Higher education choices of secondary school graduates with a Science,Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) background

Recently, there has been an increase in the Higher Education (HE) options (in terms of both courses and institutions) available to students in the UK. Given that the choice of institution and field of study are crucial for students’ future careers, we investigated how attributes of the institutions and courses determine students’ choices, and how they interact with student characteristics. Data on graduates with a STEM background, who started a course in 2010/11 in an English HE institution, was analysed using a conditional logit model. The research demonstrated that an institution’s prestige, degree subject area and distance from home play an important role in students’ choices. Furthermore, distance from home to the HE institution is a potential barrier to fair access, as socio-economically deprived students may have less choice if they are not able to travel as far.     

The teaching and research relationship within an institutional evaluation

The authors present an analysis of the relationshipbetween research and teaching in universities. The aimis to determine to what extent this relationship isstrong enough to support the idea that teaching andresearch should be analyzed together from aninstitutional evaluation point of view. Two mainquestions are presented: (a) should research beevaluated from an institutional point of view? And, ifso, (b) which specific aspects of research activitiescan be evaluated within each institution?Empirical data have been obtained within the SpanishNational Program for the Evaluation of Quality ofUniversities and there are supplemented by interviews. Evidence is found of strong connections between research and teaching and in particular areasanalysis of the two dimensions together willhelp in designing better improvement strategies foruniversities.     

Effects of modularity,certification session and re-sits on examination performance

General Certificates of Secondary Education, known as GCSEs, are organised into modules which can be assessed at the end of the course (linear route) or at different points throughout the course (modular route). This research investigates students’ performance in English and mathematics in each assessment route and the effects of certification session and re-sits on examination outcomes using data from one English awarding body.

In mathematics, modular students performed better than linear students once prior attainment was accounted for. In contrast, modular assessment in English did not always lead to better performance. In the modular routes of English, students certificating early in the course were at a disadvantage compared to those certificating at the end. However, modular mathematics students obtained significantly better results in early sessions than at the end of the course. The benefits of re-sitting seemed clear, as most students performed better on their second attempt at a module than on their first. However, this did not often lead to an improvement on the module grade.     

瑞典计划成为世界上第一个不再使用石油的国家

在所有先进的西方国家中, 瑞典将率先在能源利用方面做出重大变革:计划在15年内彻底摆脱对石油的依赖,而且不再建造新一代核电站。一个由企业家、学者、农场主、汽车制造商以及公务员等组成的委员会制定了该计划,并且将在数月内提交给瑞典国会。计划一旦实现,拥有900万人口的瑞典将成为世界上第一个不再使用石油的组织。     

Student Guidance and Attention to Diversity in the Processes of Quality Assurance in Higher Education

The main objective of this article is to analyse the importance given to student guidance and diversity in the standards and criteria used in the quality accreditation and evaluation processes in Europe and the US. Agencies selected in this study are the members of ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education), EQAR (European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education) and regional and programme accrediting organisations in the US that are recognised by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The data were analysed by means of qualitative and content analysis of the principles, standards and criteria published in the guidelines of the respective agencies. The results of this study reveal that guidance and attention to diversity are included in the quality evaluation guidelines for university study programmes and for higher education institutions in different ways. The main conclusion is that most guidelines include general criteria about guidance and diversity. In order to assist HEIs in the way to plan this support, guidelines should include specific criteria for the provision of academic, career and personal guidance within general student support services. Additionally, criteria should specify the actions to be taken and the resources to respond to diversity.     

由于水井枯竭,全球粮食供应面临威胁

知名的资源分析专家、美国地球政策研究所负责人莱斯特·布朗前不久在一篇论文中提到,包括超过地球一半人口的18个国家在内,由于过度使用地下水,使地下水位达到了"水峰值"——这也意味着地下水无法重新蓄满,粮食产量会因此逐年减少,全球粮食供应正面临着前所未有的严峻形势。     

Adequate policies and unintended effects in Spanish higher education

Abstract

Recent developments in Spanish higher education have been very positive. Universities have become autonomous and are more in tune to regional needs, their internal structure has become flexible, the whole system has become open and accessible, funds have been poured into the system as never before and market forces have started to play a relevant role. Nevertheless, some perverse effects have begun to emerge. We will focus on some of these negative aspects that deserve deeper consideration: the inadequate adaptation to a mass higher education system, and the negative consequences of the collegial model for governing universities and of regionalization.     

The role of the A* grade at A level as a predictor of university performance in the United Kingdom

In summer 2010, the A* grade at A level was awarded for the first time. This grade was introduced to help higher education institutions to differentiate between the highest achieving candidates and to promote and reward greater stretch and challenge. Exploring data from the Higher Education Statistics Service and making use of multilevel regression models, this research investigated for the first time the relationship between achieved A* grades and performance at the end of three-year courses in higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. The results of this work showed that, when prior schooling and other background characteristics were accounted for, the number of A* grades was a good predictor of achieving either a first or at least an upper second class degree. Specific subject-level analyses revealed that the number of top grades in some A level subjects was associated with good degree outcomes in specific degree subject areas.