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This study investigates how exposure to a field of study influences students’ major choices. If students have incomplete information, exposure potentially helps them to learn about the scope of a field as well as how well the field matches their interest and abilities. We exploit a natural experiment where university students have to write a research paper in business, economics, or law during their first year before they choose a major. Due to oversubscription of business papers, the field of the paper is assigned quasi-randomly. We find that writing in economics raises the probability of majoring in economics by 2.7 percentage points. We show further that this effect varies across subfields: the effect is driven by assignment to topics less typical of the public's perception of the field of economics, suggesting students learn through exposure that the field is broader than they thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has ushered in an era of intelligent education, catalyzing profound changes in teaching methods and reshaping the roles of educators. This paper explores the intricate relationship between technology, education, and teachers by drawing upon relevant theories from the field of technological sociology, particularly the concept of "one skill for one person." It scrutinizes the evolving role of teachers in the context of artificial intelligence, delving into the mechanisms that underpin their functions in this rapidly evolving educational landscape. Through a historical examination of educational technology innovation, this paper delineates a three-tiered transformation in the relationship between artificial intelligence and university teachers, spanning from "technology exclusion" to "technology complementarity" and finally to "technology dependence." The paper used a mixed-methods strategy, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. These phases illustrate the evolving synergy between human educators and AI, ultimately contributing to the modernization of the educational system and the enhancement of educational capabilities. This research sheds light on how the integration of AI can enhance the educational experience and empower educators, ensuring the continued advancement of education in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, higher education institutions are focused on understanding which factors are associated with the failure or success of students to, early on, be able to implement measures that can reduce the low performance of students and even dropout. The retention rate is positively and negatively influenced by factors belonging to several dimensions (personal, environmental, and institutional). We aim to use information from those dimensions to identify students enrolled in a Computer Networks course at risk of failing the subject. Besides, this needs to happen as early as possible, to be able to provide the students, for example, with extra support or resources to try to prevent that negative outcome. For predicting the grade level on the first test, the best accuracy obtained was 55%. However, most C-level grades were correctly classified, with 63% accuracy in predicting the students that are most at risk of failing, which is one of our main objectives. As for the prediction of the second test's grade level, the best accuracy obtained was 89% and concerned data regarding the students' interaction with the LMS together with students' grades history. All the C-level grades were correctly classified (100% accuracy) and so we were able to correctly predict every student at a high risk of failing. Using the procedure described in this paper, we are able to anticipate the students needing extra support, and provide them with different resources, to try to prevent their negative outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality's (VR) applications in education have been a topic of interest to the academia in recent years. Although literature expands significantly worldwide, the focus on education still presents a high number of opportunities to explore. In Latin America, the literature regarding the use of virtual reality is limited and not yet systematized. Therefore, the present study aims to provide an overview of Latin America's research publications regarding the use of VR in higher education. Using bibliometric measures and coding in Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases' outputs, we analyzed 126 papers, the majority of them from social sciences, followed by engineering, business, and medicine. Content tree analysis resulted in 5 dimensions: 'Functional aspects of using VR as a learning tool', 'Teaching strategies and methodologies using VR', 'Behavioral aspects of using VR as a learning tool', 'Outputs of VR use as an educational tool' and 'Competencies and readiness to use VR as a learning tool'. Most publications (74,6%) focus or present as one of the discussions the functional aspects of VR, such as access, viability, usefulness, virtual environment, the association with artificial intelligence, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions in Indonesia are required to report their academic data to the national higher institution database (namely PDDikti) through a synchronization mechanism. Because the PDDikti database has been used as the reference for nationwide programs such as university ranking, diploma verification, faculty promotion, and tenure, academic data in their reports have to be valid, accurate, and up to date. Yet, data quality is an issue among higher institutions, while data governance is the heart of data quality. This paper investigates challenges encountered by a public university in Indonesia in implementing data governance and how to resolve them. The findings outline six main challenges in data governance implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology (BT) is gaining popularity, and there have been increasing papers on blockchain and education, particularly on how to use blockchains in education. However, as a public ledger which is shared and agreed on by all users in a distributed network, blockchain technology involves unconventional thinking, and learning BT could be challenging for college students. In this paper, we present a project-based learning (PBL) approach for effective education of BT at college level. We first explain why PBL is suitable for BT education and discuss various issues should be considered for project-based learning on blockchain technology. We then discuss several different ways of doing this and offer our suggestions. We present case studies which we have developed, that can provide useful guidelines to students and beginners who are interested in BT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of microlearning both for professional training and in the field of education seems unstoppable. Nonetheless, there is a lack of evidence of its learning effectiveness and student satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to uncover these two aspects of microlearning when taking part in a business education program. Its originality is that it analyses in depth a fast-growing EdTech startup that provides business training using microlearning methods, exploring the effect in terms of student satisfaction and learning effectiveness when combining a significant number of microlearning lessons to create a macro-learning course. Findings show that learning effectiveness is mainly explained by the reason for enrolling in this type of training and its applicability to the students' current jobs, resulting in four possible learning outcomes of increasing levels of effectiveness: entertainment, updating knowledge and skills, unexpected learning, and effective learning. This paper helps fill a gap in the research on learner satisfaction and microlearning effectiveness, finding that they are not necessarily guaranteed. It also has practical implications for designing, recruiting for, and implementing microlearning-based