scholarly journals The Perceptions Of Higher Education Academic Staff On The Freedom To Decide What To Teach

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Kimoga ◽  
Namaganda Justine ◽  
Maigut Tom ◽  
Asiimwe Constance ◽  
Ngabirano Caroline
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ruth Hawley ◽  
Cate Allen

Abstract Student-generated video creation assessments are an innovative and emerging form of assessment in higher education. Academic staff may be understandably reluctant to transform assessment practices without robust evidence of the benefits and rationale for doing so and some guidance regarding how to do so successfully. A systematic approach to searching the literature was conducted to identify relevant resources, which generated key documents, authors and internet sources which were thematically analysed. This comprehensive critical synthesis of literature is presented here under the headings of findings from literature, relevance of digital capabilities, understanding the influence of local context and resources, and pedagogical considerations. Student-generated video creation for assessment is shown to have several benefits, notably in supporting development of digital and communication skills relevant to today’s world and in enhancing learning. As an emerging innovation within assessment, intentionally planning and supporting a change management process with both students and staff is required. The importance of alignment to learning outcomes, context and resources, choice of video format to desired skills development, and to relevance beyond graduation is emphasised for video creation in assessment to be used successfully. Video creation for assessment is likely to grow in popularity and it is hoped the evidence of benefits, rationale and guidance as to how to do this effectively presented here will support this transformation. Further research to consider video creation for assessment with individuals rather than collaborative group assessments, and to establish academic rigour and equivalence would be beneficial.


1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Rukhsana Zia

The Annual Confidential Report is a government document and is used by all government departments. The document is used for all employees of Grade 16 and above. The same document is used for the teaching staff as well. The inefficiency of the document to present an appropriate appraisal of scholarship characteristics of the higher education academic staff is evident. This study will focus on identifying various factors that ought to be assessed to provide information about the performance of the teaching staff and help formulate an effective format to achieve the objectives of appraisal.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bingwa Luyanda Loraine

Higher education in South Africa underwent a significant change during the last decade. Lecturers may not be necessarily equipped to face all the changes that are a result of changes faced by higher education. Academic staff needs to be trained so as to strengthen their teaching competencies. Training serves as an opportunity to upgrade their qualifications. Without training, it would be challenging for academics to perform their core activities. The problem that arises is that the type of routine tasks typical of the functions of academic staff does not require only training in the form of coaching but also learning in the form of gaining knowledge and competence within the academic disciplinary context. However, hands-on training seems to be the crucial component that will ensure the correct application of routine procedures. The purpose of this study was to identify the academic staff perception of empowerment programmes initiated by the Durban University of Technology (DUT), and the challenges involved in successfully empowering staff. This study also identified problems encountered during academic staff development process and further investigated if the academic staff were provided with reasonable opportunity to participate. In this study, a quantitative approach was used, and data was collected from academic staff, comprising of professors, head of departments, senior lecturers, lecturers and junior lecturers of the Durban University of Technology. A sample size of 132 was drawn from the population. Questionnaires were designed with both closed and open-ended questions, and were personally administered by the researcher to all academic staff members in all faculties of the Durban University of Technology. Analysis of data revealed that the University provide academic staff with sufficient and relevant training however staff felt that they should be included in the planning of these programmes. Furthermore there was a need for follow-up to evaluate effectiveness of the training programmes and if they served the purpose for which they were intended to. This study, therefore, recommended that respective faculties should involve their staff members in planning, and that a follow-up be conducted after completion of training.


Author(s):  
David Schüller ◽  
Vít Chlebovský ◽  
Karel Doubravský ◽  
Vladimír Chalupský

A duplicate of this original article was erroneously published in issue six of this year. Please use this original for citation. Universities have to face many changes in the sector of higher education caused by the current dynamic development in this sector. With the decline in state support, increased competition and unfavourable demographic progress, universities are forced to establish and improve their relationships with new and existing stakeholders. Research on relationships among universities and stakeholders has historically focused on the different factors and their influence on improving stakeholder satisfaction with the quality of university services and on strengthening cooperation. Some studies are focused on stakeholders' classification according to their importance for higher education institutions. However, there are fewer scientific studies which concentrate on the intricacies of managing stakeholder satisfaction according to key areas of Universities. This study aims to design a conceptual scheme for managing stakeholder satisfaction depending on the importance of stakeholders in the key fields of Universities. The research was done in three steps. As the first stage, university stakeholders were identified via interview. In the second stage, the following key fields relating to university activities were identified via focus group - education, science and research, premises and technology. In the third stage, the importance of the particular stakeholders was identified for the fields mentioned in the stage two. In order to gain the necessary information, a set interview method was chosen. Native students were identified as the most important stakeholder for the field - education, academic staff as the most important for the field - research and development and enterprises as the most important stakeholder for the field - premises and equipment. The results of the research conducted provided the authors with a convenient base for formulating the conceptual scheme for managing stakeholder universities' satisfaction.


