Developing and Maintaining Transnational Research Collaborations

2019 ◽  
pp. 280-296
Author(s):  
Fazal Rizvi ◽  
Ranjit Gajendra Nadarajah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Research Collaborations ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Policy Statements ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Development And Management

An emphasis on research collaborations across national boundaries can now be found in policy statements of most leading higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world. These statements suggest that a globally distributive system of knowledge development and dissemination demands regularized, ongoing, and symmetrical transnational links. This chapter argues that while most national systems of higher education now advocate transnational research collaborations, their approaches to the development and management of these collaborations vary greatly. The rationales they provide for such collaborations are often tied to particular national interests, as nations seek to locate the role of higher education within their shifting geopolitical objectives. Not surprisingly, therefore, the challenges they face in establishing and coordinating programmes of research collaboration are linked not only to the major characteristics of their systems of higher education but more importantly also the broader objectives of their foreign policies. In order to show how this is so, this chapter provides a case study of Australia, exploring how and why the Australian system of higher education has, in recent decades, increasingly sought to develop research links with Asian universities; and what challenges its HEIs have faced in this endeavour.

Higher education, post-conflict democratization and the legacies of authoritarian rule: The Tripoli University Programme for Rebuilding Libya

2021 ◽  
pp. 174619792098136
Author(s):  
Sansom Milton
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Transitional Processes ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Relationship

In this paper, the role of higher education in post-uprising Libya is analysed in terms of its relationship with transitional processes of democratization and civic development. It begins by contextualising the Libyan uprising within the optimism of the ‘Arab Spring’ transitions in the Middle East. Following this, the relationship between higher education and politics under the Qadhafi regime and in the immediate aftermath of its overthrow is discussed. A case-study of a programme designed to support Tripoli University in contributing towards democratisation will then be presented. The findings of the case-study will be reflected upon to offer a set of recommendations for international actors engaging in political and civic education in conflict-affected settings, in particular in the Middle East.

Framing the role of higher education in sustainable development: a case study analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanna Elmassah ◽  
Marwa Biltagy ◽  
Doaa Gamal
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Analysis

Purpose Higher education institutions (HEIs) should play a fundamental role in achieving the international 2030 sustainable development (SD) agenda. Quality education is the fourth of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and one of the targets related to this is to ensure that by 2030 all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote SD. Therefore, the SDGs provide a motive for HEIs to integrate SD concepts into their day-to-day practices. This study aims to introduce a framework for HEIs’ sustainable development assessment. Such a framework guides HEIs and educational leaders to support their countries’ commitments to achieving the SDGs. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents the results of a case study analysis of the role and successful techniques of HEIs in achieving SD in three countries, namely, Germany, Japan and Egypt. Primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews with three Cairo University officials, while secondary data was collected by reviewing the universities' official websites, reports, publications and related papers. This study introduces a novel framework for HEIs' SD analysis and assessment, which guides HEIs and educational leaders to support SD to fulfill their countries' commitments to achieving the SDGs. This framework is based on the following five categories: strategic direction and institutional working practices, supporting students, supporting university staff competencies, supporting society's stakeholders and networking and sustainable campus. Consideration is given to the potential role of HEIs to support SD in each of these areas. Findings Cairo University could learn from the novel and pioneer practices of the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, and the University of Tokyo to fill in the gaps it has in different roles. It can also put more effort into adopting the suggested higher education programs of Egypt's Vision 2030. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited to a case analysis comparing three countries, Germany, Japan and Egypt. Second, this study has not considered school education, which is equally essential in countries' SD. Practical implications HEIs can use the framework and the findings in this paper to evaluate their current roles in supporting SD, identify the gaps and take actions accordingly to address their weaknesses. Originality/value The paper compares three universities, one in each of the case study countries. It draws conclusions that identify ways in which the paper's framework and findings can guide SD practice in HEIs internationally, especially those in the developing world.

Facebook as Complementary Teaching Material: Reconceptualizing the Context Boundaries of Formal and Informal Learning in EFL Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Iman Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Formal Curriculum ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Skills Learning

This article is a case study that aims to understand and explore a teacher's perspective about integrating Facebook as an informal social platform into the EFL classroom in a higher education context in Oman. The study further aims to identify the attitudes and perspectives of a group of students belonging to the same context. Research data came from semi-structured interviews with a teacher participant and a survey questionnaire with student participants. The study provides a set of findings based on interview data analysis and questionnaire survey analysis. The study's findings revealed the teacher and students' positive attitudes and perspectives towards the role of Facebook in boosting pedagogical practices and increasing English language skills learning. This study contributes to knowledge by providing insights on the integration of Facebook as an informal platform into the formal curriculum-based learning in TESOL. The insights and findings are of value to the teachers and instructors in EFL higher education contexts. Pedagogical implications for ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) and researchers are offered in the light of these results.

