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• Introduces a typology of higher education institutions (HEIs) created in Central Asia after the Soviet collapse in 1991. • Classifies new HEIs as 'external', 'hybrid', 'bi-national' and 'neo-Soviet' based on structure, founding actors, and funding. • In Kazakhstan, most new HEIs were private. New external norms showed efforts to create a different kind of higher education. • A blend of Soviet and external structures/norms in Kyrgyzstan is partly due to dependence on non-state sources of funding. • In contrast, institutional entrepreneurs in Tajikistan reduced uncertainty by modelling new HEIs on the Soviet-era template. Across the former Soviet space, governments have grappled with fundamental questions around how to build or re-form sovereign nations, how to deal with the legacies of the preceding Soviet era, and how to navigate intense globalization processes that were further stimulated with the collapse of the communist bloc in 1991. Structural reforms have extended to all aspects of society, particularly to social institutions such as higher education that had historically been very closely linked to the state. One response to change has been the massive expansion of higher education systems. The dramatic growth of the ex-Soviet higher education systems and the impact of the path-altering events of 1991 lead to the research questions this paper explores, which are, 1) To what extent did HEIs created between 1991 and 1996 represent a break from the Soviet past? and 2) How do patterns in the emergence of new HEIs compare across the former Soviet space? Using the cases of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, drawing theoretically from sociological institutionalism and methodologically from a comparative case study including in-depth interviews with 36 faculty members, this paper sets out a novel typology of four distinct patterns in the new HEIs that emerged in the first five years following the Soviet breakdown. These are classified as 'external', 'hybrid', 'bi-national' and 'neo-Soviet', each being distinguishable in terms of their organization, founding actors, and funding model. Through this comparative investigation, the paper elaborates on the dynamics of structural reforms in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Exploring how FiF students narrate the process of 'becoming' university learners. • The enactment of the movement from the periphery of the university community to the core. • Help seeking behaviours are strategic techniques which achieve fuller participation. • The ways that interacting with core members of the university widens participation. • Ways to create links between at-risk students and staff and peer mentoring programs. An integral part of the higher education (HE) journey is the act of 'becoming' a student, however students who are first in their families (FiF) to attend university have had limited exposure to the HE environment. Innovatively for research with this cohort, this paper draws on situated learning theory to examine how learning to become a university student occurs through participation within the university community of practice. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with FiF learners at the end of their degrees, i.e. successful students, the analysis describes students' movement from initial participation at the periphery of the university community to fuller participation. This paper offers practical insights into how we might support and engage this cohort to improve student retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper explores a contemporary trend of developing regional spaces in higher education, transcending national boundaries and promoting cross-border integration. • Using original data from the survey of 87 university international officers and interviews with seven policy-makers, this study charts the regional spaces in higher education in the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). • The findings unveil a complex landscape of spatial identities marked by diversity and tensions. Various spaces, such as the European space, Eurasian Space, and commonwealth of independent States' Space, play significant roles, albeit to varying degrees across countries. • The European space is recognised as the most important space in higher education, highlighting its influence and relevance. • The study also observes the nascent development of immediate geographic spaces in central Asia and the Caucasus, where respondents express enthusiasm for collaborative efforts with neighbouring countries to advance common interests in higher education and research. One of the contemporary trends in global higher education is the emergence of regional spaces that transcend national boundaries, fostering cross-border integration and cooperation. This paper presents original data from surveys of university international officers and interviews with national policy-makers to explore regional spaces in higher education across the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). The findings unveil a complex landscape of spatial identities marked by diversity and tensions. The European space is recognised as by far the most important space in higher education. At the same time, the Eurasian/the Commonwealth of Independent States' space(s) remain to be prominent in higher education, albeit to a varying degree in different countries. The study also observes the nascent development of immediate geographic spaces in Central Asia and the Caucasus, where participants express enthusiasm for collaborative efforts with neighbouring countries to advance common interests in higher education and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• International student mobility may help address demographic challenges in rural portuguese areas, such as population decline and aging, by introducing young, diverse populations. • International students have the potential to contribute to economic diversification in host communities through entrepreneurial activities that respond to local needs. • The presence of international students in rural communities may support sociocultural dynamism, promoting diversity and openness among local populations. • International students can participate in community development through knowledge and skill exchange, potentially benefiting both student experiences and local community services. • The study suggests that international student mobility could be a strategic asset for regional development, emphasising the roles of higher education