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-58
Author(s):  
Aina Strode

Students' Independent Professional Activity in Pedagogical PracticeThe topicality of the research is determined by the need for changes in higher education concerned with implementing the principles of sustainable education. The article focuses on teacher training, highlighting the teacher's profession as an attractive choice of one's career that permits to ensure the development of general and professional skills and an opportunity for new specialists to align with the labour market. The empirical study of students' understanding of their professional activity and of the conditions for its formation is conducted by applying structured interviews (of practice supervisors, students, academic staff); students and experts' questionnaire. Comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative data and triangulation were used in case studies. As a result, a framework of pedagogical practice organisation has been created in order to form students' independent professional activity. The criteria and indicators of independent professional activity have been formulated and suggestions for designers of study programmes and organisers of the study process have been provided.


Author(s):  
Olha Pavlenko

The article discusses the current state of professional training of engineers, in particular, electronics engineers in Ukrainian higher education institutions (HEIs) and explores best practices from US HEIs. The research outlines the features of professional training of electronics engineers and recent changes in Ukrainian HEIs. Such challenges for Ukrainian HEIs as lack of collaboration between higher education and science with industry, R&D cost reduction for HEIs, and downsizing the research and academic staff, the disparity between the available quality of human capital training and the demanded are addressed. The study attempts to identify successful practices of US HEIs professional training of engineers in order to suggest potential improvements in education, research, and innovation for training electronics engineers in Ukraine.


Author(s):  
Imam Riadi ◽  
Iwan Tti Riyadi Yanto ◽  
Eko Handoyo

Safe academic services are the most important part of universities. The security of academic services is very important to maintain information optimally and safely. Along with the development of technology, academic information services are often misused by some irresponsible parties that can cause threats. To prevent these things from happening, it is necessary to know the extent of governance of higher education academic information system security by evaluating. So the research was conducted to determine the maturity of the security of Higher Education academic information service security by using the COBIT 5 framework in the DSS05 domain. The DSS05 domain in COBIT 5 is a good framework for use in implementing and evaluating the security of academic information services. Meanwhile, to determine the achievement of the evaluation of the security level of academic information systems, the Indonesian e-government ranking (PEGI) method is required. The combination of the COBIT 5 framework in the DSS05 domain using the PEGI method in academic information security service is able to provide a level of achievement in the form of Customer Value. The results of the COBIT 5 framework analysis of the DSS05 domain using the PEGI method get a score of 3.50 so that the quality of academic information service security evaluation achievement is at a very good level. At this level, universities are increasingly open to technological development. Higher education has applied the concept of quantification in every process, and has always been monitored and controlled for its performance in the security of academic information systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Horwood ◽  
Sphindile Mapumulo ◽  
Lyn Haskins ◽  
Vaughn John ◽  
Silondile Luthuli ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Globally, increasing numbers of higher education institutions (HEIs) in non-English-speaking countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction (EMI), because of the perception that this provides opportunities to attract high-calibre students and academic staff, and engage with the international research community. We report an evaluation of a North–South-South collaboration to develop health research capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by establishing a postgraduate programme in nutritional epidemiology at the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH), where EMI was adopted. We report experiences and perceptions of stakeholders, facilitators and students about using EMI. Methods In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted between October and December 2019 among convenience sampled stakeholders (8), facilitators (11) and students (12) involved in the programme from all three partner institutions (University of Kinshasa; University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; University of Bergen, Norway). Interviews were conducted in participants’ language of preference (English or French), audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated into English when required. Analysis employed a thematic approach. Results Most participants viewed EMI positively, reporting that studying in English created opportunities to access relevant literature, improve interactions with the scientific community and advance their careers. As a result of adopting EMI, some students had opportunities to present research findings at international conferences and publish their research in English. English-speaking researchers from partner institutions were able to participate in supervision of students’ research. However, inadequate English competency, particularly among students, was challenging, with some students reporting being unable to understand or interact in class, which negatively affected their academic performance. Further, EMI created barriers at KSPH among academic staff who were not proficient in English, leading to poor participation among non-English-speaking staff and lack of integration with other postgraduate programmes. Participants suggested additional English language support for EMI. Conclusion Partnerships between HEIs could be a powerful tool to develop research capacity in low-income countries in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. EMI could be a solution to language barriers faced by many such partnerships, but wide-ranging support to develop English proficiency among staff and students is essential to ensure that the challenges do not outweigh the benefits.


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