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Based on an ethnographic study on studio teaching at five leading European architecture schools, the paper at hand identifies three repeatedly occurring deficiencies (as well as one related problem) in the teaching of architectural design. Drawing on empirical data, the paper describes how 'epistemic positions' are shifted without reflection, that serious efforts at translating tacit into propositional knowledge are (too) scarce, and how procedures are not rigorously linked to the respective objects of study. In addition to tackling these three deficiencies, the paper calls for developing corresponding ways of critique assessment that reflect the aspired improvements.

There has been a steady increase in popular music programs at Higher Music Education Institutions (HMEIs) across Europe. However, what students actually are supposed to learn at popular music bachelor/master programs has remained largely understudied. Based on 12 in-depth interviews with leaders in higher popular music education, this paper addresses: (1) how popular music is defined and possibly canonized, (2) what the position of popular music programs is, and (3) how the content of popular music programs is constructed--at HMEIs. First, participants struggle to provide a clear definition of popular music. Therefore, they differ in how they name their program -- as popular music, pop music or something else. Because there is little consensus over a canon of popular music, our interviewees work from a mini-canon of British/American popular music, add local music to the curriculum, use jazz as a basis and/or work without a canon. Second, despite their growing popularity, popular music programs still struggle to position themselves, particularly at HMEIs with strong classical music departments. Third, program leaders navigate between different approaches of content construction within the constraints of their institution: (a) craft-centered (top-down, teacher-driven, skill-oriented), (b) arts-centered (bottom-up, student-driven, creativity-oriented), and (c) market-centered (side-to-side, industry-driven, commercially-oriented).

Under the pressure of globalisation, both China and Europe have active strategies to internationalise their higher education systems. This paper explores the cultural and institutional constraints of these strategies in both territories, analysing their impact on the cooperation and competition among higher education institutions. The article focuses on the historical and current practices of internationalisation in Europe and China, the strategic goals underlying these practices, and the implications of internationalisation strategies in constraining the choices and actions of academic leaders in Chinese and European higher education institutions. This article contributes to the literature on Chinese and European cooperation in higher education by analysing the points of conflict and opportunities for growth. Despite differences (e.g., centralised vs. decentralised systems, top-down vs. bottom-up decision-making processes, and the roles of leadership in the governance of higher education institutions), there is a common interest in promoting economic competitiveness, developing a knowledge-based society, advancing research, attracting and retaining talent, and reducing regional inequalities. The paper concludes that cooperation is possible in specific areas in which neither China nor Europe can succeed alone with the same impact that would be possible with cooperation.

Adopting an action-oriented approach, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (henceforth CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2001) can be considered as a general framework for language learning, teaching, and assessment across Europe. With its descriptors of language skills across proficiency levels, CEFR can be utilized as a guideline for language learners, teachers and assessors. Bearing this in mind, this paper aims to delve into pronunciation from a CEFR-oriented perspective by (i) exploring the skills and competences required to be considered as proficient language users with specific reference to phonetics and phonology on part of language learners and (ii) describing the standards of teaching profession with regard to pronunciation and its instruction in the light of CEFR and the standards of EFL/ESL Teachers of Adults (TESOL, 2008) with direct implications for teacher education contexts. While doing this, this paper further aims to contribute to the literature of teacher education in terms of pronunciation pedagogy with considerable implications with reference to previous research through further discussion.

This paper presents the findings of a study on a fully online Bachelor's level course in Health Sciences at a European University conducted to explore the influence of learning design on the formation and evolution of different types of communities of learning. The impetus for the study came from the well-established effectiveness of community-based learning, a need for understanding learning design and analytics within networked structures and, the lack of theoretical grounding for social network analysis (SNA) in previous literature. Our study uses the Integrated Methodological Framework (IMF) which employs SNA as the key methodology for exploring community-based learning in light of the Communities of Practice (CoP) and Community of Inquiry (CoI) frameworks. The course comprised of three differently designed successive discussion forums spanning three weeks each. Network diagrams and SNA measures clearly showed the impact of the different learning designs on student engagement in the discussion forums. Based on CoP and CoI structural components within the IMF, a comparative analysis of whole-network properties of the three networks indicated the formation of a CoP, initiated and mediated by the tutor in discussion 1, sustained by the students in discussion 2, and disintegrated due to lack of guidance and facilitation in discussion 3. Qualitative analysis on the content of discussion posts revealed the importance of group oriented messages in the formation of the CoP. The paper discusses findings in terms of implications for learning design and analytics in online learning and the role of the tutor in community formation.

