Higher Education Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

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- Higher Education

Professional development (PD) workshops designed to help faculty move from teacher- to learner-centered science courses for undergraduates are typically evaluated with self-reported surveys that address faculty’s satisfaction with a workshop, what they learned, and what they applied in the classroom. Professional development outcomes are seldom evaluated through analysis of observed teaching practices. We analyzed videotapes of biology faculty teaching following PD to address three questions: (1) How learner centered was their teaching? (2) Did self-reported data about faculty teaching differ from the data from independent observers? (3) What variables predict teaching practices by faculty? Following PD, 89% of the respondents stated that they made changes in their courses that included active, learner-centered instruction. In contrast, observational data showed that participation in PD did not result in learner-centered teaching. The majority of faculty (75%) used lecture-based, teacher-centered pedagogy, showing a clear disconnect between faculty’s perceptions of their teaching and their actual practices.

In 2003, the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing (Hartford Institute), in collaboration with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, conducted a survey of baccalaureate schools of nursing in the United States to compare gerontological content to baseline data collected by the Hartford Institute in 1997. Since last surveyed in 1997, baccalaureate nursing programs have been the recipients of substantial new resources and initiatives focused on gerontological curriculum enhancement. While these initiatives are ongoing, and some are in an early stage of development, resurveying baccalaureate programs was seen as a means of taking a midcourse "pulse" as to the effectiveness of these efforts. Data suggest that there has been a fundamental shift in baccalaureate curriculum toward incorporation of a greater amount of gerontological content, integration of gerontological content in a greater number of nursing courses, and more diversity of clinical ...

- by Deirdre Thornlow
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- Program Evaluation, Nursing, Geriatrics, Gerontology

This presentation describes the theories and practice behind flipped learning course design at MEF University.

This paper discusses the way in which governance structures in higher education institutions have changed as a consequentie of the rise of the Stakeholder Society. The researchers examine changes in the stakeholders' roles in Flemish higher education. The central question concerns the issue whether external stakeholders have become more influential with regard to the educational activities of universities and colleges. Like Larsen, they use a neo-institutional perspective. They conclude that all Flemish higher education institutions experience growing pressures from the `outside world', but that the way in which stakeholders are actually involved in the internal affairs of the institutions differs remarkably between universities and colleges.

- by Kurt De Wit and +1
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- Higher Education, Stakeholders, Governance, History of Universities

The article is based on recent research involving qualitative case studies of staff experiences of equality policies in six English, Scottish and Welsh higher education institutions (HEIs). Recent changes to UK legislation (e.g. on 'race' and disability) and a series of European Union employment directives (including on religion and sexual orientation) have caused more attention to be paid to equality policies and their implementation in higher education. The wider context for equality policies has also changed, from a predominant focus on individuals and redistributive equality policies to viewing inequality as a generic and relative concept which can be policy-mainstreamed, with greater concentration on organisational cultures and diversity and a focus on recognitional rather than redistributive approaches to inequality. The article uses the authors' recent research findings to consider how higher education institution employees who participated in the study understood notions of equality and diversity. There is a particular focus on whether different forms of inequality are seen to be interconnected, whether diversity is seen as desirable by most employees interviewed, the potential tensions and conflicts between equality policies applying to students and those concerned with staff and the visions of equitable HEIs of the future held by senior managers. It is suggested that whilst all HEIs studied had equality policies and senior managers who have benefited from equality training, nevertheless the shift away from redistributional notions of inequality (except in respect of occupational inequality) towards greater emphasis on recognitional forms, the tensions between student and staff equality issues, and the pursuit of organisational diversity may reflect a relative depoliticisation of the staff equality agenda in higher education.

