University Space Research Articles

Decolonizing the Global North university: Host-guest dynamics and the limits of hospitality

This article critically assesses the hospitality premise on which the project-practice of decolonizing the curriculum rests, investigating the texture and limitations of the hospitality that Global North universities seem willing to offer their many Others, including students, staff, and stakeholders, particularly in the form of knowledges and pedagogies. It investigates how the guests-strangers are treated within the Global North Universities, their knowledges posited as a separate category within the epistemic system rather than integrated into being a part of the system; guests relegated to unpaid servants when obliged to shoulder the lion's share of the work in addressing the unfair, racist systems which devalue them and their knowledges. Embedding the discourse of decolonizing the university in and with postcolonial concepts, the article highlights the profoundly unequal power relationships between hosts and guests that continue to inform even the best-intentioned Global North higher education institutions, self-declaredly dedicated to decolonization efforts. It argues for pressing need on the part of the Global North universities to deepen their awareness of the historical legacies of coloniality and its matrix of power, and consequently reflect on the treatment of Global South guests and knowledges. This long, hard look at their role of host is necessary for a true committment to decolonising the university spaces and rendering them genuinely hospitable, and to transforming the unequal power dynamics and the impacts on guests-stranger Others.

The organisation and operation of policing on university campuses: A case study

The operation of policing services on university campuses in the United Kingdom is under-researched. Drawing on interviews with university managers, security personnel and residential wardens, this article adds to the limited literature on policing in educational institutions by providing a case study of the organisation and implementation of campus policing at a university in the United Kingdom. We find that the work of the security teams includes routine housekeeping and caretaking tasks across campus, maintaining adherence to university rules and regulations, enhancing student well-being and welfare and preventing and responding to crimes. Further research is needed to understand how university spaces are managed and policed across the United Kingdom and the role of private security in dealing with welfare and mental health issues on campus.

Telling it slant with side curved head and curiosity: posthumanist/feminist materialist creative activations in university spaces

ABSTRACT This article takes off from the tiny injuries that accumulate, calcify and shape our academic bodies and which live in university spaces and places. The paper moves analytically with the question: how may we insert our non-normative bodies into the material architectures, places and spaces of the university, and disrupt it by our very presence? Composed in post-authorship mode, we discuss the post-personal autoethnographies, research activations, their diffractive renditions and the speculative fabulations this question generated. Drawing theoretically on posthumanism/feminist new materialism, affirmative ethics and musings on bodily disposition, we propose the slow tempo of nonchalance as a theory-praxis. In telling it slant with side-curved head and curiosity, the article offers ways of imagining otherwise, making an appeal for the university to become a more capaciously hospitable place for bodies excluded by exceptionalist hu/Man/ism and extractive knowledge practices.

Organizing leadership education and learning for liberation.

This article offers key considerations regarding how leadership educators can alter their relations with institutions and campus community members (e.g., students, faculty, staff) to align with and advance liberatory struggles. The article also explores the drawbacks and contradictions of institutionalizing liberation within leadership learning and education spaces in colleges and universities. The author underscores the significance and immediacy of establishing spaces and advancing discourse outside the contours of institutional higher education where individuals, in collaboration and solidarity, can rehearse, plan, organize, and study the path toward collective liberation and the creation of an otherwise world that has yet to exist.

Harmonizing design and desire: Unveiling user-centered requirements for university buildings

The design of university buildings plays a critical role in users' productivity, health, and behavior. The design should incorporate end users' and architects' perceptions to prevent decreased satisfaction, productivity, and health issues. Meeting user needs and preferences is essential for creating functional buildings that cater to their requirements. However, user needs change over time, and research does not clearly define user-centered requirements in the design of university buildings. This study addresses the unclear definition of user-centered design requirements for university buildings, essential for ensuring spaces effectively meet evolving user needs. Aiming to identify these requirements and the challenges of integrating them into architectural design, two parts of the survey were conducted with 59 participants, including end-users from 11 academic institutions and architects in Egypt. The survey revealed a consensus on the importance of aesthetics, functionality, and indoor environmental quality. From the results, a satisfaction model for university buildings was developed, highlighting design attributes valued by users and architects alike. This model facilitates overcoming design challenges, thereby proposing a path towards creating functional, user-satisfying university spaces. This study's findings underscore the necessity of merging architectural practices with dynamic user expectations, contributing to the discourse on user-centered design in educational environments.

