Changing Landscape Of Higher Education Research Articles

Recipes for institutional adoption of a teacher-driven learning analytics tool

The changing landscape of higher education is putting increasing strain on educators, leading to a diminishing ability to provide pedagogical and pastoral support to ballooning and diversifying cohorts. Learning analytics promises solutions to these challenges for educators, including by personalising learning support and experiences, streamlining data capture and analyses, and providing teachers with new, efficient teaching approaches. However, reports of these impacts, or widespread adoption of learning analytics, or even examples of cross-institutional collaboration are sparse. We argue that this may be because of a lack of educator-driven learning analytics tools that meet their felt needs, and present case studies from three Australian universities that have collaborated to implement such a tool. This tool, the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES), empowers educators to collect, collate, analyse, and use student engagement and success data that they consider meaningful for their particular contexts. Developed by unfunded educators and widely adopted through collegiate recommendations, the SRES enables personalisation and targeting of student learning and support using relevant data, fostering positive student-teacher relationships and enhancing student engagement. Using the three case studies as a backdrop, we present a revised learning analytics adoption framework focussing on strategy, structure, support, and impact, and use this framework to systematically evaluate the implementation of the SRES at the three institutions to derive ‘recipes’ for adopting an educator-focussed learning analytics platform. We also discuss three core themes emerging from the case studies, around the needs of academics, the role of academic and educational developers, and flexible and agile information technology practices.

Faculty Performance Management System in HEIs

The creation of a productive Faculty Performance Management System (FPMS) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) requires a team effort involving faculty, administrators, and support personnel. It is essential to create an environment that supports continuous improvement, aligns with the institution's strategic objectives, and is adaptable enough to respond to the changing landscape of higher education. In Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Faculty Performance Management Systems (FPMS) are essential for evaluating and improving the work of faculty members. An overview of the main components and consequences of FPMS in HEIs is given by this research. Faculty performance is assessed and managed systematically through the use of FPMS, which covers teaching, research, service, and professional development. It entails establishing precise goals, gathering and evaluating data, completing performance evaluations, and providing helpful criticism. A culture of continual improvement is what FPMS aims to instill in faculty members, coordinating their efforts with institutional objectives. Faculty accomplishments can be measured with the aid of performance metrics, such as key performance indicators (KPIs). These indicators frequently take into account contributions to the community and institution as well as teaching effectiveness, research productivity, and student feedback. Data-driven evaluations are used to advise faculty members' career progression through the integration of FPMS with tenure and promotion processes. Determining clear criteria, handling legal and ethical issues, and assessing student evaluations of instruction are some of the challenges associated with FPMS implementation. Best practices, however, place a strong emphasis on ongoing evaluations, peer reviews, and assistance with professional growth. In higher education institutions, FPMS is essential for raising standards of instruction, promoting excellence in research, and developing a culture of growth and accountability among faculty members. The goal of continuing research in this dynamic subject is to optimize these systems to fulfill the ever-evolving demands of higher education. The main aim of this research is to study the key elements and implications of FPMS in HEIs & to explore & analyse the FPMS factors in HEIs.

Closing the Gap Between Students' Career Readiness and Employers' Expectations

This article describes one aspect of Florida International University's (FIU) response to the changing landscape of higher education and the ever-evolving world of work. The following case study highlights how strategic planning grounded in comprehensive planning and evaluation processes led to the development of an innovative and agile quality enhancement plan that aims to enhance students' preparation for the 21st-century workforce by certifying students' attainment of critical competencies related to artificial intelligence, data interpretation, and emotional intelligence. Utilizing a faculty-driven approach, FIU was successful in leveraging a required institutional effectiveness accreditation process to develop and implement a university-wide strategic initiative that focuses on student learning outcomes that close the gap between students' career readiness and employers' expectations.

