Search

In recent years, there have been a considerable number of efforts to integrate sustainability into Higher Education Institutions (HEIs); however, there are still challenges that need to be overcome. A process that has received an increasing attention has been the Organisational Change Management for Sustainability. This article is aimed at reviewing the main drivers of the integration of sustainable practices and the barriers to change slowing or stopping it. A systematic literature review was carried out using Web of Science de Thomson Reuters and in Scopus databases focusing on retrieving all papers on sustainability in HEIs published between 2000 and 2016. The drivers of and barriers found for the integration of sustainability in HEIs were compared to those previously described for companies. The similarities on drivers to change found in HEIs and companies were greater for external ones. A lower number of barriers to change were reported in the literature for HEIs than those reported for corporations, nonetheless, it was found that HEIs and companies have several common barriers to change. The article proposes a list of main drivers of and barriers to change, some general and others context specific. The findings on the drivers of the integration of sustainable practices in HEIs can serve to identify additional good practices at companies and vice versa. The barriers to change detected for the process of integration can help into anticipating, preventing and overcoming them. This knowledge can help institutions better plan and use their resources in working to becoming more sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional systems have been studied in an isolated mode, seek to respond to a specific need and deal with a restricted set of variables. The targets established for energy efficient systems and energy sustainability imply that new systems are more comprehensive and combine the various individual systems. This new topology requires a new kind of engineering professionals provided with new skills. New engineering professionals need to have not only a set of deep capabilities in a specific area, but also more comprehensive proficiencies that allow them to understand how to integrate their particular system into a wider functional system. This paper addresses some challenges and issues posed to Higher Education institutions and to engineering professionals of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the link between innovation and sustainability in the context of higher education, with the purpose of investigating the fundamental barriers for innovation and sustainable development in universities around the world. The method used involves both a quantitative and a qualitative approach, gathering the views of 301 experts from 172 universities across all continents. The results show that there are similar barriers across different geographical regions that require greater support from university administrations and management. In particular, the willingness of leaders, policy makers and decision-makers to envisage a sustainable future inside universities is often missing. Yet, without the support of senior management within a university, bottom-up sustainable initiatives seem destined to fail in the longer term due to a lack of investment and administrative support. This study also identifies that in order to yield the anticipated benefits, the challenges listed should be taken seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is transformative education aiming at developing participants’ understanding of sustainability issues and transforming their attitudes and behaviours regarding environment, society and economy. Sustainability consciousness, an expected outcome of ESD, is a complex of cognitive and affective learning. Development of sustainability consciousness requires transformative learning experiences. The study presented in this paper employed action research to enhance sustainability consciousness of the preservice teachers through inquiry based learning. The study was done in the Institute of Education, Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan. The study integrated sustainability education in an existing course entitled ‘Research Methods in Education’. The course is included in the final year of B.Ed. (Honours) programme. Outcome of the ESD-integration was measured in terms of change in the sustainability consciousness of the preservice teachers. The Action Research project engaged 27 preservice teachers in inquiry-based learning (empirical investigations and research based discussions) for a period of 11 weeks. The participants investigated sustainability issues collaboratively. To investigate the change in participants’ sustainability consciousness through inquiry based learning, researchers collected through pre- and post-tests, interviews and observation. Quantitative data were analyzed through paired t -test while qualitative data through thematic coding. The data indicate that empirical investigations into sustainability issues by the presevice teachers and research-based discussions enhanced preservice teachers’ sustainability consciousness. This highlights the transformative potential of inquiry based learning. Moreover, it indicates that sustainability education can be successfully integrated in the course of ‘research methods in education’. The findings suggest that teacher education programmes and other university programmes may employ inquiry based learning as a vehicle to enhance sustainability consciousness of the undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the factors which influence the whistle blowing intentions of teachers working in private higher education sector in India. The prioritization of the factors is done by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine their relative importance. 13 influencing factors of whistle blowing are considered in the study, which are categorized under 4 main factors viz. whistleblower’s demographic characteristics; whistleblower’s personality variables; contextual variables and wrongdoing characteristics. The findings of the study suggest that wrongdoing characteristics and contextual variables are the most important factors which may influence the whistle blowing intentions of teachers working in private higher education sector in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the performance of students from four university careers of scientific orientation, per the qualifications and the effective progress achieved in their corresponding curricula, as well as their relationship with the variables of the admission process and the subsequent performance. Under the assumption that grades are less representative than the progress achieved by the student, the returns are measured mainly in terms of the progress achieved by the student in his / her respective curriculum. The analysis was approached by means of the application of the test of equality of average and the coefficient of correlation of Pearson, in subgroups of students formed per their condition of novices or previous experience in the university, its career and its type of school of origin. The results show little connection between the variables of the selection process and the academic performance, as well as a poor relationship between the indicators related to the secondary education grades and the performance of the students in their respective careers. Finally, a particular conceptual approach for the solution based on neuro-management considerations as a model to conceptually aboard complex dynamic routines that need to be redirected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions are currently facing many challenges that are making them to start compete strategically, like other not-for-profit firm. To adequately support such new approach, their information systems and business strategies should be totally aligned. However, the current existing landscape of heterogeneous information systems and applications deployed in many institutions can compromise such aim. Recently, reference architectures and models have emerged as instruments suitable to help company’s decision-makers to cope with such tensions. However, whilst many of such architectural models already exist for several industries, little has been done so far in higher education. In this paper, we briefly