Construction of Smart Learning Spaces in Private Universities' Accounting Programs under the Dual Perspective of Digital Intelligence and Industry-education Integration

This study explores the construction model of smart learning spaces in private universities' accounting programs within the dual context of digital intelligence and industry-education integration. Utilizing literature review and theoretical analysis, the research systematically examines the current applications of digital intelligence in education and the impact of industry-education integration on educational reform. Initially, the concept of smart learning spaces is defined, and their application value in accounting programs is analyzed. Subsequently, the study investigates how digital intelligence enhances the smart, personalized, and interactive aspects of learning spaces, and how industry-education integration effectively aligns educational content with industrial needs. Finally, based on constructivist and ecosystem theories, a theoretical model of smart learning spaces is constructed, along with implementation strategies. The findings indicate that the construction of smart learning spaces effectively improves the teaching quality and students' professional abilities in accounting programs, providing new insights and methods for the reform and development of private universities' accounting programs.

You too Brutus! Faculty fighting death-of-teaching in the classroom.

Abstract In this study, we explored the hypothesis that active learning approaches to immunology improve comprehension and retention by increasing student engagement in class and their subsequent mastery of complex topics. What is “active learning”? Literature suggests that students participating in active learning “must do more than just listen: They must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving problems. The larger fear is that if this battle is lost it will change the battlefield forever. If faculty, classrooms, physical space of university, administration were to disappear physically if not virtually one can forecast a life-long learner, be of any age, be a student or teacher is positioned to stay amid machines. Pedagogical theory has taught us that students learn best by engaging with complicated questions and by thinking metacognitively about how to approach solutions. Building this skill set in today's students, who now hail from a broad demographic and who are accustomed to acquiring their knowledge from a variety of different media, requires a new set of teaching tools. A college-wide survey was sent to all the instructors and data was collected as per the requirements of IRB. To surmise faculty has lost motivation and enthusiasm for sustainability of classroom teaching methods and are testing unchartered water for teaching current sets of incoming professional students.

Normative whiteness in Finnish university education

ABSTRACT As a Nordic welfare state, Finland shares a collective self-image as a forerunner of equality and democracy. Education is seen as a key instrument for social justice, and higher education policy in Finland largely reflects this principle. Still, university education is a site of privilege, where student composition mainly represents individuals from white ethnicities and middle-class backgrounds, who speak one of the national languages as their first language. This is the context in which we ask, ‘How does whiteness “matter” in Finnish university education?’ Drawing on interviews with university students racialised as non-white, our study demonstrates first how the norm of whiteness is manifested both in the official and informal university spaces, thus operating a racialised touchstone for belonging. Second, our study shows how the practices of white ignorance among other students and teaching staff prevent the recognition and dismantling of racialised power relations. Thus, we argue that the process of tackling racial inequalities in university education is still in its infancy in Finland. Changing this situation would require, first and foremost, the critical reflection and dismantling of normative whiteness within the Academy.

Professional Training of future Chinese Specialists in the Educational space of a Russian university: Phonation-Phonetic Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