Alternative Assessment Practices in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted many aspects of life including education and assessment practices in the higher education sectors. Universities worldwide had to adopt new assessment technologies as COVID-19-related restrictions made it impossible to conduct invigilated exams. Therefore, academics had to change their assessment styles, types, and formats to match the new normal. Although online education is a well-established domain where remote assessments are the usual practice, such a sudden shift made it extremely difficult to manage this within such short notice. Alternative assessments, such as online assessments, open-book exams, timed assessments, and online exams, were used as a replacement for traditional face-to-face exams. However, careful consideration and planning were necessary to ensure effectiveness, fairness, and prevention of academic misconduct. This paper examines alternative assessment practices used in different parts of the world, the historical context of invigilated exams, and the impacts of this sudden shift on academics and teaching pedagogy. Additionally, the paper provides recommended strategies to help academics plan assessment design as multi-mode delivery (i.e., hybrid approach offering both in-person and online options concurrently) and assessment practices are likely to continue in the post-COVID world Moving forward, universities must adapt to the changing assessment practices brought about by the pandemic and develop strategies to ensure academic integrity and fair assessment practices. This includes designing assessments that are appropriate for remote delivery, incorporating new assessment technologies, and ensuring that assessments are fair and secure. Furthermore, universities must continue to explore and develop new assessment practices that meet the needs of their students in the changing landscape of higher education.

Stand up / Seas Suas: promoting peer awareness, empathy and helping among third level students

ABSTRACT The changing landscape of higher education and increased prevalence of mental health issues have placed pressure on universities to respond effectively to the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. Whilst higher education institutions provide support services to help students who are encountering difficulties, it often falls to fellow students to offer support. However, peers may lack awareness and knowledge about how to intervene or be reluctant to intervene due to the ‘bystander effect’ that diffuses responsibility for action in group settings. This article describes an initiative called Seas Suas, a programme developed by the Chaplaincy at an Irish university that encourages students to be more aware and observant of challenging issues impacting other students’ academic and personal lives and to equip them with the knowledge and skills to respond appropriately. A mixed methods research design was undertaken to assess outcomes from the programme (N = 193). Findings indicate that students showed higher levels of empathy, social responsibility and confidence in helping others after participating in the Seas Suas programme. The implications of the findings for pastoral care in higher education are discussed.

Strategically Implementing the “Z” (for Zoom)-Option in Graduate Education

The Department takes a look at how academic programs in our field adapt to the changing landscape of higher education. In this edition, Carl Raschke shares how and why the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Denver developed a remote option for their M.A. program. The “Z”- Option, as they call it, addresses social, cultural, and economic trends in U.S. universities with a forward-thinking and researched proposal that should be on your radar.

On a Mission: The Case for Sustainability and Embedding Values in a Changing Higher Education Landscape

Change in higher education creates many risks to the sustainability of teaching practices. In this paper, we review some perspectives and resources on change in higher education and examine strategies for educators to participate in sustainable change. Central to this is the role of local mission statements, formulated to consciously reflect common values and purpose within a team of colleagues, and used to guide decision making, particularly in times of change. This discussion considers changes in teaching practice, such as those required for active learning, informed by principles concerning general organisational change, and specific qualities of contemporary higher education in the sciences.

Postdigital Learning for a Changing Higher Education

This article draws upon the authors’ previous work on the opportunities and challenges learners face as they move into, through, and out of transitional learning spaces. The authors argue that equipping students to locate themselves with/in the tensions of learning is imperative, especially in postdigital learning environments. Teaching in ways that enable students to acknowledge their ‘will to learn’ and to understand that liminal learning can prompt distress and disjunction or the ability to think differently is discussed. This article begins by examining the relationship between the postdigital and the liminal, offers an Integrated Model of Transitional Learning Spaces, and presents different types of disjunctions. It then explores how learners navigate the liminal and concludes by arguing for a need to focus on postdigital learning and liminal learning in a changing higher education landscape.

A Qualitative Illustration of the Operation of Secondary Effect of Social Stratification: Decisions of Community-College Students in Seeking a Transfer in Hong Kong

This paper offers a qualitative analysis of decisions of 64 community-college students in seeking a transfer in Hong Kong. In weighing a number of educational options and then offers, with a similar level of desirability in some cases, in order to achieve their transfers, advantaged-class and disadvantaged-class respondents struggled with different logics of reasoning and negotiated anxiously with their changing structural realities. This qualitative analysis addresses the contextual, processual and emotional aspects of their decision making and provides a more convincing illustration of how the secondary effect of social stratification operates against a changing landscape of higher education.

Harnessing the Four‐Dimensional Ecology Education Framework to redesign an introductory ecology course in a changing higher education landscape

AbstractAs higher education undergoes rapid and fundamental change, eco‐educators need to be prepared to promote the inclusion of the ecological sciences in the biological sciences curriculum of the future. Here, we present an instructional alignment for an introductory ecology course, which is informed by and integrated with the Four‐Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework. Our instructional alignment was created collaboratively among faculty involved in teaching the course and emphasizes the relevance and utility of the ecological sciences. We believe that this approach positions the ecological sciences for continued success and inclusion in the biological sciences curriculum of tomorrow.

