Teaching and Curriculum Development in Mass and Universal Higher Education

Abstract

This chapter attempts to undertake comparative research on major aspects of academics’ teaching activities and their role in curriculum development, as well as their perceptions on these activities between the mass higher education systems and the universal higher education systems based on major findings from the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) surveys in 2007–2008. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the research framework and methodology. Then it analyzes the similarities and differences in the academics’ teaching activities and their involvement in curriculum development across two different phases of higher education systems. The chapter concludes by arguing that though differences can be found in some aspects of the curriculum and instructional methods, as well as the relationship between student and teacher while higher education shifts from mass phase to universal phase, tremendous changes do not necessarily happen to all the aspects of academics’ teaching and their role in curriculum development across the universal higher education systems and mass higher education systems.