In the conditions of modern international cooperation, the importance of the Russian language in the global geographical space is growing and expanding. Today, the Russian language is becoming one of the main foreign languages studied in world culture in general and in the Chinese educational space in particular. To develop full-fledged and mutually beneficial relations between Russia and China, the need for Chinese specialists who speak Russian has increased. Russian and Chinese languages belong to different language groups: Russian belongs to the Slavic languages of the Indo-European language group, and Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language group, therefore, the Chinese, when mastering Russian sound formation, assume difficulties associated, for example, with stress in words, with pronouncing voiced consonants, with intonation in a sentence, etc. The first difficulty that future Chinese specialists face at a Russian university is a lack of understanding of oral Russian speech and the lack of developed pronunciation skills related to the perception and production of Russian words. The purpose of the article is to show the importance of phonation-phonetic knowledge, skills and abilities of the Russian language for the professional training of future Chinese specialists in the educational space of a Russian university. Methodology. The article is based on the study of works (V. I. Zagvyazinsky, G. K. Parinova, V. A. Slastenin, etc.) that define the general theoretical provisions of professional training (L. B. Dmitriev, N. I. Zhinkin, I. A. Zimnyaya, etc.), forming knowledge about speech and vocal training, as well as methodological research (Xing Zhao, Zhang Xiaohui, etc.) on the training of future Chinese specialists in Russian. Conclusion. Phonation-phonetic knowledge, skills and abilities in Russian not only contribute to the effectiveness of professional training of future Chinese specialists in the educational space of a Russian university, but also increase the level of phonation-phonetic competence in general.

University Spaces through a Gendered Lens: A Photographic Autoethnography

In this photo essay, I use a diary-style narrative and photojournalistic images to document my experiences in gendered spaces in a UK collegiate university during the academic year 2022–2023, unveiling complexities of gender and sexual diversity in academic settings. I delineate three domains—terra firma, digital skies, and echoes of reverberation—within the context of higher education. This blend of illustrations and scholarly insights offers a valuable contribution to discourse on gendered spaces in universities.

Advantages and disadvantages of digital reading: technical university students’ perspective

The article considers implementation of the state strategy for digital transformation of the Russian education, in particular, the integration of digital reading in the educational space of technical universities. It determines the ongoing scientific discussions about digitalization and its impact on such cognitive processes as perception, interpretation, and assimilation of information by university students. Reading is fundamental to learning and education. Therefore, it is relevant to analyze digital reading in the academic environment including its learning potential, as well as advantages and disadvantages. Although many domestic and foreign authors have written about digital reading, there is a lack of empirical studies analyzing the impact of modern technologies on readers’ perceptions of digital resources. Our article aims to fill this gap. The goal is to determine the technical university students’ attitudes towards digital reading, its advantages and disadvantages. We also identify methods for enhancing the use of digital reading in the university’s educational environment. Our pedagogical research employs such empirical methods as questionnaires, pedagogical observation, and interviews in the form of free frontal discussion. Quantitative and statistical analyses are used to process and interpret the obtained data. The novelty consists in digital reading as a new educational technology and the readers’ attitude towards it. The study involves 1st to 3rd year students from Bauman Moscow State Technical University (n = 222). The data obtained do not only identify the students’ assessments of the digital integration in the Russian higher education, but also outlines ways to optimize the use of digital technologies in the educational process. The study shows that the shift from traditional print media to digital reading has both advantages and disadvantages. It requires students to communicate with interactive multimodal texts on digital media, which can affect their cognitive, emotional, volitional, and physical development. This places special demands on the competence of university teachers.

Loneliness of PhD-ing: Migrant bodies of colour and Irish neo-liberal academia

This paper will look at loneliness as both an affective and a political reality, rather than simply a subjective individual feeling. Using auto-ethnography, I will look at my own PhD experience as a migrant woman of colour in a largely white male dominated Irish academia. I situate this loneliness of PhDing by looking at (a) loneliness of a migrant body of colour and (b) how this loneliness is accentuated by neo-liberal academia. Irish university spaces provide an ideal context to understand the politics of loneliness of minorities because besides being white, these spaces are also extremely neo-liberal, with the country's austerity politics changing its higher educational spaces forever. While talking about loneliness of migrant PhD students of colour as structural and institutional violence, I also illustrate moments of ‘speaking up'. Finally, the paper understands how foregrounding and weaving care and community as ethics into the everyday can one aim to contend with such loneliness of migrant woman precarious academics of colour, particularly within Irish higher educational spaces.