The challenge of research methods teaching is gaining attention among policy-makers keen to build social science research capacity and, critically, among educationalists keen to enhance the pedagogy. This paper addresses pedagogy, presenting a new conceptual-empirical typology of pedagogy for social science research methods teaching. Taking a sociocultural perspective, pedagogy is seen as encompassing both actions and underlying values. A mix of qualitative methods was used to engage more than 100 methods teachers (plus students) from diverse UK and international contexts. An expert panel method and focus groups helped elucidate pedagogical knowledge. Video-stimulated reflective dialogue added detail to that knowledge. Thematic analysis was used to make sense of teaching practice with individuals and across the dataset. A typology of research methods teaching developed iteratively across this process, proposing the core categories of "approach," "strategy," "tactics" and "tasks." In-depth case studies helped to gain nuance and test the emergent typology "in situ." The paper argues that the typology contributes a dynamic tool for developing practice. It transforms the way we think about teaching and can be applied in any social science research method teaching context, benefitting the pedagogic community by enabling greater focus in planning and reflection.

Purpose: Digital literacy is not the mere ability to use a digital device or know to use various software. It is a domain of exploration for sociology, psychology, education and, of course, technology. This study aims to present a quantitative analysis of the literature on digital literacy using a bibliometric approach. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from the Web of Science database, the importance of the research is evaluated by reviewing 2307 publications and examining the yearly publication, field category productivity, citation structure, most cited resources, documents, most-cited authors, most productive authors, and country in the field of digital literacy. Further, a cluster analysis is conducted to see the most recurrent keywords and emerging trends in this field. At last, the authors analyzed the thematic progression of keywords over these five years based on the normalized citations. Additionally, a graphical representation of the bibliometric data using VOSviewer is presented in the paper. Findings: The results suggest a steady rate of publication in this field, with most of the research published in education and library fields and the USA leading the country in this realm. The emerging themes in this field are 'Fake News', 'Competence', 'Educational Technology', 'Health Literacy', 'Self-Efficacy' and, interestingly, 'COVID-19'. The results also revealed that COVID-19 has been examined and associated with fake news, higher education, social media and information literacy. Originality/value: This paper provides an overall summary of the most recent research work published from 2017 to 2021 on digital literacy in the backdrop of COVID-19. The study presents the thematic progression over the years and particularly the new keywords that emerged in the limelight of the pandemic. It contributes by updating the existing body of knowledge in the field of digital literacy and presents preliminary results related to COVID-19.

Our paper addresses the analysis of how the collaboration between HEIs and companies affects the employability of HEIs students. We approach the paper from a social capital theoretical framework, and the perspective of companies, investigating how the intensity of collaboration between HEIs and companies, as well as the diversity of mechanisms used, affects the satisfaction of employers in HEIs graduates in companies. We use the database on 'Employers' perception of graduate employability' from Flash Eurobarometer of the European Commission, collecting the responses of 7,036 companies in Europe. From the theoretical point of view, our paper contributes to expanding the previous literature, showing that creating an active collaboration between the university and the company both in-depth and in breadth is a facilitator of the employment of HEIs graduates. The second contribution of our paper is rooted in managerial implications. Our results highlight the importance of establishing strong ties with HEIs, in terms of achieving a higher level of satisfaction with the employer of HEI graduates in the companies.

The paper discusses the main issues which emerge for the university as an institution in the European context from the development of the lifelong learning paradigm. It focuses on both the opportunity-creating and tension-provoking presence of the lifelong learning concept in the university's institutional environment. The analysis is based on a thematic review of articles published in the "International Journal of Lifelong Education (IJLE)" during the four decades of its existence. The paper argues that: (1) the implementation of lifelong learning requires a profound change in the systemic characteristics of the university institution and cannot be limited to the establishment of departments of adult and continuing education; (2) without being uncritically perceived, lifelong learning is a strategy that can help universities successfully address some of their main problems and continue to develop as a key institution of societies in the 21st century and (3) in the European context, the institutional model that can embody the paradigm for lifelong learning and at the same time contains the possibility of preserving the specificity of university as an institution, is best symbolised by a cathedral.

Project management has been established as a way to organise work in the translation industry. Although research on translator competences has become a cornerstone of Translation Studies, scant attention has been paid to the competences of translation project managers (PMs). The aim of this paper is to present the results obtained from a curricular analysis, in order to provide a definition of competences in translation project management based on the academic perspective of the current members of the European Master's in Translation (EMT) network. This research is preceded by four studies that the author has conducted on this topic. Her purpose is to gather the perspectives of the different stakeholders who should be participating in the definition of competences, i.e. the professional sector and the academic disciplines involved (namely translation and project management). This paper offers an insight into the academic perspective by analysing EMT courses announced for the academic year 2020-2021 in which project management is taught. The results obtained from the curricular analysis presented here will be integrated into the insights gained from the author's previous research, in order to obtain a more complete picture of translation project managers' competences.