“You Can Lead the Horse to Water, but … ”

2012 ◽  
pp. 182-199
Author(s):  
Henk Huijser ◽  
Michael Sankey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Learning Management Systems ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The University

This chapter outlines the potential benefits of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies in a contemporary higher education context, and identifies possible ways of doing this, as well as expected challenges. It uses the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), primarily a distance education provider, as the context for many of its case study examples. In particular, it addresses the important role of the allowances of particular learning management systems (LMSs) in pedagogical applications of Web 2.0 technologies. Overall, this chapter argues that the goals and ideals of Web 2.0/Pedagogy 2.0 can be achieved, or at least stimulated, within an institutional LMS environment, as long as the LMS environment is in alignment with such goals and ideals. It uses the implementation of Moodle at USQ as a case study to reinforce this argument and explore which factors potentially influence a shift in thinking about learning and teaching in a Web 2.0 context.

Providing Students with an Easystart to Higher Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Hamshire ◽  
W. Rod Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Access To Resources ◽  
Transition To Higher Education ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Degree Level ◽  
Digital Landscape

The transition to higher education can be problematic for some students as they adapt to institutional procedures and degree level working at the same time as developing new social networks. To help facilitate these complex transitions institutions are increasingly turning towards digital technologies to provide both flexible access to resources and improved communication. This paper outlines the key issues associated with students' initial transitions to higher education and explores the challenges faced by academics designing induction procedures and programmes. The emerging role of digital technologies in supporting students' transitions into Higher Education, against the backdrop of a changing digital landscape in one institution is discussed and an evaluation of the easystart induction programme at Manchester Metropolitan University presented as a case study.

Lean Six Sigma in higher education institutes: an Irish case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 948-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seamus J. O’Reilly ◽  
Joe Healy ◽  
Tom Murphy ◽  
Rónán Ó’Dubhghaill
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to a developing literature on continuous improvement (CI), enabled by Lean Six Sigma (LSS), in higher education institutions (HEIs). It reports on the key learning points arising from the initial steps taken by an Irish university on its CI journey. Design/methodology/approach A case study strategy was adopted following a participatory research approach. This approach supports reflexivity and also provides access to all relevant documentation and staff within the case university. Thematic analysis was supported by data reduction and display techniques. Findings The introduction of a LSS approach rather than a reliance on lean alone introduced a structured methodology (DMAIC) that supported simplification of a number of administrative processes. A number of specific improvements were achieved including: Cycle time and cost reduction; customer or employee satisfaction; and rework and error reduction. The findings support the importance of the Readiness Factors as identified by Antony (2014), with particular insight into the role of senior and middle management, the impact of training and deployment of expertise. Research limitations/implications This paper is based on an ongoing, longitudinal, empirical study of a single case study in Ireland. Originality/value This paper tracks the development of CI in a HEI in a longitudinal manner and adds to the emerging the literature in this area. The paper evaluates the role of management at various levels, analyses the use of LSS tools and techniques and evaluated the role of training and capacity building. Implications for Management are shared including: design and role of training programmes, role of champions at various organisational levels, including key functional areas and sustaining momentum.

scholarly journals Four Fishermen, Orson Welles, and the Making of the Brazilian Northeast*

2017 ◽  
Vol 234 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-212
Author(s):  
Courtney J Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Labor Laws ◽  
Defining Moment ◽  
Orson Welles ◽  
Labor Conditions ◽  
Significant Case ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Brazilian Northeast

Abstract In 1942 Orson Welles traveled to Brazil to film a movie about four Brazilian fishermen who had protested their labor conditions by traveling nearly 2,500 kilometers for sixty-one days from the city of Fortaleza to Rio de Janeiro on a rustic sail-raft called a jangada. Their voyage pressured Brazil’s so-called New State (Estado Novo) to recognize the fishermen’s trade as an official profession within the state’s expanding social programs and centralized labor laws. Through an analysis of the fishermen, their voyage, Orson Welles’ visit, and Brazil’s Northeast, this article examines the role of the region in both imagining and moving beyond the nation in the twentieth century. It presents press accounts, intellectual essays, music, images, film, and the Di�rio dos jangadeiros – a scrapbook of sorts in which supporters from all social classes left messages for the fishermen at each port. While structurally, the fishermen’s protest pulled the most rustic element of this newly defined region into the modern legal apparatus of a centralized state, symbolically, the fishermen’s journey generated an archetypal figure that provided a way to talk about the Northeast in terms of its rusticity, developing both racialized and folkloric characteristics of its people and uniting the semi-arid backlands and the humid, tropical coast. The fishermen of the Northeast were transformed from brave labor organizers into non-threatening folkloric figures through a process of memory, narration, and forgetting. Examining the fishermen’s story as a regionally-defining moment that transcended national boundaries provides a significant case study of how, by the mid-twentieth century, the nation came to be understood as a series of interrelated regions, with one region serving as both national scapegoat and root of authentic culture.

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