Higher Education in a Global Market: The Case of British Overseas Provision in Israel

In recent years there has been a major expansion by higher education institutions in setting up ‘for-profit’, offshore programmes and campuses. It has been claimed that for-profit provision in a free, or unregulated market, responds to student demand and acts as a catalyst for innovation, thus fuelling arguments for a global ‘free market’ in higher education. There are few opportunities to test these claims since higher education is overwhelmingly provided within national systems of education and is generally subject to strong local regulation. Israel, in the 1990s, offered a rare case of an unregulated market in higher education for foreign providers, albeit one which contained significant distortions: British institutions took the leading part in developments. This article examines that experience in the light of documentation in the public domain and of practitioner research and argues, contrary to unsubstantiated claims, that provision fell below acceptable standards. The article concludes that, in this field, consumer demand did not operate on the basis of quality and that the market-place cannot assure standards of higher education in overseas provision. Furthermore, until international standards are agreed, governments have a responsibility to regulate provision which directly affects the lives of their citizens.     

Time pressure in scenario-based online construction safety quizzes and its effect on students’ performance

Online quizzes have been shown to be effective learning and assessment approaches. However, if scenario-based online construction safety quizzes do not include time pressure similar to real-world situations, they reflect situations too ideally. The purpose of this paper is to compare engineering students’ performance when carrying out an online construction safety quiz with time pressure versus an online construction safety quiz without time pressure. Two versions of an online construction safety quiz are developed and administered to randomly assigned engineering students based on a quasi-experimental post-test design. The findings contribute to scenario-based learning and assessment of construction safety in four ways. First, the results confirm earlier findings that ‘intrinsic stress’ does not seem to impair students’ performance. Second, students who carry out the online construction safety quiz with time pressure are less likely to ‘learn by trial and error'. Third, students exposed to time pressure appreciate that they become better prepared for real life. Finally, preparing students to work under time pressure is an important industry requirement. The results of this study should encourage engineering educators to explore and implement ways to include time pressure in scenario-based online quizzes and learning.     

What Happens When a Teacher’s Science Belief Structure Is in Disequilibrium? Entangled Nature of Beliefs and Practice

Research in Science Education - This qualitative case study examined the process of change in an experienced elementary teacher’s belief structure during implementation of an inquiry-based...     

Rethinking approaches to research: the importance of considering contextually mitigating factors in promoting equitable practices in science education research

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In this paper, we explore themes that emerged while reading “How does one recognize contextual mitigating factors (CMFs) as a basis to understand and...     

The‘Real Books’Approach: Is Apprenticeship a Weak Analogy?

If, when considering reading, we treat apprenticeship as a suggestive, rather than exact, analogy, there are useful insights to be drawn from traditional apprenticeship. Two features particularly hold messages for how we help children learn to read. First, the movement in traditional apprenticeship from observation, through coaching, to practice can act as a model for reading instruction. It highlights, for instance, that a‘real books’approach is not laissez-faire, that coaching is required and that, in a cognitive area, part of this coaching involves making explicit to the learner processes which are usually internalised in skilled performance. The implications for teachers are radical. A number of traditional practices, such as hearing children read as a kind of ritual, almost a magical laying on of hands, require major revision. Second, a close look at traditional apprenticeship provides evidence for the importance of the social context in which learning takes place. Again teachers of beginning readers can use the model of traditional apprenticeship to reflect on their own school/classroom practices, to see whether they help create a culture of expert practice for instance, and offer the opportunity for learners to realise the value of their increasing skills. Practices such as peer-tutor schemes and the increasing involvement of parents in reading teaching illustrate that many schools are already working out the implications of this understanding. If teachers are more aware of those areas of relative weakness and strength in the apprenticeship analogy they will have a more principled basis for using the approach in their teaching and a more stout defence against those who might argue that if the analogy is weak, a‘real books’approach is to be avoided.     

Approach and Avoidance Motivation

In this article, we introduce this special issue by establishing a conceptual foundation for the distinction between approach and avoidance motivation. We do so primarily by explicating several reasons why the approach–avoidance distinction should be viewed as fundamental and basic to the study of human behavior. In addition, we compare and contrast the approach–avoidance designation with other designations that have been used in the motivational literature to cover the same or similar conceptual ground. Finally, we conclude by briefly overviewing the other contributions to this special issue, specifically highlighting how they make use of the approach–avoidance distinction.     

Group interactive learning with group process support technology

An effective seminar is about discussion, exchanges of ideas and developing understanding: but is this always achieved? This paper evaluates a pilot study into whether group process support technology has the potential to improve the learning experience of students in seminar groups by increasing participation and focusing debate. The trial involved 86 undergraduate students. The technology consists of wireless handsets, a PC and data projector. The use of the technology was varied to increase our understanding of how it could be used effectively. The Pilot Study received a positive evaluation by both the tutor and the student group. The results are encouraging, and the paper concludes by establishing further research issues, how this application of technology can be developed and briefly describes how the technology has been subsequently used in the University of Glamorgan Business School.     

Goal Theory Is Not Dead—Not Yet, Anyway: A Reflection on the Special Issue

The author suggests how these papers converge in portraying the nature of motivation, learning, and achievement. That portrayal proceeds from a social—cognitive framework that stresses the centrality of goals in framing whether, when, and how students are likely to approach or avoid academic tasks. He points out, however, that approach and avoidance, although an important aspect of motivation, do not fully encompass a domain that is and has been considered the fitting purview of motivation theory and research. Especially in the realm of education, the quality of engagement that eventuates is of equal if not greater importance relative to choice and direction. However, a primary question raised in these comments relates to the nature of goals and how they operate in framing action, thought, and feelings. Some of the work reflected in the wider goal theory literature as well as in some of these papers, suggests that goals are closely linked to a varying role of self in determining the nature and direction of action, feelings, and thought. Some of the work seems to limit goals to a specific kind of objective under limited circumstances. Finally, questions are raised about whether or how the work presented would define the role of context in determining motivation. Clearly, although work reflected in these papers is truly impressive, it is impressive not just for conclusions reached but also for new questions prompted.