programs. Keypoints: Empirical research into microlearning effectiveness and student satisfaction in postgraduate business education. Exploring the effectiveness of macro-learning, or the grouping of a significant number of microlearning lessons into a learning program. Uncovering different levels of learning effectiveness and their antecedent conditions. • Seeking learning or curiosity drive reasons to enroll in microlearning. • The effectiveness of microlearning hinges on reasons for enrolment and relevance to job roles. • Two thirds of the participants in microlearning are satisfied covering their learning objectives. • Four types of learning outcomes with increasing effectiveness are identified. • Outcome types: entertainment, updating knowledge and skills, unexpected learning and effective learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the rise of "Generative Artificial Intelligence" (GAI) in its myriad forms, with the highest profile being the "Large Language Models" (LLMs). More importantly, it analyses the potentially disruptive impact of this ascendant technology on higher education and the global workplace. The findings of this paper indicate that students pursuing higher education tend to perceive GAI favourably, as it frees them from the toil of rote-learning. However, the view is rather mixed in the case of educators, who are still coming to grips with this seemingly disruptive technology. In the case of the global labour market, GAI has the potential to decimate legions of white-collar jobs once it eliminates inherent issues of biases, security and misinformation. Despite the media's constant labelling of GAI as a disruptive technology that has suddenly burst onto the technological scene, it is evidenced in this paper that the technology has taken nearly eight decades to reach today's level of technological advancement. Further, it is far from reaching its full potential, as it is still incorporating advances in pattern recognition, planning and problem solving, and quantum computing technologies. This study also warns of concentrating the power of this game-changing technology in the hands of a few major corporate titans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University laboratory is an important place to train professional and technical personnel, and doing laboratory safety management well is the basic guarantee of all teaching activities. Traditional laboratory management in colleges and universities often relies on the registration of paper forms, regular information reporting and unified safety education and training, which are prone to problems such as untimely information transmission and inadequate safety education. In current college education and teaching, college laboratory plays an important role in strengthening students' innovation ability and training students' practical ability. Therefore, university laboratory has become an important way to highlight the ability and strength of universities. Experimental courses in colleges and universities can not only teach students some professional knowledge, but also help students establish innovative thinking and find learning methods and strategies from experiments. In order to meet the actual needs of the current teaching reform in colleges and universities, the system construction and management methods of open laboratory science have been strengthened. Through the comprehensive analysis of the current situation of university laboratory management, it is found that there are problems such as backward management mode and management method in the current university laboratory. This paper analyzes the current situation of university laboratory management and optimization countermeasures as follows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Social Media (SM)'s adoption as educational instruments in Higher Education (HE) has been gaining popularity among researchers and practitioners. Nonetheless it has been adopted to support various learning approaches such as Cooperative Learning (CL). Despite the growing research in this field, few studies have proposed a comprehensive SM integration framework as well as empirical studies to evaluate its effectiveness. This paper examines how SM is being used as a pedagogical tool in HE and identifies major factors that drives SM's inclusion in HE classrooms. In addition, the paper investigates the effectiveness of a previously proposed integration framework which was developed to promote CL using a popular SM platform, LinkedIn. A survey was administered to collect data from students in different subjects at a university in Australia. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was adopted for data analysis using IBM's SPSS26 and AMOS26. One of the notable results of this study is the significant positive relation found between the use of the adopted integration framework and CL, SM challenges' mitigation, students' intention to use SM and their learning process. The findings of this study have important implications for practice and pave the way for future empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has provided the most important set of guidelines for web accessibility which is popularly known as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The accessibility analysis of higher education websites becomes paramount important to make them inclusive considering the growing number of enrollments of persons with disabilities (PwDs) in higher education, in countries such as India. This paper presents the accessibility analysis of higher education websites with the case study of college websites (N = 44) affiliated with the University of Kashmir and Cluster University Srinagar. The study has been carried out with two major accessibility evaluation tools called web accessibility test, denoted as TAW and the accessibility engine powering browser extensions called the accessibility engine, denoted as aXe. This paper lists the major accessibility barriers exposed by these sites in terms of metrics such as a number of problems, warnings and a status of success criteria violations. With respect to TAW tool, a number of problems observed were 2646, a large number of warnings to the scale of 15995 and the not reviewed items were 1356. With aXe tool, the total violations observed were 1951 and items needing review were 1733. Findings of the statistical analysis are also presented in this paper. This paper presents a roadmap of steps for making these websites inclusive and barrier-free for PwDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In university-level education, the computer network is a mandatory course for computer science and engineering majors. A computer network course provides theoretical and hands-on foundations for network connectivity, network topologies, internet protocols, networking devices, and gateways. In the traditional classroom, students face challenges in gaining essential knowledge and self-efficacy. Teachers face challenges in assessing students' quality of knowledge due to the abundance of online computer science teaching resources. Chatbot technologies have the potential to overcome these challenges and enhance essential knowledge and self-efficacy. However, the argument remains whether a course-specific standard chatbot or a generalizable chatbot could produce high-quality answers. Therefore, in this paper, we research 1) to what extent does using chatbots improve higher education students' essential knowledge of computers network? and 2) to what extent does using chatbots improve the self-efficacy of higher education students? Our first insight indicates that groundbreaking generalizable chatbots such as You and ChatGPT produce rather detailed answers to the questions associated with computer network courses, but those answers may not be the model answers that teachers expect from the students. Hence, research-based course-specific standard chatbots are required to teach computer network topics effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education is poised at