review major existing developments in such way before to inductively derive a unified information systems reference model tailored for higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the importance of Nature-Based Solutions for climate change adaptation (NBaS) is being increasingly acknowledged, very few studies investigate the status of these solutions in higher education syllabi. In an effort to bridge this gap, this study assessed the position of the NBaS notion in French Master's programs. Based on a survey questionnaire, several interviews and a text mining analysis of the Master's contents, this paper identified, localised and analysed the French Masters that presented links with NBaS related concepts. This analysis revealed that the notion of NBaS is far from being mastered. This might be caused by a conceptual misunderstanding of definitions. While text mining revealed that the building blocks of the NBaS framework are present, much still needs to be done for connecting them together. A combined analysis of the findings derived from this study led to recommendations to better introduce NBaS in Masters programs in the future. • The term of Nature-Based (adaptation) Solution is far for being well mastered. • Based on the existing definition, the concept should also be better explained. • Few courses are actually dedicated to climate change and how to adapt to it. • The complexity of the environments across scales has to be taken into account. • NBaS require a transition from silo approaches to multidisciplinary frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities have the vision, the knowledge and the power to lead the change towards a more sustainable world. However, there is a lack of studies investigating how universities can systematically reorient themselves to help society become more sustainable. In general, a research gap exists in the implementation of the business model innovation process, in the tools that should be used to pass from the design stage to implementation and in the identification of the main challenges that may hinder this process. This paper adopts the concept of a sustainable business model for interpreting the core logic through which universities create value for themselves, society and the environment. In the first stage of research, a theoretical framework was proposed for diagnosis of the integration of sustainability in the business models of universities. This framework was applied in the context of Italian state universities to identify business models with different degrees of strategic orientation towards sustainability. Now the research aim is to examine the processes and tools used and challenges faced by Italian state universities when implementing sustainable innovation. A multiple-case study is carried out on four Italian state universities showing a high level of integration of sustainability in all elements of the business model. The combination of both quantitative and qualitative data, and the patterns observed across cases, led to the presentation of five theoretical propositions, which were summarized in a preliminary model of the processes, tools and challenges involved when implementing sustainable innovation in higher education. The main theoretical contributions of this study are the advancement of knowledge regarding the dynamics (process) and the elements (tools) for the implementation of sustainability strategies in state universities, and the provision of a new causal map of the relationships among the variables that affect sustainable innovation in higher education. • Financial support for sustainable innovation is low for Italian state universities. • Sustainable innovation for Italian state universities is an incremental process. • Sustainable innovation is based on core competences and increased relationships. • Drivers and aims determine strategies and degrees of business model innovation. • A set of tools are needed to implement sustainable innovation and overcome barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, the principles of sustainability and sustainable development represent key points in policy development and activities of the Higher Education Institutions, both for their impact on the environment and the role they play in society. In the wake of the spread of rankings in Higher Education Institutions over the past decades, Universitas Indonesia in 2010 implemented an environmental sustainability ranking, called UI GreenMetric World University Ranking. The aim of this paper is to carry out a constructive analysis of the GreenMetric Ranking in order to improve and strengthen the ranking method. This analysis is based on the review of the scarce literature, the survey of questionnaire and on an evaluation of the guidelines that have been evolving over time. Despite the improvements made over time by the authors, the critical review of the methodology points out that the GreenMetric Ranking still falls short on some issues. Furthermore, the analysis shows the incomplete compliance with the Berlin Principles. The GreenMetric Ranking though, lays a good foundation for the incorporation of the principle of sustainability within the Higher Education Institutions and reflects the need to quantify the efforts towards sustainability. Therefore, there is the need to make this method more scientific and rigorous, suitable to plan sustainability policies in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roller rigs are laboratory devices enabling to study various phenomena in the field of railway vehicles dynamics and the wheel-rail contact. The main benefits of roller rig experiments are high controllability, repeatability and flexibility of experiment setup and usually also lower costs compared to the field tests. One of the goals of joint cooperation between the Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic (CTU) and the Dnipropetrovsk National University of Railway Transport named after Academician V. Lazaryan, Ukraine (DNURT) is to design, build, and finally to operate at the DNURT laboratory the new roller rig. The presented paper is an initial study prepared within the framework the joint project. It summarizes the possibilities of roller rig utilization for railway vehicles research and describes the main concepts of existing design solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste management in higher education institutions is generally a complex and multidisciplinary activity, which demands experienced managers. This work discusses the implementation of a Waste Management Plan based on Continuous Improvement Cycle at higher education institutions in developing countries. Proposed method is simpler than other iterative techniques as life cycle assessment, providing a higher probability of success for inexperienced managers, even in a scenario of financial resources scarcity. The results show three different scenarios: before implementation of the plan; after implementation of the plan; and after waste minimization awareness campaign. Percentages of recyclable material wasted were 60.0, 23.2, and 15.3, respectively. Paper was the most important generated waste in terms of quantities, and the percentages obtained were 50.5, 15.3, and 9.4, respectively. In addition, chemical waste and construction waste stored over many years could be managed. Environmental awareness aspects, difficulties found and the respective solutions are discussed as well. Proposed methodology is perfectly suitable for developing countries with high efficiency and low cost, leading to greener universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher Education Institutions, especially the technical ones, are required to provide highly skilled human capital to strengthen the knowledge triangle between education, research and business, to contribute to the Europe societal advancement. The paper aims to investigate different views of the concept of entrepreneurial university and models the processes needed for engaging the stakeholders in the higher education settlement. The authors capitalize on the well-known modeling tool – SIPOC diagram (Supplier-Inputs-Process-Output-Customer) that maps out the flows of work. The results represent an attempt to deliver a structured and coherent way of action needed for defining, implementing, monitoring and controlling the relationships with stakeholders in