Showing papers in "Tertiary Education and Management in 2005"

A critical examination of the effects of learning management systems on university teaching and learning

Abstract: The rapid uptake of campus-wide Learning Management Systems (LMS) is changing the character of the on-campus learning experience. The trend towards LMS as an adjunct to traditional learning modes has been the subject of little research beyond technical analyses of alternative software systems. Drawing on Australian experience, this paper presents a broad, critical examination of the potential impact of these online systems on teaching and learning in universities. It discusses in particular the possible effects of LMS on teaching practices, on student engagement, on the nature of academic work and on the control over academic knowledge.

The government‐higher education institution relationship: Theoretical considerations from the perspective of agency theory

Abstract: This article introduces the agency theory to the field of higher education research. By applying agency theory to the inter‐organisational relationship between government and higher education institutions, it is possible to illustrate general problems facing control and governance in a more theoretical and analytical way. The conceptual arsenal provided by the agency theory may benefit various research settings that are related to government‐higher education institution relationships. In addition to its descriptive elements, agency theory also provides theoretical explanations for e.g. the establishment of quality assurance systems and performance‐based funding procedures.

Students’ views regarding their participation in university governance: Implications for distributed leadership in higher education

Abstract: The paper examines the views of students regarding the extent of their participation in the management of their university and their satisfaction with the degree of this participation. After an examination of the literature on student participation in university governance, the author presents the results of a survey based on data collected from 135 students of the University of Cyprus in 2002. According to the findings, respondents believed that their involvement in the management of their institution was very limited. This applied to both high and low levels of decision making, even though respondents recognised that their input was greater in less important decisions. The perceived limited involvement resulted in feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction among students, with the majority of respondents demanding a higher level of participation for all three decision making situations considered in the study. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for the practice of distributed leadership at contemporary universities, with emphasis on the need to abandon outdated leadership models. Specifically, it proposes measures for increasing student participation in university governance in the framework of a distributed leadership approach designed to empower the key stakeholders of higher education.

Student participation in shared governance: A means of advancing democratic values?

Abstract: Student participation in shared governance of higher education institutions is considered in the context of a civic role for higher education in a democracy. Statutory provisions for the governance of Irish higher education institutions are reviewed by reference to models of shared governance. Findings from a survey of actual levels of student participation within higher institutions in the Republic of Ireland are discussed and compared with patterns in Europe. The rationale for student participation in governance is critically examined with particular attention to the consequences of the client/customer paradigm. The case is made that participation in shared governance is a necessary but insufficient condition for the realisation of the democratic ideal. The relationship between academic democracy and political democracy is explored, highlighting the key role which academics have to play in creating the conditions for the nurturing of democratic values.

Formative Assessment in Higher Education:Its Significance for Employability, and Steps Towards Its Enhancement

Abstract: Research shows that formative assessment can exert a powerful effect on student learning, yet the complexity of formative assessment is not well understood and some curricular structures and practices do not fully exploit its potential. This article outlines the background to the political promotion of employability and shows that institutional responses are influenced by multiple considerations. It discusses formative assessment and models it as a complex signalling system before considering the implications, for students’ employability, of accentuating the attention given to formative assessment. The potential for action is discussed with reference to three levels: those of the institution, the department, and the individual academic.

Attitudes of academic staff towards their job and organisation: An empirical assessment

Abstract: The relationships and differences in how academic staff perceive their work and organisation are of great importance for human resource strategies in the higher education sector. The present study examines work‐related attitudes of academic staff, namely job satisfaction, self‐efficacy and organisational commitment. The purpose is to analyse how these attitudes differ among groups of individuals. Results show that there is an alternative way of classifying academic staff into distinct groups based on work‐related attitudes apart from the conventional classification based on position alone. Findings suggest that university managers should be careful in balancing between different systems of control or incentive.

Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Transition Countries: Accreditation--Accountability and Assessment.

Abstract: One issue facing countries in transition concerns how to ensure quality for a broader and more diverse set of institutions. Quality assurance processes (i.e. accreditation, accountability and assessment) have particular relevance today as higher education undergoes dramatic changes in countries in transition, as the world becomes more internationalised, and as private higher education institutions increase in number and enrol increasing numbers of students. Three questions emerge. Do differences among transition countries relative to central control prior to independence explain the current set of quality assurance mechanisms? Has the growth of private higher education in transition countries affected how quality assurance is conceptualised? Have quality assurance mechanisms been affected by the opening of branch campuses in transition countries?

