Development of higher education in Saudi Arabia

This article seeks to trace the development of higher education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from its origins to the present day. The study includes discussion of the historical roots of education as based on Islam, Islamic philosophy of education, the aims and objectives of higher education and modern university education. Empirical statistics are given to substantiate the Kingdom's rapid progress in higher education. Since 1957 when modern university education began with a single institution with twenty-one students and a staff of nine it has grown until twenty-five years later in 1982 higher education had grown to seven institutions with 63,563 students and a teaching staff of 6,906. The study examines these aspects of higher education; Saudi students studying abroad, foreign students studying in Saudi Arabia, female education, the role of the Ministry of Higher Education and the financing of higher education.     

Assessing the Emotional Intelligence of Gifted and Talented Adolescent Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain

This study assessed the differences in the emotional intelligence of gifted adolescent students and talented adolescent students in Bahrain. The sample consisted of 80 gifted adolescent students and 80 talented adolescent students in Grades 9 through 12. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicates that there were significant differences in emotional intelligence levels, as measured by the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory, between gifted students and talented students in Bahrain in the direction of gifted students. There were differences between the gifted and the talented students in intrapersonal, adaptability, general mood subtest, and total emotional intelligence scores. Finally, gifted males had higher total emotional intelligence scores than gifted females; talented females had higher interpersonal scores than talented males.     

在生源大战背景下,高职教师队伍建设应关注的若干视角

在生源大战背景下,学生素养现状与精英教育阶段相比差异巨大。尽管高等职业教育进行一系列教育教学改革,取得了一些成绩,但仍然存在教育效果低下的缺陷,主要原因之一是高等职业教育教师队伍建设跟不上形势的变化和教育的发展。本文在对当下高职学生素养现状分析基础上,阐明在生源大战背景下,高职教育教师队伍建设应该关注若干视角。     

Student and staff perceptions and “the pursuit of excellence” in british higher education

This article, using a variety of data from the Rowntree Research Project at the University of Lancaster, attempts to reconstruct student and staff perceptions of the teaching/learning reality of higher education, and in particular their perceptions of excellence. Ambiguities and confusions are noted in staff perceptions of excellence and important differences between staff and students in their perception of teaching/learning realities.It concludes by discussing implications for staff/student communication and for the admission of students to higher education.This article is a shortened and partly rewritten version of a paper of the same title delivered at the Third International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, September 1975.     

The Experiences of Students with Mobility Disabilities in Cypriot Higher Education Institutions: Listening to their voices

This article explores the experiences of students with mobility disabilities in Cypriot higher education institutions. In order to obtain relevant information, in‐depth semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 10 Cypriot students with different forms of mobility disabilities, who attended different Cypriot higher education institutions and a variety of courses. This study yielded interesting results in terms of provision (e.g., accommodation for examinations and assignments, note‐taking services, tutorials, counselling services) as well as lecturers’ and students’ attitudes towards disability, raising interesting issues of social inclusion and rights. The quality of their experiences was affected by physical access, provision availability, positive responses by fellow students without disabilities, and the level of awareness among the members of the academic staff or the rest of the staff (e.g., cleaners, administrative officers, and accommodation staff). The findings of this study have implications at an institutional level for rethinking and refining policy and practice on disability.     

Sharing Responsibility: staff—student cooperation in learning

No matter how participative a course might be in its conduct, it is normal for the aims to be specified by staff for students, the programme to be planned by staff for students and particularly for the assessment to be one way—of students by staff. It is possible for courses to be established on a different basis, and it is especially necessary when one is dealing with professional education.
This paper focuses on an example of a course which is designed jointly by staff and students: the science education component of a post-experience Graduate Diploma in Science Education at the Western Australian Institute of Technology. In keeping with the philosophy of the course this paper has been prepared by the staff member concerned ( D J Boud ) and one of the students (M T Prosser).
A collaboratively designed course cannot be undertaken lightly for not only does it violate some of the norms of teaching in higher education as we know it, but it also places peculiar demands on both staff and students. These are both of an interpersonal, group interaction kind and of a strucutural, organizational type. The aim of this paper is to describe the main features of the course, to examine some of the demands that it makes, and to explore the applicability of its concepts to other areas of higher education.     

Staff–student collaboration: student learning from working together to enhance educational practice in higher education

The association of research and teaching, and the roles and responsibilities of students and academic staff and the nature of their interrelationship are important issues in higher education. This article presents six undergraduate student researchers’ reports of their learning from collaborating with academic staff to design, undertake and evaluate enquiries into aspects of learning and teaching at a UK University. The students’ reflections suggest that they identified learning in relation to employability skills and graduate attributes and more importantly in relation to their perceptions of themselves as learners and their role in their own learning and that of others. This article draws attention to the potential of staff–student collaborative, collective settings for developing pedagogic practice and the opportunities they can provide for individual student's learning on their journey through higher education.     

