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Muddiest point and minute paper have been popular techniques to obtain feedback from students. However, focusing on the muddiest point too often can be discouraging for both students and instructors; in minute paper, students may often have off-topic comments. Here a cross and modified technique, the 'traffic light' card is introduced, to overcome the drawbacks in muddiest point and minute paper. About 2 minutes before the end of lecture, students "traffic light" the given topics on a notecard, in which their understanding is high (green), partial (yellow), or low (red). The results are used by the instructors to give appropriate review in the next lecture and help students gain better understanding in the content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers aspects of local academic knowledge generation in Uzbekistan by focusing on the mentor – mentee relations and the 'ustoz' and 'shogird' mindset of supervisees concerning their mentors. By doing so, it analyses how these perceptions may represent the challenge in improving the research quality among young Uzbek faculty members. Drawing on a survey of young university teachers, this study argues that the obstacles are not just policy-related but also cognitive and culture-related. This study uses a Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) to identify metaphors associated with the apprenticeship in Uzbekistan and how these relate to images and expectations of supervisors among supervisees in contemporary Uzbekistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the role of management programmes in students' development of management competences. Data were drawn from supervisors' assessments of the actual achievement of these competences among students on the IQS Undergraduate Programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management. The results over a sample of 121 students show that students develop management competences excellently. Furthermore, mean comparison analyses carried out to explore possible differences in students' achievement of management competences show that students' gender and internship subsector are in some cases significant. These findings indicate that the degree programme's academic curriculum fulfills its core objective of adequately preparing future leaders for management roles in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developing structure of Omani higher education sector depends upon a culturally diverse group of international academics who outnumber their Omani colleagues. This creates a unique group composition that is inconsistent with the largely Omanising workplace context. Drawing on data gathered from a case study, this paper explores the reasons and the effects of group instability resulting from faculty's national diversity on establishing a group's social identity, the latter being an antecedent for establishing an intellectual capital. The findings of the study suggest that national diversity is associated with a number of factors that impede longevity within work groups thus affecting identification with a common group prototype. These include human resources management practices, such as outsourcing recruitment, inconsistent recruitment standards, low faculty agility and a number of personal factors that emphasise individual identity. The paper concludes by arguing that the absence of social identity in higher education hinders establishing an intellectual capital that represents a cornerstone for establishing a knowledge-based economy that fuels the realisation of Oman 2040. The findings have implications to the GCC1 contexts that are characterised by depending on largely nationally diverse workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College algebra fulfills general education requirements at many colleges in the United States. The study reported here investigated differences in mathematics achievement between undergraduates in college algebra classes using one of two homework methods:WeBWorK, an open-source system for web-based homework, or traditional paper-and-pencil homework. We assessed learning for 439 students in 19 college algebra classes at a large public university in the United States. Twelve classes usedWeBWorKand seven had traditional paper-and-pencil homework. Analysis of covariance revealed no significant differences in algebra performance or achievement gain by homework group, ethnicity or gender when statistically controlling for previous mathematics achievement. Results support the conjecture thatWeBWorKis at least as effective as traditionally graded paper-and-pencil homework for students learning college algebra in moderately sized lecture-based classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scoping review provides insight into the empirical evidence on the effects of disability-related services, health promotion, testing accommodations, social and academic integration on academic success of students with disabilities in higher education. A systematic literature search was conducted in EBSCO, ERIC, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Sociological Abstracts, Cochrane Library, and LIVIVO. Empirical studies published between 2008 and 2022, in English and German language, were included. In summary, 46 studies met the inclusion criteria. The results were categorised into four intervention groups and catalogued through a system of categories. The paper demonstrates contrasting effects of the interventions on academic success. The qualitative studies showed that students evaluated the interventions as important for adaption on campus and academic success. However, quantitative studies lacked from sufficient sample sizes and causal relationships of the variables could not be established. The interventions of disability-related services, and testing accommodations did rarely show statistically significant effects on academic success. Health promotion, and social and academic integration showed significant effects of the interventions on success outcomes. The findings of this study have practical implications for university's staff and disability services, helping to promote the academic success of students with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching sports geography in higher education on the surface seems like it would be a great course to draw students in, get them exposed to geographic concepts, tools, and techniques, and the perfect forum for using examples to which students can relate. However, there are few instances of a sports geography course being in a regular rotation of courses. A deeper look at why this is reveals some challenges both administratively and academically. This reflection paper discusses some of these issues from the perspective of faculty members in the U.S. higher educational setting as well as some challenges of including physical geography in such a course. Although students tend to understand how geography and sports are intertwined from human geography concepts, physical geography concepts are also an important part of this understanding and do not get a lot of attention during these types of discussions. This reflection does consider the many ways that physical geography needs to be part of academic courses on sports geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a longitudinal research project that followed the undergraduate entrants of 2013 into, and through their university time, this paper provides a novel conceptualisation of transformative transitions via looking at the four dimensions of non-linearity, multiplicity, diversity and structure. To do so, it builds on Archer's (2000, 2003, 2012) relational realist approach and work on reflexivity to show how students select and merge a diverse set of personal concerns to arrive at a modus vivendi. This capstone paper closes a series of publications from a four-year tracking study that collected interview data from a diverse group of 40 students on a yearly basis (n1=40, n2=40, n3=38, n4=33) at an English northern red brick university. The paper explores the changing focus of student experiences, from the social aspects of acclimatisation, to learning to be academic, and finally, becoming a graduate. The results presented here also point to the structural enablements and constraints that higher education institutions and policymakers should mitigate in responding to the inequalities of access and experience. In the context of a large-scale societal crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic, it is key that we understand how university can remain a transformative experience for all students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the viva being an essential component of all PhD and other doctoral qualifications in UK universities, there is little research into their accessibility for autistic students, or the process of adjusting them to individual students' needs. Autistic student voices about the viva are almost completely absent from the literature. This paper is the first to employ a collaborative, ethnographical case study to explore the doctoral viva voce experience of an autistic student, directly from their perspective and from the perspectives of non-autistic academics central to the process. The experiences we share highlight the limitations of 'reasonable accommodation' plans, if they offer only generic support based on a diagnostic label, rather than taking account of the individual needs, and the importance of recognising the unique role that the viva voce holds within doctoral studies. We present a 'reasonable accommodations' discussion document, to facilitate autistic student-centred discussions and ensure the viva process is fair and accessible. We further assert that accommodations should be formally noted within the examination report as to their use and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of affirmative action on the incentives to human capital accumulation are ambiguous from a theoretical perspective and the scarce empirical evidence on the matter provides mixed results. In this paper, we address this issue by investigating the impacts of Brazil's Law of Quotas on the students' performance in the college entrance exam, the ENEM. We provide causal evidence that the law fostered incentives to pre-college human capital accumulation, inducing students to attain higher ENEM scores. Moreover, the effects of the quotas were greater in quantitative-intensive subjects and these impacts increased throughout the first years after the law's implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Jackson and Mazzei's thinking with theory, this paper centers the stories of three researchers who practiced critical self-reflection while engaging in secondary analysis of data from The Pedagogy of Student Success Project, a study intended to learn about graduate students' evolving conceptualizations of student success. In particular, the researchers were interested in how their individual theoretical leanings influenced how they interacted with the data and how their collaborations in turn shaped their thinking. To explore this phenomena, the authors analyzed qualitative data from two participants, wrote reflective memorandums, and held conversations about their theoretical leanings. The three researchers addressed how the Anti-Deficit Achievement Framework, Black Feminisms, and Intersectionality shaped their analysis of qualitative data. Findings reveal how scholars' theoretical leanings inform how they analyze and interpret student success research, in addition to showing how research collaborations play a role in thinking with theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the emotional responses towards research assessment reflect both social position and strategy in the struggle for scientific authority. This is examined through interviews with humanities researchers conducted as a part of a study on the implications for research practice of the Danish Bibliometric Research Indicator (BFI). Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of practice and Scheer and Matthäus' conceptualisation of the affective habitus and emotional practices, our research suggests that emotions can be conceptualized as strategic practices closely tied to the hierarchical position of the researchers. Established researchers deployed emotional practices as a form of resistance against compliance-based research assessment to retain their scientific authority and autonomy, while early-career researchers generally wanted to resist but their precarious positions did not afford them the possibility to do so. The study thus highlights the potential of studying emotions in relation to resistance and reproduction of dominance in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies debating the applicability of conventional human resource management to higher education institutions relating to particular characteristics of academic staff members and their roles have not considered Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan. This research explores challenges to incorporating effective human resource management in Jordanian higher education institutions based on in-depth interviews with 21 academics with experience working in public and private universities in Jordan. Five major challenges were identified: (1) the lack of a comprehensive evaluation system for academics; (2) the negligence of the significant role human resources departments may play; the nature and characteristics of academic institutions themselves; (3) the underdevelopment of human resource management practice in Jordan; (4) the ethos of academic staff members; and (5) the role of wasta (a local variant of nepotism) in influencing various human resource-related decisions. This paper provides unique insights on the successful management of human resources in academic institutions locally, regionally, and possibly internationally, giving due consideration to contextual factors (e.g. national culture) that affect operations. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are presented at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance assessment is permeating increasingly diverse domains of higher education, even in areas previously perceived to be too complex and idiosyncratic to quantify. The UK's attempts to assess 'research impact' within the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are illustrative of this trend and are being closely monitored by several other countries. A fundamental rationale for employing narrative case studies to assess impact within REF, rather than taking a (less resource intensive) quantified approach, was that this would allow for the variation, complexity and idiosyncrasy inherent in research impact. This paper considers whether this promise of narrative flexibility has been realised, by analysing a combination of REF impact case study reports and interviews and focus group discussions with actors involved in case study production. Informed by this analysis, our central argument is that the very quality which allows narratives to govern is their ability to standardise performance (albeit whilst retaining a degree of flexibility). The paper proposes that REF impact case studies position narratives of impact as technologies of governance in ways that restrict the 'plot line' and belie the far more complex accounts held by those working to achieve research impact. This is partly because, as research impact becomes institutionalised within universities' measurement infrastructures, higher education institutions become impact gatekeepers, filtering out narratives that are deemed overly complex or insufficiently persuasive, while perpetuating particular approaches to recounting tales of impact that are deemed likely to perform well. Crucially, these narratives not only describe impact but actively construct it as an auditable phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumerist views have increased in English higher education. At the same time, the wellbeing of university students is of growing concern. Some research suggests that consumerist views amongst students link to lower wellbeing and achievement. This prompted the current paper which speculates that the concept of autonomy (as depicted in self-determination theory) might provide a useful lens through which to analyse consumerist attitudes in UK higher education and their possible effects on students. Self-determination theory posits that people are fulfilled and have optimal motivation when their basic needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy are met. These three basic needs are complementary. Each could provide a lens for examining the facilitators or barriers to optimal motivation within higher education. This paper focuses on autonomy and explores possible links between a consumerist orientation and student wellbeing and achievement in English universities. Using self-determination theory, autonomy-enhancing ways of framing policy and managing the student experience and teaching and learning are outlined. The concept of autonomy offers a useful framework for potential enhancement of student motivation and wellbeing at policy, institutional and programme levels. Further empirical work could usefully explore and refine the hypotheses advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-pandemic, many universities are seeking ways to better engage students and support them to stay with and succeed in their studies. Immersive scheduling, whereby students complete units over shorter time periods than the traditional 12–15 week semester or trimester, may be a way to do this and improve academic outcomes at scale. This paper focuses on the impact of an immersive scheduling model at a public Australian university where higher education is being delivered over 6-week terms using active learning pedagogy. Student grades (N = 9,655) and unit feedback survey responses (N = 3,267) were collected from a suite of non-award pathways, sub-bachelor and Bachelor units offered in the immersive scheduling model in 2021 and the traditional trimester model in 2019. Results were compared across the two models for commencing, continuing, pathways, undergraduate, on-campus, online and mixed-mode students. Success rates improved in the immersive scheduling model compared to the traditional trimester model to a statistically significant degree for all cohorts, with particularly strong achievement enhancements observed for online students. These improvements exceeded results for a control group of units delivered in the traditional model in both years. Strong improvements in the pathways units, which were delivered using active learning pedagogy before and after the implementation of immersive scheduling, demonstrate that the more focused way of learning created through the model may be an important factor underpinning improved academic success. High levels of unit and teaching satisfaction were maintained in the immersively-scheduled units, indicating that the model supports high student satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adds to the literature on the relationship between procrastination and academic performance. We measure procrastination as the speed with which students do an online math course on the ALEKS learning platform. This pre-admission course is mandatory for students that are weak in math. Using a large dataset of undergraduate students at a Dutch school of economics, we estimate linear probability models for dropout and graduation rates. Controlling for students' background characteristics, we find that procrastination increases dropout rates and decreases graduation rates. The coefficient estimates indicate that the influence of procrastination on dropout and graduation rates is sizable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the experiences of a PhD student researcher grappling with a highly complex project. We examine a number of issues relating to teaching in the multilingual university and question the powerful role of English in the PhD journey. We focus on the implications of relying on English academic resources, the problem of the predominance of English in research and publications, and the supervisee–supervisor relationships (including the development of academic voice). We have chosen to present our paper in the form of a conversation (supervisee–supervisor) to help highlight the issues which came to light not only in the student's experience but also how these were seen or understood by both people in this academic relationship. Following the exploration of these issues, we shall challenge readers to consider the relevance of the issues for the higher education context, and consider opportunities for 'doing things differently'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares Anglo-American and Chinese approaches to the outcomes of higher education, primarily but not solely collective outcomes, by examining the Western domain of 'public good' and 'public goods' and parallel or near parallel activities in China. It reviews scholarly discourses of society, state and higher education in the respective political cultures ('traditions'), including individualism and collectivism, university autonomy, the critical function, higher education in civil society, and global tianxia and global common good. A key issue in symmetrical cross-cultural comparison is the position from which it is made; and as well as elucidating similarities and differences the paper develops what Sen calls a 'trans-positional' view based on integrating the two positional views. The two traditions are not closely aligned. However, aside for the Anglo-American public/private dualism in economics (which occludes collective outcomes), all ideas in both traditions can contribute to transpositional understanding of the individualised and collective outcomes of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inequality