University Identity Research Articles

Мой идеальный университет: физические и нефизические категории среды в представлениях студентов

<p>The article addresses the issue of identifying the needs of modern students in relation to the university educational environment. The study involved 48 architecture students aged 18 to 27 years (M=19.81; Mo=19; SD=1.82), including 83.33% girls (n=40) and 16.67% boys (n=8). The aim was to identify the most significant categories of the university educational environment. The research, which utilized a projective method – an essay titled "My Ideal University" – and content analysis of the responses, revealed that students consider non-physical categories to be the most important for effective and comfortable study. These categories include the organization of the educational process, the quality of the teaching staff, the curriculum, and opportunities for personal development. To confirm these results, a chi-square test was conducted, showing that non-physical categories of the educational environment were significantly more important than physical ones (χ2=14.812, df=1, p=0.001). The most prominent physical environment categories mentioned by students included the equipment of offices and classrooms, the aesthetic qualities of the space, well-organized university grounds, coworking spaces, and rest areas in the interior. The data obtained can provide practical recommendations for designing new campuses or renovating and reconstructing existing universities. Precisely determining the optimal conditions for an effective and comfortable educational process will help avoid excessive financial investments in improving the physical environment.</p>

An Evaluation of Happiness Status of Academic personnel in Nigerian University Community: Work Environ Perspective

Educationists, in recent times have accepted the importance of happiness in human life. They have acknowledged that teaching and learning goals and objectives are consistent with happiness. Quality and equity education lead to the enhancement of capabilities and functioning, which facilitates positive life that brings about happiness and development. The ideal university system generally enhances happiness of the university community which overflows in the society. It is in line with these assertions that this work aimed to ascertain the happiness status of academic personnel in Nigerian University community with emphasis on their working environment. Linear Regression Model method was employed and the work discovered that the academic personals of the Nigerian university community are not happy. The work therefore, concludes that university teachers/lecturers are key when it comes to building society’s happiness and recommends that university academic community be taken more seriously in terms of provisions that will enhance their happiness.

A call for innovation culture in Polish academics’ vision of an ideal-type university

ABSTRACT This article aims to explore the innovation-related qualities of an ideal-type university as perceived by Polish academics at a public university who are characterized by attachment to the tradition of academic self-governance, Humboldtian ideals, autonomy, and academic freedom. The study employs Weberian ideal-type methodology and analyzes qualitative data from 12 online focus groups involving 49 academics. The research unveils their perspectives on key organizational culture facets, categorized under: mission, leadership, socialization, information, and strategy. The findings highlight that academics envision an ideal-type university as an institution that nurtures conditions conducive to innovation. Such an institution fosters an organizational culture that champions openness, diversity, creativity, and constructive dialogue, thereby fostering inter- and multidisciplinary collaborations transcending traditional boundaries. Their ideal university model promotes an innovation culture to unlock academic staff potential, fostering capabilities, agency, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurship. Addressing a research gap in the contemporary analysis of the needs and desires of Polish academics this study serves also as a foundational reference for future investigations into the alignment of their vision with the actual landscape, while also generating inquiries and hypotheses to understand variations. By informing decisions, strategies, and practices linked to fostering innovation within higher education institutions, this study tackles the universally recognized challenge of stimulating innovation within academia. Consequently, it offers insights for policy formulation and practical implementation within the realms of higher education and innovation management, extending beyond Poland to broader international contexts grappling with challenges like bureaucracy, excessive regulation, and hierarchical structures.

Exploring Students' Emotional Well-Being in the Ideal University Hostel Using the Qualitative Repertory Grid Technique.

One of the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has lent urgency to ongoing discussions on mental well-being, particularly among university students. While standard techniques are available to diagnose mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress, ambiguity persists regarding the emotional aspect of well-being. Emotional well-being (EWB) is a recently developed concept that seeks to understand the contribution of emotions to one's well-being. Interactive approaches for such investigations are recommended to understand people's contextual experiences in the built environment. This study utilizes a qualitative approach, underpinned by personal construct theory (PCT) and the qualitative repertory grid technique (RGT), to understand how university hostel designs can contribute to students' emotional well-being. We interviewed fifteen students from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and obtained their perceptions of three built environments they experienced and an ideal place they imagined. The results unveiled design-related factors associated with students' emotional constructs and elucidated characteristics of an 'ideal' hostel in response to these emotional constructs. These findings enrich our knowledge of EWB within university hostels offering insights for the future design that consider the emotional aspect of well-being for residents.