This paper discusses empirical comparisons of higher education institutions across world regions. It argues that institutional data systems have the potential for complementing global comparisons promoted by rankings by providing sensible information on institutional size, budgets, staffing, enrolments and activity profiles. With this perspective in hand, this paper tackles three questions. First, how is it feasible to identify Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) given their complex structures? Second, how is it feasible to define the perimeter of HEI sectors? Third, what kinds of data could be used for comparison, and where are the main data gaps? By analysing institutional data systems across the United States, Europe and Asia, the paper concludes that institutional data systems display some remarkable similarities that make them an important resource for global comparisons; however, variation in the context of data production and usage implies differences in the higher education perimeter and on institutional delimitation; sensible comparisons, therefore, require explicit knowledge of the institutional context in which data have been borne.

The paper explores how doctoral education and doctoral researchers in Europe are currently positioned, in relation to changes in the conditions of academic work and in the context of recent critiques of the doctorate (Cardoso, S., O. Tavares, C. Sin, and T. Carvalho. 2020. "Structural and Institutional Transformations in Doctoral Education: Social, Political and Student Expectations." Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature; Whittington, K., and S. Barnes. 2021. "The Changing Face of Doctoral Education. "In "The Future of Doctoral Education," edited by R. Bongaart, and A. Lee, 5-17. Routledge.). Two research questions, one about doctoral researcher visibility/invisibility and the other concerning how holistic changes to doctoral education might be approached, are posed. The paper first considers the extent to which doctoral researchers are rendered invisible in their universities and what the negative and positive consequences of this are for doctoral candidates. A conceptual framework for examining invisible paid or unpaid work, drawing on Hatton's (Hatton, E. 2017. "Mechanisms of Invisibility: Rethinking the Concept of Invisible Work." "Work, Employment and Society" 31 (2): 336-351) research about invisible paid work and disadvantage, is used to shape this discussion. The same framework is used to explore both existing critiques of the doctorate and recent significant changes to academic work and how they may have shaped or should shape, doctoral education. Finally, the paper examines a possible holistic reframing of the doctorate, drawing on work by Morley (Morley, L. 2013. Women and Higher Education Leadership: Absences and Aspirations), exploring how doctoral candidates and supervisors as people, universities as organisations and the knowledge that feeds into doctoral theses, could all be changed for the better.

Purpose: Recognising the importance of universities in the achievement of social and global objectives, this paper aims to study the relevance of the global reporting initiative (GRI) methodology for reporting University Social Responsibility (USR) activities, taking into account the specificity of higher education institutions (HEI). Design/methodology/approach: After a review of the literature and background, the European HEI reports prepared according to the latest version of GRI standards are selected and a comparative study is carried out. The analysis focusses on comparing to what extent the standards are responding to the information needs generated in the field of higher education. Findings: General issues, common to all types of organisations, are adequately reported by HEIs, but difficulties are encountered in integrating a vision that incorporates the role of their missions in standards related to economic, social and environmental aspects. Research limitations/implications: There are few GRI reports with this format and further research is encouraged as the number of reports increase. So far, major limitations have been found by HEIs to account for their societal missions when using the GRI. Practical implications: The debates on USR are promoting an increase in the number of reports on sustainability. This paper provides some examples of the use of disclosures that can be adapted in this context, to move towards the systematisation of these practices. Originality/value: This is, to the authors' knowledge, the first comparative study on the application of GRI to sustainability reports at a European level, focussing on the adequacy between disclosures and missions.

Purpose: This paper aims to understand the development track of skills mismatch research and discover the hidden internal connections between literature. Design/methodology/approach: The authors gathered data through scientometric quantitative analysis using CiteSpace. Specifically, this article applied basic analysis, journal cocitation analysis (JCA), author cocitation analysis (ACA) and document cocitation analysis (DCA), cluster analysis, citation burstness detection, scientific research cooperation analysis and coconcurrence analysis of keywords of 3,125 documents from Web of Science core collections for the period 2000-2020. Findings: Through the document cocitation analysis and the keywords' co-occurrence, this article identifies influential scholars, documents, research institutions, journals and research hotspots in research on the skills mismatch phenomenon. The results showed that the publications had ballooned, and the phenomenon has become an interdisciplinary research subject. The USA and Finland remain the main contributors, which is attributed to their high-yield institutions such as the University of Helsinki, the University of Witwatersrand, the University of Washington and so on. While the African continent lacks research on skills mismatch even with the continent's effort to overcome such a crucial issue. The paper presents an in-depth analysis of skills and educational mismatch issues to better understand the evolutionary trajectory of the collective knowledge over the past 20 years and highlight the areas of active pursuit. Research limitations/implications: The authors only used Web of Science core collection to collect data; however, they can added Scopus indexed database as well to extend the research trends and explore more new research hot topics to solve the skills mismatch phenomenon. Originality/value: The scientometric analysis is of great significance for identifying the potential relationship between the literature and investigating the knowledge evolution of skills mismatch research. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Labor Organization and the World Health Organization are the giants who are mostly concerned of the mismatch skills phenomenon. Researchers can refer to this study to understand the status quo, gaps and research trends to deal with the skills mismatch issue.