the precipice of the changes and challenges brought about by ChatGPT. This paper addresses some of the most fundamental questions about the role, position, and implications of ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools amidst the evolving landscape of higher education and modern society. By linking technological affordances with educational needs, we conceptualize ChatGPT as a student-driven innovation with rich potential to empower students and enhance their educational experiences and resources. However, this empowerment comes at a price. It requires collaborative efforts among the stakeholders to address the new and emerging challenges regarding student training, higher education curricula and assessment, and technology development and governance. It also implies new directions for educational research and theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New technology, through the IoT, Big Data and AI ecosystem, is the foundation on which tomorrow's solutions are created. Improved processes with better decision making are the actors that drive the evolution of tomorrow's services. This new technology has enabled innovations in several sectors including medical, manufacturing, automation, energy, education, and others. It should be noted that in recent years, Industry 4.0 and the COVID-19 sanitary crisis have forced some remarkable transformations and contributions to people's quality of life, safety, health and education. Currently, the education sector in all its levels (primary, secondary and university) re-quires the use of this technology and is moving more specifically towards a system known as "education 4.0" to meet the different demands of this sector. In this paper, we present a literature review of the use of Big Data analytics in the education sector in particular. We discuss the different technologies, architectures, and applications of Big Data analytics in this growing sector, and we propose a new architecture based on the new technology applied in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that the world community is engaged in pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) means that an unrivalled opportunity is provided to universities, both in respect of teaching and in research, on individual SDGs, as well as in pursuing their "third mission" linking up with external stakeholders and society. However, not many universities have realised that and many are falling behind. This paper explores the many advantages of the introduction of the SDGs into teaching and suggests that it can catalyse the engagement of students in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) with the concepts of sustainability. The paper fills in a research gap by surveying the current state of the art regarding the theme, presenting current data outlining the extent to which HEI are using SDGs to support their sustainability work. The reasons why some institutions are currently not engaging is also shown. The paper, which consists of a worldwide survey deployed to collect data on the SDGs and sustainability teaching at universities, concludes by providing some recommendations aimed at encouraging further engagement of HEI in incorporatingSDGs as part of their teaching programs. This research is unique in the sense that it provides for the first time offers an overview of the level of emphasis selected universities currently place on the SDGs. Finally, it provides a contribution to current state of knowledge by outlining some actions universities may take, to move forward with their implementation. • The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at universities is still on its infancy. • The SDGs may assist universities to better relate with external stakeholders and society. • A greater involvement of students may be achieved by the integration of the SDGs in teaching. • More systematic efforts are needed to increase the presence of the SDGs in higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the growing number of students accessing the Internet through mobile devices, universities have been increasingly interested in accepting new communication technologies in the teaching context, enhancing the digital transformation of these institutions. Thus, it becomes relevant to have instruments that allow the characterization of the use of these technologies in the context of higher education. This paper is the result of a more comprehensive research project and aims to analyze the students' perspective on the use of those technologies to communicate with their teachers, to investigate with what goals and functions students use the technologies, and to understand what their expectations are. To support the study, an analysis model was conceptualized and deployed in a case study conducted at a Portuguese university. Data collection was carried out through the administration of an online questionnaire to students in 2018. The results show that applications that allow interpersonal communication as well as publishing and sharing technologies are preferred by students to communicate with their teachers. In addition to the use, we analyzed the answers regarding the ease of use, expectation, attitude toward using, satisfaction, frequency of use, among other variables considered in the analysis model and presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There are numerous implementation structures for sustainability in HEIs. • Policy, Strategies, Initiatives and Outreach approaches are varied. • Numerous drivers, barriers and best practices exist. • Monitoring of sustainability progress is not standardized. • Access to sustainability information can be challenging. Higher Education Institutes are being called upon to integrate sustainable development into their organisation, driven by national and international events, policies and environmental targets. This paper maps sustainability policies and initiatives of a select number of Irish and international Higher Education Institutes, exploring their integration of sustainability on-campus, testing of new ideas and technologies, and the amplification of lessons learned within society and economy. It provides a comparison of Irish Higher Education Institutes with international examples. Sixteen case studies were selected; seven from Ireland and nine international. A literature review was conducted with a focus on papers that dealt explicitly with sustainability education and outreach. Three site visits of Higher Education Institution campuses took place, as did interviews with energy and transport managers and academics of each institute. The results show the integration of sustainable development into Higher Education Institutes follows no standard approach, with the number of initiatives for sustainability outweighing the number of strategies and policies, presenting a general bottom-up process. Overall, Higher Education Institutes lack a systemic approach. The majority of initiatives focus oncampus actions, with outreach neglected. Higher Education Institutes represent significant resources in implementing sustainable development. To maximise their potential a mixture of top-down and bottom-up processes are necessary, with management support essential if sustainable development is to survive in the long-term, and for lessons learned to be successfully amplified to wider society and economy and assist in meeting national and international environmental targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, many colleges and universities decided to mandate vaccination for all students and employees. The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate the effect of the mandate policy on Fall 2021 COVID-19 cases in institutions of higher education. We construct a unique dataset of a sample of 94 colleges and universities in the east and southeast regions of the United States, 41 of which required vaccination prior to Fall 2021. A difference-in-differences analysis is conducted, considering vaccine requirement as a policy implemented only in a