order to maximize the knowledge exchange potential for the benefit of the students, teachers, and business community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is hindered by low demand for environmentally-benign industrial development strategies, and a limited supply of professionals to enact such strategies. The “Pathways to Cleaner Production in the Americas” project was a multinational effort aimed at facilitating the transition to sustainability in the region by addressing both of these concerns. The project incorporated multidisciplinary education in business, engineering, and the environment that enhanced sustainability awareness, technical competence and innovative skills of industry professionals, while exposing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to cleaner production (CP) opportunities. In an alliance of nine universities in eight countries, project partners trained 648 university students to assess CP opportunities, while directly benefiting 136 MSMEs. The project developed a unique industry-academic partnership model for experiential learning. Faculty members collaborated with CP industry experts in their respective countries to prepare their students to conduct energy, process and material audits, and develop recommendations for improving financial and environmental performance. The project's CP experts supervised student interns and provided follow-up assistance to the MSMEs to implement the prioritized recommendations. The universities also hosted workshops for industry participants to learn best practices developed through the project and strategies to implement those in their enterprises. In this paper, we share the most valuable lessons from this model, which can be more widely adopted to facilitate industry-academic engagement in the transition to sustainability in LAC and other parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on and examines the issues and problems related to remote evaluation of software engineering competences using progressive competence representation model. Authors suggested original approach for Master Program in Software Engineering competence evaluation as a combination academic competences and professional competences from European Competence model (e-CF). Examples of competence description for 16 subjects from proposed a Joint Master Program in Software Engineering are developed. Several types of scoring rubrics for Software Engineering competences evaluation are reviewed and rubrics’ templates created. The developed models and templates can be used by universities and IT enterprises for training results evaluation as well as for competence evaluation for Software Engineering Master program's graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study aiming at examining the affordances and constraints of BYOD (Bring YourOwn Device) for varied pedagogical practices from teachers' perspectives in higher education. Seventeen teachers from eight departments and centers participated in the one-year study. The affordances and constraints of BYOD were examined under the "framework of affordances and constraints in BYOD-supported learning environment". Data collection included class observations, class videos, field notes, resources on the BYOD website and teaching plans. Content analysiswas adopted in the data analysis. The research findings showthat (1) seven types of BYOD conceptualized affordanceswere identified for varied pedagogical purposes; and (2) three types of constraints of BYODwere singled out in pedagogical practices. Discussions regarding the affordances and constraints are made and implications are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the implications of college admissions criteria on students' outcomes. • Examine admissions at a large university with two admission tracks. • Regular admission track is based exclusively on academic performance while discretionary track considers non-academic qualities. • Discretionary admission students enjoy significantly higher earnings compared to marginal group of regular admission students. • Earnings advantage persists up to three years after graduation. This paper examines the implications of college admissions criteria on students' academic and non-academic performance in university and their labor market outcomes. We exploit a unique feature of the admissions system at a large university in Singapore, the National University of Singapore, that has two admission tracks – a regular admission track where admission is based exclusively on academic performance and a discretionary admission (DA) track where applicants can instead gain admission on the basis of demonstrated non-academic qualities. Comparing students admitted through each track, we find that DA students fare similarly in terms of academic performance in university as marginal students admitted through the regular route. However, they are significantly more likely to be involved in optional academic and non-academic college activities and earn substantially higher labor market earnings up to three years after graduation. These results are not driven by the DA process differentially selecting students on the basis of family background or unobserved academic ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The positive results of manufacturing companies adopting lean production practices certainly impacted the adaptation of Lean Manufacturing principles to the service sector, culminating in what we know today as Lean Office. Based on this approach, many Universities have adopted lean principles and practices to improve their administrative processes and thus add value to their students, faculty and staff. From this perspective, but going further, the present research has the general objective of raising the main sustainable impacts generated by a University through the application of Lean Office in its administrative processes. Methodologically, the research is supported by a case study at a Federal Public University in Brazil, where two service processes will be analyzed, one aimed at students and the other at employees (teachers and technicians). The work is conducted according to the phases and steps recommended by the LEFI Method (Lean Evaluation and Future Improvement), with a significant part of the results obtained by the steps related to Value Stream Mapping. As the main results, it is observed that the elimination of waste in administrative processes at the University target of the present study culminated, only in the year 2021, in the saving of 444,754 sheets of printed paper that, due to all its consequences, indirectly impacted the economy of 1,380,000 L of water, in the non-emission of 43.82 kg of CO2 and the preservation of 67 trees. • The Lean philosophy has been gaining relevance in service processes • There is a synergy between Lean principles and Business Sustainability • The Lean office contributes to the users' satisfaction with university services • Value Stream Mapping is an excellent starting point for eliminating waste • The application of Lean Office in Universities contributes to Sustainable results [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology (IT) has become essential in supporting the growth and sustainability of all types of organizations. Higher education institutions are a special type of organization where technological infrastructure consists of a variety of applications, different platforms, academic systems, cloud applications and heterogeneous technologies. All these technologies for supporting the research, teaching and administrative processes require an effective IT governance framework. The framework of IT governance is composed of structures, processes and relational mechanisms. Each one of these mechanisms has a function and when implemented, should affect the organization positively. The process of identifying the right mechanisms to a specific context is a complex endeavor. This paper looks at the IT governance mechanism that higher education institutions have implemented. We did an extensive literature review making use of databases such as Web of Science, IEEE, SCOPUS, or AIS eLibrary for selecting case studies. We discuss these practices in the context of higher education. To continue this research and improve the IT governance body of knowledge for higher education institutions, future works are pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of business processes has been recognized as an important factor for modeling success in several domains, especially in higher education. In fact, quality of business process model could be the object to various interpretations; it must be treated in the most objective way, by using measures. Consequently, this paper presents an overview of the criteria and measures for quantifying the various aspects of business process models quality by citing the concepts that have been used for defining quality software programs. After that, these measures have been applied to a real business process model related to the tracking of curriculum offer process more commonly named “habilitation process”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students who enter college are insufficiently prepared to follow a demanding college-level curriculum. Thus, higher education institutions often require low-performing students to repeat failed courses, a full term, or even a full year. This paper is the first to investigate the effects of such a “(grade) retention” policy on student performance in higher education. We study a setting where first-year undergraduates who fall short of a pre-defined performance requirement have to repeat all first-year courses before they can proceed to the second year. To determine the causal effect of retention and repetition on student performance, we apply a sharp regression discontinuity design to administrative data from a Swiss university. Based on a sample of 5000 students, we find that grade retention increases dropout probabilities after the first year by about 10 percentage points. Repetition of a full year persistently boosts grade point averages by about 0.5 standard deviations, but does not affect study pace and major choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several countries successfully use centralized matching schemes for school or higher education assignment, or for entry-level labour markets. In this paper we explore the computational aspects of a possible similar scheme for assigning teachers to schools. Our model is motivated by a particular characteristic of the education system in many countries where each teacher specializes in two subjects. We seek stable matchings, which ensure that no teacher and school have the incentive to deviate from their assignments. Indeed we propose two stability definitions depending on the precise format of schools' preferences. If the schools' ranking of applicants is independent of their subjects of specialism, we show that the problem of deciding whether a stable matching exists is NP-complete, even if there are only three subjects, unless there are master lists of applicants or of schools. By contrast, if the schools may order applicants differently in each of their specialization subjects, the problem of deciding whether a stable matching exists is NP-complete even in the presence of subject-specific master lists plus a master list of schools. Finally, we prove a strong inapproximability result for the problem of finding a matching with the minimum number of blocking pairs with respect to both stability definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a large-scale field experiment assessing the impact of an intervention providing evidence-based information about costs and returns to higher education. Treatment impacts are evaluated through university enrolment, choice of field of study, and performance either at university or in the labour market. Thanks to the large sample size, treatment effects can also be assessed for subgroups (by gender and parental education). We find that treated females from high-educated families chose more economically rewarding fields of study, while treated males from low-educated families were more likely to enter the labour market. Although not necessarily in line with policy goals, choices induced by additional information were not detrimental to students' opportunities, as treated students displayed a similar academic performance and higher employment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since higher education institutions are considered relevant catalysts in the formation of future business leaders, the concern for sustainability issues can take place in such institutions through the so-called Education for Sustainability. However, there are challenges higher education institutions face to implement it, as well as facilitating elements to overcome such challenges. In this scenario, this paper highlights the importance partnerships have, as facilitating elements, in all fronts needed to overcome challenges for education for sustainability's implementation in higher education institutions. Also, the role relational capabilities play as key-element for the success of partnership development is proposed. Thus, a Proposition is developed, as well as a conceptual framework for overcoming challenges for the implementation of education for sustainability in such institutions, considering the relevance of using the relational capabilities' perspective to better comprehend and develop partnerships for education for sustainability in higher education institutions. This paper's originality consists in filling a gap in the literature of this research domain, since there are no studies that discuss Education for Sustainability and Relational Capabilities, jointly. It is expected that this paper provides relevant insights regarding the importance of developing the dimensions of relational capabilities to increase the chances of success of partnerships between higher education institutions and other actors with which they relate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief paper develops a series of provocations against the current forms of Learning Analytics that are beginning to be implemented in higher education contexts. The paper highlights a number of ways in which Learning Analytics can be experienced as discriminatory, oppressive and ultimately disadvantaging across whole student populations, and considers the limitations of current efforts within educational data science to increase awareness of 'ethics' and 'social good'. This culminates in a stark choice: is it possible to substantially improve the field of Learning Analytics as it currently stands, or should we abandon it in favour of new forms of applying data science that are aligned with the experiences of non-conforming 'learners' and un-categorizable forms of 'learning'? • Learning Analytics can be discriminatory, oppressive and ultimately disadvantaging. • Concerns over 'data ethics' and 'social good' do not address these issues. • We need to expand understandings of Learning Analytics 'stakeholders'. • Can data science be reimagined for un-categorizable forms of 'learners'? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion and research on the role of 3D virtual learning environments in teaching and learning. It specifically focuses on the use of video games as an enabling technology in construction higher education. As such, it investigates whether task complexity has any influence on an individual's preferred learning style while learning through virtual reality (VR) technology. To answer this question and address relevant issues, an educational experiment has been designed and conducted. An experimental virtual learning environment, the Situation Engine , was set up as a virtual construction site for undergraduate construction students to experience construction work in progress. The design and development of the Situation Engine has drawn on powerful pedagogical theories such as situated and experiential learning. 