The Quality Issues in Higher Education of Turkey: Insights from the Experiences of Faculty Members and Students at State Universities

The purpose of this study is to determine the quality indicators of higher education in Turkey, with the focus on the perspectives of faculty members and students, and to analyze their views regarding the quality status of state universities. Despite numerous studies addressing quality in higher education, there appears to be a paucity of research employing a mixed methodology that integrates the perspectives of both faculty and students. The aim of the present study is to fill this gap in the literature. This research employs a mixed-methods design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches, in an explanatory sequential parallel pattern. Utilizing a stratified random sampling method, our sample comprises 390 faculty members and 450 university students. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 25 program. For the qualitative aspect of the study, interviews were conducted with thirty faculty members employed at state universities in the provinces of Ankara, Istanbul, Kayseri, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, and Yozgat. This qualitative data was then analyzed using a "descriptive analysis" technique via MAXQDA software. The quantitative results revealed diverging expectations and perceptions related to the quality of higher education among faculty members and students. Meanwhile, the qualitative section of the study identified several indicators of higher education quality, including: university capacity, university function, internationalization, academic staff, student experience, differences in quality between universities and disciplines, the impact of region/city/district on higher education, mission differentiation, university division, ideal university concept, sense of belonging, transformation, marketization, and competition categories.

Listening: A way to improve university reputation and governance

Since 2018, the University of Navarra (Spain) has been using surveys and focus groups to analyse and evaluate the perceptions of its key audiences. This has helped provide a nuanced understanding of the university's reputation, and has given the institution indicators of ideal university performance and brand sentiment. This information can be used to design scorecards for monitoring perceptions. Indicators facilitate decision making that improve the university community’s day to day life. This project confirms that listening introduces new forms of participation and can lead to improvement in university governance. It is also a good method for learning about an institution's reputation. With the collaboration of Fundación Funciva 2023.

The Significance of University Crests from Both Cultural and Historical Perspectives: A Case Study of the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Crests are emblems that symbolize the identity and legacy of institutions of higher learning. University crests are symbols that represent the identity and heritage of universities. The history, ideals, and objectives of the university community are embodied in these crests, which serve as an emblem for the community. This article examines the cultural and historical importance of the crest that has been used at the University of Education, Winneba, since the institution first opened its doors. The crest has been an essential component of the university's identity since the institution first opened its doors. The article delves into the significance and meaning of the numerous components that make up the crest, such as the eagle, the book, and the motto. In addition to this, it explores the historical setting of the university, including the beginning of the institution as well as the development of the crest over the course of its existence. Furthermore, the paper highlights the relevance of safeguarding the cultural and historical value of university crests through patent and copyright legislation. The University of Education in Winneba has ensured that the institution's distinctive character will be maintained for future generations by implementing safeguards to protect its crest through the use of intellectual property rights. In conclusion, the author of the paper contends that university crests play a significant part in the process of cultivating a feeling of community, belonging, and pride among current students, graduates, and faculty members. As such, they should be appreciated and conserved as cultural objects that symbolize the rich history and tradition of institutions of higher learning. This will ensure that they are preserved for future generations to appreciate.

An Affordance Study on Healing Public Space in University Campus—— A Case Study of Shenzhen Campus of Jinan University

The campus space of universities is an important part of cities’ public environment and the main activity space for college students. This paper takes the self-developed PPGIS mobile terminal as the research tool, the perceptual map combined with a questionnaire as the research method, and 90 college students in Shenzhen Campus of Jinan University as the research objects to investigate the current affordance situation of the healing public space in universities and the affordance of ideal university space for college students. The findings are as follows: (1) The analytical structure of affordance on the healing campus space presents the characteristics: used affordance> perceived affordance > shaped affordance. (2) In the ideal environment, the number of perceived affordances has little change, while that of used affordance and shaped affordance increases, among which the latter increases the most. (3) In an ideal environment, " fitness equipment" is expanded into " activity facilities", " roads" into " characteristic roads", and " plants" into " ecological category". In addition, three types of environmental elements such as " sports venues", " landscape pieces" and " water bodies" are added. (4) The environmental elements that provide different levels of affordance in the current environment are all basic and meet the requirements of normal life, while the depth of those that provide different levels of affordance in the ideal environment has increased.