in students' degree outcomes has been a concern for the higher education sector and the UK government for more than a decade. Since its inception in 2018, the Office for Students in England has prioritised the need for evidence of causality through requiring institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives as set out in Access and Participation Plans. This policy development responds to several reports which identify a dearth of evidence-based interventions and scant knowledge of 'what works'. This paper traces the interplay between policy and research, focusing on the assumptions they make about causality. It concludes that unwarranted positions are taken in both spheres of practice, making progress unlikely. A conception of causality situated in extant formal theory on evidential pluralism and that draws on current practices would help us address inequality more effectively. Alternative framings of the problem of inequality in students' degree outcomes is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the changing landscapes of higher education, a large body of research has studied how scholars make sense of academic identities and careers. Yet, little is known about how academics actually 'work' on their identities to navigate normative demands and complex career structures. This paper explores how scholars negotiate career scripts trough identity work. Drawing upon 35 interviews with early career academics in political science and history, the analysis discerns four patterns of identity talk through which academic identities are constructed: achievement talk (signalling achievement and competitiveness), authenticity talk (signalling genuineness and being true to self), loyalty talk (signalling loyalty and willingness of helping out), and personation talk (adjustment to privileged identities). Defining what to display and how to correctly embody its corresponding values, these patterns convey different ways in which scholars manage their identities according to the perceived rules of recognition. Identifying several contrasting understandings of what it means to act and to represent worth, the study shows that successful identity management requires a certain feel for the game of recognition. Involving the symbolic struggle of 'fitting in' and 'standing out,' strategies for identity work are shaped by scholars' social class background and gender. In demonstrating how the prevalence of project-based work accentuates the importance of identity performances on academic markets, the findings suggest that the concept of identity labour may open up new avenues of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies in higher education have attempted to study the impact of quality management practices on organisational innovation processes and outcomes in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, there is relatively limited research examining the impact of multidimensional quality management practices (QM-practices) on academics' innovative behaviour and performance. This paper aims to explore the relationship between QM-practices and academics' innovative work behaviour and examine how innovative behaviour affects academics' innovative work performance. A total of 586 responses were collected from public and private universities with self-accreditation status in Malaysia. The results indicated a significant and positive relationship between Social QM-practices and academics' innovative work behaviour. Also, a significant and positive relationship was found between innovative work behaviour and work performance. However, there is no direct impact between Social and Technical QM-practices on academic work performance. The relationship between Social QM-practices and work performance is indirectly established through innovative work behaviour. The findings signified the importance of innovative work behaviour on academic's work performance and highlighted the indirect impacts of Social QM-practices on innovative performance through innovative work behaviour in Malaysian HEIs. Efforts to improve Social QM-practices especially in promoting leadership for quality management, developing strategic vision, and providing effective educational support, as well as training may facilitate innovative work behaviour and enhance work performance at Malaysian HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans children have become more visible in primary schools in recent years. Arising from a qualitative study with twelve parents of trans children (aged 5–13) and six primary school educators in Ireland, this paper explores how trans children experience two very different forms of celebratory rituals that are entangled with life in primary schools: birthday celebrations and religious rituals. These rituals are experienced as moments of affectively intense rupture for trans children, moments that shunt the violence of the disciplinary framework of gender into view. Informed by theorizing on gender norms and affect, this paper makes visible the cruel conundrum of navigating a gender frame that acts violently but at the same provides the very terms through which trans identities can be asserted and apprehended. Ultimately, this paper provides an empirical illustration of the messiness of gender and argues for the necessity to complicate the framework of gender in primary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the successes and challenges of a Supplemental Instruction/Peer Assisted Learning (SI/PAL) scheme at an Irish Higher Education Institute that was the outcome of a co-working approach between academic staff and the Students' Union. It considers how novel approaches can enhance student experience, support student learning and develop inter-disciplinary skills. The paper reviews three years of data, including student surveys, result outcomes, attendance data and input from representatives of the programme to evaluate the success of this SI initiative. The paper also provides recommendations for other Higher Education institutions seeking to provide, and sustain, Supplemental Instruction within a resource-limited environment through collaborative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of students with chronic illnesses in UK universities. Sixty-seven students with chronic illnesses completed an online survey with open-ended questions about their experiences in higher education. Questions covered four main topics: academic work; university staff; social and extracurricular activities; and participants' miscellaneous opinions. Using thematic analysis, the data were analysed with references to the social model of disability and social representations of chronic illness. Participants wrote of misconceptions surrounding chronic illnesses, a sense of inequality, and feeling undervalued. Many staff members seemed to lack understanding and so 'policed' academic regulations rather than accommodating for their chronic illnesses. However, some participants wrote of social and academic 'allies' who offered understanding and proactive support. The findings add substance to the chronic illness literature with the focus on students at university, and we offer recommendations to universities for improving inclusivity for students with chronic illnesses. Disabled students with energy-limiting chronic