- by Louise Morley
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- Higher Education, Case Studies, Public Policy

Theories implicit in college presidents' definitions of leadership are examined, since understanding presidents' leadership models may affect how they interpret their roles and the events they encounter. The source of the theory that is analyzed is the organizational leadership literature. Research traditions in organizational leadership are grouped into five major categories: trait theories, power and influence theories, behavioral theories, contingency theories, and symbolic theories. To iientify presidential definitions of leadership, interview data were obtained from 32 college and university presidents as part of the Institutional Leadership Project sponsored by the National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance. Two of five implied theoretical orientations of the presidents appeared to predominate. The first orientation is the presidential perception that leadership is a process of influence; the second is that leadership behavior is seen as emphasizing goals. The sample of presidents identified leadership, at least in part, in terms of roles and behaviors. Presidential definitions did not appear to be systematically related to factors such as institutional type, control, or presidential tenure. Sixteen references are included. (SW)

The author enquires mto the question in how far the pedagogics of primary education may be considered a discipline of empincal research To this end, she first studies wntings on the theoreti¬ cal self-understandmg of the pedagogics of primary educationfmding deficits in this respect, she then goes on to examme educational-psychological research claiming to be relevant to the field of primary education The results, however, show that this claim seems not to be supported Finally, the author points to possible alternative approaches, refernng to the expectations, linked to action-onented empincal research on primary education, its tasks and its problems,-research that can be legitimated both methodologically and theoretically Anschrift der Autorin

- by renate Valtin
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- Psychology, Action Research, Higher Education, Educational Psychology

Previous studies of the influence of family support on college students' academic performance have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the link between family support and students' university-level academic performance in a more detailed way. First, we sought to clarify how two distinct aspects of perceived family support-social support and economic support-affect college students' academic performance. Second, we sought to determine how these two aspects of family support influence not only cumulative GPA scores but also the overall trend (slope) and stability (variability) of students' GPA scores across semesters. The participants in this longitudinal study were 240 university students (62 men, 178 women). The results revealed that the level of perceived family social support was important not only as a ''main effect'' predictor of the magnitude and stability of the students' GPA scores across three successive semesters, but also as a factor that helped female students to succeed regardless of their level of family economic support. In general, the data suggest that family social support is more important to women's success in college than to men's.

- by Lesley Verhofstadt
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- Higher Education, Academic achievement, Education Systems, Grade point average

Changes in the U.S. economy have made the attainment of a higher education credential more important than ever to ensure self-sufficiency. Therefore, it is critical that the child welfare, K-12, and higher education systems encourage and support the postsecondary educational aspirations of court wards. When the state makes the decision to remove a child from his/her biological home, it bears the responsibility to provide the educational guidance as well as assistance otherwise provided by families during the transition from high school to college. This dissertation explores the educational outcomes of older youth in care by first looking at the perceptions of high school aged foster youth in identifying the barriers and pathways they face in graduating from high school and accessing college and then will investigate persistence in post-secondary education for a sample of foster care alumni who are enrolled at a four-year college. The first study investigates the barriers and pathways high school and college-aged foster care youth face in completing high school and in transitioning from high school to college using action research strategies, which are based on an empowerment theoretical framework. The second study follows a cohort of students who were able to successfully enroll in a four-year university and tracks i\ t%. f r-" e-v-~c-6 ^ re ^~S\ A i |\| \<w I

- by Angelique G Day
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- Action Research, Research Methodology, Higher Education, Persistence

The university is often celebrated as a site for critique where intellectual
laborers, protected by academic freedom, may address the pressing social
issues of their time and thus contribute to public opinion and to the
advancement of knowledge. As the public university increasingly adopts
neoliberal practices, however, such as shifting its governing power to private funders and by emphasizing its marketable versus non-marketable benefits to wider society, critical university studies (CUS) argues that academic freedom—the bedrock of the U.S. university system—is under threat. This project contributes to CUS scholarship by examining how academics who are committed to advancing social justice and who actively engage with broad audiences, experience the protection of academic freedom while employed at U.S. public universities. Are faculty members who publicly critique systemic injustice protected by academic freedom? More specifically, using in-depth interviews, I inquire: 1) What are the motivations for, and experiences of scholars when exercising their academic freedom in politically controversial ways? 2) To what extent do economic, racial and gendered politics, as well as faculty members’ institutional status impact public universities’ commitment to academic freedom? I draw on 31 in-depth interviews with publicly-engaged
scholars from three Research One public universities who reflect a diverse range of academic ranks and disciplines as well as racial and gender positionalities in order to better understand what it is like for those who consistently take stands on controversial political issues. This project reveals that, in general, academic freedom is a stratified freedom drawn across academic-rank lines, reflecting the racial and gender hierarchies of larger society. This research argues that while the culture of the academy encourages conformity rather than ethical risk-taking, the university is still a space of edifying possibilities. By examining the effectiveness of academic freedom and the commendable dissidence of activistscholars, this dissertation aims to contribute to higher education accountability
efforts that seek to reinforce the academy’s connection to, and responsibility for the public that it is tasked to serve.