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a thesis about the historical evolution of the relationship of the European University in relation to the idea of social responsibility. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is philosophical, conceptual and theoretical and in proffering a bold thesis, has an argumentative character appropriate to that style. Findings: Three stages can be identified over the past 200 years in the relationship between the university and the matter of social responsibility, being successively tacit, weak and now hybrid. In the present stage, new spaces are opening for the university to transcend social responsibility, moving to a worldly and earthly responsibility. However, this new stage is having to contend against the university in an age of cognitive capitalism. As such, a large but hitherto unnoticed culture war is present, the outcome of which is unclear. Research limitations/implications: The scholarship informing this paper is wide-ranging and multi-disciplinary (history, social theory, philosophy, critical higher education studies, literature on the idea of the university, comparative higher education, ethics and sociology of knowledge), as it has to be in sustaining the large thesis being contended for, and it has broad hinterlands, which can only lightly be intimated. Practical implications: The key implication is that the idea of social responsibility is currently being construed too narrowly and that, therefore, universities -- in developing their corporate strategies and missions -- should be more ambitious and set their responsibility goals against horizons that go well beyond the social realm. Originality/value The thesis developed here is original in offering a three-stage theory of a 200-year evolution of the socially responsible European university. A new stage of an Earthly responsibility is glimpsed but it is having to contend with a continuing performative university, so leading to a hidden culture war and such that the future of university social responsibility is in doubt.

Purpose: This paper reflects on changes to end-point assessment (EPA) brought about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and considers how proposed future change will impact on training providers and employers of health apprentices. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides an analysis of apprenticeship policy, the role of EPA and consideration of assessment strategies used in higher education and health professions. Implications for policy, training providers and clinical practice are proposed. Findings: These changes will bring the completion of EPA closer to education providers and allow them to take a more direct role within the process. Education providers will need to be issued with clear guidance to ensure regulatory compliance. The pedagogical value of EPA is questioned. Originality/value: Training providers and policymakers will need to review their processes and guidance appropriately. This paper provides a summary of salient points needing consideration.

Verbal interaction has been the subject of a growing interest among language professionals in Europe since the CEFR was published in 2001; in linguistics, verbal interaction has long been studied. In the Bakhtinian approach, it is even considered "the fundamental reality of language". All types of interaction share the fact that they are dynamically co-constructed by participants. How then can we assess or certify interactional competence on an individual basis when dynamic instability prevails? What criteria can be defined in order to deconstruct interactional competence into specific operational criteria, if interaction is intrinsically multidimensional? These are the questions that we address in this paper. To do so, this paper presents the insights gained as a result of the co-operation between two certification systems: CertAcles (Spain) and CLES (France), both belonging to NULTE ("Network of University Language Testers in Europe"). These certification systems have agreed to collaborate extensively, sharing their constructs and assessment routines. As a result, CertAcles is shifting towards more contextualized tasks and CLES is considering adopting descriptive assessment scales for interaction (C1 level). We hope to demonstrate that the materialization of scientific collaboration of this kind can help improve individual systems.

This paper examines the sources of authority behind the Bologna and ASEM secretariats' technocratic appearance and administrative routines, and argues that they are transnational policy actors in their own right. By drawing on principal-agent theory and the concept of "authority," it offers an alternative framework for understanding the various forms of authority. The case studies generate three important insights. First, it shows how the secretariats derive their authority from the "tasks delegated by states," the "moral values" and social purpose they uphold, and the "expertise" they possess. Second, it compares how the different governance structures of the Bologna and ASEM education processes impact on the secretariats' authority. Third, it highlights how the secretariats exercise their respective authorities and exert their discernible influence at different stages of higher education policy-making and region-building processes. [The paper was presented at the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) conference in Prague.]