253 undergraduate students participated in the educational experiment. Three tasks of different complexity levels were designed as the experimental environments; with level of complexity being the independent variable. The hypothesis that students would adopt different learning styles when engaged in learning tasks of different complexities was rejected. No significant difference in the preferred learning styles was identified among the three experimental groups. It was concluded, therefore, that when using virtual reality technology for construction education there is no evidence to suggest the level of task complexity has significant influence on how people learn. The study presented in this paper is the first empirical study in the construction higher education field that reveals the relationship between the task complexity and students learning styles when Virtual Learning Environments are engaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the increasing concern about sustainability issues in society, graduates and postgraduates going into the labour market benefit from the inclusion of sustainability contents in university studies. Visibility of these contents is gained towards a potential employer if they are explicitly mentioned in the university degree title. This is the first paper to explore this trend. More precisely, the purpose of this study is to find explanatory causal combinations of factors for this trend in the Spanish setting. The methodological approach of this paper is based on fuzzy sets. More precisely, it follows fuzzy-sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis, which is an innovative approach in the field of Higher Education yet a consolidated method in Sociology, Marketing or Management studies. This new methodology is well suited for rather limited sample sizes. The findings obtained reveal several causal combinations of internal and strategic factors leading to innovation in university degree catalogues by means of making visible the sustainable focus in the title of the university degrees. According to the results obtained, the public status, prestige and the sustainable profile adequately combined with some other characteristics (for instance large size or age) explain this phenomenon. This article uses an innovative methodological approach and makes a valuable contribution as it identifies the factors behind the early adopters, i.e. universities covering this "green niche" in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between academic optimism and sustainability of higher education. The intervening role of extra role behavior and internal branding is also examined. The data was collected from higher education institutions via randomly selected sample. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to evaluate the model fit and reliability, validity and internal consistency of the measures were evaluated. Further, hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the direct and indirect relationship among the hypothesised constructs. The regression analysis results supported a positive relationship between academic optimism and sustainability of higher education through internal branding and extra role behavior. Internal branding and extra role behavior positively mediated the linkage between academic optimism and sustainability in higher education. The study contributes to the practice as it helps academicians, practitioners, and professionals working in higher education institutions in their decision making. • This research examines the role of the stakeholders towards achieving sustainability in educational institutions. • This paper presents an empirical mediated model towards sustainability in educational institutions. • Using social identity theory, stakeholders' role for sustainability was explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper provides an overview of ISO/IEC 29110 and MoProSoft. • The paper aims to analyze the differences between the software engineering Basic profile of ISO/IEC 29110 and the level 2 practices of the MoProSoft standard related to the software project management and software implementation processes. • The paper provides a comparison between the Basic profile of the ISO/IEC 29110 and the level 2 practices of MoProSoft in order to identify the reasons why a Software Development Center of a university should start with the implementation of a standard, such as the ISO/IEC 29110, targeted for organizations having up to 25 people, before the implementation of a standard, such as the MoProSoft standard, that is targeted at organizations having up to 50 people. • The paper highlights how the Basic profile of the ISO/IEC 29110 reinforce the education and training of students of universities curricula in Computer Science and Informatics and Software Engineering. Software standards, targeted for the software industry, were developed to contribute to the development of quality products within budget and schedule, by optimizing efforts and resources. For small companies, the largest percentage of software companies in Mexico, they are fundamental for their growth and survival. However, academic programs do not always match industry requirements. In previous studies, the curricula in Computer Science and Informatics, and Software Engineering, of 4 Mexican universities, were compared with two software industry standards: the MoProSoft standard, a Mexican standard designed for organizations having up to 50 people and the Basic profile of the ISO/IEC 29110 developed specifically for organizations having up to 25 people. The analysis of the academic programs showed a better coverage of ISO/IEC 29110 than MoProSoft. In this paper, these two standards are mapped to understand the results of the analysis in detail and provide recommendations regarding academic programs. The analysis provides an evidence that the processes of the Basic profile of ISO/IEC 29110 are better covered by the universities curricula because the processes provides the minimal set of practices to be performed while a project is executed from the beginning until the delivery of a software. In addition, this mapping presents a clear differentiation between these two standards that might help Software Development Centers to understand where to start in the implementation of one of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reorienting teacher education should be placed at the heart of reorienting education towards sustainable development. This requires that teacher education institutes reorient and redefine their outcome standards as well as redesign their training programs accordingly to incorporate and implement Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Although many efforts have been made to promote ESD in teacher training, little information is available regarding to what extent ESD is integrated in teacher training programs or curricula. This study examines how ESD is incorporated in teacher training programs in terms of learning content, learning outcomes and didactic approach, through analyzing 429 course syllabi offered by the Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) in Vietnam. HNUE training programs were found to contain some elements of ESD but they lack coherence or systematic inclusion. The results suggest needed strategic changes at organizational (university) and individual (instructor) levels to improve ESD in teacher education. This paper contributes to the discussion on the implementation of a holistic curricular assessment approach for three aspects of ESD (learning content, learning outcomes and didactic approach) and highlights the ongoing need for improving curricular assessment strategies for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their recent paper “(Un)informed College and Major Choice: Evidence from Linked Survey and Administrative Data,” Hastings, Neilson, Ramirez, & Zimmerman (2016) provide an informal costly-information model, linking family background to students’ beliefs about educational costs and benefits. They verify predictions of their model using a data set of beliefs about college institutions and majors among Chilean college applicants and students. I test some of those same predictions using a data set of beliefs about college institutions and different levels of college education among high school students in the United States. I verify their predictions, with some exceptions, supporting the use of their costly-search model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability in Higher Education has been investigated mainly through examining institutional approaches, curricula content, or students' and teachers' perceptions of sustainability in practice. However, a deep characterisation of the foundations of this phenomenon is lacking. This article aims to address the existing lack of depth and comprehensiveness by identifying and categorising the critical attributes of Sustainability in Higher Education. Categories are the basic levels for knowledge classification, and critical attributes relate to the main perceived characteristics within categories. Both