illnesses are frustrated by a lack of support and feel that they have fewer opportunities than non-disabled students. Some university staff may hold negative views of disabled individuals, and so provide inadequate support. This can lead to students' reluctance to disclose chronic illnesses. Students with chronic illnesses felt that some staff and peers did not class chronic illnesses as 'real' disabilities and felt that they were perceived lesser than those with visible disabilities. Some students proudly owned the label of 'disabled' to educate others, including staff, who sometimes used university regulations inappropriately to excuse not adjusting support for disabled students. Some staff and students were perceived as supportive allies. Universities must listen to disabled students and those with chronic illnesses to ensure they fulfil their legal and moral obligations of providing equality of opportunity, enabling all students to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective teaching of STEM has become a significant concern for teachers' professional development (PD). Many teachers are not familiar with STEM strategies and do not possess the disciplinary knowledge or pedagogical strategies demanded by STEM teaching. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to explore the path and model of Chinese teachers' professional development about STEM understanding based on their participation in the Zhejiang-Indiana STEM summer programme. This programme capitalises on strategies referred to as the observation-discussion-reflection (ODR) framework. The participants were 82 teachers who specialise in science, technology, or mathematics and who attended the training activities. There were two weeks of training interventions. Statistical analysis of two groups of teachers' pre-test and post-test, as well as the comparative analysis of two groups, were conducted. The changes in teachers' STEM discipline knowledge as well as their abilities and attitudes were investigated. Overall, the findings indicate variations in how teachers understand the different components of STEM knowledge with integrated knowledge requiring the most attention for further professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant issue in the teaching, learning and summative assessment of practical science is that the underpinning model of scientific methods is based on a fairly simplistic and linear account that does not represent how scientists actually do practical work. In this paper, we examine how science teachers in England and Wales view scientific methods included in teaching and summative assessment of practical science. Following on a survey of 51 secondary teachers' views, we focus on the outcomes of a professional development programme where science teachers were introduced to a framework called Brandon's Matrix that presents a diversity of scientific methods in the context of Project Calibrate. Through in-depth qualitative analysis, we investigated how three teachers engaged with this framework having taught it to their students. The findings illustrate that teachers conceptualise practical science as a mainly hands-on activity, while they express the need for the inclusion of more minds-on skills in the high-stakes assessment of practical science. In addition, the findings show that teachers are quite receptive to adapting new frameworks, such as Brandon's Matrix, for their teaching. Although the teachers did not see a significant departure of the assessment questions from the regular high-stakes tests taken at age 16, they did recognise that there was a valuable element of thinking skills embedded in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is incumbent upon universities to deliver quality degree programs that produce employable graduates with discipline-specific knowledge and a well-developed set of generic skills known as graduate attributes. To safeguard the achievement of these outcomes, this paper argues for a holistic, longitudinal approach to degree planning known as programmatic assessment. The status of this relatively new phenomenon in the Australian university landscape is examined through an analysis of assessment-related policies from twenty-two of Australia's top-performing universities. Discourse analysis was employed to determine how programmatic assessment is depicted in policy, how key players are positioned in this space, and the discursive practices used to imbue policy with hortatory intent. The results of this analysis are outlined and indicate that policy constructions of a program-level approach to assessment are inconsistent across different universities and very few policies have specific guidelines about how programmatic assessment should be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new application of Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) for estimating the student performance gap and how this can be used to assess changes of teaching quality at the individual unit-of-study level (module-level). Although there have been other examples in the literature that assess 'efficiency' in student outcomes, this is the first study that proposes the use of SFA specifically at the module level and with the goal of creating an aggregate measure of 'quality', thus avoiding the known issue of the statistical inconsistency of unit-specific SFA estimates. A case study is presented on how the approach can be applied in practice, with discussion on potential implementation issues. This paper is targeted to academics and policy makers that are interested in the quantitative assessment of student outcomes and specifically to those who want to assess how changes in module structure and/or delivery have affected said student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines disciplinary differences in the combinations of approaches to learning (i.e., learning profiles) among students, and how those combinations are related to academic achievement. In addition, the study focuses on how different learning profiles are related to students' self-efficacy beliefs in different disciplines. Data consist of HowULearn survey responses from 4,294 full-time students from six different disciplines. We used a person-oriented approach; that is, the latent profile analysis (LPA) with various functions. The results showed that it is possible to detect different learning profiles of students in different disciplines. The study highlights that students who struggle in almost every discipline have a dissonant learning profile or the deep unorganised profile. Therefore, special attention should be paid to identifying the students with dissonant learning profiles and to support them in recognising their own learning processes. Moreover, students' time and effort management skills should be fostered during university studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspiring learning and teaching are a matter of growing importance in today's marketised higher education sector. To date, much research in this area has a focus on reviewing literature or adopting a single-stakeholder perspective – typically that of staff or students. This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study adopting a multi-stakeholder perspective on inspiring learning and teaching. The study sought to address the