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.     

Modelling quality

This article argues that the increase in the number of teaching and learning centres in universities of technology in recent years is bound up with concerns about the quality of university education. Universities that have set up such centres have been motivated to do so for two main reasons. They are keen to improve the image and the capacity of their teaching faculty. They also hope to attract students at a time when many school leavers prefer immediate, well-paid employment to four or more years of study. There has been outside pressure as well. Governments have demanded that tertiary institutions become more accountable. Governments are insisting that taxpayers get value for their money, especially in the area of teaching and learning. The question asked in this article is whether or not teaching and learning centres should be modelling quality issues as well as teaching and learning issues. Our conclusion is that the centres should be proactive in this matter, providing their institution with both theoretical and practical models of quality management and assurance.