Changing balances in Dutch higher education

Like many other higher education systems in the Western world, Dutch higher education underwent profound changes during the last decade. In this article we will present an overview of these changes, and try to formulate an analytical framework that might be suited to analyze this process. In order to set the stage, we will begin with an overview of the Dutch higher education system, in which the broad structure is described, and some trends are presented. Next, an overview is given of the retrenchment and restructuring operations with which Dutch higher education was confronted during the last decade. Drawing, mainly, on public administration and political theory, we then attempt to formulate a framework for analysis. In this we focus on the Dutch higher education system as a policy network, and address the relationships that exist between the various key actors in the network: between government and higher education, among higher education institutions themselves, and among the different actors within the institutions, especially administrators and academics. In doing so, we hope to demonstrate that at all these levels some identical basic processes operate which to a large extent determine the outcomes of governmental policies aimed at changing the higher education system. Time and again the modern state stumbles over the academic system (Clark 1983: 137)     

The play of education: Volunteer teachers in Experimental University Classes

This paper describes an Experimental academic program at Kent State University in which a volunteer, nonprofessional mode of teaching seems to have produced positive results. The phenomenon of volunteerism is puzzling, but the data collected from this Experimental program suggest that people like to teach and do it well when they are part of a divergent system of openness and continued growth. In any case, this program's idealistic objectives of self-directed learning and a strong sense of community have been implemented by using volunteers.     

Impact of accreditation on improvement of operational inputs after two cycles of assessments in some Ghanaian universities

The study assesses the influence of accreditation, after two cycles of evaluation on some selected Ghanaian universities. This was done by examining the changes that had occurred in specified indicators, mainly because of the implementation of suggestions for improvement made by the previous cycle’s evaluators. The study employed quantitative research methods in analysing the changes (for better or for worse) that had occurred in the selected indicators from one cycle of assessments to the other and as observed in the reports of the evaluators. The results showed varying degrees of improvements in the selected indicators at the subsequent assessments over the previous ones.     

The Effects of Financial Aid on College Success of Two-Year Beginning Nontraditional Students

This study aims to understand the role of financial aid in college success of two-year beginning nontraditional students. By applying discrete time event history models with propensity score covariate adjustment to a nationally representative sample from BPS: 04/09, this study answers research questions centering around the effects of Pell Grants, subsidized student loans and unsubsidized student loans on six-year college outcomes of nontraditional students (i.e. degree attainment, system departure, and continuous enrollment without a degree). The results of this study suggest that these nontraditional students were most likely to drop out in the third college year and that all three types of financial aid appeared effective for reducing dropout risks, but not for encouraging timely degree completion. These findings have significant implications for policy and practice including the necessity for considering the complexity of nontraditional student pathways, backgrounds and unique needs when designing and implementing financial aid policy. The findings also contribute to discussions on ways to fund nontraditional students and provide recommendations for institutions serving large populations of nontraditional students to promote persistence to graduation.     

Computer science <Emphasis>(CS)</Emphasis> in the compulsory education curriculum<Emphasis>:</Emphasis> Implications for future research

The subject of computer science (CS) and computer science education (CSE) has relatively recently arisen as a subject for inclusion within the compulsory school curriculum. Up to this present time, a major focus of technologies in the school curriculum has in many countries been on applications of existing technologies into subject practice (both software such as office applications, and hardware such as robots and sensors). Through uses of these applications, information and communications technologies (ICT) have focused on activities to support subject and topic learning (across wide age and subject ranges). Very recently, discussions for including computers in the curriculum have shifted to a much greater focus on computing and CS, more concerned with uses of and development of programming, together with fundamental principles of problem-solving and creativity. This paper takes a policy analysis approach; it considers evidence of current implementation of CSE in school curricula, the six main arguments for wider-scale introduction of the subject, the implications for researchers, schools, teachers and learners, the state of current discussions in a range of countries, and evidence of outcomes of CSE in compulsory curricula. The paper concludes by raising key questions for the future from a policy analysis perspective.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring the Optimal Experience of the eLearning Environment*

Online learning (eLearning) has become a global phenomenon as many organizations and educational institutions worldwide have entered the field in an attempt to enhance the students' experience of learning. While numerous studies have focused on the effectiveness and benefits of eLearning, few have focused on understanding and measuring the user experience and relating this to the actual student usage of the eLearning system. This study addresses this gap by conceptualizing and measuring the eLearners' experience from two integrated perspectives: (1) the learners' affective perceptions using the flow model and (2) the learners' technology acceptance using the Technology Acceptance Model. The integrated perspective proposes that the users' acceptance and the affective responses toward a particular system are two important factors in determining the users' intentional and actual behaviors, which in turn, influence user participation and engagement with the system. The data was collected in 2004 directly from 964 students using a Web‐based eLearning system called CECIL ( http://www.cecil.edu ) at the University of Auckland. The conclusions drawn from the results of the study using a structural equation model support the use of the integrated model for investigating eLearner behavior. The research implications of our findings are discussed.     

Bridging temporal gaps between CS and US in autoshaping: A test of a local context hypothesis

Recent reports indicate that conditioning to contextual cues importantly modulates the amount of trace conditioning. According to this view, the strength of conditioning to a trace CS should be inversely related to the extent to which other external stimuli already predict US occurrence. An experiment with pigeons in an autoshaping (sign-tracking) preparation examined this proposition. Insertion of a tone in the 12-sec gap between CS and US led to strong CS responding, except for the case in which the tone also overlapped the CS. However, weak CS responding was obtained when the tone filled only the first or last half of the CS-US gap, even though CS and tone did not overlap. These findings are discussed in terms of an explanation of the effects of gap filling based on conditioning to “local” and “general” contextual cues, and in terms of the possible contributions of second-order conditioning.