- by NICOLE RANGEL
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- Sociology of Education, Academic Freedom, Higher Education, Neoliberalism
- by Derek Price
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- Economics, Higher Education, Socioeconomic Status, Student Financial Aid
- by Gilles Merminod and +1
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- Sociolinguistics, Higher Education

This study tests the importance of a noncognitive trait, grit, to predicting grades for a sample of Black males attending a predominantly White institution. Using multivariate statistics and hierarchical regression techniques, results suggest that grit is positively related to college grades for Black males and that background traits, academic factors, and grit explain 24 % of the variance in Black male's college grades. Grit, alone, added incremental predictive validity over and beyond traditional measures of academic success such as high school grade point average and American College Test scores. Implications for policy and practice are highlighted.

- by Terrell L Strayhorn
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- Social Psychology, Education, Higher Education, Educational Psychology

In this paper I measure first year student Facebook usage as part of a broader PhD study into the influence of social media usage on the success of students in higher education. A total of 906 students were asked to complete 3 surveys on Facebook usage with their peers, for two consecutive years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013). The different purposes for Facebook usage, in addition to whether or not students used (self-created) Facebook-groups, were measured and the relationship between the use of pages compared to the purpose of Facebook usage. This resulted in significant correlations between the purpose of Facebook usage and the use of different pages, as well as correlations between the purpose and use of different pages. This study hereby explores the variances in student Facebook usage and provides valuable insight into the potential value of Facebook for students in an educational setting, without the interference of teachers. It is also the next logical step in revising existing i...

- by Nathalie Wesseling
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- Computer Science, Social Sciences, Higher Education, Social Media

This paper presents a novel approach and a method of learning analytics to study student agency in higher education. Agency is a concept that holistically depicts important constituents of intentional, purposeful, and meaningful learning. Within workplace learning research, agency is seen at the core of expertise. However, in the higher education field, agency is an empirically less studied phenomenon with also lacking coherent conceptual base. Furthermore, tools for students and teachers need to be developed to support learners in their agency construction. We study student agency as a multidimensional phenomenon centring on student-experienced resources of their agency. We call the analytics process developed here student agency analytics, referring to the application of learning analytics methods for data on student agency collected using a validated instrument. The data are analysed with unsupervised and supervised methods. The whole analytics process will be automated using microservice architecture. We provide empirical characterisations of student-perceived agency resources by applying the analytics process in two university courses. Finally, we discuss the possibilities of using agency analytics in supporting students to recognise their resources for agentic learning and consider contributions of agency analytics to improve academic advising and teachers' pedagogical knowledge.

- by Ville Heilala
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- Machine Learning, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Student Agency

The first chapter and table of contents of Just Universities can be read at the publisher's website: https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823289967/just-universities/. Abstract:
Gerald J. Beyer’s Just Universities discusses ways that U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education have embodied or failed to embody Catholic social teaching in their campus policies and practices. Beyer argues that the corporatization of the university has infected U.S. higher education with hyper-individualistic models and practices that hinder the ability of Catholic institutions to create an environment imbued with bedrock values and principles of Catholic Social Teaching such as respect for human rights, solidarity, and justice. Beyer problematizes corporatized higher education and shows how it has adversely affected efforts at Catholic schools to promote worker justice on campus; equitable admissions; financial aid; retention policies; diversity and inclusion policies that treat people of color, women, and LGBTQ persons as full community members; just investment; and stewardship of resources and the environment. The fir

- by Philip M Fearnside
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- Higher Education, Brazilian Studies, Brazil, Brazil

En el estudio se analizaron las propiedades psicométricas de una escala para medir afrontamiento de estudiantes universitarios a ciberagresiones. Se seleccionó de forma no probabilística a 346 estudiantes de educación superior, 85.8% mujeres (M=20.74, DE=3.33 años) y 14.2% hombres (M=20.84, DE=2.30 años) de una universidad pública del sur de Sonora (México). Se llevó a cabo el análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio, así como de fiabilidad con los coeficientes de Alfa de Cronbach, Omega de McDonald y el análisis de la varianza media extractada. Los resultados arrojaron un modelo de medida sustentable del afrontamiento a la ciberagresión integrado por tres factores: búsqueda de apoyo social, solución técnica evasiva y solución técnica proactiva. Se concluye que la escala cuenta con las propiedades psicométricas necesarias para su empleo en la medición del constructo entre estudiantes universitarios.