定向化:普通高校办成人教育的一种好形式

“定向化设班” ,指高校成人教育中 ,学校对特定单位团体专门设班进行教学和管理。它能展现普通高校的长处和优点 ,开拓生源 ;使教学从被动到主动———有的放矢 ,兼顾工学 ,活跃第二课堂 ;能提高管理效能———加强师生沟通 ,丰富考勤管理手段 ,培植办学资源 ;能显效提高单位部门职员的学历水平和综合素质 ,把教育培训纳入日常的管理工作之中 ,将管理延伸到八小时以外。学校要立足需求 ,灵活操作 ;单位的观念及配套政策是学习成效、价值能否体现的关键。     

Distance Education in Bahrain: Situation and needs

In Bahrain, 36 international universities from 10 different countries provide distance education services through 21 local agencies to more than 800 students. Results from a survey suggest that the majority of the distance education students are working, married, of middle income class, and studying for a Bachelor's degree. The students find the distance education option attractive because: (1) there are a limited number of places in the conventional Bahrainian universities and on particular courses, and limited scholarships and financial support available for conventional students; (2) the distance system is more open and flexible in respect of their regulatory requirements; and (3) the students find it caters better for those with poor secondary school scores, low income, family and job responsibilities.     

Relationship quality time: the validation of a relationship quality scale in higher education

This study investigated the overall quality of the interpersonal relationship students have with faculty and staff, that is, relationship quality (RQ). In relationship management research, RQ is paramount for the creation of bonds with customers, which in turn is necessary for the sustainability of organizations, that is, continuity and growth. In higher education, it is not only recent changes in funding of education that urge us to further investigate RQ, as students having relational bonds with their teachers and faculty/staff is important as well. These relationships are expected to positively influence students’ college experiences. Although educational literature addresses the importance of student–faculty relationships, little is known about students’ perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their program. The aim of this study was therefore to get a more in-depth understanding of the concept and measurement of RQ within a higher education context. To that end, an existing RQ scale was used measuring five dimensions: trust in honesty, trust in benevolence, satisfaction, affective commitment, and affective conflict. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on survey responses of 551 students from a Dutch university of applied sciences. Next to the CFA, a small-scale focus group discussion was held to validate the quantitative findings of students’ perceptions on RQ. The findings confirm that the RQ instrument is an adequate instrument to investigate RQ in a higher education context. Additional qualitative findings also suggest that students acknowledge the relevance of RQ and the need for having a good relationship with their faculty and staff.     

‘Feedback interpreters’: the role of learning development professionals in facilitating university students’ engagement with feedback

Understanding how students engage with assessment feedback is a key concern of higher education professionals. Research commonly represents the perspectives of students and academic staff, yet little consideration is given to the role of learning development staff, despite these individuals supporting students when interpreting and implementing feedback. We report the findings from interviews with learning developers working in a UK University, exploring their insights into the barriers students confront when engaging with feedback, and into the role of learning developers within the feedback landscape. This study suggests that, while many challenges exist for staff and students in the context of assessment feedback, learning development professionals are able to provide a meaningful source of guidance, in partnership with academic staff, and are able to promote students’ development through dialogic interactions. Hitherto these interactions have not been fully explored, yet they provide powerful insight into the hidden processes of feedback recipience.     

“以就业为导向”的高职大学生教育管理探讨

“以就业为导向”的职业教育指导思想和高职学生的特点,决定了高职学生的教育管理具有十分重要的意义。目前高职院校教育管理中还存在着职业素养教育相对不足,学生管理人员就业指导能力和水平相对欠缺等不足。我们必须采取加强思想政治教育、培养辅导员队伍、强化日常教育管理的措施,达到在思想上、教育管理过程中为就业提供各种支持和服务,真正体现“以就业为导向”。     

Teaching without a blackboard and chalk: conflicting attitudes towards using ICTs in higher education teaching and learning

This article, derived from a three-year ethnography of distributed medical education provision in a Canadian university, explores the ways in which information and communication technologies are used by teachers and students in their everyday work within technologically rich teaching environments. The environments being researched are two university campuses: a campus at the main university site and a satellite campus in a neighbouring province. The article seeks to contrast dominant, institutional discourses of technology use in higher education teaching with the everyday practices of staff and students. The article concludes that there is a gap between policy and practice in distributed education and that the teaching and learning experience and context of staff and students in different sites need to be analysed in depth, in terms of: whether the experience of learning across sites can be positioned as being comparable; the extent to which technology ameliorates learning and teaching; and understanding the work done by staff.     

Attitudes towards inclusion in higher education in a Portuguese university

In this article, we present data concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education (HE) at a Portuguese university. This research is part of a wider project designed to understand the trajectories and experiences of students with disabilities at the University of Algarve. This exploratory study raises questions about inclusion and discusses this concept based on the perspectives of academic and non-academic staff. A qualitative approach was used to provide an informative exploration of attitudes towards inclusive education and recommendations for promoting best practices therein. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. We found positive perceptions of university staff members about the inclusion of the students with disabilities. However, more effort is needed to provide these students with opportunities to continue their academic career in HE and to promote inclusion, personal development and participation in social and economic life. Although inclusive education is on political and educational agendas, the perception of disabilities as deficits prevails. The findings of this study, therefore, reveal that changes must be implemented to effectively adopt the social and educational model of disability.     