Digital competence is part of 21st Century skills that allow individual teaching professionals to engage in new and flexible ways of learning. Studies have shown that digital competence improves education and equips the teaching staff with expertise on how to use information, communication, and basic problem-solving. The need for digital competence is clearly evident in the current pandemic situation, where digital technologies have taken a more prominent role in communication and education processes. Beyond the digital competence of educators, proper school infrastructure and curricula are needed during pre-service training to help teachers achieve digital competence. To better understand this need, an online survey was developed to analyze digital education in Albania. The survey was designed to analyze the teaching competence of teachers in pre-service and in-service programs, as well as their schools' curricula and infrastructure. Results from the questionnaire highlighted a need for the acquisition of digital knowledge for teachers according to different age groups. The results of the study found that difficulties teachers encountered in the acquisition of digital knowledge were not only due to deficiencies in teacher training but also other issues such as lack of infrastructure. The study concludes by recommending that providing digital education should be in line with European and national policy and legislation, as well as with national and international organizations. The paper reports findings assessing the level of preparedness of Albanian educators in regard to digital education and explores opportunities and identifies challenges for coping with enhancing digital development.

The calibration of test materials generally involves the interaction between empirical analysis and expert judgement. This paper explores the extent to which scale familiarity might affect expert judgement as a component of test validation in the calibration process. It forms part of a larger study that investigates the alignment of the LanguageCert suite of tests, Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the China Standards of English (CSE) and China's College English Test (CET). In the larger study, Year 1 students at a prestigious university in China were administered two tests--one with items based on China's College English Test (CET), and the other a CEFR-aligned test developed by LanguageCert--the LanguageCert Test of English (LTE). Comparable sections of the CET and the LTE involved sets of discrete items targeting lexico-grammatical competence. In order to ascertain whether expert judges were equally comfortable placing test items on either scale (CET or CEFR), a group of professors from the university in China who set the CET-based test, were asked to expert judge the CET items against the nine CSE levels with which they were very familiar. They were then asked to judge the LTE items against the six CEFR levels, with which they were less familiar. Both sets of expert ratings and the test taker responses on both tests were then calibrated within a single frame of reference and located on the LanguageCert scale. In the analysis of the expert ratings, the CSE-familiar raters exhibited higher levels of agreement with the empirically-derived score levels for the CET items than they did with the equivalent LTE items. This supports the proposition that expert judgement may be used in the calibration process where the experts in question have a strong knowledge of both the test material and the standards against which the test material is to be judged.

Students' action competence must be taught and developed, particularly for prospective science teachers, to have a pedagogical perspective as environmental educators. As indicated by publications in respected journals, researchers' focus and alignment on the issue of action competence are highly expected. This systematic literature review aims to compare the findings of research articles published by Web of Science-indexed journals. The keyword used to find the articles on the Web of Science's database was "action competence," which discovered 193 publications. Furthermore, 25 articles met the criteria to be analyzed. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis was the inclusion and exclusion model used. In the last three years, research focused on action competence has increased. The research employed several methods, i.e., qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and development research. Jelle Boevede Pauw and Wanda Sass were the authors who frequently published research that focused on action competence. The keyword action competence was directly associated with environmental education, sustainable development, education-based learning for sustainable development, and evaluation. The authors who published their research with this focus were from 16 countries, mainly from Europe, i.e., Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark. The continent diversity of authors who contributed articles indicated that the action competence issue had become a global concern. Furthermore, it was found that the number of non-collaborating publications (universities or countries) was higher than those collaborating, even though single authors rarely wrote the articles. The recent trend shows that publications are authored by scientists with various backgrounds such as fields, universities, and even countries. The authors of this paper developed and proposed eight ideas to be reflected by prospective science teachers or science teacher education providers in educating future science teachers concerned about action competence about sustainable development.

In recent decades, higher education has embraced the concept of blended teaching, the design and facilitation of online and face-to-face learning activities. As such initiatives are embedded in the formal context of an institution, educational managers and other decision makers are in search of evidence for creating sustainable conditions that facilitate and support blended teaching. In this paper, the authors present the guidelines articulated by the European Maturity Model that address such concerns. These were developed during a three-year joint effort between seven European project partners. For each guideline, background information in line with the foundations of the European Maturity Model is included, as well as examples and references to predominantly open access resources. It is hoped that the results might inspire key actors within higher education or scholars that are investigating models for continuous improvement in the field of blended teaching and education.

Higher education in general, and engineering higher education in particular, is constantly under pressure to introduce reforms that improve the employability of graduates. Among the most common claims is the development of a more active and competency-based teaching oriented to the development of professional and personal skills. The university institution responds to these claims, sometimes in a timid way, but others by embarking on great transformation projects. A good example of this is the project to build the European Higher Education Area. However, the challenge of developing a more active and competency-based teaching faces numerous difficulties and barriers because many of the necessary changes are in sharp contrast with a status quo that has been consolidated over centuries. Difficulties and barriers include a lack of deep understanding (and even lack of acceptance) of some of the implications of the challenges we are facing, the learning of new techniques and tools that are not easy to use or unsuitable organizational structures. In this paper, we explore the nature of some of the challenges and review the difficulties and barriers most often mentioned by those who dare to try. Anyone who wants to address the challenges or has a responsibility to facilitate changes should be aware of all these difficulties and barriers.