sub-group of these institutions. We control for several factors, including state-level case per capita and student population. Our analysis shows that mandatory vaccination substantially decreased cases in institutions of higher education by 1,473 cases per 100,000 student population (95 CI: 132, 2813). The results suggest that a COVID-19 vaccine requirement is an effective policy in decreasing cases in such institutions, leading to a safer educational experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversified literature on innovation processes impedes innovation and entrepreneurship education in providing a holistic innovation process model while practitioners struggle to implement innovation processes in the face of trends such as servitization and digitalization. This paper aims to shed light on how innovation processes are depicted by lectures and educators to establish a validated process view on digital innovation for services which will help provide grounding for innovation and entrepreneurship teaching. Consequently, this work expands innovation process and innovation teaching literature and contributes to high-quality up to date innovation and entrepreneurship education by providing propositions towards innovation processes and teaching practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of the research on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dissemination of innovative e-learning tools in higher education. Research was carried out in Poland in December 2021 on a sample of 621 students. The main issue that was the subject of the author's analysis was the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the change in the use of innovative e-learning tools in university education. After conducting the research and discussing this and related research about e-learning during the pandemic, it was concluded that the percentage of students familiar with the analyzed e-learning tools has increased significantly during the pandemic. There has been a visible rise, especially in the usage of the following tools: MS Teams, Zoom, and Google Classroom. The most frequently used e-learning tools during the COVID-19 pandemic have been mainly videoconferencing tools such as MS Teams and Zoom. However, students also have used e-learning platforms and e-mails. The author's research identified three hidden factors (categories) of the used e-learning tools. They include the following categories: popular services and applications adapted to e-learning; popular applications for synchronous meetings adapted to e-learning; and other synchronous and asynchronous e-learning methods. The familiarity with information technology, as well as an interest in innovative e-learning tools, have positive influence on the ease of acquiring content in e-learning. Having the proper resources also positively influences the absorption of e-learning content. On the basis of the achieved results, the authors prepared a model of relations between students' interest in innovative e-learning technology and the resources they possess to participate in e-learning classes. This model enables us to assess which method—e-learning, traditional or hybrid—should be used in the given situation. The developed model can be useful for universities. They can assess the students' interest in innovative e-learning technologies and their level of technical resources using questionnaires and on this basis divide students into groups to prepare the optimal learning way—e-learning, traditional or hybrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains why under laissez-faire the financing of higher education is both inefficient and inequitable. It is argued that a government-run scheme of income contingent loans (ICLs) for higher education would achieve superior outcomes. We advocate a refinement of existing ICLs schemes. Following Apps, Long and Rees (2014), the paper proposes a piecewise-linear repayment schedule that serves both equity and efficiency objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of income contingent loans (ICLs) for Higher Education (HE) students is becoming increasingly prevalent around the world. Using a model of simulated lifetime earnings for graduates, in this paper we show that the impact of the design of ICLs on the magnitude and distribution of government subsidies is highly dependent on the institutional setting. In particular, the average debt level as a share of average earnings is a key determinant of the impact of various policy parameters. The variance of earnings within the graduate population is also shown to be a determinant of ICL taxpayer costs. This paper is the first comparative exercise of impact of the design of ICLs in different settings, and the findings are highly relevant to countries looking to implement or reform their student loan systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract Much literature discusses higher education as an agent for sustainable development, but the extent to which higher education contributes to unsustainable economic and social systems receives less attention. This paper examines the environmental impacts of international student mobility in higher education. Combining several datasets, the paper presents a model of greenhouse gas emissions associated with international student mobility. Estimates suggest that these emissions are substantial and are rising faster than overall global emissions, but the emissions per student are slowly decreasing, largely due to changes in the patterns of mobility. The paper concludes that although international exchange is increasingly important, a meaningful consideration of higher education for sustainable development should take account of environmental costs of international mobility alongside its benefits. Highlights • Estimates emissions from international student mobility in higher education. • Considers emissions from travel and changes in consumption. • Estimates at least 14 megatons of CO 2 per year associated with student mobility. • Emissions per mobile student are decreasing as mobility patterns change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Progressing towards sustainable development remains a key global challenge. And yet, the various interpretations of the concept of sustainable development and the questions it raises about economic growth make its implementation difficult. Higher education institutions may help to overcome these difficulties by developing new processes of change. However, to achieve this they need to integrate sustainable development in all their areas of activity. The aim of this paper was to develop new insights into organisational change processes in universities relating to sustainable development. Contributing to this aim, this paper reports on a case study of United Kingdom higher education drawing on findings and conclusions from a survey of their policy frameworks relating to sustainable development. The method comprised a critical policy analysis in order to identify, differentiate and categorise stakeholder interactions. The data generated comprised the range of higher education stakeholders and the network of interactions that they formed. Theoretical insights from social network analysis, stakeholder theory and the normative business model were used to find opportunities to address the difficulties in the implementation of sustainable development. Results suggested that the existing networks identified in the policy frameworks may not support the effective integration of sustainable development in higher education. Low-density of the national networks; the lack of a clear governance vocabulary for national policy frameworks; and the lack of explicit funding flows between organisations all pose problems for organisational change towards sustainable development in higher education. Highlights • The paper develops insights in organisational change at universities in sustainable development. • Critical policy analysis identifies, differentiates and categorises stakeholder interactions. • Social network