Gamifications Effect on Academic Motivation and Progress

In reality, more and more students found it hard to participate or engage actively in academic learning, and this lead to the decline of academic performance. In order to increase the role and effort that students put in their learning progress, motivation have to be highly enhanced. The main purpose of this study is to enable students to better find motivation to learn, to enter the ideal university and to achieve future goals. To better motivate students to learn, gamification has to cooperate with academic concepts. This research is more for the benefit of society, once people no longer feel bored through the help of gamification, the efficiency of work and all aspects will be greatly improved. Through in-depth investigation of gamification, we can achieve achievements in various fields, especially academic motivation. Therefore, this research can better help students to achieve ones goal and enhance oneself.

An Analysis of Factors Influencing Secondary School Students' Career Planning

With the popularization of higher education, more and more students choose to enter high school and prepare for the ideal university. The career planning of middle school students not only affects the curriculum choice of high school but also provides a direction for the professional choice of university and even affects the future employment of students. The current researchers have some research on the career planning of middle school students, but have not found a better way to help students find their own good and suitable development direction. Therefore, this article intends to improve this situation from the source by finding the factors that affect career planning. Finally, the article provides a summary of middle school students' global career planning, outlines the factors that have a greater impact on their careers, explains how to mitigate the negative effects, and offers some advice for middle school students' career planning.

‘To prove I’m not incapable, I overcompensate’: Disability, ideal workers, the academy

AbstractThe experiences of academics with disability have received modest but growing attention internationally, but virtually none in the Australian context. This article outlines research findings from a study examining their experiences at a large Australian university. The article uses a materialist framework to demonstrate how capitalist social relations shape and demarcate an ‘ideal university worker’, how disabled workers find it difficult to meet this norm, and the limited assistance to do so provided by managers and labour relations policy frameworks. The research findings point to a profound policy gap between employer and government disability policy inclusion frameworks and the workplace experience of academics. This breach requires further investigation and, potentially, the development of alternate strategies for workplace management of disabilities if there are to be inroads towards equity.

An ideal university: A Student Growth Incubator

ABSTRACT Too often, the student voice on their needs and expectations from a higher education experience is underrepresented. In response to that, by applying a Weberian ideal-type methodological procedure, this work synthesises the students’ vision of an ideal university (IU). The model was constructed inductively through a qualitative study using focus groups with Polish bachelor students at a public university. The findings from the IU study reveal up-to-date insights expressed by the students in the third decade of the 21st century, which has been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased digitalisation. According to students the ideal university is characterised by human-centredness, student agency, active teaching and learning methods, flexible studying pathways, and a supportive learning environment. The findings reveal that students’ key expectation from an ideal university is that it professionally incubates their growth. They wish to be offered a rich and individualised university experience that positively transforms them. They appreciate the role of teachers in this process and turn to them for guidance, support, inspiration, transformational leadership, expert knowledge, and they look up to them as role models. The results of the study enrich the body of knowledge, especially in the search for ideal types in higher education and provide a reference point for comparisons with reality.

A relational model of university's identity and architectural design pre- and post-pandemic

PurposeThe present research aims to explore the relationship between the university's new identity and its architectural design, and to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on this model. It also aims to analyze the declared identity of the new Egyptian universities.Design/methodology/approachTo formulate the hypothesis of the relational model, the research started with the literature related to physical and nonphysical variables of university's identity (organizational and visual identity) and the impact of the pandemic on its identity. Secondly, an online questionnaire targeting academic leaders was conducted to identify the relative importance of the selected variables of university's identity pre- and post-pandemic. Thirdly, a content analysis of the new Egyptian universities' identity was used to track the correlation between the selected variables based on information accessible on universities' websites. Finally, the results of the content analysis and the questionnaire were compared to test the hypothesis.FindingsThe study reveals the most important physical variable of university's new identity pre- and post-pandemic is technological infrastructure and flexible design, while the least important is university's unique design. The results highlight that the universities need to revisit the declared identity to reflect the new challenges posed by COVID-19.Originality/valueThis study is considered one of the first researches that links the physical and nonphysical variables of university's new identity. The current study contributes to analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on university identity and architecture.