The Economic Impact of Eight Research Universities on the Boston Region

Abstract: The greater Boston region’s eight research universities play a key role in the region’s economic health and welfare. They are magnets for research and development talent and for billions of dollars in investment. These institutions contribute $7.4 billion dollars to the regional economy, jobs for about 50,000 university employees and 37,000 workers in related areas. They produce an annual talent pool of 31,000 graduates many of whom elect to remain in the region and contribute to the exploitation of university patents and licensed technology that sustain the regional economy, as well as its social and cultural institutions. Drawing on economic impact studies conducted for eight institutions in the Boston region we will describe the impact of these universities on the Boston region. We will review the implications of this large concentration of research activity on the region’s economy, labour force, pre and post university educational structures, political leadership, funding sources and social and environmental quality. This paper will explore the issues facing these eight research institutions as they pursue their desire for sustained growth and development. Among these are changes in national research funding priorities, financial incentives for innovation, conflicts with non-university sectors of the economy including competition for housing, manpower and economic resources.

The Promotion to Full Professor--Through Competition or by Individual Competence?.

Abstract: This paper analyses the outcome of a reform of the academic career structure in Norway From 1993 on, associate professors can apply for promotion to full professorships on the basis of individual research competence irrespective of vacant professorships This has now become a more important way of attaining a full professorship than through competition with other applicants Only 30% of new professors are appointed the traditional way The reform has led to a substantial increase in the number of full professors in the university sector, from 37% of the tenured academic staff in 1991 to 47% in 2001

Policies towards work‐focused higher education ‐ are they meeting employers’ needs?

Abstract: Since the mid-1980s, the UK government polices for higher education have reflected a belief in the contribution of higher education to economic prosperity and have generally encouraged the development of work-related curricula in higher education. In 2000, the government supported the introduction of a new kind of higher education programme (the foundation degree) specifically aimed at improving the delivery of technical and professional skills to meet industry and business needs. Foundation degrees were to be work-related intermediate awards which also provided opportunities for progression to honours degrees. In this paper, I look at employers’ perceptions of intermediate, work-focused higher education in general, and consider the issues raised for the government’s new policy in relation to foundation degrees.

Global and local priorities in higher education policies: a headache at the national level?

Abstract: In November 2001 the Finnish Ministry of Education published a working group report on the internationalisation strategy for higher education, and shortly after another report concentrating on the local dimensions and effects of higher education. In the era of internationalisation and globalisation, local concerns seem to be so great that the Ministry intends to add a third mission in the University Act along with the traditional quests of research and teaching. Thus, in the future, Finnish universities are obliged to act in collaboration with their local environment. This paper analyses the proposals and argumentation of the two reports, aiming, in particular, at discovering the intersections and contact surfaces of the global and local. Finnish developments and discussion will be analysed against the ideas of ‘glonacal agency heuristic’ presented by Marginson and Rhoades.

Euro-Philiacs, Euro-Sceptics and Europhobics: Higher Education Policy, Values and Institutional Research

Abstract: The European higher education landscape is inhabited by three clans: the Euro-philiac, his wicked twin, the Euro-phobic and most interesting of all, the Euro-sceptic. This unholy trinity has long been with us. Though the recent Euro electoral fiasco has in all probability served to bolster the ranks of the second and third tribes1

An analysis of higher education staff attitudes in a dynamic environment

Abstract: Since 1980 the staff student ratio in the UK has halved. This has been contributed to, amongst other factors, by the massification policy of the UK government. The requirement to publish, the view of students as consumers, an increase in managerialism, and reduction in real pay levels as well as the threat of compulsory redundancies have also been changes which have affected the attitudes of staff. As a result of these factors, the experience of both academics and students has deteriorated, and this is likely to continue. This paper uses survey data from three higher education institutions, which indicates a reduction in the satisfaction of staff over a number of years. Interviews with key informants and a literature review also support the view that levels of stress are increasing amongst academic staff within UK Higher Education institutions.