This paper describes the results of the analysis carried out within the Erasmus+ FRAMES project (https://frames-project.eu/) which collected and analysed Virtual Exchange (VE) case studies building upon desk research and through an open survey, so as to identify and describe various scenarios of accredited VEs. By using a qualitative methodology based on pattern matching analysis, collected cases were aggregated into four scenarios to be potentially used by a variety of European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): VE as a preparatory or follow-up activity to physical mobility (blended mobility); VE as an intertwined component of physical mobility (blended mobility); VE as a stand-alone learning activity; VE as a component of a course. The main conclusions and recommendations revolve around the need to expand the number of potential scenarios across all disciplines and contexts and the urge to train academic as well as administrative staff to facilitate the integration of VE in HEIs.

Speaking skills had always been the most challenging skill among the pupils in language learning. The flipped learning approach is an innovative teaching and learning pedagogy that creates better learning experiences in order to improve pupils' speaking skills. Therefore, this systematic literature review focuses on flipped learning approach in improving pupils' speaking skills. This analysis is done based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) review methodology. A total of 39 articles related to flipped learning in improving speaking skills published between 2017 to 2020 were identified from Scopus, Google Scholar and ERIC databases. Based on the results, self-regulated learning, interaction, motivation and achievement were the key themes that promotes the benefit of flipped learning to improve pupils' speaking skills. Hence, this paper is beneficial to policy makers, educators and students in utilizing flipped learning approach to improve pupils' speaking skills from various levels of education.

I consider in this paper the question of balance in popular education between what we can call annunciation and denunciation, inspired by the work of Paulo Freire. By annunciation, I mean the role of love, affirmation, encouragement and profound encounters with otherness; by denunciation, I have in mind the spirit of critique and challenge to the established order of things. In the process, I question the marginalisation of liberation theology in Paulo Freire's work among some radical educators. There has, I suggest, been a sundering of spirituality, and especially religious insight, from rational enquiry in the academic mainstream, which has influenced readings of Freire. Modernity has privileged intellectualism and critical rationality as the only valid way of knowing; matters of faith and varieties of religious experience have correspondingly been privatised.

In this paper we consider the experiences of international students studying in Norway, analysing data from more than 5,000 survey respondents. Variations according to students' region of origin and whether they are full degree students or exchange students are the focus. Students report a high level of overall satisfaction, exchange students in particular, and the vast majority of students are content with the quality of teaching. Students from the African continent report being more content than others, despite struggling somewhat more with academic demands and having weaker social networks, something they have in common with Asian students. Multivariate analyses show that type of mobility (full degree cf. exchange), region of origin, coping with academic demands, satisfaction with teaching and interaction with Norwegians are predictors of overall satisfaction with studying in Norway. The patterns observed are assumed to be related to prior experiences and expectations.

Prevalence of contract cheating and outsourcing through organised methods has received interest in research studies aiming to determine the most suitable strategies to reduce the problem. Few studies have presented an international approach or tested which variables could be correlated with contract cheating. As a result, strategies to reduce contract cheating may be founded on data from other countries, or demographics/situations which may not align to variables most strongly connected to engagement in outsourcing. This paper presents the results of a series of statistical analyses aimed at testing which variables were found to be predictors of students' self-reported formal outsourcing behaviours. The data are derived from an international research study conducted in 22 languages, with higher education students (from Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Analyses found that country and discipline of study as well as the rate at which respondents n = 7806) believed other students to be cheating, were positively correlated to their cheating behaviours. Demographic variables did not show strong statistical significance to predicting contract cheating.

This paper examines mobile cyberloafing, i.e. the use of phones for non-study purposes among Gen Z students, the first generation of digital natives. Drawing from research on misbehaviour and cyberloafing, we developed and tested a model with moral disengagement and subjective norms as predictors and psychological detachment and cognitive engagement as outcomes of cyberloafing. We also hypothesise that multitasking self-efficacy moderates the relationships between the antecedents and cyberloafing. Data were collected from 254 Gen Z students from a large state university in Europe. The findings show that subjective norms are negatively related to cyberloafing in class, while moral disengagement is positively related to it. In turn, cyberloafing is positively related to psychological detachment and negatively to cognitive engagement. The results also show a significant moderating effect for multitasking self-efficacy. Implications for research and practice are discussed, as well as future research opportunities.