were structured through a literature review and a systematic analysis using the Proknow-C method. A set of 2513 studies on sustainability in education and related fields, published between 2000 and 2015, enabled the identification of 259 as appropriate for devising four categories: foundations, knowledge, personal, and integrative assets with 4, 4, 4, and 3 attributes respectively. From these, 129 papers presented at least four relationships among attributes of all categories. An assessment between the attributes identified for the selected studies delivered 85 analyses, with the following findings: (i) epistemologies of Sustainability in Higher Education develop in learning context; (ii) creativity should better link foundational and personal assets; (iii) transdisciplinarity is an epistemic transgression; (iv) resilience of active learners emerges in knowledge and personal assets relationships; (v) knowledge deconstruction and affectiveness form active learning; (vi) personal assets need to fit to complex dynamics of reality. Our analysis provides a means of benchmarking existing practice for Sustainability in Higher Education, and can be used as the basis for building capacity in a systematic way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to report the influence of self-control and self-regulated learning on a group of tertiary students' learning outcomes in a blended learning environment. In this project, 74 second-year students who were enrolled in a blended course of ICT in Education completed a questionnaire survey on self-control and self-regulated learning skills at the beginning of the course and weekly reports about their learning experiences during the course. It was found that self-control (as a dispositional personality trait) and self-regulated learning (students' capability of using effective strategies to achieve their learning goals) would predict the participants' course outcomes that were indexed by their final grades in the course. The impact of self-control on the participants' learning outcomes was mediated through their self-regulated learning and course participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using student evaluations of their instructor as an outcome measure, we estimate and compare class size and teacher effects for higher education, with an emphasis on determining whether a comprehensive class size reduction policy that draws on the hiring of new teachers is likely to improve educational outcomes. We find that first time teachers perform significantly worse than their peers, and we find substantial class size effects. Hence higher education institutions face a tradeoff if they wish to increase admission. This tradeoff implies that as class size increases, at first the negative class size effect is smaller than that of introducing a first time teacher. However, beyond a certain level, the class size effect dominates and it is better to create a new class with a first time teacher. 1 1 We would like to thank Matías Covarrubias and Fernanda Rojas for excellent research assistance. We would also like to thank comments received in the internal workshop of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile’s Economics Department and in the 2011 Yearly Congress of the Economics Society of Chile. We also thank two anonymous referees whose advice greatly improved the paper. The usual disclaimer applies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities and colleges have many global and local imperatives that attend the design of courses. These include industry-linked curriculum, institution wide graduate attributes, learning-focused approaches, professional accreditation requirements and increasingly, the need for work-ready graduates who are able to become lifelong learners on their exit from formal studies. Approaches to the design of study units in higher education has been the subject of considerable scrutiny over recent decades. This paper presents a framework which seeks to capture the ‘lived experience’ and practice wisdom of educational design. It situates the framework for contemporary learning design in the context of the various imperatives within higher education, offering some points of entry by which educators may draw together the many, sometimes competing, requirements and syntheses these with good practice in curriculum and pedagogy. It is envisaged that the use of this framework, by academic in the development, renewal and delivery of their higher education course and programs, will result in learning design and delivery that will build the confidence needed not just in our graduates but in our institutions and their profound and crucial role in the contemporary world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste generation is an intrinsic part of human existence. Waste materials are usually characterized by their nature, components and quality. Variations in quality, quantity and composition of solid waste can be linked to various factors such as cultural, economic, social and financial status of inhabitants of the particular space being studied. These distinct factors will also determine the best waste management practice to adopt. This paper captures the current institutional solid waste management in a Nigerian Private institution of higher learning. Using key-informant interview and personal field observations, the waste generation rate, pattern and characterization was made. Results showed that between 0.3 and 0.4 kg/capita/day was generated daily by the students in their respective halls of residence, with population ranging from 762 – 848 students in each of the halls. All the solid wastes generated were collected using appropriate waste collection bags and mobile bin positioned at strategic corners of the university premises. The waste materials after collection were segregated into plastics, bottles, nylon and organic materials by scavengers. After these non-bidegradables were sold in the secondary market, an estimated total sum of 639,900 naira (2908.6USD) was realized daily. At this rate a total sum of 230 million Naira (1,045,454.5 USD) is realizable yearly as wealth from waste. It was concluded that if all the organic waste streams from kitchens, cafeteria and animal houses are utilized for bioenergy and organic fertilizer, the wealth to be generated would be phenomenal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of sustainability in higher education has been advanced over at least the last two decades and brought sustainability assessment on the research agenda of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and sustainability science. Participatory approaches have gained increasing attention in these endeavours, but remain often vague and less addressed in sustainability assessment procedures. To fill in this gap, an indicator-based model, INDICARE, was developed that can assist in assessing participatory processes within higher education's sustainability initiatives. The objective of this paper is to introduce and discuss the model's theoretical background, its structure, applicability, and how it can broaden the perspectives on participation and sustainability assessment in the university context. Embedded in a cross-sectional qualitative research design, the model was developed in iterative stages and was presented and adjusted along six feedback loops, having been presented to 98 persons during conferences, workshops and university meetings. Inspired by biophilic ideas, transformative learning theories and participatory evaluation, INDICARE follows an ecocentric and integrative perspective that places the earth and its community at the centre of attention. A preliminary set of thirty indicators and practices, grouped in three categories of context, process, and transformation, is proposed. The assessment process itself is considered as a thought-provoking exercise rather than as a control tool and emphasizes the interplay of personal reflection and action-oriented outreach. INDICARE intends to invigorate the sustainability debate in higher education, in particular by proposing a more holistic approach to assessment that underlines experiencing the interconnectedness of human–nature relationships, combined with reflective exercises that can respond better to the call for transformation on individual and institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to