Researching Higher Education: International perspectives on theory, policy and practice (Research into Higher Education)

Research on higher education has yielded many insights that have improved our theoretical and practical understanding but there are still many themes that continue to appear on research agendas, provoking renewed focus on these complex questions and problems. Researching Higher Education explores these issues, examining topics such as equity in access and participation, the relationship between higher education and society, how and what students learn and the professional development of academics.In this volume, contributors from Europe, Australia, Africa and the US critically address ongoing issues with a set of key questions to guide their analysis: What do we know? What are the missing links and gaps in past research? What are the implications for further research? Key themes include: The nature of higher education Higher education and society Staff and students in higher education Teaching and learning Curriculum and assessment Critical, engaging and international in scope, Researching Higher Education will be a valuable guide for academics, researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers in the higher education community. Researching Higher Education- Front Cover Researching Higher Education Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Figures Tables Contributors Preface Researching higher education: international perspectives on theory, policy and practice References Chapter 1: Higher education research in the United Kingdom since 1945 Introduction A note on methodology UK higher education research in 1945 The 1950s The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 2000s The 2010s Some conclusions: the contemporary state of higher education research in the UK References Part I: Higher education and society Chapter 2: The internationalisation of higher education Introduction Internationalisation: an emerging concept Changing notions and perceptions Higher education for global citizenship? Global citizenship and English as the lingua franca Internationalisation of the curriculum Academic staff: a wicked problem? Current and future research themes Notes References Chapter 3: Public engagement in higher education: The state of the art Introduction Ivory towers on shifting sands From public understanding of science (PUS) to public engagement in science and technology (PEST) From PEST to public engagement in higher education (PE-HE) To whom does engagement belong? Locating the state of the art of PE-HE Conclusion Notes References Chapter 4: Creativity and innovation in the twenty-first-century university Continuity and change in higher education Contemporary challenges presented to the traditional academic life Defining creativity and innovation Creativity and innovation at the organisational level Incorporating innovation into universities Conclusion References Chapter 5: Whose academy? Gender and higher education Dangerous discourses Women academics STEM and gender Philosophy and gender Whose knowledge? Concluding thoughts References Chapter 6: Working-class students in Western higher education Introduction Accessing university Working-class students and spatial (im)mobility The psychosocial experiences of working-class students in Western higher education Higher education and the extra-credential experiences of working-class students Discussion References Chapter 7: Reassessing the employment outcomes of higher education Transition to employment What is a graduate job? Reassessing the graduate premium Graduate employment outcomes and social mobility Conclusion Note References Chapter 8: Policy-making in higher education: Is a ‘theory of everything’ possible? Introduction What do we know from research on policy-making in higher education? An overview of literature The Canadian case Conclusion: lessons from the Canadian case - toward an expansive alternative approach Notes References Part II: Curriculum, teaching and learning Chapter 9: The professional development of academics as teachers: Reconsiderations Introduction Influences on approaches to professional academic development Theoretical resources Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 10: Curriculum in higher education research Approaching the curriculum in curriculum studies Data and methods An overview of studies on curriculum Curriculum as control over content Curriculum as producing competences Curriculum as negotiating of potentials Curriculum as empowerment Discussion Acknowledgement References Chapter 11: Research into student learning and university teaching: Changing perspectives Introduction The evolution of research into student learning and university teaching Focusing on individual students’ experiences of learning Focusing on students and teachers within the course context Focusing on an individual teacher’s perspective on teaching and student learning Focusing on academics’ perspectives on institutional constraints on teaching Discussion and conclusion References Chapter 12: ‘Student experience’ surveys: Political, theoretical and empirical dimensions Introduction Political backgrounds Theoretical and empirical aspects Some key issues Acknowledgements Notes References Chapter 13: Mind the gap: The chasm between research and practice in teaching and learning with technology Introduction Recognising the complexity of the problem Modelling the influences upon teaching with technology in higher education Scholarly approaches to teaching with technology Conclusion References Part III: Conclusions Chapter 14: More than the sum of its parts: Higher education research explored Introduction Internal and external relations Criticality Literature Absences References Research on higher education has yielded many insights that have improved our theoretical and practical understanding but there are still many themes that continue to appear on research agendas, provoking renewed focus on these complex questions and problems. This book explores these issues, examining topics such as equity in access and participation, the relationship between higher education and society, how and what students learn and the professional development of academics. In this volume, contributors from Europe, Australia, Africa and the US critically address ongoing issues with a set of key questions to guide their analysis: What do we know? What are the missing links and gaps in past research? What are the implications for further research? Key themes include: the nature of higher education; higher education and society; staff and students in higher education; teaching and learning; and curriculum and assessment. [Back cover, ed]