Higher Education Research Articles

Interior Design Education in the Context of Climate Change: A Systematic Assessment of Existing Capacity in Türkiye

The increase in the global mean temperature leads to the climate change events we experience today. To limit global warming at +1.5-2°C, actors of the built environment -who are responsible for 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere- along with their institutions and authorities, should act. However, recent studies indicate that the awareness level of actors from the interior design field on their role in climate action is lower than that of other built environment-related disciplines. Nevertheless, higher education institutions that are dealing with complex, abstract concepts such as climate change itself, more often than other educational institutions, are thought to have a significant role in this awareness issue since awareness can be boosted by knowledge and learning. Yet, the nexus of design education and climate change in Türkiye has not been well-studied. However, assessing the existing capacity of individuals, institutions, and entities can provide guidance to cope with the impacts of climate change. Therefore, this study aims to assess the existing capacity of interior design education in Türkiye in the context of climate change via a systematic assessment to determine the awareness levels of higher education institutes, including the actors of interior design scholars and interior design students, in Türkiye. To achieve that, it employs a 3-phased assessment in the curriculums of (1) undergraduate programs, (2) graduate programs of interior design departments, and (3) theses which are conducted on the topic in Türkiye. Statistical results were interpreted under two main subjects: climate change-focused and climate change-related. While the significantly low results of focused ones addressed an educational gap in the curriculums, promising numbers of climate change-related courses and theses indicate an ongoing process that can be boosted by increasing the awareness levels of the educational actors

Algorithmic Art Praxis: A Framework for Contextualized Programming Education

The amalgamation of computational thinking (CT) with contextualized instruction provides a sturdy framework for enriching programming education, especially for novice learners in designcentric higher education programs, where visual and experiential learning modalities prevail. CT, recognized as a critical methodology for solving complex programming challenges, underpins the development of the Algorithmic Art Praxis (ALAP) Categories—a structured toolkit designed to bridge abstract computational concepts with tangible, art-based applications. This research utilizes a rigorously curated online database of algorithmic artworks as a primary source for content analysis and pedagogical investigation. Over 2,000 algorithmic artworks from secondary sources were subjected to a rigorous, iterative review process, narrowing the collection to 695 deeply analyzed samples that inform the database’s foundational content. Through this analytical perspective, 18 distinct ALAP Categories were identified, each mirroring fundamental programming principles as exemplified in algorithmic art. These categories establish a structured taxonomy that harmonizes computational thinking activities with contextualized programming education, thereby providing a customized approach to addressing the distinct cognitive and creative requirements of design students. The ALAP toolkit, consisting of the 18 categories, a succinct reference guide, and the curated database, serves as a versatile resource for educators, researchers, and students. Through the integration of computational thinking with algorithmic art, it facilitates the cultivation of programming proficiency in visually oriented learners while promoting engagement through relevance and creativity. This framework underscores the potential of contextualized learning to transform abstract programming concepts into accessible, meaningful educational experiences

Navigating Familismo and Higher Education: Voices of Rural Latina/o/x Students from the Borderlands

ABSTRACT This study examines the role of familismo in shaping the college aspirations of six rural Latina/o/x students from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, using testimonios to explore their experiences. The analysis identifies four critical themes: Cultural Values and Heritage, Gendered Familismo, Navigating Conflicting Family Expectations on College Aspirations, and Motivation to Give Back and Make Parents Proud. Familismo emerges as a significant factor, deeply interwoven with cultural identities and parental sacrifices, influencing students’ motivations and educational pathways. The findings highlight the necessity for culturally responsive educational policies and practices that address the distinct needs of rural Latina/o/x students.

Behind the screen: Exploring perceptions, attitudes, and coping behaviors toward cyberbullying on Douyin among Chinese undergraduates