analysis, stakeholder theory, Normative Business Model inform interpretation. • Density, governance and funding of policy networks could aid change at universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is an important tool that is broadly used to sustain human wellbeing. Thermal comfort plays a key role in enhancing performance inside buildings. This paper discusses the evaluation of thermal comfort in a sample of higher educational buildings located in a hot arid climate like Egypt. It focuses on the use of three POE techniques to enhance interior conditions and emphasizes the importance of utilizing different techniques to verify findings. In the quest to achieve thermal comfort, POE techniques, whether quantitative or qualitative, are important tools for evaluation. A sample of indoor spaces is reviewed and indicates that 2/3 of them fulfill occupants satisfaction according to actual readings and simulation results. The research also involves a survey of POE questionnaires as an interactive tool for evaluation. This section reveals a different perspective by indicating that only 1/3 of spaces fulfill occupant satisfaction. The study highlights such a significant disparity in results and endorses that the operation of indoor spaces should provide favorable conditions which are actually perceived by users and are truly responsive to their needs. This paper consists of three parts respectively addressing: the broad notions; the multi-tool evaluation process, and the findings and recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the macroeconomic determinants of first enrollment in private higher education institutions, as a dependent variable, for 21 Departments of Colombia plus the capital city of Bogotá from 2005 to 2020. The bases of the human capital theory were contrasted with the empirical evidence for the case studied, and the effect of currency devaluation represents a new contribution to the literature. We used the Prais-Winsten methodology with corrected standard errors and first-order autocorrelation correction to estimate the econometric model. The results suggest that favorable variations in GDP, wage expectations, and population positively impact the dependent variable. However, the devaluation of the Colombian peso against the US dollar, represented in the trm variable, has a negative effect, i.e., the devaluation of the peso would lead to a reduction in the dependent variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introducing the times of papers being cited to reflect the quality and international influence of scientific research, and the reputation to reflect the quality of teaching activity, this paper uses Malmquist Index based on DEA to measure efficiency, technology and productivity change of 72 Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) directly under Ministry of Education of China in 2007-2012. Results reveal that the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of HEIs manifests a reasonable growing tendency; the increase on technical efficiency is the mainly driving force of the increase on TFP, while the technological degression has an inhibiting effect; there are significant differences between different HEIs, regions and types. In the end, some suggestions are provided to promote continuous, stable and balance development of HEIs in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By developing and implementing environmental concerns in its principles and infrastructure, universities are becoming increasingly active in promoting societal changes towards sustainable development. These environmental concerns are translated into comprehensive and transversal environmental education programs aimed at building capacities and promoting awareness not only for students but also to the surrounding communities. This paper aims to develop a Balanced Scorecard strategy map for implementing and monitoring environmental education programs in universities. To accomplish this objective, we conducted a literature review on environmental education in higher education, finding 10 primary indicators and 40 sub-indicators needed to implement environmental education programs in universities. Fifteen experts in sustainability research were asked to evaluate these indicators and sub-indicators. Then, those indicators and expert evaluations were used to build a decision tree that supports the Balanced Scorecard. Based on our findings, we created and adapted a strategy map for environmental education based on five dimensions: sustainable development; environmental education; teaching processes and environmental management; learning and environmental growth; and economic and financial responsibility. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a theoretical proposal that can serve as a guide to implement and monitor environmental education programs in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, data warehouse tools and technologies cannot handle the load and analytic process of data into meaningful information for top management. Big data technology should be implemented to extend the existing data warehouse solutions. Universities already collect vast amounts of data so the academic data of university has been growing significantly and become a big academic data. These datasets are rich and growing. University’s top-level management needs tools to produce information from the records. The generated information is expected to support the decision-making process of top-level management. This paper explores how big data technology could be implemented with data warehouse to support decision making process. In this framework, we propose Hadoop as big data analytic tools to be implemented for data ingestion/staging. The paper concludes by outlining future directions relating to the development and implementation of an institutional project on Big Data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability assessment tools are currently influencing sustainability strategies and activities in higher educational institutions. Thus, in this paper a short overview of sustainability in universities will be provided, which will then be followed by a study of different existing approaches to assess this issue. The paper will also include previous analyses that theoretically compare these tools. A practical case study in which different tools are applied is the main goal of this article. A sustainability diagnosis and a proposal to analyze the results in order to create an action plan, based on cost-efficient measures, will be developed considering different tool's approaches. Advantages and differences between tools are highlighted according to the results. Finally, this article will conclude that an absolute improvement between 20% and 40% in the overall sustainability score can be reached in the medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is very important to evaluate the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship education for college students. On the basis of analyzing the current research of the quality evaluation of innovation and entrepreneurship education, This paper constructs an evaluation index system of innovation and entrepreneurship education quality of college students with 5 dimensions:Innovation and entrepreneurship education curriculum and activities, Innovation and entrepreneurship education conditions, Innovation and entrepreneurship education channels, Self innovation and Entrepreneurship, Innovation and entrepreneurship education effectiveness, and 21 sub indexes, establishes an evaluation model based on extenics, conducts empirical research on 8 universities in Ningbo city, and puts forward corresponding suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of machine learning has promoted the construction of smart education platforms. It is of great significance to deeply investigate the usage of machine learning techniques in smart education. In this paper, we explore how to utilize evolutionary algorithms and machine learning algorithms to build