系是和谐文化建设的根本。第三,建设社会主义和谐文化要处理好多种文化的关系。第四,我们的高等教育,我们的大学要适应社会主义和谐文化的建设,视和谐文化建设为己任。     

和谐文化建设与中国高等教育

建设和谐文化对我国高等教育改革和发展,特别是对建设中国特色的高等教育具有深远的战略性意义。建设和谐文化,要提高高等教育的文化自觉,重视与加强文化建设;建设和谐文化,要研究、宣传社会主义核心价值体系;建设和谐文化,要尊重差异、包容多样,处理好多种文化的关系;高等教育要适应和谐文化的建设,视和谐文化建设为己任。     

Exploring authenticity of microteaching in pre-service teacher education programmes

This study examined the perspective of a cohort of 60 Chinese EFL pre-service teachers with regards to microteaching. Reflective paper writing was employed to explore the student teachers’ perceptions of the experience. The study results show that microteaching was a useful tool for the pre-service teachers’ professional development; however, the experience was not without flaws. The most commonly perceived deficiency was artificiality, which appeared to have to some extent limited the student teachers’ development of real-life classroom teaching competence. The study suggests that microteaching should be supplemented with various alternative forms of school experience and practice.     

Exploring students' learning challenges in environmental education

There is growing recognition of the significance of learning within debates about sustainable development. Within the field of environmental education research, however, there has been insufficient attention given to questions of learners and learning. In the light of this situation, this paper reports findings from two studies (one in England, the other in Sweden) that focused specifically on learners' experiences of and responses to environmental curricula in secondary school and higher education. Three kinds of learning challenges that can be experienced by students on environmental education courses are outlined and discussed. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the complexity of the learning experience within environmental education and to draw attention to the need for improved research‐based understandings of environmental learning processes.     

The challenges of feedback in higher education

Abstract

Assessment feedback is one of the most important components of the learning process. However, student and educator dissatisfaction with feedback practices continues to remain a significant problem in higher education. To better understand the barriers to effective feedback, the present study explores feedback challenges identified by 3807 students and 281 educators from two Australian universities. Open-response data were analysed using an inductively derived coding framework and thematic analysis. The findings reveal three major themes relating to the challenges of feedback from the perspective of students and educators: feedback practices, contextual constraints and individual capacity. In addition to confirming the persistence of many previously reported challenges in the literature, this paper also offers insights into challenges that are particular to feedback, especially relating to the production of useful comments and the perceived hurdles of both student and educator attitudes and capabilities. The findings also highlight the constrained nature of educators’ work, particularly in relation to time. While further research is needed, we propose that feedback needs to be understood as an interaction between practices, context and individuals.     

Current challenges to quality in higher education

This paper considers some implications for teaching in higher education of quality assurance demands made in circumstances of financial restraint. The paper suggests that responses must be anchored in improvement in student learning. This has implications for university teaching, for the evaluation of its effectiveness and for leadership in universities. The paper commences with a discussion of an understanding of the nature of the relationship between teaching and learning in higher education resulting from an Australian investigation of student perceptions of university teaching. The understanding arising from this study suggests that, given that the environment is an educational one, both evaluation of teaching and educational leadership should be in harmony with effective approaches to learning and teaching.Paul Ramsden is Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Griffith Institute for Higher Education at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He has taught in polytechnics, universities, and schools in the United Kingdom and Australia. His research field is the influence of teaching and assessment on the quality of student learning. Dr. Ramsden has been professionally involved in faculty development for over 15 years and published the textLearning to Teach in Higher Education, Routledge, New York (1992). He holds degrees from the University of London and the UK Council for Academic Awards, and a Ph.D. from the University of Lancaster.     

The challenges of universal primary education in Uganda through distance education programmes

Abstract

This article reports on teacher education in Uganda, with specific reference to the role that distance education has played in upgrading the quality of education in general and in supplying more qualified teachers to meet a growing demand, specifically for teachers involved in primary education. The investigation paves the way for the establishment of the Open University of Uganda and illustrates how the Primary Education Policy of Uganda has increased access to 7 million primary school learners to schools in 2002. The article also explains how the qualifications of 10 000 in-service teachers have been upgraded between 1995 and 2000. The successes of two major in-service teacher education programmes are discussed. The article also explains how the Mubende Integrated Teacher Education Project (MITEP) not only contributed to the training of teachers, but also focused the attention of educators on the possibiliities of distance education for Uganda. Furthermore, it also argues that the Northern Integrated Teacher Education Project (NITEP) has on the other hand achieved successes in the field of inservice teacher education. The programmes assisted in the training of academic support staff who work in distance education. The article concludes by addressing the further needs of distance education in Uganda and highlights the challenges facing distance education programmes in Uganda.     

Learning outcomes across disciplinary divides and contrasting national higher education traditions

In many quarters, attempts are underway to identify learning outcomes in higher education which are context-neutral or ‘generic’; such measures could provide new ways to assess and compare outputs from higher education. This paper considers potential challenges in using such broad learning outcomes across contrasting disciplinary and national settings. An empirical contribution is provided by an analysis of data from the international REFLEX survey for Norwegian and English bachelor’s degree graduates. This sheds some light on the relationships between graduates’ broad learning outcomes (general competencies), their national contexts and their disciplinary area. It finds variations in competencies across subjects and countries, suggesting that general competencies of the type often suggested as generic learning outcomes may be unstable and problematic to compare across contrasting settings. It highlights the need for comparative research into variations in learning outcomes and graduate competencies considering disciplinary and national factors.