THE CONTROL AND EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The procedures for the licensing, attestation, and accreditation of educational institutions in the Russian Federation are listed and described. The reasons for a unified system of control and evaluation of educational institutions, particularly higher education institutions, are explained.     

STATE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE MECHANISMS IN THE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN LITHUANIA

The first laws for regulating qualification requirements in Lithuanian higher education were passed by the Lithuanian government in 1991. Other laws providing for the nostrification of foreign degrees, awarded under the authority of the former Soviet State, were passed. Lithuania is now proceeding towards the development of bodies and procedures for the accreditation of institutions and programmes, this despite public weariness with over‐bureaucratization.     

论中国高等教育的发展及其对中国国家和地区发展的贡献分析

20世纪90年代后期以来,中国迅速跻身为世界经济发展最快的国家之一,与此同时,中国的高等教育也被推到了国家和地区发展的最前沿。本篇论文就这一背景下中国高等教育传统与现代性的交互作用进行了分析和研究。     

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES ABROAD ‐ EVALUATION IN THE CONTEXT OF US HIGHER EDUCATION

In analyzing international student mobility, there is a question which is important from the point of view both of the individuals concerned and of society: what is the value of study abroad? The following article deals with the evaluation of student experience in programmes of undergraduate studies abroad within the context of higher education in the United States.

The article is based on a paper written by W. Frank Hull IV, Associate Research Educator, office of the Chancellor, University of California, Santa Barbara, which was presented at the US International Studies Association in February 1978, in a session entitled “Taking the Measures of Undergraduate Study Abroad, Research and Evaluation”.     

IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF PEER MARKING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The implementation of peer marking within an existing tutorial system is examined. Peer marks were found to be in close agreement with the tutor's, lending credibility to the approach. The benefits of peer marking were discussed with the students, including their possible improvement in examination technique. This teaching approach has the added advantage in that the tutor can more easily act as a facilitator (rather than as an assessor) in the tutorial sessions. At the end of the year an evaluation of peer marking was carried out

Results from a questionnaire showed that five relative advantages of peer marking had been achieved. Further, the students believed that their work had been marked fairly, and that peer marks should count towards their end‐of‐year marks. Peer marking was found tobe most successful, fully complementing a tutorial system of teaching.     

NON‐STATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The development of a market economy in Russia is greatly affecting the structural reform of education. One result is the establishment of non‐state educational institutions which are offering various types of higher education programmes and educational services. This short article describes the possible role of non‐state educational institutions as a part of the general higher education system.     

THE SITUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN GREECE

We give below current information on higher education in Greece based on the report presented by Mrs. Lina Cantifaris, the Undersecretary of State for Higher Education of the Greek Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, during the 35th meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee for Higher Education and Research (CHER), which was held in Athens from 27 to 29 April 1977. (For a report on this meeting see page 3 in this issue).     

DESCRIPTIVE MODELS OF STUDENT DECISION BEHAVIOUR IN EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Sound assessment and evaluation of higher education necessitates deep understanding of the detailed processes underlying student overall evaluation of course and Instructor. The present study employs both correlational analysis and step‐wise multiple regression in an effort to help us understand student decision behaviour and to build mathematical models representing the dynamics of student evaluative Judgement of course and instructor. The resulting models were very strong and were ctually used to improve the performance of the academic programmes in the Institute of Banking Studies In Kuwait.     

THE RESTRUCTURING OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE USSR

Great interest is being expressed in higher education circles everywhere and at all levels in the fundamental changes envisaged with regard to the organizational structure and contents of higher education in the USSR. These changes constitute an important part of the restructuring; the “perestroika”, currently going on in all spheres and at all levels of Soviet society.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CC CPSU) adopted the Principal Directions for the Reorganization of Higher Education and Specialized Secondary Education. As a follow‐up to that framework document, the CC CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a number of decisions, dated 13 March 1987, aimed at giving substance to and at amplifying the basic principles enumerated. As change in Soviet higher education has been in the air for some time, we were able to preview some of its directions in previous issues of Higher Education in Europe, specifically in No. 4, Vol. XI (1986), pp. 80‐81 and in No. 2, Vol. XII (1987), pp. 83‐84.

As promised in the latter issue, we are now presenting the main provisions of these “Measures”, and “Decisions” via excerpts taken from five documents which were published partly in Byulleten’ Ministerstva Vysshego i Srednego Spetsialnogo Obrazovaniya, No. 6, 1987, and partly in Pravda, 27 March 1987.

The editors are solely responsible for the choice of excerpts as well as for the editorial and stylistic modifications that they believed necessary in order to fit them into the content of Higher Education in Europe.     

THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BELARUS

The current reform of higher education in Belarus is briefly described. The system is being adapted to a market economy and to national independence. The reform process is affecting institutional structures, curricula, the types of course programmes offered, the degree/diploma structure, and the language of instruction.     

THE USE OF COMPUTERS IN ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The use of the computer and in particular the micro‐computer, by the student provides the opportunity for a significant review of the syllabus and the way in which it is taught. The commercial use of the computer should make us re‐evaluate the content of certain syllabuses, particularly those dominated by mathematical modelling.

Structural Analysis, in the disciplines of Civil and Structural Engineering is a particular case in point since virtually all of the professional numerical analysis of structures is now carried out by a computer. If this is the case, we must seriously ask ourselves why we are teaching the students to carry out lengthy calculations which will never be used in practice.

The computer may be the engine of change for the syllabus content but it offers in return facilities for learning, particularly in formative assessment, unavailable before.

The student may use the computer to test various ideas about the way a structure works under various loading conditions and thereby acquire an understanding of structural behaviour which may not be available in the design office.