Coventry University Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) offers beginners language learning modules to approximately 3,000 students. Each module is taught over 11 weeks for a total of one hour and 40 minutes and two of the weeks are used for in class tests, so tutors generally agree that students need to practise their skills outside the classroom in order to pass the module. One way of doing this was to use the language learning app, Duolingo, which helps students to gradually broaden their linguistic, professional competence, and digital fluency through increased learner autonomy. How effective this approach is, however, has never been measured. The project ran from January to April 2018 and explored whether a correlation exists between regular use of the app by IWLP learners at Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level A1 of French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and achieving a high formal coursework assessment mark. The views of both learners and tutors of their experiences of using the software, and the tutor tools provided by Duolingo Schools, will also be canvassed. A virtual classroom was set up within Duolingo Schools for each participating cohort of students and they were encouraged to use the app on a regular basis. The tutor tools allowed the monitoring of how many days learners were active, how many lessons they completed, how many courses they completed, and how many points they were awarded while using Duolingo. These statistics were compared with

When a computer-based tool or application is used to carry out a specific task in a learning situation—that is, it is used for learning—more effectively or efficiently one speaks of learning with the tool or application. When, possibly, that same tool or application is used to enhance the way a learner works and thinks, and as such has effects that reach further than the learning situation in which it is used, then one speaks of learning from the tool or application. This article concentrates on the latter. It zooms in on the use of mindtools in education—computer programs and applications that facilitate meaningful professional thinking and working—because this is the epitome of learning from ICT. Mindtools and cognitive tools help users represent what they know as they transform information into knowledge and are used to engage in, and facilitate, critical thinking and higher order learning. These tools can be as simple as email and or discussion lists and as complicated as argume...

- by Gijsbert Erkens
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- Computer Science, Educational Technology, Higher Education, Cognitive development

Internationally there has been some interest in how critical pedagogies might be enabled in higher education to support transformative social agendas. Few writers, however, have theorised the ethico-political aspects of this effort from a feminist new materialist perspective. By focusing on the analysis of an inter-institutional collaborative course which was constructed across three disciplines and two differently positioned universities in Cape Town, South Africa, this paper examines the design of the course retrospectively from a feminist new materialist theoretical framing. In so doing, it moves beyond more traditional understandings of critical pedagogy to consider the design and student engagement with the course from the perspective of what we call " response-able pedagogies. " Response-able pedagogies are not simply examples of the type of learning that can take place when power relations, materiality and entanglement are acknowledged; they also constitute ethico-political practices that incorporate a relational ontology into teaching and learning activities. We propose that ethico-political practices such as attentiveness, responsibility, curiosity, and rendering each other capable, constitute reponse-able pedagogies. The paper focuses on the transdisciplinary and interinstitutional course to consider how these ethico-political practices which constitute a response-able pedagogy might (be put to) work and how the students were both enabled and constrained by this design in terms of their responses to such ethico-political practices.

- by Vivienne Bozalek and +1
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- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Higher Education, Posthumanism, Critical Pedagogy
- by Dawn Bennett
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- Music Education, Higher Education, Employability Skills, Conservatoire training

This chapter describes the developments in the Bologna process that started in 1999. The attempt to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is arguably one of the largest reform projects ever in higher education and such reform initiatives warrant a critical assessment of the achievements. And the reform has impacted or will impact the specific context in which many internationalisation practitioners, not only in Europe but also beyond, will have to carry out their professional activities. There are intended consequences that make international cooperation and related activities easier, but -as with many reformsthere are unintended or side effects that complicate matters of international cooperation and exchange. The chapter will focus on achievements in terms of policies being realised and progress being made in the member states of the EHEA, but also look in some depth at the spin-off of the Bologna process: has the process triggered similar reform processes in other regions? And if so, how and what are the impacts? And what does this all imply for practitioners in the area of international higher education?