a smart education big data platform to promote the intelligent development of higher education and better assist the establishment of the smart education system. We combine evolutionary algorithms and machine learning models to build a personalized course recommendation model for the smart education big data platform, which uses deep belief networks and swarm intelligence evolutionary algorithms to recommend relevant content based on the interests of learners. We take advantage of the feature extraction of deep belief networks and combine supervised learning and unsupervised learning to design an intelligent recommendation model for teaching content. At the same time, we utilize the advantages of evolutionary algorithms to tune the model parameters to obtain the best parametric model. We compare our method with other methods on public dataset to show the model performance. • This paper utilizes evolutionary algorithms and machine learning algorithms to build a smart education big data platform. • This paper designs an intelligent recommendation model based on the interests of learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions across the world are increasingly placing an emphasis on students' acquisition of a broader range of skills or attributes within the taught curriculum, which should lead to a widening of their chances of academic success, in particular in the employment market. Among other issues, matters related to sustainable development are playing a key role, but many universities do not yet cater for integrative approaches, which may help them to approach sustainability issues in a transformative way. It is therefore necessary to develop new approaches and methods, which may address this gap. Based on the importance of meeting this perceived research need, this paper defines the role of project-oriented learning, also designated as Project Based Learning, as a tool to support integrative approaches to sustainability in a higher education context. The scientific value of the paper lies in the provision of some examples of successful approaches to Project Based Learning and the identification of some of the trends that characterise it. The paper makes clear why project-oriented learning should be more widely used in support of integrative approaches to sustainability, and why it needs to become part of the routine of higher education institutions. The outline of some of the initiatives recently and currently being undertaken may inspire others and assist in the implementation of Project Based Learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the students´ perception of the implementation of ICT in higher education, namely in their university education in the Czech Republic. The recent trends in higher education to implement various kinds of eLearning, hybrid learning, blended learning, etc., into university curricula has recently been speeded up by the global pandemic situation forcing us as educators and students as the receivers of education to spend basically all teaching and learning time, respectively, in from of the screens. The research was conducted in this context and focused on the perception of the eLearning by the users of it, i.e. the students. The methodology chosen, i.e. semi structured interviews and focus groups, enabled us to qualitatively analyze in-depth perspectives of their relationship with ICT in the educational context as well as their experience with using ICT in their learning and teaching practices. This research will help ICT professionals who are responsible for designing the on-line courses and eLearning platforms because the voice of the users is indispensable and must not be neglected. Despite the limited research sample, the results are relevant and provide us with a clear insight into the needs of the users of various educational on-line platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the epidemic situation of COVID-19, the construction of distance education and resource sharing platform becomes more and more urgent and important when there is a major public health emergency in the world. This paper comprehensively introduces the social needs, framework composition, main functions and expected objectives of the system, analyzes the existing main problems and development bottlenecks in combination with the teaching practice, and shares the experience of distance teaching through the actual applications. Among them, the At present, the two-level (University and College) public platforms shared by the teachers together with students in Sichuan University were highlighted, which would provide useful reference for relevant research and platform construction. Finally, some "pocket experiments" were successfully carried out at students home under the long-distance guidance of teachers, and information and communication technologies are expected to play more and more key role during the epidemic or other similar global public health emergencies in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the impact of accountability scores on Brazilian higher education. We implement a regression discontinuity design to explore a natural experiment resulting from the federal rules for assigning quality levels to undergraduate programs. We test whether program quality is sensitive to negative reinforcement, such as punishments imposed when a minimum threshold is not attained. The findings indicate that program administrators exhibit a positive response to the prospect of punishment by enhancing program quality in the subsequent evaluation cycle. The primary drivers of this advancement – infrastructure, teaching and learning evaluations, faculty dedication, and the proportion of faculty with a Ph.D. degree – are largely under the administrators' direct control. However, quality indicators less subject to administrative manipulation, such as student performance and value-added measures, exhibit minimal change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas there is a large literature evaluating the impacts of education, most of the focus has been on getting to universal primary enrollment and understanding the returns to basic education; but it misses the major shifts toward higher education in many fast-growing parts of the developing world over the last 20 years. In this paper, I study the returns to higher education in China using the reinstatement of the National College Entrance Examination in 1977 as a natural experiment, investigating the causal impacts of higher education on later life outcomes and well-being. Through a combination of regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference methods, I find that cohorts that were more likely to complete high school and obtain a college education as a result of the reform were no more likely to be employed, but were more likely to have a high-socioeconomic (SES) occupation in their early 30s, and lesser of the same in their 40s. Cohorts with higher education work for fewer days in a week, and, on average, earn a higher monthly income by 56 percent in their late 40s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to present core issues usually addressed under sustainable urbanism, the paper makes a broad scanning of a number of relevant documents dealing with sustainable development. A wider selection has been made reflecting the major segments of the EU policy in this area, the standpoints of professional bodies on sustainable cities and of educational association of planning on issues of sustainable development. This overview has been complemented with the strategy of UNESCO on teaching and learning for a sustainable future. The overview shows a continuous increase of sensitivity towards spatial/urban issues which could be dealt with in a successful way only by urban planners who could supply innovative solutions based on a participatory and inclusive process of planning. Higher education institutions in the field of urban planning must respond adequately to these challenges by strengthening their disciplinary profiles and