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This paper puts forward a conceptual framework to support the dual challenges of strategic and practical integrative action of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). There are numerous existing resources and toolkits providing appropriate actions, guidance or approaches to monitor and measure ESD engagement. Our intended distinctive contribution in this paper is to complement these with heuristic ways of thinking that offer clarity on the context and evolution of progress on ESD at an institutional level. Our proposals were developed through structured comparative discussions by ESD practitioners from seven European universities, leading to a consensus view on key contextual influences across a range of environments, embodied in our proposed heuristic metaphors. The resulting proposed framework, built upon a systems-based visual metaphor of a forest ecosystem of HEIs, proposes the use of the dimensions of capacity and commitment, to define an integrative framework with four positional scenarios: "Pockets of Practice", "Emerging Agenda" to "Integrated Impact" and "Off the Agenda". To illustrate its application, it is used to contextualize relevant steps to progress ESD associated with each scenario in the areas of strategy, staff development, formal education and extra-curricular opportunities. We argue that the adoption of such a framework by HEI practitioners could support day-to-day decision-making and strategic planning towards an integrated approach to ESD that engages with all areas of university activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its proliferation in the 1970s, Women's Studies programmes have been investigated for their potential impact on students, particularly their capacity to rouse feminist awareness and identity. From such investigations, an array of scholarship attests to the remarkable impact of Women Studies programmes in raising feminist-critical consciousness and igniting activism in students. However, the majority of such studies are American-centric and their findings generally depict Western/liberal-feminist impressions. This paper reports a 2015 empirical study that engaged graduates and the (then) current students of the University of Buea's Department of Women and Gender Studies in a similar investigation of the influence of feminist studies. The research aimed to verify if these students/graduates would recount experiencing a similar impact of their academic programme given the more conservative Cameroonian contexts and determine if this Women Studies programme, being African-based, enabled distinctly African-feminist impressions. The study found that the informational influence of the department's undergraduate programme (though recognisable) was compromised by the normative influence of the Cameroonian context in which it is taught and the department's inadequate commitment to African-feminist thought. Responses revealed that participants struggle to reconcile what they study and how they are socialised resulting in varying degrees of convenient feminist ideation. Surprisingly, in compromising between their informational and normative influences, participants unintentionally portrayed African-feminist leanings as put forward by African-feminist ideologies like Complementarianism, Stiwanism, Nego-feminism, etc. This paper discusses the implications of the study's findings with regards to both the broadness of African-feminist thought and the teaching of women's studies in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article synthesizes ideas that emerged over the course of a 10-week symposium titled "Teaching Reproducible Research: Educational Outcomes" https://www.projecttier.org/fellowships-and-workshops/2021-spring-symposium that took place in the spring of 2021. The speakers included one linguist, three political scientists, seven psychologists, and three statisticians; about half of them were based in the United States and about half in the United Kingdom. The symposium focused on a particular form of reproducibility--namely computational reproducibility--and the paper begins with an exposition of what computational reproducibility is and how it can be achieved. Drawing on talks by the speakers and comments from participants, the paper then enumerates several reasons for which learning reproducible research methods enhance the education of college and university students; the benefits have partly to do with developing computational skills that prepare students for future education and employment, but they also have to do with their intellectual development more broadly. The article also distills insights from the symposium about practical strategies instructors can adopt to integrate reproducibility into their teaching, as well as to promote the practice among colleagues and throughout departmental curricula. The conceptual framework about the meaning and purposes of teaching reproducibility, and the practical guidance about how to get started, add up to an invitation to instructors to explore the potential for introducing reproducibility in their classes and research supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a shift in how many teaching, learning and research activities are conducted internationally. Lockdowns compelled all education sectors, including higher education (HE), to adopt a variety of online learning practices at short notice. As these changes in practice have implications beyond the pandemic, more needs to be understood about settings across the globe where the move to online may pose particular challenges. This study brings a focus to how lecturers in a college of education in Nigeria responded to the professional demands of lockdowns and developed strategies for managing educational activities that have relevance during and beyond the pandemic itself. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to examine lecturers' perceptions of the management of teaching, learning and research activities during a lockdown, drawing out longer term implications. Data were collected through in-depth, one-to-one interviews with six lecturers from a college of education in Nigeria. Interview data were analysed qualitatively. Detailed analysis indicated that lecturers' strategies included encouraging students to engage in self-directed learning, as they uploaded learning materials on messaging groups and the college's e-learning platform. However, lecturers felt that the quality of teaching and assessment was compromised by factors including: irregular power supply, poor internet connection, high data costs and some students' limited digital skills. A particular concern was students' lack of interaction on the online platforms, which lecturers perceived to result in a more passive teaching and learning process. Lecturers also experienced difficulties undertaking research activities. A range of strategies and implications for the ongoing management of educational activities was discussed. The study offers insights into how some of the challenges encountered could be addressed to support sustainable online and blended teaching and learning in the longer term, in settings internationally where there are barriers to accessing online teaching and learning. Crucial aspects include strengthening educational technology training for lecturers and students, enhancing e-learning platforms for teaching practical courses, and enabling lecturers to develop beneficial and valuable online resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly incorporated into curricula worldwide, Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a complex and evolving area of education. As the significance of GCE in the classroom grows, so does the need for insight into professional development for GCE educators. Given that many approaches to GCE have typically stemmed from 'global North' contexts, it is particularly important to research this area from 'global South' perspectives. This paper contributes by reporting on a study conducted in an initial teacher education setting in Ghana. The study aimed to investigate prospective teachers' viewpoints on GCE. It sought to explore aspects including how pre-service teachers understood the orientation, meaning and relevance of GCE teaching and their views on the debates surrounding GCE's underlying approaches and values. Participants were 16 pre-service teachers who had taken GCE courses during their degree programmes at a university in Ghana. Data were collected through three focus group discussions and analysed qualitatively. In-depth analysis of the rich data suggested that participants had generally positive perceptions about GCE, whilst observing challenges and tension in the relationships between local, national and global issues. Whereas some were of the opinion that GCE had a neocolonial orientation, focusing on Western elements over other cultures, others expressed the view that GCE content could be reoriented to address local issues as well. Although participants felt that greater practical experience could strengthen their learning, they believed they had obtained adequate skills in terms of content and theory for the teaching of GCE. The study draws attention to the need for educators to be supported from an early stage and throughout their career journeys with professional development in GCE that invites exploration, critical thinking and challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists a substantial literature on sustainability pedagogy. Much of it addresses individual courses, sustainability programs, or the learning competencies that are encouraged. The implicit focus is on students who have chosen to specialize on sustainability topics by obtaining a degree in programs such as , sustainability management, environmental science or studies. More recently, there has been emerging literature calling for embedding sustainability into entire university curricula as sustainability becomes a more prominent issue for higher education institutions. Four key themes have emerged in this literature that are relevant to the goal of developing sustainability pedagogy relevant to all students: (i) the organizational framework for the content of sustainability pedagogy, (ii) the conceptualisation and teaching of inter-transdisciplinarity, (iii) the relative merits of compulsory or voluntary sustainability programming, and (iv) the role of course inventories. In this paper, we examine the University of Toronto's introduction of a new model of sustainability learning and evaluate it against the themes and recommendations found in the literature. This model aims to establish university-wide sustainability learning trajectories, called Sustainability Pathways whose novelty is in its offer to reach many more students than other approaches. The key themes emerging from the literature will serve as a basis for program evaluation. It is found that the Pathways program does embody some of these themes but that further development would be desirable. The program and the course inventories at its foundation will go through periodic evaluation to assess progress on program goals and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption in higher medical education and healthcare worldwide. To thrive in times of uncertainty, medical higher education institutions have to adapt to the post-COVID-19 era and innovate its international activities. To make a difference in societies locally, nationally and internationally, they will have to enhance their global presence. Internationalization is the best way to the exchanging of knowledge, enhancement of the medical curriculum, and mobilization of talent and resources for research and teaching. To remain competitive, universities will need to expand their international activities. This paper highlights several suggestions to enhance internationalization of medical higher education institutions in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is enormous concern at the international level vis-à-vis the retention of students in universities. Given that dropout rates and their social repercussions are causing great concern worldwide, researchers have been examining this issue to establish models to predict early dropout and to guide actions to support students who are at risk of dropping out. In this paper, we present a study we carried out at the University of Granada in which the risk of first-year students dropping out was analyzed by administering the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ v2) to 701 students who began their studies in the 2018/19 academic year. The data pertained to persisting at the institution one year later. The results indicated significant differences within the dimensions of academic and social integration, degree commitment, collegiate stress, academic advising and motivation, scholastic conscientiousness, institutional commitment, financial strain, and academic efficacy. These results align with a wide range of national and international studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]