ABSTRACT Cyberbullying has emerged as a critical issue among young people, with platforms like Douyin enabling both positive social interactions and harmful online behaviors. This study explores Chinese undergraduate students’ perceptions, attitudes, and coping strategies regarding cyberbullying on Douyin, drawing on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Spiral of Silence Theory as theoretical frameworks. A mixed-methods approach was employed: a structured questionnaire was administered to 760 students from two universities using stratified random sampling, followed by in-depth interviews with selected participants. Findings reveal notable differences in the perceived severity of cyberbullying. Students from public universities demonstrated heightened sensitivity to appearance-based shaming, identity fraud, and physical threats, whereas their counterparts from private universities exhibited more varied and less consistent perceptions. Influencing factors included peer-group dynamics, social pressure, and media influence. Public university students showed more uniform attitudes, while private university students displayed greater diversity in views. In terms of coping strategies, public university students tended to adopt more proactive and structured approaches, while those from private universities employed fragmented and less cohesive responses. Notably, professional psychological support was underutilized in both groups. These results underscore the influence of educational background and social context in shaping students’ experiences and responses to cyberbullying. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions, including strengthened campus mental health services, enhanced content regulation on platforms like Douyin, and comprehensive digital literacy education. This research offers empirical evidence and theoretical insights to inform support mechanisms for victims and guide the development of effective prevention strategies within higher education settings.

Navigating the AI-Enabled education landscape: A multifaceted approach to providing effective professional learning and support for educators

ABSTRACT As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) continues to reshape higher education, instructors need effective, accessible professional learning opportunities to enable them to make informed, intentional decisions about whether and how to integrate GenAI into their teaching. Educational developers are well positioned to meet this need. This article describes a multifaceted, scalable approach to pedagogical support for instructors across disciplines and institutional contexts. By combining synchronous and on-demand offerings — including research teams, workshops, learning communities, and open-access resources — we demonstrate a variety of ways that educational developers can build instructors’ pedagogical skills and AI literacy. Through these efforts, instructors are better prepared to navigate the AI-enabled education landscape. We discuss the benefits and challenges of these approaches to professional learning, offering insights so that others tasked with professional development for educators can adapt these strategies to their own contexts.

Technology and university teacher training: challenges and perspectives

This article aims to address issues regarding the training of university teachers, seeking to contextualize technologies as a new emerging paradigm in higher education. Currently, the evolution caused by new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has brought significant social changes to society. In the educational sphere it is no different, from basic to higher education they have undergone and continue to undergo changes, hence the need to keep up with technological developments to improve learning, not adhering to stagnation and obsoleteness. In qualitative modality and in order to address the challenges and perspectives of teachers in higher education considering the innovative perspectives of technology, the specific objective of this article is to list some assumptions in relation to the teacher's pedagogical practice. Given this, the following question arose: what are the challenges and perspectives of teachers with the help of technologies to improve pedagogical practice and promote learning in the 21st century? Under this umbrella, this work will focus on education, mainly higher education, to try to find an answer to the problem of this research and contribute to improving pedagogical practice and, finally, bring contributions that can corroborate research and meaningful student learning.

Factors Affecting User Satisfaction on Quipper Learning Management System in a Philippine University

There has been a shift in the way educational services are delivered in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) due to the advances in ICT and the introduction of the Internet. The resulting growth has led to learning management systems (LMS) development. LMSs are pivotal in fostering and advancing student learning. These systems have shown the ability to provide electronic and instructional resources to improve and augment student learning in a collaborative environment. Despite the extensive adoption of Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Quipper in higher education, there remains a limited understanding of how specific system characteristics drive user satisfaction in context-specific deployments. Thus, this study addresses the following gap: (1) The lack of contextualized evidence assessing system, information quality, and service (IS Success factors) on student-user satisfaction with Quipper LMS in a Philippine university context, and (2) The limited application of empirical, regression-based methods to assess the predictive strength of these IS success factors towards student-user satisfaction, especially using localized datasets from actual LMS users. Using quantitative descriptive-correlational design utilizing multiple regression, results provide compelling evidence supporting the theoretical and empirical foundations linking IS Success factor to user satisfaction. Moreover, the result shows that IS Success factors are all positively significant toward student-user satisfaction congruent with well-established D&M IS Success model, which identifies these three quality dimensions as key drivers of user satisfaction. The results can be an additional reference for future research and can be extended to other sectors or industries using Information System tools.

Delayed medical consultation and influencing factors in elderly patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