expertise on which to build their interdisciplinary interconnectedness with other disciplines in the arena of sustainability. In this process, the approaches chosen in teaching sustainable urbanism will be of great importance as they will influence the learners and prepare them to react to the ever changing circumstances of everyday life. The paper proposes a conceptual framework of sustainable urbanism and suggests a number of approaches to teaching and learning that could respond to this challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development challenges universities around the world to rethink their missions and to reform their courses and life on campus. ICT professionals and students who are future leaders of the nation are progressively exposed to thinking of sustainability. This paper presents evolution of Green ICT and discusses the barriers in implementation of Green ICT at higher education institutions based on survey conducted in India. An extensive literature review pertaining to Green ICT and sustainable development was carried out and 10 barriers were summarized. Using SPSS tool and Wilcoxon Test, the most important barrier for successful implementation of Green ICT at higher education has been discovered. The survey revealed that lack of motivation and rational for adopting green polices among the implementers is truly hurdle in implementation of Green or sustainable ICT. In nutshell, the paper assists the policy maker in designing green strategies and polices based on barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to keep up with the fast-paced and widespread technologies and applications of visualization, worldwide education community is actively implementing visualization courses in curricula of undergraduate and graduate programs. A study of the state of the art in the teaching visualization in Russian higher education shows the necessity to improve the quality and breadth of knowledge of the visualization courses. In this paper we propose our approach to overcome the national and historical challenges in teaching visualization in Russian STEM higher education on the example of Computational Science and High Performance Computing double degree Master's programs in ITMO University. We offer a smooth transition to the modern relevant syllabus content by presenting two courses’ designs with same width but with various depth in knowledge that should to be studied. At the end of the paper we give some discussions about future works in development visualization courses in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to propose a framework to manage the transition to e-learning in Higher Education by fixing a legal framework, a roadmap and key performance indicators for the recognition of online Courses as equivalent to in-class course lacks of a clear legal and procedural framework in most of the countries in the world. The lack of legislation creates a lack of visibility and transparency on the e-learning market in general and the distance learning market in particular. As a core element of recognition we propose to base the equivalence on the model of Competence Quotient (CQ) that we present in this paper. A clear legal framework for the recognition of online Courses as equivalent to in class course will create visibility and transparency on the e-learning market in general and distance learning in particular for Higher Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of sustainable development in education is now being addressed in numerous educational institutions across the globe. Based on different integration approaches, various teaching methods are being developed, applied and evaluated. Efforts are also being made in the direction of strengthening pedagogical approaches as well as educator training to address issues such as, lack of awareness and resources required for a better transfer of sustainable development knowledge from educator to students. There is a strong need for these two approaches (integration & pedagogical) to work in close association for an improved level of integration. Regional collaborations are an effective way to address such issues. They can play a key role in achieving sustainability regionally while being influenced by, and influencing, both local and global communities, and that is the main hypothesis of this paper. The goal of this paper is to present a regionalized educational initiative for integration of sustainable development in higher education made by two universities and five colleges in Quebec (Canada). This project is not only dedicated to teaching or application of approaches but is also expanded to: 1) professors' support using various activities (conferences, workshops and short lectures); 2) program integrations; 3) integration at institutional level (as some institutions have adopted various policies and actions regarding their overall missions of research, community outreach and operations); and, 4) regional collaboration between the seven academic partners, which is a unique characteristic of this project. As a result, this regional collaborative approach helped in building a critical mass of practitioners in the field and launched a community of practice and integrated sustainable development in the member institutions at different levels, strengthening the educator's knowledge on sustainable development pedagogy. Based on the preliminary analysis of surveys taken by students, this integration has helped in developing the understanding of sustainable development by students and has also resulted in a positive attitude towards sustainable development. In addition, the integrations as a result of the collaboration show that integration of sustainable development in higher education is accomplished not only through pedagogical and extracurricular activities but is also embodied in the overall student experience on campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last two decades, many higher education institutions have become involved in embedding sustainable development into their academic systems. The research for this paper was built upon discussions on declarations, charters, and other initiatives designed to commit their institutions to education for sustainable development. It analyses if such commitment leads to more sustainable development implementation within the academic institution. The research was performed using a survey, based upon a literature review of 60 peer-reviewed papers. The survey was divided into eight categories: background; institutional framework; campus operations; education; research; outreach and collaboration; on-campus experiences; and assessment and reporting. The survey was answered by 84 respondents from 70 institutions, worldwide. The responses were analysed via descriptive analysis, grounded theory, and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there were many examples of sustainable development implementation throughout the system; however, generally the efforts tended to be compartmentalised. The analyses also highlighted strong linkages between the institution's commitment to sustainability, implementation, and signing a declaration, charter, or initiative. The findings suggested that academic leadership's commitment was a leading cause for signing a declaration, charter, or initiative, and implementing sustainable development. The research team provided recommendations for higher educational leaders, including acknowledge that the higher education institution system is comprised of several inter-related elements; commit to sustainability by integrating it into policies and strategies; show the commitment by signing a declaration, charter, or initiative; establish short-, medium-, and long-term plans for its institutionalisation; and ensure that sustainable development is implemented throughout the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a process of assessing building performance for its users and intended function during occupation. User satisfaction impacts the performance of educational