- by Farshid Shams and +1
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- Higher Education, Bologna Process, International Higher Education, Internationalisation of Higher Education

The concept of the learning organisation is now gaining more prominence globally, yet there are few organisations that assert to be learning organizations, or identify with organizational learning. On the same breath, the learning organisation concept and practice is voiced more in the developed nations than in the developing ones, more so, Africa. Further, the learning organization appears to be more practical in entrepreneurial organisations than in the educational enterprise. This is evidenced by the dearth of literature still seeking to establish whether the learning organization idea is relevant to universities specifically in Kenya, and also Africa. This article examines the concept of the learning organisation to elucidate the key components in relation to universities in the Kenyan context. The review is pegged on Ortenblad and Koris' typology of the learning organization. Literature review of existing prior works on the components of the learning organization and their relevance to universities, and a reflective discussion based of applicability of key characteristics of a learning organisation in public universities in Kenya is made. The review found the four-point typology limited and a fifth component identified as beneficial toward universities' reflection on their organisational learning status. The learning organisation idea was found relevant for universities in Kenya but needs to be applied thoughtfully and in cognisance of the unique nature of its operations and include the key consumer (university student bodies) perspective in the multi-stakeholder contingency approach. The highly mechanistic learning structure, practices that encourage negative learning, lack of research focusing on internal concerns and emphasis on formal courses at the exclusion of learning at work are obstacles that stand in the way of transformation of universities in Kenya into learning organisations.

- by Elizabeth S . B Abenga
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- Higher Education

Since the DCMS Creative Industries Mapping Document highlighted the key role played by creative activities in the UK economy and society, the creative industries agenda has expanded across Europe and internationally. It has the support of local authorities, regional development agencies, research councils, arts and cultural agencies and other sector organisations. Within this framework, higher education institutions have also engaged in the creative agenda but have struggled to define their role in this growing sphere of activities. Higher Education and the Creative Economy critically engages with the complex interconnections between higher education, geography, cultural policy and the creative economy. This book is organised into four sections which articulate the range of dynamics that can emerge between higher education and the creative economy: partnership and collaboration across higher education institutions and the creative and cultural industries; the development of creative human capital; connections between arts schools and local art scenes; and links with broader policy directions and work. While it has a strong UK component, it also includes international perspectives, specifically from Australia, Singapore, Europe and the USA. This authoritative collection challenges the boundaries of creative and cultural industry development by bringing together international experts from a range of subject areas, presenting researchers with a unique multidisciplinary approach to the topic. This edited collection will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers working in the area of creative and cultural industries development.

- by Dawn Bennett
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- Music, Music Education, Higher Education, Social Capital

Since roughly 1980, the rationalization of higher education has been escalating. That is, means-end schema and bureaucratic organization have become ever more dominant as the authority over academic matters has been shifting from the professoriate to managers who in the mid-twentieth-century had been mainly responsible for economic affairs and "making things run." At many research universities today, the administrative sector has grown so large that the

- by Gaye Tuchman and +1
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- Higher Education, Critical Social Theory

Just as no one saw the dissolution of the monasteries coming in 1535, so no one saw the dissolution of the universities coming in 2035. This précis forms the nucleus of a work I hope to launch in the coming year. Your comments are most... more

Just as no one saw the dissolution of the monasteries coming in 1535, so no one saw the dissolution of the universities coming in 2035.
This précis forms the nucleus of a work I hope to launch in the coming year. Your comments are most welcome

Despite the increase in massive open online courses (MOOCs), evidence about the pedagogy of learning in MOOCs remains limited. This paper reports on an investigation into the pedagogy in one MOOC- Oxford Brookes University’s ‘First Steps in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education ’ MOOC (FSLT12). FSLT12 was an open and free professional development opportunity for people moving into HE teaching. It was a small course (200 participants registered from 24 countries) which was focused on introducing HE teaching skills, and, uniquely, to deliberately integrate open academic practice as a vital part of professional development for HE teachers. A qualitative, case-study approach was used in the research, based on surveys, interviews, and social media, to provide evidence about how people learned in this course and consider wider implications for teaching and learning in higher education. The evidence shows that participants who completed the course were able to learn autonomously and na...