ObjectiveThis study aims to examine the prevalence of delays in medical consultation and the associated factors among elderly patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) through a cross-sectional survey design.MethodsA total of 276 elderly OSA patients were recruited from the sleep monitoring unit of a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, following overnight assessment with the Apnealink portable monitoring device between 2021 and 2022. Data were collected through a general demographic questionnaire, the OSA Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) questionnaire, the Perceived Barriers to Medical Consultation Scale, and the Life Satisfaction Scale to evaluate medical consultation delays and their correlates.ResultsAmong the 276 elderly OSA patients included in the analysis, the shortest recorded delay in seeking medical attention was 0.20 years, while the longest exceeded 40 years, demonstrating that all patients experienced some degree of delay, with a 100% incidence rate. Factors influencing medical consultation delays were identified in the following order: perceived barriers to medical consultation, levels of KAP, clinical symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness and morning xerostomia, life satisfaction, and the method of healthcare payment.ConclusionElderly OSA patients mainly with a secondary or higher education and moderate- or high-income universally face varying degrees of delays in seeking medical care, reflecting an overall concerning trend in healthcare engagement. It is imperative for healthcare professionals to conduct regular health education initiatives aimed at the elderly population to enhance awareness of OSA, foster a proactive approach to seeking medical care, and promote accurate disease comprehension, thereby improving the likelihood of timely consultation.

Establishing Students’ Cooperation in a Multicultural Environment. The Heicomp Experience

This paper investigates the endevour to bring students together to cooperate in a multicultural environment, in a higher education context. The cooperation is developed by means of working life connected (WLC) courses included in an international project funded by the European Union. The aim of the paper is to analyze the challenges and benefits for students stemming from this approach. A survey was pursued among the students involved in the project using an online questionnaire. The results of the research indicate common characteristics as well as important differences between Paraguayan and Brazilian students cooperating in an multicultural framework. Challenges pertain to behavior, stereotypes, language, values, work style, and time. Findings reveal that roughly 50% of participating students had a hard time cooperating with their peers from a different culture, in terms of working, communicating, and taking decisions together. The main benefits of cooperating in a multicultural environment involve better mutual understanding, more inclusivity, and a higher empathy. Additionally, it fosters intercultural competence, cultural intelligence, and communication skills, encourages innovation through diverse perspectives, strengthens collaboration in both academic and professional settings, and enhances engagement and problem-solving in multidisciplinary teams.

Reclamation, reconnection and re-indigenisation in Teacher Education

ABSTRACT The authors of this article use a kaupapa Māori (Indigenous Māori ideological) approach to share unique nuances of a strengths-based, Indigenous teache education programme situated in Aotearoa New Zealand. The authors have been part of programme design and implementation of the Mātauranga Māori Initial Teacher Education programme. The Mātauranga Māori qualification founded on Māori knowledge/s is designed to help address racial and systemic inequities. The Mātauranga Māori Initial Teacher Education programme prioritises kaupapa Māori perspectives of teaching and learning, Māori language and culture. The authors; both Indigenous teacher educators and emerging leaders within higher education share their thoughts on policy development and sustainability of Indigenous Initial Teacher Education.

MASUS: an example of EIA teaching in an international context

ABSTRACT Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is established worldwide, requiring prepared professionals. Higher education faces challenges in this area, particularly a shortage of experienced lecturers. This letter analyses the experience with two EIA courses included in a Spanish master’s programme. The courses, tailored for an international audience, combine theory, practice, and research inputs, focusing on the application of EIA through multinational group work and using hypothetical case studies specific to the students’ countries. This approach emphasizes learning by doing, fostering an understanding of EIA’s technical, legal, and practical complexities. The experience has shown that diverse, research-informed courses with a manageable class size, tailored to the objectives and content of each specific course, lead to significant student engagement and comprehension, suggesting that a blend of practical and research expertise among lecturers is vital for effective EIA education.

Sustaining educational infrastructure: an assessment of facilities maintenance management practices in selected public higher education institutions in northern Ghana

PurposeEducational facilities provide a conducive teaching and learning environment towards achieving educational goals. Therefore, these facilities must be well-maintained to provide the necessary support for academic activities. The study assessed facilities maintenance management practices in public higher education institutions (HEIs) in northern Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was employed. The study population comprised Estate Officers of public higher education institutions in northern Ghana. Face-to-face structured interviews were conducted, and the data collected was analysed thematically and presented using narrations and direct quotes.FindingsOnly two of the five institutions had a formalized working document, a maintenance policy, to guide their maintenance activities. HEIs used “inspection” to identify maintenance challenges from the technical staff’s perspective. The fact that the reactive maintenance strategy was largely used in all the HEIs also came to light.Originality/valueThe study provides information on maintenance management in HEIs in Ghana. It highlights the effects of maintenance policies, and leading and lagging performance indicators on maintenance management.