predict what university course a student may select has important quality assurance and economic imperatives. The capacity to determine future course load and student interests provides for increased accuracy in the allocation of resources including curriculum and learning support and career counselling services. Prior research in data mining has identified several models that can be applied to predict course selection based on the data residing in institutional information systems. However, these models only aim to predict the total number of students that may potentially enrol in a course. This prior work has not examined the prediction of the course enrolments with respect to the specific academic term and year in which the students will take those courses in the future. Moreover, these prior models operate under the assumption that all data stored within institutional information systems can be directly associated with an individual student's identity. This association with student identity is not always feasible due to government regulations (e.g., student evaluations of teaching and courses). In this paper, we propose an approach for extracting student preferences from sources available in institutional student information systems. The extracted preferences are analysed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), to predict student course selection. The AHP-based approach was validated on a dataset collected in an undergraduate degree program at a Canadian research-intensive university (N = 1061). The results demonstrate that the accuracy of the student course predictions was high and equivalent to that of previous data mining approaches using fully identifiable data. The findings suggest that a students' grade point average relative to the grades of the courses they are considering for enrolment was the most important factor in determining future course selections. This finding is consistent with theories of modern counseling psychology that acknowledges self-efficacy as a critical factor in career planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational data mining is a growing field that uses the data obtained from educational information systems to discover knowledge and find answers to questions and problems concerning the education system. High dropout rates and poor academic performance among students are examples of the most common issues that affect the reputation of an educational institution. Students’ academic records can be analyzed to explore the factors behind these phenomena. This paper discusses the building of a model to predict the performance of students in a programming course based on their grades in courses in other subjects. A classification based on an association rules algorithm is used to build a classifier to help evaluate the student's performance in the programming course. This model aims to reduce dropout levels by helping student predict their likelihood of success in a course before they enroll in it. In addition, course instructors will be able to enhance student performance in the course by better estimating their abilities to learn the subject matter and adjusting their teaching strategies and methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education has become a cornerstone in the arise of knowledge society conceptualization. This concept covers a new type of social configuration that puts knowledge as the main value in human interaction for future social and economic development and also as one of the main actions to improve in order to gain a better quality of life. In this paper we discuss the importance of this structure and its characteristics, then we focus in the need to generate a higher education curriculum that fits this emphasis in social development of a new knowledge-based society. Finally, we use complex systems simulation to analyze six agents including: 1) Students; 2) Teaching - Teachers; 3) Training plan - Teachers; 4) Scientific research, IT development, innovation and professional performance; 5) Management - Managers; and 6) Environment and relevance or External Agents and five variables for this study: 1) Teaching; 2) Extracurricular activities; 3) Research and development; 4) Management; and 5) Educational culture. The final goal is to propose a curriculum that includes a projection to create knowledge-based society from higher education as a main factor to achieve this objective [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors previously proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption (Graham, Woodfield, & Harrison, 2012), identifying three stages: (a) awareness/exploration, (b) adoption/early implementation, and (c) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure, and support issues universities may address at each stage. In this paper, the authors applied that framework as well as Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovations theory to determine the degree to which institutional strategy, structure, and support measures facilitate or impede BL adoption among higher education faculty. In addition, the authors explored whether higher education faculty's innovation adoption category affects which measures facilitate or impede BL adoption. To achieve these objectives, the authors surveyed 214 faculty and interviewed 39 faculty at a school in the adoption/early implementation stage of BL adoption. The authors published the survey results in a prior article. The current article explores the results of the interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In designing and manufacturing such robotic and mechatronic systems, the engineers need a wide range of knowledge that includes electronics, mechanical engineering and information engineering. The purpose of this education is for students to give active learning for robotics and mechatronic techniques such as embedded controllers, motor driver circuits, sensors and to create structural drawings. To realize this goal, “an interest in creation” of student is regarded as an important educational method. In this paper, a systematic educational method for robotics and mechatronics education using “their interest” was introduced. The method is to hold robot competitions every year between 1st and 3rd year students as a regular part of the curriculum. To confirm the educational effect of this curriculum, the result of the Rescue Robot Contest that students participated were introduced. In addition, the educational curriculum was award as a good engineering education from Japanese Society for Engineering Education. As a result, it can be confirmed that the robot competition is a useful method to make students study more actively robotics and mechatronics technology by themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a Web-based intelligent tutoring system, called Remote Laboratory (RL). It is a computer-based learning environment that allows students from anywhere to access and perform experiments on real laboratory equipment from a distance via the Internet. As such, RLs are excellent platforms for students to network and collaborate with students from other. The project creates a platform in higher education sector, to be used to support student collaborative activities in RLs in a structured way that will enable students to develop in technical skills. We discuss how to employ facial expression recognition (FER) to develop an intelligent system to guide the students and also help them to improve the teaching and learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic information sharing is a key to effective sharing the public sector's information by using technologies. Most of the electronic information sharing studies did not focus on effect of the participation behaviour of employees. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the factors of electronic information sharing that influence the participation behaviour bases on theories and previous studies. Understanding of these factors can increase the information sharing among the employees in higher education sector. Thirteen domains of factors that are discovered in this study are benefits, risk, social network, Information stewardship, information quality, trust, privacy, reciprocity, complexity, expected rewards and associations and perceived effort . This paper proposes electronic information sharing factors in public sector to increase the participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of “How to teach TRIZ” has been the subject of much discussion and debate. Bruner [1] argued that children should be encouraged to “treat a task as a problem for which one invents an answer, rather than finding one out there in a book or on the blackboard”. This statement was taken from Dehaan's [2] article, published in 2009, on “Teaching Creativity and Inventive Problem Solving in Science” (p. 174), in which Altshuller's “Theory of inventive problem solving” has not been mentioned. This demonstrates only one aspect of why teaching TRIZ in educational systems is a challenging mission. This paper describes the process and method used for developing the Development thinking skills and problem solving course in academic settings. The proposed program is a combination of a generic design and problem solving process thinking methods. The course was developed using 4 main thinking methodologies: Mayer's general problem description, Polya's algorithm for problem solving, Altshuller's Theory of inventive problem solving and System thinking. The new “Development thinking skills” course program is expected to overcome teaching and studying difficulties in acquiring advances problem solving skills in higher education setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting equity, equal opportunities to all and social inclusion of people with disabilities is a concern of modern societies at large and a key topic in the agenda of European Higher Education. Despite all the progress, we cannot ignore the fact that the conditions provided by the society for the deaf are still far from being perfect. The communication with deaf by means of written text is not as efficient as it might seem at first. In fact, there is a very deep gap between sign language and spoken/written language. The vocabulary, the sentence construction and the grammatical rules are quite different among these two worlds. These facts bring significant difficulties in reading and understanding the meaning of text for deaf people and, on the other hand, make it quite difficult for people with no hearing disabilities to understand sign language. The deployment of tools to assist the daily communication, in schools, in public services, in museums and other, between deaf people and the rest may be a significant contribution to the social inclusion of the deaf community. The work described in this paper addresses the development of a bidirectional translator between Portuguese Sign Language and Portuguese text. The translator from sign language to text resorts to two devices, namely the Microsoft Kinect and 5DT Sensor Gloves in order to gather data about the motion and shape of the hands. The hands configurations are classified using Support Vector Machines. The classification of the movement and orientation of the hands are achieved through the use of Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. The translator exhibits a precision higher than 90%. In the other direction, the translation of Portuguese text to Portuguese Sign Language is supported by a 3D avatar which interprets the entered text and performs the corresponding animations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The educational ERP of business activities in higher education go through a different modules. ERP in higher education should respond the real requirements of education system. Enhancements or mere adaptations of legacy solutions, which stemmed from the experience in business practice, are not always successful. The current paper shows the contents of the ERP that serve the education system successfully also shows the needs and future expectations of higher education institutions and the current business oriented ERP system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of social media networks by organizations has been increasing, mainly by using more social networks but also by constantly increasing on the number of messages and received comments posted on these channels. Interestingly, this process apparently has not been accompanied by a carefully planned and strategically design process to provide the essential alignment with organizational goals. This study is framed in the tertiary sector, the Higher Education Sector (HES), which despite its peculiarities, is no exception to the above limitations, and is facing an increased competitive environment. In this paper we present a sector benchmarking process, and the respective analysis, to provide insights on the sector's tendency, as well as a threefold classification of the sector's social media strategies being pursued. The analysis builds upon a regulatory communication framework and respective editorial model. We describe the results of our automatic text-mining and categorization information system, specifically developed to address and analyze the seven categories of HES’ social media messages. Our results show that social media strategies have been focusing essentially on mediatization and building/maintaining the organizational image/reputation as well as on advertising educational services, but completely neglecting the dialogical dimension intrinsically linked to social media environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores whether university education provides young graduates studying subjects related to the environment with relevant knowledge and strategies for sustainability actions that they can put into practice in the workplace. It also reveals the difficulties and obstacles that graduates encounter in their professional careers to promote pro-environmental strategies in their companies or to maintain sustainable behaviours. Information for the qualitative research was obtained from semi-structured interviews with 70 graduates from eight assorted faculties spread across three campuses at the University of Zaragoza. The paper categorises the most widely detected barriers impeding the application of pro-environmental strategies in the workplace and considers whether these barriers are connected with university education. One of the most relevant conclusions is that a small number of graduates were involved in pro-environmental strategies and only when such strategies were promoted and developed by the firm itself. In these cases the graduates felt that they had been well prepared at the University. However, the majority had not participated in pro-environmental strategies and felt that their university education did not equip them properly for their involvement in environmental projects. This barrier is thus considered a very significant one. A previous research study developed with the same graduates tested a causal model that explained environmental attitudes and their connection with environmental behaviour. In the model, the intention or willingness to act came between attitudes and behaviours. In this work, the unwillingness to act is also shown to be a significant barrier to participating in pro-environmental strategies. As a conclusion, changes are suggested in the curriculum to include core competencies in sustainability in all degrees. It is also proposed that firms and universities establish organisational structures to promote effective sustainability and pro-environmental actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of how to assess sustainability in universities has produced a growing body of literature with meta-analyses on methods in national, regional or local settings. Yet, there is relatively little on global campus sustainability rankings in higher education. This paper addresses that need. It presents a critical review of GreenMetric World University Ranking. The considerations and ranking systems that influenced its original design are given, as well as a framework to allow comparison with these. The ranking is critiqued in relation to the varying concepts of sustainability, challenges to university ranking, and the trade-off between scientific and practical concerns. The article shows how methodological choices in the ranking are explained by the intended users, goals and mission of the ranking. The analysis focuses on conceptual issues surrounding the meaning of sustainability and helps to enhance understanding of the term. Considerations for global campus sustainability rankings are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]