following questions – what is inspiring learning and teaching, and what are the conditions under which universities might achieve it? Thirty-two participants from three English universities took part in the study including heads of learning and teaching [n = 4], academic staff [n = 13], and students [n = 15]. Adopting a phenomenological position using interviews and focus groups, the study found that rather than being a tangible 'something', inspiring learning and teaching is the outcome of a complex interplay between all relevant stakeholders, requiring an authentic commitment to learning. Drawing on the findings, the authors propose a model that captures the multi-faceted and multilateral nature of inspiring learning and teaching, demonstrating the inter-relatedness of the following factors: authentic relationships, partnership and collaboration, student reciprocity, and pedagogical leadership. The authors conclude by exploring the necessary institutional conditions required to apply the framework in practice in order to foster inspiring learning and teaching, such as recognising and rewarding inspiring teaching; providing professional development opportunities for staff who are keen to develop inspiring teaching; and having time and space to nurture authentic and trusting relationships with students in learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been extensive research conducted into the plight of casual academic staff, the precarious nature of their work, their limited academic development opportunities, and their heightened risk of being positioned on the periphery of the workforce in academia. Institutions have attempted to mitigate this risk through the provision of academic development interventions at all levels of higher education. This paper builds on existing literature through a discussion of the current state of staff and academic development provided to this group in higher education. Through a critical overview of prevailing issues, the paper also prompts academic developers and leaders to reimagine employment structures in academia for facilitating the full integration of casual staff in higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural communication education (ICE) is occurring in different departments and faculties of higher education globally. Yet, there is a lack of research on how this complex field is perceived by both teachers and students. The same goes for the perceptions of the ideal teacher of the subject. This article proposes to fill these gaps by problematizing current discussions about ICE. First, the article presents an overview of the field and shows how polysemic, ideologically and politically oriented ICE is. Based on focus groups with Chinese students of Business English at a Chinese university, this case study examines how they discuss, construct and perceive, on the one hand, the idea of intercultural communication as a subject, and on the other, those who teach it. ICE is multifaceted in Chinese higher education and we do not claim to generalize for the field as a whole in this paper. Based on a dialogical approach to students' discourses, the results show that they do not seem to have a uniform and coherent way of representing intercultural communication. As far as teachers of the subject are concerned, native/non-native and Chinese/non-Chinese dichotomies seem to dominate. Implications are discussed for the future of ICE in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the development and randomised control trial (RCT) of a dialogic teaching intervention designed to maximise the power of classroom talk to enhance students’ engagement and learning. Building on the author’s earlier work, the intervention’s pedagogical strand instantiates dialogic teaching not as a single, circumscribed ‘method’ but as an interlocking set of permissive repertoires through which, steered by principles of procedure, teachers energise their own and their students’ talk. The repertoires are directed both to teaching’s improvement and to its larger epistemological, cultural and civic purposes. Its professional strand entailed teacher induction and training followed by a cyclic programme of planning, target-setting and review using mentoring and video/audio analysis. Supported by the UK Education Endowment Foundation it was piloted in London and trialled in three other UK cities with combined intervention/control cohorts of nearly 5000 year 5 (4th grade) students and 208 teachers. The independent evaluation calculated that after 20 weeks students in the intervention group were two months ahead of their control group peers in English, mathematics and science tests; while coded video data showed that the changes in both teacher and student talk were striking and in the direction intended. The RCT methodology affords limited explanatory purchase but insights are available from other studies. These, together with contingent questions and future possibilities, are discussed in the paper’s conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the attitudes of undergraduate language learners and their lecturers towards the introduction of an attendance policy in an Irish Higher Education Institution. It also analyses the relationship between the introduction of this policy and student performance (average grade) and progression (pass rates). The policy was introduced on a pilot basis on thirty core language modules delivered on first or second year undergraduate programmes. They consisted of language modules in German (beginners and intermediate), French (intermediate), Spanish (beginners and intermediate), Chinese (beginners) and Japanese (beginners). The findings suggest predominantly positive attitudes towards the attendance policy among both staff and students. They also indicate a positive impact on performance and progression in some modules, in particular first year beginner languages where attendance has been an issue in the past. The paper considers the implications of these findings both for this field of research and for practitioners particularly in university language learning contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on how people learn to become teachers. It draws on the experiences of student-teachers and tutors at a College of Education in the south of Ghana who engaged with an iterative data-generation process over one academic year. While increasing attention is given to the learning experiences of children in Sub-Saharan Africa, teachers' learning experiences remain under-explored, under-documented and under-theorised. It makes an original contribution to the study of pre-service teacher education by combining a sociocultural lens on learning and becoming with an analytical framework based on the capability approach. This illustrates how student-teachers' freedom to learn is facilitated and constrained by structured and social contexts within a pre-service programme. The paper shows how understanding different perspectives on valued 'beings and doings' of teaching can help re-interpret and re-imagine processes for 'becoming' a teacher, which has practical application at policy and institution level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using additional learning materials positively influences student performance. The literature focuses mainly on learning