Employing Augmented Reality to Foster Sense of Belonging for First-Generation College Transfer Students Transitioning to a Four-Year University

ABSTRACT It is imperative that higher education offer critical resources that support the growing number of first-generation college transfer students. This Notes from the Field examines one strand of this imperative from the perspective of employing Augmented Reality (AR) to foster a sense of belonging. The authors developed and tested an innovative AR-based campus tour for first-generation students transferring from a two-year college to a large, public, four-year U.S. institution. This article highlights how the AR tour developed, its deployment and testing process, and the lessons learned by the faculty-student researcher team regarding future innovation in support of first-generation transfer students.

Beyond proximity: the dynamics of design school-community interaction in social innovation

ABSTRACT As social innovation is increasingly integrated into design education, the interaction between design schools and communities has emerged as a critical concern. While in higher education studies, the term of community engagement portrays collaboration as mutually beneficial, its practice faces greater challenges than anticipated. In design research, the spectrum of participatory design frameworks further risks oversimplifying community engagement and overlooking its evolving dynamics. This study adopts a proximity lens to examine the dynamics of design school–community interaction in their collaborative efforts to facilitate social innovation. Through a grounded theory analysis of 16 projects from DESIS-China Network, it identifies four distinct modes of interaction – responsive, relayed, agonistic, and constellatory – and traces their fluid transitions across design phases. These transitions reflect varying forms of community engagement, shaped by shifting proximity conditions along two dimensions: local embeddedness and social coordination. We reconceptualise community engagement as a proximity-mediated process, offering a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of interaction. We argue that design school–community interaction is relationally constructed by navigating proximity within an optimal range. The findings highlight the reflexive role of design actors in building relationships within individual projects and fostering lasting collaborative networks for social innovation.

Legislating a Strategic Plan: Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ Discourse and the Political Agenda Reshaping Higher Education in Oklahoma

Oklahoma has become a focal point in the national escalation of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and anti-DEI efforts, emerging as one of the most aggressive states in proposing and advancing bills that undermine queer and trans rights across sectors, including public education, healthcare, free speech, and civil liberties. Although many bills do not pass into law, the volume, language, and momentum constitute a discursive and political terrain that actively regulates 2SLGBTQIA+ lives. This study retools the concept of strategic planning—typically associated with institutions’ mission-setting—as an analytical heuristic to examine how legislative efforts operate as a coordinated political agenda. Drawing on critical policy analysis (CPA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA), the authors map selected legislative texts from 2021 to 2024 to demonstrate how Oklahoma lawmakers are using policy discourse to reshape higher education into an extension of state power, advancing white cisheteronormative logics. By framing these efforts as ideologically coherent rather than isolated, this analysis contributes to the urgent work of identifying and resisting the restructuring of public education against 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ЄДИНОЇ ОСВІТНЬОЇ ПЛАТФОРМИ ЗАКЛАДУ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ: ВИКЛИКИ, РІШЕННЯ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ

The article examines the problems of forming a unified information space in higher education institutions of Ukraine in the context of modern digital transformation challenges. Key challenges related to data fragmentation between different educational process management subsystems, lack of standardized information exchange, functionality duplication, and inefficiency of existing solutions under conditions of forced transition to distance learning are analyzed. It has been established that a typical Ukrainian Higher Education Institution uses up to 10-15 disparate information systems with no automated data synchronization between them, leading to work time losses, errors, and inability to obtain a comprehensive analytical picture for making management decisions.A concept of a unified educational platform is proposed that integrates all aspects of the educational process within a single information space based on eight architectural principles: data centralization, modularity, interoperability, security, scalability, openness, user-centricity, and evolutionary development. The system architecture based on a modular monolith using modern technologies is presented. Eight functional modules are described in detail: administration, educational program management, teaching assignment management, scheduling, electronic dean's office, individual teacher and student portals, and management module.Special attention is paid to the automated academic scheduling module, which considers the specifics of blended and distance learning through extended optimization criteria: discipline weight, time priorities, assessment forms, logical sequence of material, and workload balance. Using the example of the National Aerospace University, the practical implementation of the proposed approach is demonstrated, which allowed reducing schedule formation time from 2-3 weeks to 2-3 days, decreasing the number of conflicts by 78%, and achieving administrative staff time savings of up to 60%.