Strengthening the professional training of staff in EU higher education

The article reveals the most relevant and important for developing world societies to the professional training of personnel in the EU countries in the educational space. The methodological principles of the research are leading provisions of the theory of scientific knowledge; general scientific principles of historicism, systematicity, and scientificity; conceptual provisions of pedagogical, psychological, and sociological sciences; ideas of comparative research experience; and philosophical and pedagogical ideas of the development of modern education. The principles on which the reform of higher education is based are described and the main trends of the structure of world higher education are clarified. The significance of developing educational information networks in the professional training of personnel in the educational space of higher education institutions in the EU countries is shown. The main tasks of the organization of educational institutions in the world's countries are highlighted. The conducted experimental research is aimed at researching: the effectiveness of professional training of personnel in the educational space; determination of suitability for employment in EU countries; and effectiveness of continuous professional training at the workplace in EU countries. The conclusions summarize ways of professional training of personnel in the EU countries in the educational space of universities.

Micro-Satellite Systems Design, Integration, and Flight.

Within the past decade, the aerospace engineering industry has evolved beyond the constraints of using single, large, custom satellites. Due to the increased reliability and robustness of commercial, off-the-shelf printed circuit board components, missions have instead transitioned towards deploying swarms of smaller satellites. Such an approach significantly decreases the mission cost by reducing custom engineering and deployment expenses. Nanosatellites can be quickly developed with a more modular design at lower risk. The Alpha mission at the Cornell University Space Systems Studio is fabricated in this manner. However, for the purpose of development, the initial proof of concept included a two-satellite system. The manuscript will discuss system engineering approaches used to model and mature the design of the pilot satellite. The two systems that will be primarily focused on are the attitude control system of the carrier nanosatellite and the radio frequency communications on the excreted femto-satellites. Milestones achieved include ChipSat to ChipSat communication, ChipSat to ground station communication, packet creation, error correction, appending a preamble, and filtering the signal. Other achievements include controller traceability/verification and validation, software rigidity tests, hardware endurance testing, Kane damper, and inertial measurement unit tuning. These developments matured the technological readiness level (TRL) of systems in preparation for satellite deployment.

Модель социокультурной адаптации иностранных курсантов военных вузов в современных теориях миграции

The article is devoted to the substantiation of the author’s model of foreign cadets’ entry into the environment of Russian military universities in the conditions of globalization. The relevance of the presented problematics is connected with the radical opposition of the available theoretical models of adaptation in the practice of military universities. One of them reflects the tendency to adaptation, the conditions of which are set by radical re-quirements of military discipline, ideas about military brotherhood, and the task of educating patriots of their states, while the other one calls for the protection and preservation of the individuality of cadets of different na-tionalities. The authors propose a solution to these contradictions, which can lead to the confrontation between “their own” and “strangers”, in the context of synthesizing the provisions of the theory of transculturalism and “segmental assimilation”, which have not been previously applied to explain the problems of adaptation of for-eign cadets in Russian universities. The article presents a model of sociocultural adaptation of foreign cadets in the host space of a military university as a continuous interaction of different individuals, groups of ethnic and religious cultures, as well as Russian military and global cultures. The difference of the presented understand-ing is the belief in the mutual influence exerted on each other by the participants of the transcultural polylogue, which leads within the framework of a military university not to full assimilation, but to segmental fusion and mutual changes.

‘I don’t feel like I belong’: first-in-family girls’ constructions of belonging and space during the transition from secondary school into university

ABSTRACT University spaces can be experienced as unfamiliar and anxiety-inducing by working-class students. Early difficulties adjusting to university can lead to attrition. This article draws from a larger study examining the experiences of first-in-family (FIF) girls in one Australian city as they transition from secondary school into their first year of university. In exploring how FIF girls may experience the affective dimensions of belonging through university spaces, this article seeks to highlight how belonging occurs through gendered and classed meaning-making. The thematic analysis in this article is based on the narratives of two FIF girls, Kate and Christina. Central to this analysis is an exploration of how Kate and Christina navigate feelings of belonging within their universities according to the classed and gendered aspects of the multiple higher education spaces they come to inhabit.