All That You Can’t Leave Behind - Essential Post-COVID Technology and Pedagogy

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many institutions to adapt quickly and substitute technology-based online or remote instruction in place of in-person instruction. This adaptation caused many faculty to develop new technology fluencies, which can provide more flexibility and innovation moving forward. However, the technological lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic are somewhat conflicting, as we have also learned that there are places where in-person instruction is extremely valuable. As we move beyond COVID-19 protocols, there are many important implications for universities seeking to effectively instruct an increasingly diverse student body in ways that reflect both their mission and core values and also take into account the changing landscape of higher education. This article considers the lessons that Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) learned during the pandemic and how these experiences will shape instruction moving forward. Through a series of remote technology workshops, reflective collaboration, and focus groups, many faculty identified new approaches using technology that they will continue to incorporate into instruction post-pandemic while still maintaining the face-to-face instruction that is highly valued at institutions like VWU. We will discuss how to balance and bring together the best aspects of both traditional pedagogies and the new practices learned.

Introduction

Abstract The challenges that instructors of critical theory face today, particularly in global contexts, range from a public-health crisis, to a continued struggle for racial and economic justice, to the changing landscape of higher education. The solution we propose is twofold and involves decolonizing theory and making the classroom increasingly student centered.

English

The changing landscape of higher education orchestrated by the growing use of e-learning presents significant opportunities and threats to higher education institutions in developing countries like Nigeria. However, e-learning is not widely adopted by Nigerian institutions due to contextual and individual barriers. This study aims to advance our understanding of the determinants of e-learning adoption by reconceptualising e-learning adoption barriers from an entrepreneurial and strategic perspective. Using Partial Least Square approach to Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyse data collected from 305 respondents, the findings of the study demonstrate that entrepreneurial orientation and strategic planning significantly influence e-learning adoption. The findings of the study advance our understanding of e-learning adoption barriers and also provide new insights to managers of higher education institutions with regards to e-learning adoption.   Key words: E-learning, e-learning adoption, entrepreneurial orientation, strategic planning, higher education institutions.

A Journey towards Collaborative Culture Development: How to Be Weightless Despite Academic Gravity

In science, gravity refers to the universal force of attraction acting on and between all matter. No one on earth can escape the force of gravity. In a similar vein, the stringent requirements of publications, research grants, and research output in the academic world can be metaphorically described as “academic gravity,” the force of which pushes university academics to struggle and strive in pursuit of excellence just to survive in the changing landscape of higher education governed by neo-liberalism and managerialism. This article describes the journey of a junior academic staff member in an Asian university as he coped with various difficulties in establishing a collaborative culture in his department (i.e., the Faculty of Education). Working with a senior colleague (Sunshine-mother hereafter) in the same department, Author 1 began to recognize the importance of collegial collaboration in teacher education generally and in his academic life specifically. However, although he tried his utmost to develop a culture of collaboration amongst his colleagues, he struggled to cope with the tension and stress exerted by academic gravity (i.e., publication production and the pursuit of tenure). Drawing on data collected from a teaching development project and adopting a reflective autobiographic approach, this article delineates the collaborative relationship between Author 1 and Sunshine-mother, exemplifying the important roles that coaching and a free rein (i.e., weightlessness) play in the development of junior teacher-educators under the strong pressure of academic gravity.

Responding to Change in Higher Education: The Case of the Nonprofit Leadership Studies Program at Murray State University and Program Identity

Nonprofit studies programs have grown over the past three decades in both number and size. Although scholars have devoted increasing attention to both the field of study and its infrastructure, not much attention has been devoted to the administration of these programs. This study reviews the over three-decade-long history and development of the nonprofit leadership studies program at Murray State University and reflects on the various challenges the program has faced, including enrollment concerns, program reorganization, and declining resources. This analysis highlights the importance of developing a clear program identity, which in this case was shaped around the concepts of service learning and student philanthropy. The conclusions extrapolate broad recommendations that can serve as a road map to similar programs that face common budgetary and enrollment challenges in a changing higher education landscape.