outcomes, whereas the present study investigates whether two intermediate (take-home) tests are a successful tool to increase student use of online formative assessments (OFAs). This study is a between-subjects quasi-experiment, administered in an undergraduate accounting course. Measures are used to capture both the intensity and the timing of OFA use. Results show that more students begin using OFA when intermediate tests are introduced. In addition, students use OFA more intensively and indications are present that students also begin their OFA use earlier. This paper contributes to the higher education literature by illustrating how online take-home tests can prevent procrastination. Its advantage lies in stimulating the use of online formative assessment and providing students with immediate feedback. Results are discussed for both blended and online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global influence and local demand, Taiwan's higher education system has experienced great changes in policy agenda and system reform over the past few decades. After President Tsai took the presidential office in 2016, the Ministry of Education (MOE) shifted its focus towards universities' autonomy and social responsibility, which encouraged institutions to strengthen their partnerships and collaborations with other ASEAN countries. Based on this new ideological and political paradigm shift, three key national higher education projects, including the new cycle of self-accreditation policy, higher education sprout project, and new southbound policy, were implemented. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the current development of these three MOE initiatives since 2016, and analyze the paradigm shift of Taiwan higher education policymaking in terms of egalitarianism. Four major findings are addressed as follows. First, policy and politics mattered in the process of educational policy shift under a doctrine of egalitarianism; second, national accreditation continued to be used by university leaders for institutional effectiveness; third, global competitiveness in Taiwan higher education is declining gradually; fourth, the loss of Chinese students was not offset by the new Southbound program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper engages in 'paradigmatic talk' about public outcomes of higher education (HE). We were drawn to this paradigmatic discussion because of its inherent 'cultural' dimensions and the opportunity for us to be self-reflexive about the ontological values underlying 'cultures' that shape the articulation, representation, and enactment of HE's public outcomes. While we agree with Marginson and Yang (forthcoming) that comparisons of public outcomes of HE across cultures are not neutral, we argue that such comparisons are rooted in and driven by ontological values and commitments. We offer an analysis of how our understandings of 'public' and 'outcomes' may shift when ontological commitments and values consider representations of culture, public, affect, and temporality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children from Roma communities are consistently among the lowest academic achievers in many European countries and this holds true in Greece. In Greek schools, Roma students experience high dropout rates and low performance compared to their non-Roma peers. Moreover, in Greece, as elsewhere, Roma experience wide-spread discrimination. Drawing on a set of in-depth interviews with 20 Greek Roma who have entered higher education, this paper examines how these participants account for their educational success. In particular, this article analyses the influence of 'community factors' on the participants' academic progression. This article highlights aspects of the Greek case of Roma's educational success that may contribute towards addressing aspects related to Roma's educational exclusion and promoting educational progression in the European context more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a response to Cotton, Miller and Kneale's 2017 paper on the current state of higher education research within UK universities. It seeks to contribute to the debate surrounding the inclusion of pedagogic research (PedR) via SoTL in the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) in the context of researchers who reside within a disciplinary context. The inclusion of PedR in the REF continues to be contentious, despite recommendations in the Stern Report which could make its inclusion more feasible. This paper focuses on PedR which is conducted, published and disseminated by academics situated within Life Science departments, rather than Schools of Education. The twenty-one teaching-focused academics in this study discussed their commitment to PedR integral to their academic identity, the challenges they faced in carrying out PedR, and their thoughts on REF 2014. Their opinions and conclusions give food for thought on decisions regarding inclusion of PedR in REF 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research that evaluated first year students' transition into university found that the values of 'being, belonging and becoming' were important in particular within the first few months and within the first year of university. From our previous work, we reported that three things matter to students: the academic staff they work with, the nature of their academic study and the feeling of belonging. This paper provides a further illumination to our work by reporting on the qualitative data collected in the same study. The study included 530 students from five cohorts over a five-year period. As part of the Student Experience Evaluation instrument, open-ended questions probed students about their early experiences of belonging and transition into university. This original research uses rich data to illuminate the scales and items from previous quantitative data analysis to explore 'belonging', triangulated with research from the field. This paper is timely due to increased emphasis placed on learning and teaching with the introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework. Student satisfaction is not a simplistic measure and this study articulates the complexity of student belonging in Higher Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender inequality prevails in academia; there is currently no review on the barriers and facilitators to success for female academics in UK Higher Education. We conducted a systematic search identifying 32 papers addressing this issue. Narrative review revealed six themes: networks (prohibiting the inclusion of women), home-work balance (where women are expected to make a binary decision between the two), everyday sexism (leading to compromised psychological wellbeing and reduced likelihood of application for career advancement), inclusion/hierarchy/power structure (the assignment of less valued roles), intersectionality, and facilitators (supportive partner and Athena SWAN). The manifest, overarching narrative was of continued biases, barriers, double-standards, and unsupportive work environments. Law and resulting institutional policy should, but does not appear to, address identified barriers; consideration should be given to processes employed to implement and culturally embed these. Findings suggest we must