Relationships and values among students and staff in British and German higher education

Abstract: Financial stringency and neo-liberal influences in higher education are impacting upon relationships and academic values in higher education. The aim of the present paper was to analyse how these forces operate differentially in the UK and Germany. The British students were significantly more satisfied than were their German counterparts with the intellectual and personal relationships that they had with their university teachers; this could, however, be attributed more to country-specific factors, predating marketization, than to the effects of globalisation. Students in both countries clamoured for more practical experience during their university courses; but a number of UK students and almost half the UK staff thought that that insufficient justice was being done to theory in the HE programmes. Though ‘the market’ might be assumed conducive to efficiency, the British respondents (both staff and students) were especially dissatisfied with organisational aspects of their institutions. Many of the German staff believed that the old order of the university as they had known it was passing away and this awareness was painful to them.

Path Dependency and the Politics of Quality Assurance in Higher Education

Abstract: National policy agendas for quality assurance in higher education (HE) are increasingly influenced by supra-national trends and decisions Taking Spain, Switzerland and The Netherlands as examples, the paper analyses how supranational trends are re-interpreted at the national level and how recently formulated national policies combine the demands for cross-national harmonisation with the long-lasting influence of decisions and procedures run in the past in the domain of quality assurance In this perspective, the paper argues that cross-national policy harmonisation, a key prerequisite for the construction of the European Area of Higher Education, is challenged by the long-lasting influence of national path dependent policies

Looking back to look forward: Ten years of team

Abstract: The article analyses the content of articles published in TEAM in the period from 1995 to 2004. Central themes are highlighted, and it is discussed how these have developed and have been transformed over the decade. In the conclusion, gaps in knowledge about certain aspects of higher education are identified.

Clusters, Innovation and Tertiary Education.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integration between research findings produced at the University and Community College levels and local SMEs (small and medium enterprises) as it impacts regional innovation systems and in particular the prospect of cluster formation. The paper explores certain factors that have been identified in international literature as being critical to fostering innovation in non-metropolitan regions. These factors include government policies and programmes, internal and external infrastructure, partnership or research links among educational institutions, and support from local business and civic leaders. Stakeholders from non-metropolitan regions were asked to judge the level of effectiveness with reference to these development “factors” while highlighting weaknesses, strengths, and effects on innovation in their locale.

University Evaluations and Different Evaluation Approaches: A Finnish Perspective.

Abstract: Evaluation of higher education can be described a species of its own with only few connections with other fields of evaluation. When considering the future developments in higher education evaluation (quality assurance), it is useful to observe its similarities and differences with various evaluation approaches in other than higher education evaluation. The purpose of the paper is to consider the place of Finnish university evaluations on a more general “evaluation map”, by comparing them with other evaluation approaches, especially utilisation-focused evaluation, realistic evaluation and empowerment evaluation.

Collaboration/Competition Crossroads: National/Supranational Tertiary Education Policies on a Collision Course

Abstract: In the context of tertiary education, the paper explores the nature of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiation process and obligation framework, with examples, considers whether GATS is needed to support a country’s “export education” and what a country could do to protect its tertiary education system from the impact of a GATS involvement. Various effects of participation are discussed, including the illustrative case of New Zealand where, due to an early locked-in GATS involvement and subsequent changes of government and direction, tertiary education operates along disparate national (collaborative) and supranational (competitive) policy roadways. How can, or should, the tension be resolved?

Promoting Quality Enhancement in the UK the Experience of Collaboration between National Agencies.

Abstract: There has been a substantial and potentially significant shift in the UK approach to quality in higher education in the last few years In England, Wales and Scotland there has been a growing interest in quality enhancement to supplement existing frameworks for quality assurance In the words of the Chief Executive of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)1 Peter Williams, “We are now developing a more active strategy for our contribution to quality enhancement” [Williams (http://wwwqaaacure/)] In this paper, we consider the growing interest in, and attention to, ‘quality enhancement’ in higher education at a national level in the UK We trace the rise to prominence of the concept itself and briefly examine the landscape of agencies that have been funded to engage in quality enhancement activity We then examine the trend towards greater collaboration between these agencies at a national level that led to the formal proposal to bring many of them together into a new national body, which is known as ‘The Higher Education Academy (Academy)’ We exemplify this collaborative trend by describing how, in the run up to establishing the Academy, the working relationship between two of these agencies the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN)2 and the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund (TQEF) National Co-ordination Team (NCT) was facilitated In the final part of this paper, we engage in a more speculative consideration of the nature of collaboration at a national policy level and relate this to the literature on change management We look at the barriers to successful collaboration and the prospects for future collaborations in higher education policy agencies