institutions and policymakers in leveraging this potential. Existing research on the influence of international students on host higher education institutions (HEIs) has mainly focused on revenue diversification and the multicultural environment that students bring to campus. However, there is a significant gap in research on how international students can impact the development of the local community surrounding the host institution. In this paper, we explore the societal impact of international students, beyond the immediate financial benefits associated with their spending. Through interviews with representatives of four HEIs, this study sheds light on the transformative potential of international student mobility for local development in Portugal, especially in more disadvantaged regions. We found that the presence of international students contributes to demographic renewal, economic growth, cultural dynamism, and knowledge transfer, thereby serving as a catalyst for positive societal transformations. These findings accentuate the strategic role of HEIs in fostering regional development through internationalisation efforts, especially valuable for other countries and regions facing similar demographic and economic challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Student support services staff act on implicit knowledges and understandings embedded in university processes and practices. • Non-deficit understandings are essential in the design and delivery of support services if student equity is to be achieved. • Identifying and embedding practices supporting social justice will improve university retention of equity students. • The student services matrix model shows how universities can identify and embed support practices that assist equity students. University provision of student support services sits at the interface between universities and the broader community. The success of Australian inclusive education funding imperatives requires a revised model of support to improve access and retention. Using a Foucaultian discourse analysis and the notion of 'contingency', data from interviews with 'student support services' staff in four Australian universities was interrogated to determine the most accessible and effective services for equity students. This paper introduces the Supporting a Diverse Student Body matrix which sets out principles, strategies and characteristics for supporting the needs of equity students and service access and delivery preferences of diverse student bodies. The matrix provides a useful basis for universities to consider their own student support practices and signpost a pathway for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores minority access to higher education in Israel in general, and among the Negev Bedouin Arabs, in particular. The Negev Bedouin community has undergone major changes during the past 60 years, and has the lowest socio-economic level of any population group in Israel. Higher education plays a prominent role in determining a community's competitiveness in the world marketplace. In most societies, it is also recognized as a major avenue to greater economic rewards and social mobility, making it of vital importance to those groups on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder of society. The provision of public educational services to the Negev Bedouin, admissions procedures and standardized testing, financial assistance policies, and the socio-economic and political impact of higher education in Israel are examined in-depth. The paper concludes that the following structural and policy changes are needed to improve the access of the Negev Bedouin community to higher education: better quality elementary and secondary education, financial aid, removal of minimum age requirements, and culturally unbiased measures for admissions screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Protocol of exploratory longitudinal RCT investigating standing effects on learning. • Comparison of learning performance between sitting and standing tutorials. • Learning operationalized as discussion quality, concept test scores, and exam grade. • Secondary outcomes: change in physical activity patterns, attendance, and affect. • The multifaceted learning process in a real-world educational setting is addressed. Standing classrooms could potentially counteract excessive sedentary behavior. This paper describes the protocol for an exploratory longitudinal randomized controlled trial aimed at studying the effects of standing during tutorials on learning in undergraduate students. Learning is operationally defined as the use of interactions that are conducive to learning and an improved performance on concept tests. Final examination scores are also used as a measure of learning performance. The secondary aim is to explore the unintended effects of standing tutorials through the students' subsequent physical activity, tutorial attendance, and affect. Participants were randomly recruited to a sitting or standing tutorial for nine weeks. This study addresses learning in a real-world setting and reveals insights on the effects of standing on learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Students appreciate UDL affordances of group work activities where different strengths and interests are valued. • Accessible digital technology and in-person learning time facilitate effective group work. • Design of learning activities needs to understand and align with learner motivation. • UDL-informed group work enables students to use a range of modalities to negotiate social and cultural diversity. • Support needs to be sensitive to diverse international students' transitioning to different learning traditions. International students face many challenges transitioning to post-graduate study in UK institutions. Students often need to adapt to a range of cultural practices and curricular norms, often without the differences between UK and their home countries being made explicit. Building on Vygotskian concepts of scaffolded learning and the importance that group interaction plays within learning, this research reports on an initiative to embed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles through group work to develop research skills within a research methods module on an international Masters in Education programme. This small-scale case study across two campuses, with 11 survey respondents and nine focus group participants, analyses questionnaires and focus group interviews and yields important theoretical insights into the interaction