Open innovation in a smart city context: the case of Sejong smart city initiative

Open innovation in a smart city context: the case of Sejong smart city initiative

Formal and informal foreign language learning at university: blurring the boundaries

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with the integration of informal language learning into university language modules in a foreign language environment. It begins by exploring the evolving nature of formal and informal language learning. This is followed by analysis of a pedagogic innovation intended to integrate foreign language activities in an informal university space shared by domestic and international students into formal German and Spanish language modules in an anglophone context. The initiative is evaluated within an action research framework using the following research instruments: student attendance data, reflective reports, end-of-module student surveys and a collaborative debrief with two language tutors. The results indicate that the explicit integration of informal language learning into formal language modules increases student engagement with informal language learning, provides opportunities for oral practice in particular, and supports the development of language learner autonomy. While care must be taken to ensure that the informal nature of the informal language learning experience is retained using low stakes assessment and a fluid, flexible, student-led pedagogical approach, the findings indicate that the explicit integration of informal language learning activities into formal language learning has the potential to expand the personal learning environment of the foreign language learner to their benefit.

Integration of ethnic school graduates into the educational space of Almaty universities

Relevance. The paper specifies the content aspects and features of modern Kazakhstan's ethnocultural education through the study's regulations based on content analysis.Purpose. The author comes to the conclusion that ethnocultural education is an important social and educational problem in the Republic of Kazakhstan, considered as the enforcement of rights and opportunities of peoples.Methodology. The upcoming changes in the school structure and content of school (secondary) education will undoubtedly serve as the basis for creating a comprehensive educational environment.Results. The achieved results of ethnocultural education in Kazakhstan create conditions for wider use of the potential of ethnocultural education based on the values of a culture of peace, tolerance, and interethnic harmony. The problem of ethnocultural education and integration of graduates of ethnic schools requires development.Conclusions. The authors believe that the problem of ethnocultural education involves the interaction of both vectors, and its monoethnic vector is necessary for the preservation of national identity in the individual, and a multi-ethnic vector is a tool for resolving interethnic contradictions and forming tolerance in cross-cultural interaction.

Shaping the educational space in the light of Spranger’s theory of humanistic education

This paper presents the features and values of Spranger’s theory of humanistic education in the context of shaping the educational space of university teacher education and the needs of global education. The humanistic orientation of teacher educators’ training involves the knowledge of the teleology and technology of humanistic education such as is presented in more detail on the example of Eduard Spranger’s theory of education for humanity. E. Spranger emphasised the topicality of the problem of barbaric wars and genocide in his theory of education and considered humanity as the supreme value of education. Therefore the core pronciples of Spranger’s theory of education are conscience, responsibility and love. His ideas of education for humanity contain a number of fundamental references and insights that are particularly relevant today, when human civilisation is experiencing a multifaceted crisis. This crisis could lead to its collapse, and also destroy life on Earth to a substantial degree. Authoritarian education interferes with the development of humanity, causes increased egoism, calculating power-seeking, inhuman behaviour and barbarism. Authoritarian states, especially the totalitarian ones, strongly interfere in the process of young people’s development and, by imposing their ideology in education, they destroy humanity, producing marionettes, the mindless and reckless executors of the orders of immoral leaders. Based on hermeneutic and comparative methods, answers were sought concerning the identification of the most important properties and values to be used in the educational space of pedagogical university as well as the relationship with the directions and theories of education of other pedagogues and pedagogical ideas. Not only do the results obtained include a theoretical reconstruction of Spranger’s theory of education, but they also encompass methods of its practical implementation in the educational process. They show how it is possible to raise a good person, a person who works for peace in the world and a person who lives in balance with the environment. Keywords: Humanistic pedagogy, Spranger, humanity, teacher education, democratic and humanistic values.