Controllership teaching in stricto sensu postgraduate accounting courses

Purpose: Verify how the teaching of controllership is being approached in stricto sensu postgraduate courses in accounting area in Brazil, through content analysis of the syllabi and under the students' perception. Methodology: The research is classified as descriptive and with a qualitative approach. Data collection was documentary and through narrative interviews. The curricular structure of 17 higher education institutions (HEIs) that offer stricto sensu postgraduate courses in accounting area was analyzed. As a complement, the research included the participation of 13 postgraduate students who participated in a narrative interview. To analyze the results, a content analysis technique was used. Results: The study findings show that the Controlling discipline in postgraduate programs in Accounting Sciences presents common theoretical contents, such as internal control and management systems, but with diversity in educational approaches among institutions. There was emphasis on the need for better integration between teaching and research, in addition to the inclusion of new methodologies and emerging themes. Students recognize the importance of the content for the job market, suggesting greater practical applicability and interaction with professionals as necessary areas of development. Contributions of the Study: The research results contribute to elucidating gaps in the curriculum of postgraduate courses in accounting related to content covering the managerial area, as well as benefiting both academia and the business sector by qualifying managers according to market demands, boosting better performance and competitiveness of organizations.

Higher education and social recognition: On the moral dimension of pupils’ aspirations and choices in Chile

This article examines the processes that shape pupils’ higher education (HE) aspirations and choices. At the theoretical level, I argue that while Pierre Bourdieu’s field-centred approach is ideal for grasping specific field dynamics and stakes, Axel Honneth’s perspective allows for a focus on the broader normative and moral dimensions that extend beyond a particular field. Thus, by applying Honneth’s recognition theory, I analyse how normative content is involved in pupils’ HE decision-making. In doing so, this article conveys the idea that Honneth’s conceptual insights complement and strengthen Bourdieu’s perspective on this matter. Empirically, this study draws from the case of Chile, looking at 23 semi-structured interviews with middle-class pupils in their final year of secondary school. My findings reveal how moral and normative dimensions influence pupils’ HE desires, whether it is in the fact that HE appears as a normative imperative pushing their decisions; in the responses they raise to confront economic constraints; or through the two cultural tropes – personal effort and individual responsibility – associated with the meritocratic principle that markedly shape their dispositions.

Scientific Conference on Higher Education as an Effective Tool for Developing Professional and Pedagogical Competences of University Teachers

Scientists and university teachers have a limited understanding of the potential of a scientific conference for the professional and personal development of its participants. Many of them treat a conference only as a way to publish a scientific article. The relevance of the study is due to the need to study the potential of scientific conferences in improving the professional qualifications and developing the most popular competences of university teachers in the context of permanent reforms of the higher education system. The purpose of the article is to study the phenomenon of a scientific conference on higher education from a pedagogical perspective, i.e. from the point of view of its developing and upbringing potentials. The hypothesis is based on the assumption that the participation of teachers in a conference on higher education issues has a beneficial effect on the development of their basic professional and pedagogical competences due to the correctness of the chosen form of organizing the event and its substantive lines of scientific discussion. Methodology and research methods. The study uses a systematic approach that involves studying scientific literature, theoretical and predictive justification of the possibilities of a scientific conference, as well as conducting an empirical study to determine the degree of reliability of the hypothesis put forward. An analysis of the available scientific publications on the research problem made it possible to identify several popular perspectives for considering a conference as an object of research, however, no works were found that would specifically study the issues of developing the professional and pedagogical competencies of participants, i.e., the pedagogical perspective. Basing on more than twenty years of experience in holding an international scientific conference on higher education issues, it was possible to formulate the main functions of the conference. The empirical study confirmed the formulated theoretical assumptions. In conclusion, result of the research proves that the scientific conference has a great potential both in improving the image of the university and in the professional and pedagogical development of its participants.

Transforming Knowledge and Research for Just and Sustainable Futures: Implications for Higher Education Policy and Practice

The article starts by making a case as to why it is necessary to transform knowledge and research. It is argued that transformation is essential for epistemic justice and to tackle the complex problems of unsustainable development. Higher education (HE) has a crucial role given its pivotal position in knowledge generation, circulation and governance processes. However, the HE sector must be transformed to play such a role. The article argues that the current neoliberal social imaginary based on markets and competition is antithetical to the required transformations. Instead, a new social imaginary based on Mbembe’s idea of a new planetary consciousness is suggested to provide a more robust vision to base reform. The article discusses priorities for transforming teaching, research, global and civic engagement and how universities are governed. The article concludes by arguing that transformation must be considered holistically across these areas and that governments, civil society and multilateral organizations, such as UNESCO, also have a critical role in transforming the broader knowledge ecosystem HE currently operates.