of UDL components. The three UDL principles of multiple choices of learning materials, learning activities, and expression of learning outcomes each impacted on the other. The study also provides significant findings about hybrid learning at a crucial point in its development post COVID-19. Technology played an enabling role as students used a range of modalities to negotiate social and cultural diversity. However, the study indicates that on campus learning time is indispensable for students to fully access the power of digital technology. This paper contributes to advancing the understandings of international education and its interactional challenges and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pilots a critical realist autoethnography methodology in researching impact of international higher education scholarships. • Illustrates scholarships impact is a dynamic, contingent, and co-constitutive process. • Extends empirical support of current scholarship based on researching in a new country context. International higher education scholarships can be an impactful tool of development. They have demonstrable potential to advance the knowledge, skills, and networks of individuals, who may then be able to use these outcomes in making significant contributions in their workplaces and societies. This evolving theory of change has rightly guided the growing body of academic research and professional evaluations in this area. However, this academic and grey literature tends to limit investigations to the post-completion stage, often focusing on exploring impact through such neoliberal indicators such as economic return, career progress, and links to the foreign country of study. This exploratory scope and methodological-theoretical design demonstrably limit the extent to which scholarships impact may be understood in terms of its emergence or appreciated in terms of its manifestation. I try to respond to this limitation in this paper; I pilot a critical realist autoethnography methodology in explaining how two recent graduate scholarships have impacted me. The study makes three contributions to this area of research and practice. Empirically, it extends support for current research findings in the area by offering the first scholarly account of a Palestinian's scholarship experiences and impact. Drawing on empirical findings, it demonstrates that scholarships impact is a dynamic, contingent, and co-constitutive process. Methodologically, it illuminates the practice of critical realist autoethnography in both exploring and explaining this process of scholarship impact. Practically, it proposes this alternative conceptual-methodological approach may be a powerful tool of evaluating—and simultaneously optimizing—scholarships impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Chatbots are regularly used in education in different roles. • The fields where most chatbots were used were health and learning support. • The key chatbot roles are assistant, tutor, student, and virtual patient. • 63.3% of health-related chatbots were classified as Virtual Patients. • Only one study researched the role of a chatbot as a student. With AI's advancing technology, pedagogical changes are occurring, and chatbots are becoming more intertwined in our daily lives. While these can be used in a variety of disciplines, they play a particularly significant role in the digital transformation of education. We present a scoping review of chatbots in higher education (HE), investigating where chatbots are being applied. The main benefits and challenges of chatbots were explored. The quality of the selected papers was assessed using the International Organization for Standards (ISO) 9241–11 guidelines. A total of 2692 citations were found while searching recognized digital databases. After reading the abstract and full text, 64 publications were considered. Backward and forward reference checking yielded four further studies. Altogether, 66 studies were included. This review provides a comprehensive overview of research on using chatbots in HE, including advantages, and challenges. Research demonstrates the versatility and the promising aspects of this type of support system for university education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• From 2015–2017 South African universities were gripped by student protests. • The movement, known as #FeesMustFall, protested the ongoing increase of university tuition. • #FeesMustFall was motivated by the twin demand of free and decolonised education. • In December 2017 a policy for implementing free education was introduced. • However, decolonised education in a globalised world is a more challenging, elusive goal. Colonialism's legacy in South Africa includes persistent economic inequality which, since the country's universities charge fees, bars many from higher education, perpetuating the marginalisation of those previously disadvantaged by the apartheid regime. In 2015–6, country-wide unrest raged across university campuses, as students protested the yearly cycle of tuition increases under the slogan #FeesMustFall, demanding " free, decolonised education ". Protests ended in December 2017 when the government announced a sliding-scale payment policy alleviating the economic burden for poorer students. This paper sets the #FMF movement and its twin demands within the context of decoloniality, and argues that while free education has been achieved, imagining and implementing decolonised education for South Africa in an increasingly globalised world is a more challenging, elusive goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In part due to the increased demand for higher education, typical evaluation frameworks for universities often address the key issue of available resource utilisation. This study seeks to estimate the efficiency of 20 public universities in Greece through quantitative analysis (including performance indicators, data envelopment analysis (DEA) and econometric procedures). The findings show inefficiency in terms of human resources management while also identifying a clear opportunity to increase research activity and hence research income. In addition to the immediate findings, this paper more broadly discusses the methodology behind the evaluation process used in this investigation and its potential to more consistently and reliably evaluate the efficiency of resource management by public universities. This paper is set against, and hopes to contribute to, the broader debate on reforming the management and administration system of Greek universities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Research into powerful learning environments has concentrated mainly on general influences on students'' engagement and learning. This paper considers a series of inter-related concepts that have been shown to be associated with student learning in higher education including, conceptions of knowledge and learning, learning orientations, and students'' perceptions of, and preferences for, different kinds of learning environments. At a more specific level, differences in study behaviour have been described in terms of approaches to learning, and regulation and processing strategies. The paper clarifies the meaning of the various concepts, highlights the interrelationships between them, and considers the ways in which they may affect students'' reactions to the learning environments they experience, whether powerful or not. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Chile as elsewhere, there are no direct measures of a university’s impact on learning, that is, the quality of education provided. Parents and prospective students, and university administrators, rely on various indirect measures, including student satisfaction. This paper assesses the satisfaction levels of graduates from two degree programs offered in three universities in Chile, focusing principally on the graduates’ perceptions of the quality of their training programs. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire of a sample of three cohorts of graduates in Psychology and in Teaching. Levels of satisfaction varied according to particular aspects of their degree program as influenced by prior education and later by employment. Global judgments of the quality of one’s degree program are influenced by work experience after graduation; judgments of curriculum and teaching practices pertain to what was experienced as a student or before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research that investigated the factors mediating written feedback provision by lecturers teaching on three postgraduate taught programmes at a university in the UK. The study adopted a case study approach, with the postgraduate programmes as the cases. Lecturers participated in background and stimulated recall interviews, with their authentic written feedback used as the stimulus. The study identified multiple mediating factors that impacted on the staff members’ feedback processes. These could be separated into three main categories: experiential, social and environmental. The mediators indicated that written feedback in higher education may serve multiple simultaneous goals that relate not only to student learning but also to lecturers’ perceptions of their roles and function within the broader institutional context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between pupils’ expectations of their grades in public examinations at age 16 in England and their actual grades. We define optimism as the difference between grades expected by pupils and grades predicted by pupils’ prior attainment and background. We define accuracy as the difference between pupils’ grade expectations and the actual grades achieved. Using data from 5507 pupils and 50 schools, we find that more optimistic expectations are associated with higher value-added, even where expectations far exceed statistical predictions and actual grades. Each extra grade expected predicts average higher value-added of about a third of a grade. We also examine the correlates of pupil optimism and expectation accuracy, finding some evidence for school effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feedback is considered to be a key component in teacher activity for the reflective construction of knowledge. This paper aims to analyse the feedback provided by lecturers in order to enhance students’ self-regulation of their learning. The methods used consisted in the analysis of the content of feedback and questionnaires administered to students and lecturers. The results show that most of the feedback provided by lecturers is close to that of feedforward. Students evaluate this feedback in a very positive way, as they consider it to be useful when working through the content. It also makes them more aware of the competencies that they should reach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Short-term attitudes toward teaching is prevalent in Sierra Leone. • The evidence shows that teaching is used as a survival strategy and short-term option for university graduates as they search for better jobs. • Short-termism is driven by a mismatch between graduates' desires and characteristics of the profession with respect to status, remuneration and training. • The implication is that physical presence in the classroom (or reduced absenteeism) does not equate to mental and emotional presence/commitment, which is essential for improving education quality. This paper focuses on teacher motivation, and links short-term attitudes and behaviour among teachers to education quality. Using Sierra Leone as a case study, the data shows an overwhelming tendency for university graduates to use the teaching profession as a short-term option or stepping-stone to more desirable career paths. The paper thus hypothesises that in cases where teaching is viewed and utilised as a temporary undertaking, such short-termism negatively affects teacher performance, and ultimately student outcomes. Taken together, the physical presence and educational level of teachers are necessary conditions, but emotional and mental presence and commitment are also crucial factors in improving education quality. The paper thus offers a new interpretation which links teacher motivation and education quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Universities admission policies were created by selective able-bodied academics. • The admission policies value excellence and competitiveness over inclusiveness. These policies contribute to exclude applicants with disabilities. • A systemic reform of these policies is needed to be more inclusive. This paper draws on Critical Disability theory (CDT) to examine the current admission policies of twenty–eight Saudi Government Universities (SGUs) and determine to what extent their requirements include or exclude applicants with disabilities. To do so, the Critical Policy Analysis in Education (CPAE) by Young and Diem (2018) was applied. It was found that, not only were the admission policies of all twenty–eight SGUs created by non–disabled academics but that most were exclusionary in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the