challenge institutional norms, attitudes and expectations through facilitating accessible networks, consciousness raising and mentorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physics- and computer-related disciplines are strongly male dominated in Western higher education. Feminist research has demonstrated how this can be understood as reflecting a strong privileging of mind and rationality (over body/nature/emotions) in these disciplines, which harmonises with broader notions of masculinity as transcendental and disembodied. However, as we demonstrate in this paper, being recognised as legitimate in these fields is also tightly connected to embodiment. Drawing on post-structural gender theory, we explore how notions of corporeality, style and aesthetics are articulated within computer engineering and physics settings at two higher education institutions, one in Canada, one in Sweden. Using empirical data from two case studies, we demonstrate that these disciplines are usually understood as 'gender neutral' by students but that interest and competence in these fields are simultaneously understood as embodied through neglect for style and corporeal aesthetics, in ways that contribute to the masculinisation of these fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper sheds light on preschool teachers' experiences with the plethora of parents' WhatsApp groups in Israel. Using a social constructivist approach, we conducted discussions with twenty-five preschool teachers. We argue that WhatsApp as a social medium contributes to the de-skilling of the preschool teachers' labour. We identified three types of ambivalence in the teachers' comments regarding interactions with and among parents: (a) instrumental ambivalence celebrates technology's efficiency while witnessing a shift in long working hours and a need to justify their pedagogical decisions; (b) substantive ambivalence indicates the intensified tendency to hold teachers in a need to engage in public relations; (c) critical ambivalence demonstrates a turn from a professional discourse between parents and teachers to a surveillance and accountability discourse. We conclude that the intense supervision by parents afforded by WhatsApp groups contributes to the de-skilling of preschool teachers' labour by turning a caring profession to a managerial practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, reporting the findings from a larger, earlier study, aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of the struggles involved in six Pakistani academics' experiences of professional growth. A narrative inquiry approach was used to explore the experiences and the data were analysed using paradigmatic reasoning, an approach to analysing narratives. The results indicate that professional learning for the participants in this inquiry is largely a solitary endeavour that relies on an internal locus of control and is driven by a sense of ethical responsibility. Findings support holistic academic development, with important strategic implications for academic developers in higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful first year is of vital importance to academic achievement in higher education. How can we identify those students at risk at a very early stage, i.e. even before they have entered university? This study focuses on three pre-university factors, namely academic self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, in terms of autonomous motivation and time-management, and beyond classroom engagement. 2355 Dutch prospective first-year students in the fields of science, humanities and social sciences filled in our survey. Data on first year academic achievement in terms of grade point average (GPA) was obtained at the end of the first year. Prospective first-year students scored high on all of the variables; we found gender-related differences, favouring female students, as well as discipline-related differences. Time management and autonomous motivation were found to be positive predictors of achievement; beyond classroom engagement was a negative predictor of achievement. This paper contributes to the research on first-year academic achievement and emphasises the importance of providing students with personalised trajectories from the moment they enter university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities have responded to the expansion of higher education and restructuring of the labour market by redesigning curriculum to better emphasise transferable skills and embed pedagogies that contribute to graduate employability. However, the ways in which universities judge and share achievement still provides poor evidence of what students can do or the skills and personal attributes that inform job recruitment decisions. Furthermore, assessment provides little opportunity for students to develop the self-knowledge or evaluative judgement needed to portray their professional identity to different audiences. In this paper, we examine shortcomings of current approaches to assessment and propose four principles for redesign of 'assessment for distinctiveness' that recognises students' unique and complex achievements in ways that are relevant to employers, and enable students to understand and appropriately portray their achievements for different audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently much interest in the interconnections between research and teaching in Higher Education. This relationship is usually termed 'the research/teaching nexus' (RTN). However, within this wide body of literature, there has been little attempt to explore the emergent experiences of students across the entire length of their degree programme. Drawing on the results of a three-year qualitative study that followed 40 students through their whole student lifecycle, this paper explores how undergraduates in an English university experienced the RTN, how those experiences developed over time, and how these changes can be variously enabled or constrained. Situating the findings in the context of the 'post-truth' society and the uncertainty of employment futures, the paper highlights how the nexus can also often serve to exclude students as much as it includes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how community, national and ethnic identities are affirmed, negotiated, marginalized as a part of hegemony-making and resistance in the context of English education in Indian universities. We argue and demonstrate that a complex and ambivalent hegemony that has been operational since the colonial times, continues to shape English education in India. Today, English and English education play a major role in articulating, binding and dividing multiple identities and knowledge systems. In the first part of the paper, we critically review debates and discussions on the significance of English language education in institutes of higher education in India. Specifically, we focus on discourses on the rationale behind continuing and contesting English education. The second part examines how in the postmodern context, English is being taught differently to different groups and highlights how these contexts of teaching have been defining knowledge systems, patterns of dominance and also, articulating resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]