‘You are Hired’: Technical and Vocational Education and Training Graduate Employability and Experts’ Views

It is theoretically acknowledged that strategically organised talent management organisational mission, vision, and mission. It was reported that only 70% of universities in Malaysia declared workforce-ready graduates. As a result of the graduate employability investigation, the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), parents, and graduates were alerted. However, a recent employers’ investigation revealed that recruiting skilled graduates remained to be seen. An investigation emphasising talent management attributes was launched to address the gap by employing the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). Drawn from DMGT, interpersonal measurement was the main construct to identify the talent management attributes. First, a qualitative method and semi-structured interview were chosen for the data collection process. Second, a seven-expert panel comprising academics and industry executives were gathered to describe the ideal university graduate’s attributes. The finding revealed seven main university graduate attributes: 1) communication, 2) leadership, 3) critical thinking and problem-solving, 4) teamwork, 5) lifelong learning and information management, 6) ethics, morals, and professionalism, and 7) entrepreneurship skills. The selected academics and industry executives recommended paying attention to career adaptability and digital technology. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) might better consider meeting the demands of the workforce and industry in the context of globalisation and digitalisation by focusing on the seven graduate attributes as evident in the investigation. As such, the seven graduate attributes are instrumental in the industry workforce. Employability, graduates, HEI, soft skills, talent management

How quality as transformation is manifested and enabled in a student vision of an ideal university: implications for quality management in higher education

The qualitative research study conducted in the Polish higher education context confirms that students’ vision of an ideal university strongly embraces the concept of quality as transformation. The enhancement and empowerment are manifested by multiple facets of transformation that the students look for at an ideal university, including intellectual, critical, personal, emotional and physical development. Quality culture and transformative pedagogies form important enablers for operationalising quality as transformation. In support of the transformative power of the ideal-type university, implications for quality management in higher education are proposed.

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION IN LVIV-WARSAW SCHOOL. THE PHILOSOPHICAL CULTURE PROJECT AND THE IDEA OF UNIVERSITY

Lviv‐Warsaw School (LWS) promoted philosophical culture project in society. Key values of this project were worldview, moral ideal, self cognition and critical thinking. LWS also attached great importance to the idea of university. LWS representatives contributed to solving the problems of the ideal university and its autonomy, academic freedom and communication, as well as place and importance of philosophy in university studies. Such issues as idea of university and philosophical culture are among main problems in philosophy of education. The aim of this article is to examine solving of these problems by LWS and thus, to argue that LWS has its philosophical conception of education. The first part of the paper arranges elements of LWS philosophical cultures, based on works of its members. It also reveals that, according to representatives of LWS, a worldview is a pointer in human life and a basis for scientific worldview; moral ideal is associated with moral autonomy and ethical creativity; self‐cognition is a natural desire of humans to cognize their “I”; criticism is a human ability to demonstrate independence of his or her ideas. The second part of this paper discloses the framework of LWS’s idea of university, based on its representatives` works. It shows that, according to them, unity of research and study is a timeless spiritual value of university; university autonomy is a prerequisite for highest spiritual benefits; academic freedom and communication is a prerequisite for meeting the ideal of university; philosophy is either a worldview or a science. The article is an extension of the article “Philosophy of Education in Lviv‐Warsaw School. Twardowski’s and his Students’ Philosophical Conceptions of Education”. Filozoficzne Problemy Edukacji. 2020 (3). This article analyses LWS’s contribution to philosophy of education through both Polish and Ukrainian branches.

'Ideal University' as Viewed by 'University People': Experience in Reconstructing the Value Categories of Research and Pedagogical Activities Based on Interviews in the 2010s

The article examines the self-identification and professional values of the university community in post-Soviet Russia. On the basis of the corpus of the interviews, which were recorded by the Poletayev Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities (Moscow) in the 2010s, the authors analyse how the contemporary Russian scholars consider the problems of university autonomy and university management, as well as the criteria to define an ideal University and an ideal Professor. Instead of the unique perceptions on the specifics of research and educational characteristics of university space and people, the present investigation represents the problematization of the basic definitions of university and its purposes by the contemporary Russian scholars.