- by Elizabeth Lovegrove
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- Computer Science, Higher Education, Case Study, Education Systems

Το παρόν άρθρο αποσκοπεί στο να διερευνήσει τις επιπτώσεις της οικονομικής κρίσης στο εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα με έμφαση στη διαφοροποίηση των κοινωνικά προσδιορισμένων ανισοτήτων στην Ανώτατη Εκπαίδευση στην Ελλάδα. Όπως διαπιστώνεται, σε συνθήκες προϊούσας οικονομικής κρίσης μειώνονται σημαντικά τόσο οι δημόσιες δαπάνες για εκπαίδευση, όσο και η ιδιωτική κατανάλωση των νοικοκυριών για εκπαιδευτικά αγαθά. Επιπλέον διαπιστώνεται ότι σε όλη την προηγούμενη χρονική περίοδο, παρά τις όποιες «μεταρρυθμιστικές» προσπάθειες και την αύξηση του αριθμού των προπτυχιακών και των μεταπτυχιακών φοιτητών, οι κοινωνικά προσδιορισμένες ανισότητες πρόσβασης στην Ανώτατη Εκπαίδευση στην Ελλάδα, όχι μόνο επιμένουν διαχρονικά αλλά και διευρύνονται συνεχώς, ανάλογα με το εκάστοτε επίπεδο αναφοράς (Πανεπιστήμια / Τ.Ε.Ι., Τμήματα υψηλού / χαμηλού γοήτρου, κ.ο.κ.), σε συνάρτηση και με την κοινωνικοοικονομική κατάσταση των νοικοκυριών προέλευσης. Υπό τις συνθήκες αυτές, λόγω και της προϊούσας οξείας δημοσιονομικής κρίσης, η κατάσταση αυτή παγιώνεται και προσλαμβάνει νέες διαστάσεις καθιστώντας την ανάταξη του προβλήματος των κοινωνικά προσδιορισμένων ανισοτήτων πρόσβασης στην Ανώτατη Εκπαίδευση ένα ιδιαίτερα δύσκολο εγχείρημα.

- by Paraskevi-Viviane Galata
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- Higher Education, Social Inequalities, Economic Crisis

This article presents a case study of Malaysia’s
inroad in internationalising its higher education system for
the past three decades and proposes recommendations and
the way forward in internationalisation. Internationalisation
is one of the critical agenda in Malaysia’s higher education
transformation with an end target of becoming an international
hub of higher education excellence by 2020. The
country is no stranger in internationalisation as efforts in
student mobility, academic programmes and international
collaboration have started since the 1980s and 1990s. As
with other higher education systems globally, it was the
private sector that initiated and sustained efforts in internationalisation
of Malaysian higher education. With the
growth in international student enrolment, the country has
established itself as a student hub; however, greater focus
and clarity in direction should be set forward in accelerating
Malaysia’s progress in internationalisation, with
research and development as a potential catalyst. The
article also questions Malaysia’s current standing with
regard to internationalisation and the need in facilitating
higher education institutions to build their capacity in internationalisation,
highlighting the important roles of
individual institutions at both public and private sector that
drive the country’s internationalisation agenda.

The Good schoo law, called also 170/2015 underlines the necessity to go straightforward and make the school so can everybody could learn.It should assure the best of education to all the pupils. Quality, good explaination, etc are the requisites for all those who are working in the schools .
For the effect of the same law, teachers are called to explain at the last year of the lyceum topic with the CLIL methodology.
This is indeed what happens. Herein we report how a teacher should write a CLIL unit for awn alumni, in a brief and essential manner, remembering that it is necessary playing to reach the desired objectives.