Access and participation in higher education of students with disabilities: access to what?

In 1991, the Australian Government designated students with disabilities as one of the six equity groups that were under-represented in higher education. Since that time, there has been only a modest increase in enrolments of students with disabilities despite government polices and funding of disability support services and programs. People with disabilities comprise 20% of Australia’s population but only account for 4% of university enrolments. Despite the existence of the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1992) and the introduction of the Disability Standards for Education in 2005, negative attitudes about students with disabilities by university lecturers continue to exist. Research into the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of staff, especially in practice-based courses such as nurse education, reveals that university staff, practicum supervisors and even some disability staff, are unaware of their responsibilities under the legislation and that teaching staff continue to hold negative attitudes towards students with disabilities. This article reports on research that investigated the barriers facing such students in nursing courses, in particular in clinical placements. It shows that a lack of understanding of legislative and institutional requirements underlies negative attitudes about students with disabilities, especially in practicum-based courses.     

The role of time in policymaking: a Bahraini model of higher education competition

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to discussions about the nature and scope of higher education (HE) business in light of some of the emerging ways in which countries seem to be reframing the impact of globalism. In particular, it develops a discussion about spatialities and temporalities of HE policy by drawing on the Kingdom of Bahrain’s distinctive approach to free markets, transnational capitalism, trade of international services and foreign influence. The paper draws on key HE policy documents and regulatory frameworks issued by the Higher Education Council in Bahrain. In the paper, we ask about priorities that drive HE investment in Bahrain, as well as their impact on the role of international input in HE policy building. We find that policymaking in Bahrain is driven by ‘nationalisation’ as a pragmatic strategy at the time of transition to a knowledge economy. We also find that these goals are transient, thus providing suggestions for policy analysis from the perspective of time intervals in a space.     

Imagining a future: changing the landscape for third space professionals in Australian higher education institutions

In the last decade there has been a shift in the discourses around professional staff in higher education that has been influenced by neoliberal agenda that focused on driving education reforms. Earlier discussions centring around nomenclature variations have progressed to those about creating and developing borderless professionals operating in the third space – a notional space where professional staff and academic staff with diverse and valuable skills work as equal professional partners on complex and multifaceted projects. This article looks at the evolution of the debates around professional staff. It considers how the notions of professionalism and professionalisation are being reconceptualised in the third space. Discussion progresses towards capability building and developmental opportunities of aspiring third space professional staff in higher education settings. Possible pathways of engaging with and empowering professional staff in designing their future careers and professional identities are considered. Building a community of research practices under the auspices of the Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) and engaging postgraduate students in the university third space project work are proposed as potential areas for further research in the field of professional staff capability building.     

Students as political actors? Similarities and differences across six European nations

Drawing on data from students, higher education staff and policymakers from six European countries, this article argues that it remains a relatively common assumption that students should be politically engaged. However, while students articulated a strong interest in a wide range of political issues, those working in higher education and influencing higher education policy tended to believe that students were considerably less politically active than their predecessors. Moreover, while staff and policy influencers typically conceived of political engagement in terms of collective action, articulated through common reference to the absence of a ‘student movement’ or unified student voice, students’ narratives tended not to valorise ‘student movements’ in the same way and many categorised as ‘political’ action they had taken alone and/or with a small number of other students. Alongside these broad commonalities across Europe, the article also evidences some key differences between nation-states, institutions and disciplines. In this way, it contributes to the comparative literature on young people’s political engagement specifically, as well as wider debates about the ways in which higher education students are understood.     

A class act? Lecturers’ views on undergraduates’ employability

This article details the findings of a study into lecturers’ perceptions of undergraduate employability. The investigation employed interviews with the staff on a BA (Hons) in Education Studies course at a post-1992 university. The aim was to examine staff beliefs regarding their students’ potential employability in the business and finance sectors. The staff believed the degree offered students the opportunity to develop ‘transferable’ skills that could potentially make them employable in business and finance, thus helping the students develop ‘absolute’ employability. However, some interviewees also believed the students may encounter class-based disadvantages in the labour market with the result that aspects of the students’ ‘relative’ employability were beyond their capacity to intervene. In light of growing policy pressure upon higher education professionals to ‘deliver’ increasingly employability-driven curricula, it is concluded that further research is needed into staff perceptions of their roles and capacities within this area.     

Allies in learning: critical insights into the importance of staff–student interactions in university education

Discussions of the quality of learning in university education often focus on curricula. Less attention is paid to the role of student–staff interactions. In a context in which a host of factors place pressure on the opportunities for students and staff to interact, it is important to use empirical insights to inform decisions about how to optimise learning. This paper uses data from a large survey of students and teaching staff in Australia to suggest that students and staff should be regarded as allies in learning. It investigates student reports to suggest that frequent interactions with those who teach them lead to higher levels of student engagement and satisfaction and lower attrition rates. The advantages do not only flow in one direction. Teaching staff gain insights into students' learning experiences, providing them with clues to better target their teaching.