Идентичность университета в условиях «текучей современности»

The object of the research presented in the article is the transformation of the university's identity in the context of “liquid modernity” (Zygmunt Bauman), as an era of global instability. Despite political, economic and social upheavals and changes, the university remained a fairly stable, albeit evolving, social institution from its inception during the Middle Ages to the second half of the 20th century, to the stage of social development that is commonly called postmodernity or “liquid modernity”. At this time, higher education almost all over the world is faced with a reduction in public funding, and a need arises for universities to search for additional sources of income. As a result, a model of an entrepreneurial university is emerging, the social role and institutional identity of the university in modern reality is blurred (Bill Readings' “the university in ruins”). In the situation of the problematization of the university's integral identity and the emergence of multiple models in which it functions today, it becomes necessary to rethink the uniqueness of the university as a social institution and its place and role in the world. The article carries out a reflexive analysis of the transformation of the university's identity in three key dimensions: first, as an agent for the development of research open to innovation and social activity; second, as an educational project in the era of mass (and possibly universal) higher education; third, as a subject that bears social responsibility for contributing to the sustainable development of a changing world. The study of transformations of the identity of a modern university is based on the analysis of changes in the concept of knowledge from the perspective of the concept of “liquid modernity”. These transformations were indicated by an increase in the need for expert scientific knowledge, simultaneously with its relativization, the accumulation of uncertainties and risks, a paradigmatic shift from a fundamentalist type of science to research in which knowledge is epistemologically and socially constructed. An analysis of the transformations affecting the university in its key areas of activity - research, teaching, and social responsibility - shows how significant they are. Indeed, one might get the impression that the university is losing its place in the world and its identity; however, transformations of the basic functions of the university do not mean the loss of the university's uniqueness, but rather a renewal of the ideal. The authors of the article come to the conclusion that the identity of the university as a social institution is expressed in the unity of the functions of research, teaching, and social responsibility. This unique integrity allows the university to produce and broadcast knowledge as a social good, realizing its responsible research and expert position in the interests of the well-being of the larger world and overcoming civilizational crises, and this is what distinguishes the university from other social institutions.

PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION FOR FUTURE UNIVERSITY TEACHERS: DETERMINANTS OF EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

The study is aimed at identifying and analyzing the determinants of effective pedagogical education for future university teachers. Research interest in this issue stems from world wide dramatic changes in higher education caused by interdependent processes of globalization, massification and digitalization, which in turn foregrounds the problem of effective teaching in a more diverse and complex university environment. The research is based on both theoretical analysis and comparison of modern approaches to the problem under study, generalization of pedagogical experience and empirical investigation. The authors focused on students’ expectations and perceptions regarding real and ideal university teachers. Data collection involved the qualitative approach with the use of focus group method as well as focused interviews. The findings obtained helped to substantiate key determinants of effective pedagogical education for future university teachers, namely an opportune content and teaching methods updating, relevant forms of training, consideration of students’ expectations. The results of the research are of interest to a wide range of experts in the field of higher education and can be applied within the courses of “Pedagogy of Higher Education”, “Pedagogy and Psychology of Higher Education”, “Methods of Teaching at the University”, etc.

Morality and ability: institutional leaders’ perceptions of ideal leadership in Chinese research universities

ABSTRACT University leadership is considered as a key factor in university development. In a competitive environment, the role of university leadership has become increasingly important. At present, China is committed to building world-class universities, and university leadership is one of the key factors. Thus, what is the ideal university leadership in China’s institutional environment? What professional qualities should university leaders have? This study investigates this issue with in-depth interviews of 14 ‘985 Project’ university leaders. Finding shows that the definition of leadership by Chinese university leaders reflects a relatively strong moralistic orientation, where morality and ability are considered important. Furthermore, morality is often supposed to be more important than ability. In terms of competence, the definitions of leadership by Chinese university leaders and the literature on Western university leadership have some similarities and differences. Chinese universities are managed by the two systems of the party committee and the administration. The division of labour between the two systems is unclear and prone to conflicts. Therefore, the attitude and ability to cooperate has become an important attribute among university leaders.