phenomenon of student disengagement from university mathematics through the lens of Marx’s concept of alienation. Distinguishing between alienation as an objective relationship and the subjective state of disaffection, it argues that dominant modes of teaching in the English school system produce alienated relationships with mathematics, including among successful students, which university teaching does not necessarily reverse. Drawing on interviews with 15 second-year mathematics single major students from 4 universities, in which they explain their experiences of university mathematics, we argue that ‘undoing’ alienation and enhancing engagement at university rests on the development of new relationships with mathematics through greater support for students’ developing confidence in independent mathematical judgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the reasons why some previously engaged students drop out during their transition to mathematically-demanding university degrees. The concept of alienation is used to explain drop out: alienation occurs when social practices restrict the individuals’ agency in such ways that they are unable to transform the social conditions in which they participate, even though they might place a great effort in doing so, hence becoming alienated objectively and subjectively. So, for instance, engineering students that see themselves as ‘practical’, find that the theoretical/academic practice of university mathematics becomes irrelevant to their aspirations and ways of learning, i.e. alien to their identity as learners. The impossibility of changing this situation becomes recognised and results in their drop out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of argument diagrams to foster argumentation has been an object of research in education, as a way to support studentś argumentative interaction and, potentially, learning. In this paper it is shown how argument analysis and evaluation assisted by means of argument diagramming tools, further developed in artificial intelligence (AI), can also support the assessment of argumentation skills in the classroom. A case study is presented to show how informal logic contributions on fallacies, in particular, can be combined with the data of an argument-diagramming task, to form a method of assessing students’ weaknesses in reasoning about everyday issues using argument maps. Our contribution is mainly methodological, as we suggest an application of AI and argumentation theories in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the transition to tertiary education, using data from a Hungarian panel dataset called Life Course Survey. A sample of 4500 students is analysed from a single school cohort which began secondary school in the academic year of 2006/07 and finished it between June 2010 and 2012. The question to be analysed is whether the students’ self-assessment could modify the impact of their grades on the application to tertiary education. The results show that a more optimistic interpretation of the students’ own ability increase the probability to submit application to tertiary education among students with lower than average grades. The students with good grades are likely to be influenced by their grades rather than by their self-assessment in the transition. Among those, however, whose transition to tertiary education is ambiguous because of low grades, self-assessment does play a role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First systematic review on digital game-based learning (GBL) in economics education. • Domain-specific knowledge can be promoted comparatively better through GBL. • In order to promote engagement, game features which increase performance expectation and challenge are effective. • Little consideration is given to the effect of instructional support. Digital game-based learning (GBL) is attracting attention in economics education, as this type of learning allows abstract content to be simulated through play. However, a systematic review of its effects is still lacking. This paper synthesizes the empirical evidence by addressing the following two questions: (1) What are the effects of GBL in economics education compared to those of other media? (2) Which features of GBL are important for learning? Intervention studies (k = 20, 2011-2021) that focus on upper secondary and higher education are analyzed. The findings identify advantages of GBL concerning subject knowledge. However, the findings related to fostering motivation are inconsistent. Moreover, students' performance expectations are found to promote learning engagement. Thus, GBL is suitable if the target group can recognize the content-related benefit, and if the content is designed to be challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a video-game designed to support teaching introductory economics at undergraduate level. In order to test its effectiveness compared to traditional textbook learning we designed a laboratory experiment. Results show no evidence that playing the video-game leads to lower exam performance than reading a textbook, neither for multiple-choice nor for essay questions. We also find no gender bias and no effect of announcing the test prior to the learning task or thereafter. However, game behavior appears to be related to test performance, and differently so for different types of learning. Students perceive the two learning tools similarly in terms of understanding requirements or usefulness, but enjoyed the video-game considerably more. Interestingly, although women enjoyed the game less than men, they do not differ in their test performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper measures the impact of timing on student evaluations of teaching effectiveness, using a dataset of close to 3000 observations from Erasmus School of Economics. A special feature of the data is that students were able to complete on-line questionnaires during a time window ranging from one week before to one week after the final examination. This allows for the isolation of the effect of the examination on student evaluations. Among students who subsequently pass the exam, we find little difference between pre- and post-exam ratings. Among students who fail, evaluation scores are significantly lower after the exam on a number of items. Our evidence is compatible with a self-serving bias in student evaluations, but does not indicate that students seek revenge on instructors through lower ratings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Drawing on the experience of an Engineering School in Singapore, the paper explores the success factors of service quality in higher education by integrating the characteristics of SERVQUAL (an instrument for assessing students’ experience of higher education) and SQA (Singapore Quality Award). Data were collected by means of structured interviewing from a variety of faculty within the School. Customer orientation, quality course design and delivery as well as support services were found to have a direct impact on the total experience of students. The study reinforces the emerging educational paradigms that seek to challenge norms and assumptions, gearing educators to do the right things rather than doing things right. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the perceptions of academics and students towards embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into undergraduate degree programmes in the School for Earth, Ocean and Environmental Science (SEOES) at the University of Plymouth. The main purpose of the research was to identify current ESD related teaching and learning in a science-based undergraduate programme and the opportunities for, and barriers to, further extensions of ESD. The results indicate that there is general support for the embedding of ESD in the curriculum, but there is considerable uncertainty expressed by lecturers concerning how this can best be done. There is a general concern that additional embedding into the degree programme might lead to reductions in the amount of core subject matter being taught. The programme and ESD agendas are to an extent seen by lecturers as conflicting. ESD is viewed mainly in terms of curriculum content as opposed to the pedagogy employed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports a project researching the interplay between a formal assessment system on the one hand and the development of students’ and teachers’ work in the actual assessment process on the other. Applying a social practice perspective, empirical data from the first year of an engineering programme mapped the assessment process through documentary studies and qualitative interviews with students and teachers. The research reveals the distinction between the social processes involved in the teaching and learning process, on one hand, and the rules and procedures shaping the assessment process on the other. During the course of the first year the two processes continuously distinguished themselves from each other, leaving failing students in an individualised situation. Students struggled hard to manage all the assignments encountered, narrowing their focus on most immediate events that lay ahead. This approach often eventually failed and so students dropped chosen parts of the assessment system in order to manage the situation. Teachers’ aspirations and the intentions underlying the assessment system became thwarted, but both students and teachers placed responsibility for failures on the individual student. The assessment process as an emergent phenomenon thus shows a traditional elite character. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines research into teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) in higher education in terms of structure and agency. It argues that although issues of structure and agency are seen as crucial in social theory, they are very little discussed in research into TLA in higher education and that a consideration of structure and agency raises some important questions about this research and the quality of the explanations that it generates. It is therefore time to reconsider this research from the standpoint of structure and agency so that more sophisticated approaches to researching, and generating explanations of, teaching, learning and assessment in higher education can be developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper discusses the impact of the introduction of a virtual learning environment (VLE) on teaching practices within a new university in the UK, and explores the factors that have encouraged or, conversely, discouraged, the adoption of the VLE by teaching staff, from the latter''s perspective. It is based on findings from the analysis of qualitative interviews with 23 members of academic staff from across four subject areas at Kingston University (KU), conducted as part of a broader research project on the use of VLEs in teaching and learning at KU (2002–2005). It reports on the areas of teaching that have been most affected by the VLE; details the specific ways in which practice has been transformed by the VLE and describes the nature of the adjustments that staff have had to make; and specifies the factors that have encouraged the adoption of a technology such as a VLE as part of teaching on undergraduate courses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates relationships between candidate and examiner characteristics, the texts of examiner reports on Ph.D. theses and examiner recommendations made on theses. The data were related to 804 examiner reports on 301 theses submitted at three Australian universities. Thesis topics ranged across ten Broad Fields of Study or discipline areas. Simple bivariate analyses were first undertaken to identify candidate, examiner and university variables significantly related to the examiner recommendation—three candidate variables, examiner location and, in some cases, the university attended were identified. Next, these variables were regressed on examiner recommendation. The text categories were then factor analysed to confirm five constructs identified in previous work—positive summation, negative summation, prescription, formative evaluation and dialogic elements. These were added to the regression equation. A multilevel regression analysis with examiner recommendation as response variable indicated that four of the five constructs (not including the dialogic elements construct), holding a scholarship and two examiner-country variables explained a total of 43% of the variance in examiner recommendation on the thesis. Implications of the results are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Earlier research by Mullins and Kiley (2002) [Studies in higher education, 27(4), 369–386] reported on the processes that experienced examiners go through when they assess research theses. Since that study two further studies have been undertaken, interviews with novice Australian examiners, reported here, and the analysis of approximately 100 examiners’ reports (Kiley, 2004). These studies now allow us to address the comment made by many of