This paper introduces a learning analytics policy and strategy framework developed by a cross-European research project team -- SHEILA (Supporting Higher Education to Integrate Learning Analytics), based on interviews with 78 senior managers from 51 European higher education institutions across 16 countries. The framework was developed adapting the RAPID Outcome Mapping Approach (ROMA), which is designed to develop effective strategies and evidence-based policy in complex environments. This paper presents four case studies to illustrate the development process of the SHEILA framework and how it can be used iteratively to inform strategic planning and policy processes in real world environments, particularly for large-scale implementation in higher education contexts. To this end, the selected cases were analyzed at two stages, each a year apart, to investigate the progression of adoption approaches that were followed to solve existing challenges, and identify new challenges that could be addressed by following the SHEILA framework.

Research suggests numerous cognitive benefits of authentic learning experiences. Beyond cognition, there are additional dimensions for learners who engage in authentic learning experiences. In education, the affective experiences of authentic learning and the role of students' social interactions remain largely unexplored. This paper examines students' affective and social experiences derived from blog posts published on the YouthMappers website. YouthMappers is an international network of university students who create open map data for humanitarian and development programming. In an analysis of two years (2016-2017) of 82 blogs from the YouthMappers network, students from the U.S. and abroad report motivating experiences fueled by social events and gatherings. The participants also find value in communicating with, encouraging, educating, and supporting their peers. Geographic region and gender also play a part in their accounts. This paper seeks to advance research in student affect and social interactions during authentic learning experiences. Positive affective and social experiences may be employed to create authentic learning experiences, building impactful social and emotional experiences for globally-diverse students.

This paper analyses the purposes of cooperation as they challenge the European governance of higher education. Using Brexit to analyse meanings of "cooperation" and conveying secondary data analysis of ten case studies undertaken in the framework of the exploratory research project titled "Brexit and higher education in the UK and Europe: Towards a cross-country investigation," this study identifies a plurality of meanings of cooperation. These meanings resonate within the scenarios of Europe 2025 traced by the European Commission. In the scenarios (1) "nothing but the single market," (2) "doing less more efficiently," (3) "those who want more do more," the different meanings of cooperation put at risk the future of cooperation driven by academic values and beliefs at the core of the Europeanisation of knowledge policies. Ultimately, the paper underlines that cooperation as a driver of the internationalisation of higher education questions the role of national openness and/or closure in framing shared European interests and the value of international cooperation.

In Europe, liberal arts and sciences undergraduate university programmes are typically characterised by a high degree of freedom of choice in the curriculum. Educators often present this as allowing students to design an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum around their particular interests. This paper explores how students in such programmes understand and experience that freedom. It postulates a theoretical typology of reasons why one might value curricular freedom and, based on 59 interviews with students from 13 such programmes, considers what aspects of this typology resonate with students. The paper concludes that students overwhelmingly see freedom of choice in the curriculum as an opportunity to try out different disciplines to discover which ones they enjoy most. While this eventually does lead them to making tailored choices about their studies, their path to this goal is more meandering than is commonly understood. This insight allows programmes with a significant amount of freedom of choice to better support students in their educational development.

Higher education systems are caught between two dynamic processes, one referring to economic value and the other to status value. Although these political rationalities are presented as part of a coherent programme of reform and 'modernization', they pull higher education systems and the actors within them in contradictory directions. Their impact can collectively be referred to as research selectivity, since these rationalities encompass both research performativity and institutional practices of recognition and reward and subjective strategies. In this paper, we first aim to map the dominant orientations of higher education studies research and how they reflect the relationship between neoliberalism and the restructuring of higher education systems and research infrastructure. Our reading shows that this is a significant context for inquiring into research selectivity as it is enacted and, at the same time, suggests that we need to pay attention to the privileging of existing centres of higher education research and the relative absence of sustained focus on research selectivity in the non-core regions of Europe. Secondly, the paper puts forward the case for a sustained research agenda that focuses specifically on the identification of the differential impact of processes of research selectivity in non-core regions of Europe, organized around three intersecting themes -- linguistic, epistemological, and disciplinary impact. Arguing for the importance and relevance of this research agenda for empirical research in Europe and globally, the paper emphasizes that its main objective is to create a critical space within which we can, collectively, think higher education otherwise.

How do European Arts and Humanities (A&H) graduates contribute to their economies and societies? This paper aims to answer this challenging research question by analysing data from the 2018 pilot Eurograduate survey of graduates. The article explores the monitoring of employment dynamics and considers the labour market outcomes of A&H graduates compared to other graduate groups. Our analysis enables an understanding of the utilisation of A&H graduates' knowledge and skills in the current employment market (job-qualification match) and more specifically, their contribution to legal, social and cultural occupations. The dataset variables enable an exploration of the multiple contributions made by A&H graduates to other aspects of contemporary society. Specifically, we examine graduates' volunteering activity during and after their degree, alongside other forms of civic engagement, including political and social action. The findings contribute to the broader debate on the value and impact of A&H degrees beyond measurements of graduate earnings.