environments and their users: students, faculty and staff. In addition, buildings are maintained and managed by teams that spend large amount of time and capital in their long-term sustenance. By evaluating the feedback from users of higher education facilities, university planning departments are more prepared to understand the inputs for programming and future project planning. In addition, university buildings will be closer to meeting user and maintenance needs. This paper reports on research team made up of academics, facility personnel and users that have developed a plan to improve the quality of campus facilities through a POE exercise on a recently built project. This study utilized a process of focus group interviews representing the different users, and subsequent survey. The paper demonstrates both the theory and practice of POE in higher education and learning environment through the case example of the University of Utah POE exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades several international initiatives have emphasised that education is an imperative for societies to become more sustainable. This special volume stream is comprised of 33 papers that illustrate some of the efforts being taken by higher education institutions to contribute to sustainability. The majority of the papers were presented at the European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production – Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities conference in Istanbul, Turkey in 2013. The papers address topics such as implementation of sustainable development, stakeholder engagement and participation, campus operations, sustainability reporting and assessment, organisational change management, and curriculum development. the papers in this special volume stream provide significant steps for the higher education for sustainable development discipline by exploring new and rethink theories, approaches, concepts, methods, and frameworks, as well as providing case studies and guidelines for practitioners. As the collection of papers shows, there have been many efforts in the implementation of sustainable development in higher education institutions; however, there are still many challenges to integrate sustainable development into their systems, and many opportunities for research in the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based adaptive collaborative learning environments are more often used to support face to face teaching activities. This paper describes how the educational process may be improved and students may be motivated to do homework tasks and to attend classes in higher education. We describe the implementation and use of e-learning platforms and present our experience in using such platforms in our faculty. The performance of two groups of students is analyzed. The analysis focuses on two aspects: attendance on classes and homework tasks submission. Therefore, the first group had no contact with e-learning environment and they had to attend classes in a traditional way (face-to-face interaction) and to submit their homework via e-mail. The second group had to attend classes and also to use an e-learning platform where they could access course resources and homework tasks. They had also to submit their homework via the platform, while respecting a strict deadline and using the professors’ feedback to improve their homework quality. This paper highlights the importance and the benefits of using collaborative e-learning platforms in higher education to support face to face teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student retention has emerged as a significant and expensive challenge for higher education institutes worldwide. Although several studies have been conducted on increasing student numbers and diversity in higher education institutes, studies on the relationship between student retention and entry grades are limited, particularly in the UK. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between entry grades and student attrition in the context of higher education in the UK. A quantitative methodology was used in this study, wherein data were derived from secondary sources, including University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) tariff points and full- and part-time undergraduate student enrolment between 2012 and 2017. The data were extracted and analyzed using Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) performance indicators. The findings indicate that there exists a clear association between entry grades and student retention for part-time students, which may aid policy makers, academics, university staff, and higher education stakeholders to develop appropriate strategies to address attrition levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose a compromise value function and a comparison method for hesitant fuzzy set. • We introduce a comprehensive distance measure to capture the difference between HFEs. • We introduce a novel dominance flow function based on the prospect theory. • A Choquet integral-based hesitant fuzzy gained and lost dominance score method is proposed. • A case study concerning the higher business education evaluation is given. With the rapid development of higher business education, higher business education evaluation has attracted considerable attention of researchers and practitioners. The higher business education evaluation is an essential part of the development of a business school, which has a direct impact on its resource distribution. The higher business education evaluation can be considered as a multiple criteria group decision making (MCGDM) problem that involves a group of experts. Due to the complexity of the decision-making problem, decision criteria are not fully independent to each other, and the assumption of complete rationality of experts is usually invalid in many situations. In this paper, we propose a Choquet integral-based hesitant fuzzy gained and lost dominance score method to address the two important issues regarding the interactions among criteria and the behavior preference characteristics of experts in MCGDM problems. Firstly, a comprehensive distance measure of hesitant fuzzy sets is introduced by considering the relative importance of two separations. Then, a Choquet integral-based hesitant fuzzy gained and lost dominance score method based on the prospect theory is proposed to address the MCGDM problems in which experts make decision with the risk preference psychology. Finally, an illustrative example of higher business education evaluation is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, and the sensitivity and comparative analysis are also completed to verify the validity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signing cooperation agreements is considered as the first step in building industry-academia partnership, but it is not enough as far as they stay on paper. These partnership agreements have to enhance the economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental protection and global responsibilities, while solving the industrial technical and logistic problems. Cooperation may include carrying out scientific research activities and applying the results of these researches to solve real problems of industry. The current partnership situation in Palestine shows a weak cooperation, hence steps to improve the partnership are urgent. European experience of industry-academia partnership can be the base for developing similar programs and activities for Palestine and other developing countries. This paper discusses the existing status of industry- academia partnership with relevance to engineering education and the horizons of implementing new scenarios and strategies in developing countries particularly in Palestine. In order to close the gap between academia and industry it is suggested to implement curricula improvement by including sustainability concepts on one hand and improving teaching methods on the other hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]