Writing Centres in the Netherlands Nondirective Pedagogies in a Changing Higher Education Landscape

Writing Centres in the Netherlands Nondirective Pedagogies in a Changing Higher Education Landscape

Early career academics’ identity development in a changing HE landscape: insights from a Malaysian private university

ABSTRACT This study reports on the experiences of early career academics (ECAs) in a private Malaysian higher education (HE) institution and its impact on their academic identity. Through the use of a qualitative inquiry, the findings revealed that the ECAs’ academic identity development was imbued with challenges and complexities, as they navigated academia. Due to the performative culture in HE, the formation of a stable identity is continuously challenged by the demands represented by the institutional context. ECAs reported having to negotiate their core academic identity as teachers due to tensions from having to assume multiple roles in the organization. The findings also revealed narratives of resistance and marginalization, highlighting misconceptions about academia and the disconnect between the ECAs’ personal, professional and organizational goals, which contribute to the global literature on the academic profession in two respects. First, it contributes to the empirically grounded knowledge of the complex manner on how ECAs negotiate, challenge or comply with the new managerialist agenda. Second, it explores the emerging academic identity that the ECAs are forming under this competitive HE context. The study proposes strategies for a more inclusive career development process to nurture and support ECAs in the HE setting.

The Impact of Pressures to Produce on Knowledge Production and Evaluation in the Modern Academy

Combining work from the related but distinct fields of sociology of knowledge and sociology of education, we explore the effects of the changing landscape of higher education on the academic knowledge production system. Drawing on 100 interviews with faculty members from 34 disciplines at an elite private research university, we show that faculty members perceive exponentially increasing pressures to produce, and identify the ways that those pressures can negatively impact the knowledge creation process. We then examine the ways those pressures to produce influence how faculty evaluate their colleagues’ work, leading faculty to extend the benefit of the doubt, rely on reputation, and emphasize the peer review process, even as they simultaneously critique its weaknesses. Finally, we show that faculty members ultimately reconcile their perceptions of weaknesses in the current knowledge production system with their belief in that system by emphasizing their own and their colleagues’ commitment to resisting structural pressures to produce. While much of the existing body of scholarship on the changing higher education landscape has focused on teaching and learning outcomes, this study contributes to our understanding of how those changes impact the research process, underscoring the relationship between institutional structures and evaluative processes.

Challenges for Irish teacher educators in being active users and producers of research

ABSTRACTIf teacher education is to be taken seriously, it must be research-based with teacher educators as active researchers and perceived as ‘public intellectuals’. This re-positioning of teacher education to be ‘research driven’ comes with pressure on teacher educators to focus on securing research funding and increase publication output. This expectation for research productivity competes with increasing calls for more relevant and imaginative teacher preparation programmes. To present the challenging contexts in which Irish teacher educators operate with respect to fulfilling both a teaching and research remit, this paper maps the changing higher education landscape, the regulation of teacher education along with a myriad of curricular reforms at primary and post-primary level. The paper then explores current teacher educators’ positioning in the Irish context as active users and producers of research through in-depth interviews with ten experienced teacher educators.

A black woman’s perspective on understanding transformation and diversity in South African higher education

Background: Today, transformation and diversity are concepts that form an integral part of the functioning of higher education institutions globally. These two concepts have drawn vast amounts of interest from scholars who work in the field of higher education studies. Aim: The current article considers the perspectives of black women academics in an exploration of the concepts of transformation and diversity. This standpoint approach brings to the fore the voices of black women in the changing higher education landscape, in an attempt to provide an understanding of prevailing gender inequalities. Setting: The study was conducted at one higher education institution, involving women academics from different faculties and different social backgrounds. Methods: The adoption of a gender approach sheds light on a social justice perspective that higher education institutions in South Africa aspire to attain. The article reports on 12 black women’s configuration of transformation and diversity from a gender perspective in a country where gender in higher education has always been an issue of contention. Results: The inclusion of four white women academics in the study served the goal of contrasting their views with those of the black women, to illuminate the intersectionality of race and gender in human experiences. A thematic analysis of data highlights the complexities of understanding the role of institutional management, self-responsibility and self-awareness in transformation and diversification processes. The role of different standpoints in understanding transformation also came out strongly in the findings. Conclusion: It can, therefore, be concluded that standpoints play a crucial role in meaning making and experiences of transformation for women academics in institutions of higher learning.