- by Sara Auriemma
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- Higher Education

This paper similar to the study of recruitment and selection process, element of organisation social capital building, the paper focused attention on one function of human resource as it relates to organisational social capital building, the paper is widening the gap in knowledge on how to influence other human resources function such as training and development. This paper opens discussion on how training and development relates to organisational social capital building using Nigeria medium enterprises human resource perception. Business today operates in an environment, where every organisation focus on attaining increased productivity and performance from the staff they recruit. Human resource practitioners are expected to, not just, recruit staffs; they are saddled with the responsibility of training and developing employees they recruit in order to the achieve objectives of their firm. Hence, the use of training and development programmes and policies to build social capital for firms requires attention, that too, in a contextual manner. This paper studied the view of medium enterprises human resource practitioners as regards using training and development programmes to build organisation social capital.
Quantitative approach was used as the sole research method, 500 questionnaires were sent out to human resource practitioners in Nigeria medium enterprises, 451 were retrieved back. The paper uses a Likert-scale questionnaire as instrument and descriptive, bivariate and multiple regression analysis to investigate if human resource practitioners in Nigeria medium enterprises understand the need to use their training and development programmes to build organisation social capital for their firms and what influences this perception generates. The study reveal that Nigeria medium enterprises human resource practitioners focus on the social nature of work than on efficient process of work whilst design training and development programmes and in assessment of training needs of the organisation implying they are in support of the use of training and development function to build organisation social capital. Education background and qualification of human resource practitioners is found to the only factor responsible this positive perception.

This paper is part of a larger work on the history, philosophy and utilisation of pendulum motion studies . The paper deals with the fate of Christiaan Huygens 1673 proposal to use the length of a seconds pendulum (effectively one metre) as a universal, natural and objective standard of length. This is something which, if it had been adopted, would have been of inestimable scientific, commercial and cultural benefit. Why it was not originally adopted in the late seventeenth century, and why it was again rejected in the late eighteenth century (1795) when the Revolutionary Assembly in France adopted the metric system with the metre being defined as one ten-millionth of the quarter meridan distance -raise interesting questions about the methodology and politics of science. Given that pendulum motion is a standard component of all science courses throughout the world, and given that most science education reforms, including the US National Science Education Standards and recent Australian state reforms, require that something of the 'big picture' of science be conveyed to students (the relationship of science to culture, commerce, history and philosophy)it is suggested that these educational goals can be advanced by teaching about the fate of Huygens' proposal.

- by michael matthews
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- Philosophy, Science Education, Higher Education, Motion

PowerPoint [supplemental] lesson for Comm 205: Presentation Making with Media.

- by Annaliese Piraino
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- Instructional Design, Educational Technology, Higher Education, Public Speaking

Arts-based Education in Outdoor Learning is a compendium of artistic endeavour created for the purposes of learning. The contents stem mainly from teaching BA undergraduate Outdoor students at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK, showcased here to promote critical discussion on Outdoor issues and foster pedagogical progress wherever that may be found. This introduction outlines the structure of the book, which also illuminates the plan of teaching that has brought about such a vibrant collection of chapters. The ethos of my educational mission has been for students to become philosophical about things, ‘having ideas’ with a view to making a comment about some state of affairs in the Outdoors. With a nugget of an idea latched on to, fuelled with some passion, the next step was to transform that idea into some physical presence through an artistic medium; shape it. Thereafter, the academic task was to polish and present the artwork with a supporting chapter, in order to communicate their idea to the world; share it. The creation of art in this context was always a means to an educational end, the artworks being an impressive by-product from this experience – but now the artworks are leading the show, representing the style of education we enjoyed. It seems worth mentioning at the outset, that all the Outdoor students I have taught are not artists, they are climbers, canoeists and mountaineers. They never came to university to do or study art and nor did I teach them as such. If I have done anything, it was to free up the possibility of thinking slightly differently about topics they chose, and then equip them with some basic artistic tools to play with those ideas. As a result, I discovered a huge increase in student confidence and a palpable increase in enjoyment of learning, as much for me as their teacher as for them. In effect, what I did was invite into my classroom a raft of untapped talent in thinking and learning that suddenly had a place in their university degrees.

- by Clive Palmer (National Teaching Fellow)
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- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Creativity, Literature

This paper examines matched unit-record results of 217 students who took both the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) over a three-year period at a public Master’s-Larger Programs institution in the Northeast. Results indicate that seniors recruited to take CLA using incentives exhibited more engaged behaviors on a range of NSSE items compared to seniors who did not take CLA, suggesting a recruitment bias in the testing population. Further, results confirm previous research by Carini, Kuh, and Klein (2006) that indicates only small relationships between test scores and survey items.

- by Gill Crozier
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- Education, Higher Education, Case Studies, Educational
- by Mike Lambert
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- Teacher Education, Higher Education, Educational Research, Learning and Teaching