This study analyzes the predictive factors influencing the entrepreneurial intentions of students at higher education institutions (HEIs) in a peripheral European region. The study includes a sample of 594 students and uses structural equation models for data analysis. The results show that the attitude to behavior and perceived behavioral control positively influence entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, subjective norms positively impact the attitude to behavior and perceived behavioral control. 'Closer' valuation (i.e., of family, friends, etc) influences attitude to behavior and social valuation positively impacts subjective norms. This research contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial intention as it complements the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with two environmental factors: closer valuation and social valuation. This is important because it provides evidence of whether the environment of the country in question influences entrepreneurial intention and indicates the need for investment in entrepreneurship education. Consequently, the study contributes to the literature by identifying educational factors that may influence students to become entrepreneurs in a peripheral European region. Further, this paper tests the relationship between the attitude towards behavior and subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms, something not proposed in the original TPB model.

This conceptual and descriptive study examines the critical issues, challenges and priorities for European higher education (HE) leaders, drawing upon the theory, practice and experience of leaders inside and outside the open and distance learning (ODL) field. Focussing on the emerging vantage points of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), global trends and the post-pandemic HE landscape, the article discusses their impact on organisational architecture and the emerging leadership roles for driving organisational values, change and sustainability. The authors argue that to maintain institutional stability and agility, leaders must interpret the current zeitgeist to set priorities, build decision-action packages and embrace a new organisational architecture: one characterised by flexible structures, a clear vision of the desired future, a culture of trust and openness, a comprehensive and deep understanding and optimum application of employee skill and talent, and the effective implementation of digital tools and curriculum structures in pedagogically meaningful ways. Leaders must be adaptable, agile and innovative, with the capacity to understand, identify and support the forms of leadership appropriate to their strategic objectives and institutional culture. The paper concludes by targeting critical priorities and actions that leaders must navigate to create innovative and dynamic futures for their institutions.

In this interview, professor and researcher Anne Bamford describes how she initially became interested in virtual learning via cyberbullying, particularly how image manipulation affects young people's perceptions. Next, she discusses her European-wide study on "active 3D" in the classroom, which showed that the more control children took for their own learning, the better the results were. She argues that student involvement and engagement in implementing new technologies is critical for successful virtual learning in schools. Finally, she urges educators to "use the technology where it's going to have the most impact" and not to "put it just for the sake of putting it in the curriculum."

African PhD fellows who are interested in completing (part of) their research in Europe cannot always afford to leave their place of residency for prolonged periods of time. Yet, young researchers from African countries might be searching for particular guidance from experts in their field that might not be accessible in their home countries. Consequently, both PhD fellows and universities and postgraduate research institutes require more flexible educational formats that cater for these circumstances. With the growing availability and potential of online tools and methodologies, it is possible to choose from a range of options for PhD education. Communities of Learning (CoL) have emerged as an approach to support the exchange of knowledge and experience among participants on the Internet. Participants can collaborate in developing research skills, while at the same time creating a feeling of belonging, which helps individuals to establish personal ties and relations. The paper introduces the research and educational project: Community for Learning for Africa (CoLA). It was designed to help participating actors from Africa and Europe to get and to stay connected online, to collaborate in joint training activities and projects, as well as to openly exchange ideas and thoughts, all in relation to underlying PhD research trajectories via the Internet. The paper offers results from a needs assessment undertaken in spring 2015, among PhD fellows and supervisors in Africa on what they would need CoLA to include, as well as template of what CoLA could include.

The growing numbers of mobile students over the years made the provision of student services a key topic of interest for higher education institutions. In order to offer a better experience for international students, it is important to be aware of and assess their needs in relation to different sets of support services. The data used in this paper were gathered through the ESNsurvey 2016 project, a research venture focused on the experiences of participants in short-term student mobility in Europe. Responses were collected from 12,365 international students, who have participated in a short-term (3-12 months) study period abroad mostly through Europe's most promoted mobility program called ERASMUS+. For the purpose of this paper, the focus was only on the aspect of host university support services. The comments of 2,012 students about their experiences were analyzed using a probabilistic methodology known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). The findings reveal that some international students' concerns are not fully addressed by higher education institutions. The main problem areas identified with respect to host support services were admission, living costs, including accommodation and money concerns, and IT and bank issues. It is strongly recommended that universities address the problematic areas through student support services by assessing international students' opinions and needs.