Excellence in Higher Education (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
88 research outputs found
Sort by
Book Review: Paths to a World-Class University: Lessons from Practices and Experiences
Full text linkNon
Influences on Academic Achievement of Primary School Pupils in Cambodia
Full text linkEmploying education production function approach, this article investigates the influences of school and pupil background factors on academic achievement of primary school pupils in Cambodia. Based on achievement data of 1,080 Grade 6 pupils from one rural and one semi-urban area, the study reveals that school and teacher quality exerts a considerable effect on pupils’ performance. Teachers’ experience and teacher guides are positively correlated with academic achievement, while instructional time loss is significantly associated with poor performance. In light of these results, policies to boost academic achievement of primary school pupils in Cambodia are discussed
Book Review: The Emergent Knowledge Society and the Future of Higher Education: Asian Perspectives
Full text linkNon
Front Matter
No full textThis is the first issue of Volume 3, with articles that examine higher education and/or action research projects in Albania, Indonesia, Kosovo, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other contexts
Moving towards Practice-Oriented and Research-Based Teacher Education: Challenges of Kosovo and Albania
Full text linkThe article analyzes the current status, development trends and challenges of teacher education in Kosovo and Albania in their efforts to be aligned with current trends of a more research-based, practice and skills oriented teacher education system. The article compares the provision of pre-service teacher education and draws conclusions related to future development trends of the two countries as they aim to meet the best international standards and practices in shaping pre-service teacher education from a research-based and practice orientation. This article is based primarily on findings from desk research conducted at public universities in Kosovo and Albania, more specifically analyzing the university curricula and other documents related to the provision of teacher education courses. In addition, the research involves the analysis of work completed and documents produced as a result of the 2009-2011 Trans-European Mobility Program for University Studies (TEMPUS) Project “Development of Master Study Programs in Education” (DEMED). The article outlines the similarities and differences of teacher education systems in Kosovo and Albania and emphasizes the need for small countries to co-operate on joint reform that leads to wider regional impact and facilitates mobility of staff and students. Identifying common goals is thus important. The two priority goals for these two countries are: development of practice and research-based teacher education. Conclusions are presented with the intent of findings being extrapolated to similar small, developing countries
Global, National, and Local Goals: English Language Policy Implementation in an Indonesian International Standard School
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to examine the achievement of students in math and science subjects as the impact of using English as a medium of instruction at an international standard school. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument to 190 students at one international standard school in Jambi Province, Indonesia. A focus group discussion (FGD) approach was undertaken to validate and verify the data gathered through the questionnaire and clarify some issues raised in the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. It was found that the students’ demographic profile, attitude toward English and grades in math and science subjects were significantly related with their academic achievement. However, students’ perception on methods and techniques was not significantly related with their academic achievement in English, math, and the science subjects. The result showed that the implementation of English as a medium of instruction was not done well in the international standard school. This is perhaps due to the difficulty of learning science and math in English. This study provided information for policy makers, school leaders, researchers, and teacher educators to understand how the policy is implemented at the school level. The challenges of attempting too ambitious linguistic and academic goals in the school were discussed as were policy implications and future research
Action Research on a WebQuest as an Instructional Tool for Writing Abstracts of Research Articles
Full text linkThe massive growth of and access to information technology (IT) has enabled the integration of technology into classrooms. One such integration is the use of WebQuests as an instructional tool in teaching targeted learning activities such as writing abstracts of research articles in English for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. In the academic world, writing an abstract of a research paper or final project in English can be challenging for EFL students. This article presents an action research project on the process and outcomes of using a WebQuest designed to help 20 Indonesian university IT students write a research article’s abstract in English. Findings reveal that despite positive feedback, changes need to be made to make the WebQuest a more effective instructional tool for the purpose it was designed
Fads and Fancies: The Use of New Management Tools in UK Universities
Full text linkOver the last 20 years, British universities have often looked to business for ideas that might help them cope with growing financial and competitive pressures, increasing expectations of quality and new forms of accountability. The impact of this “new managerialism” has been researched in broad terms, especially looking at the inter-relationship between academic staff and university managers. By contrast, very little has been written about one, highly practical expression of the new managerialism, namely the use of new management tools. This paper brings together separate studies of three such tools: the balanced scorecard, knowledge management and lean thinking. In each case, issues of motivation, leadership and implementation are considered, leading to an overall set of factors that influence the use of such tools in higher education and a model for wider consideration
Latin American and Caribbean Countries in the Global Quest for World Class Academic Recognition: An Analysis of Publications in Scopus and the Science Citation Index between 1990 and 2010
Full text linkThe article investigates global participation in academic research productivity through the growth of publications from Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C) in two of the most prestigious bibliographic indexes, Scopus and the Science Citation Index (SCI). Data were obtained from the SCImago Journal and Country Rank and the Iberian-American and Inter-American Network of Science and Technology Indicators databases. Tables were created for the number of citable documents in Scopus, the publications in SCI, and the comparative indicators of the number of publications in SCI from LA&C countries adjusted for number of researchers, full-time researchers, inhabitants, and national research and development (R&D) expenditure. The countries with the highest number of publications since 1990 SCI and 1996 Scopus were Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Colombia shows the largest growth in research productivity over the periods studied and became in 2010 the country with the fifth highest number of publications in both indexes. Comparative indicators adjusted for numbers of researchers, population and national R&D expenditures do not show clear differences in performance across countries. The article concludes with suggestions for the need to provide greater contextual analysis and including other bibliographic indexes and databases in order to have a fuller understanding of the reasons for particular levels of research productivity across LA&C countries