the experienced examiners who were interviewed that it was not wise to send a research thesis, particularly one which is not strong, to inexperienced examiners. We also wanted to determine the extent to which less experienced examiners follow the same processes and use the same criteria as their more experienced colleagues, and whether there was any basis for the experienced examiners’ comments. This paper draws particularly on the results of the interviews with 26 examiners and supervisors which indicated that by comparison with experienced examiners, less experienced examiners paid more attention to institutional criteria and the summative dimension of assessment; were unsure of the boundary conditions relating to very good or poor theses; and were more likely to refer back to their own postgraduate experience when reflecting on their approach to both supervision and examination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We use large longitudinal linked survey and administrative data on Australian students • We find significant gaps in educational expectations between low-SES and high-SES students • Teacher's expectations and aspects of student engagement can drive educational expectations • Some aspects of engagement are particularly relevant for low-SES students' expectations • The findings highlight the importance of timely interventions Educational attainment is in part determined by students' educational expectations, which are strongly influenced by their socio-economic status (SES). This paper contributes to the existing literature by explicitly focusing on the influence of student engagement and their perceptions of teachers' expectations for academic achievement on their educational expectations among low- and high-SES students. Using growth curve modelling, it capitalises on a unique large-scale dataset that links administrative records and longitudinal survey responses of 13,697 primary and secondary school students in Australian schools. The results show a significant and consistent gap between low-SES and high-SES students' trajectories of expectations for higher education, highlighting the crucial role of the timing of interventions, and point to factors such as positive peer relations, interest in learning, and teachers' expectations that may reduce this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Uses superdiversity to examine international Chinese higher education. • Focuses on the understudied case of an ethnic-group serving institution. • International students' experiences of superdiversity appear to be limited. • Yet students' knowledge and awareness of Minzu superdiversity is compelling. • Recommendations are made for superdiversity and interculturality in study abroad. Using the concept and approach of superdiversity , this paper complements current studies on the internationalization of higher education by focusing on the understudied case of an ethnic-group serving institution in China. 17 international students at this superdiverse institution, where members of the 56 Chinese 'ethnic' Minzu groups live and study together, were interviewed about their experiences in Chinese and English. Considering the originality and complexity of this specific Chinese context, the authors chose Dialogic Discourse Analysis to analyse the data. This complex analytical method allows to identify and problematise the ways superdiversity seems to have influenced (or not) the students' stay in China and their engagement with Minzu. Although superdiversity is reported as a pull factor for most students, their experiences of it and encounters with members of different Minzu groups, appear to be limited. However, the students' knowledge and awareness of this important aspect of Chinese society is compelling when the students discuss what they have learnt interculturally. They also seem to have modified many of their essentialist and culturalist representations of China. The article ends with recommendations for both scholars and Ethnic group-serving institutions in China and elsewhere, for rethinking intercultural experiences in study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Early career teaching attrition studies require agreed key terms and metrics. • Secondary education early career teachers are more likely to leave the profession. • Findings justify continuing scale and scope of teacher support to address attrition. This paper contributes to the limited knowledge about Australian early career teacher (ECT) attrition. The population studied included ECTs employed by the Department of Education Western Australia from 2004–2018. This quantitative study focused on ECT attrition rate and profiling ECTs who were likely to leave teaching, and used mixed-methods to investigate ECTs university preparation, intent to stay, resignation reasons and the combined supports received while employed. Study findings reinforced the need for a standardised definition and method of measuring attrition to enable comparisons, and provided information to optimise conditions in retaining ECTs. Ultimately, this will inform planning for teacher workforce supply and provide justification to continue the scale and scope of support for ECTs to address ECT attrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study explores recommendations given by faculty members to include students with disabilities. • It's necessary to know and listen to students with disabilities. • It's important to view having a student with disability in class as an opportunity. • Recommendations can help other faculty members to make their practice more inclusive. The focus of this paper is to explore the advice given to colleagues by 119 Spanish faculty members who engage in inclusive pedagogy, to help them plan and implement actions aimed at including students with disabilities. We carried out an exploratory qualitative study with individual interviews. We analysed them using a system of categories and inductive codes. The results revealed five recommendations: listen to students and get to know them and the needs deriving from their disability; be empathetic and emotionally engaged and strive to facilitate students' learning; establish a universal, accessible, flexible and open syllabus; view having students with disabilities in class as an opportunity and part of the job; and actively seek information and training. The analysis includes a series of recommendations that may help other faculty members eager to make their planning and practice more democratic, fair and inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]