“Let Me Enjoy Teaching” Improving Academic Quality Assurance Practices to Attain Teaching Excellence: Case Study of Selected Private Higher Education Institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study was to identify the academic quality assurance practices that should be employed to attain teaching excellence at selected private higher education institutions in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The study adopted a qualitative interpretive research design and utilized one-to-one, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 participants. The sample was purposefully selected and comprised six faculty members, four program directors, one senior academic staff member, and one junior non-academic administrator, from three private higher education institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Findings revealed four categories of practices: a) Must-keep practices, b) Must-modify practices, c) Must-add practices, and d) Must-avoid practices. Some of the practices relating to quality assurance that the study identified are maintaining important evaluation-related practices while providing feedback for improvement, closing the loop, educating all employees about and increasing their reengagement in quality assurance practice, and reducing paperwork and work duplication. This study concludes by recommending that higher education institutions employ the strategies discussed in the findings to promote teaching creativity and to improve the quality of teaching and learning, to achieve teaching excellence.

OH MY GAD! A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AMONG PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (HEIS)

The advancement towards gender equality had been made clear through the insertion of Gender and Development among the UNDP Goals. At the school level, certain measures had been implemented to answer the call for gender and development. This case study will examine the status of implementation of Gender and Development among private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Tacloban City, Philippines, based on the mandated CHED Memorandum No. 1 s. 2015 on the Implementation of GAD among Higher Learning Institutions. With GAD focal persons as the primary participants, exhaustive data was gathered and analyzed. GAD programs, activities, and projects, program planning, implementation, and evaluation, problems encountered in the implementation, differing school policies were the emerging themes from the data. The study concluded that private HEIs must recognize a sustainable and meaningful GAD program, activities, and projects to be implemented in their respective schools. Keywords: Gender and development; Program implementation; Private HEIs; Philippines

Academic Technology Experience and Preference on Online Learning in Higher Education Institutions: Students' Perspectives

Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic, most higher education institutions have shifted to online learning to sustain the existence of the universities. However, the readiness and effectiveness of private higher education institutions in Indonesia, especially in Kalimantan, are still questionable. This study focused on analyzing and understanding the academic technology experience and preference for online learning in Indonesian higher education institutions from the students' perspectives. A survey of 302 respondents from private higher education institutions was corroborated with semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents have limited access to technology devices and ownership. Most of them need academic features integrated into the learning management system for their successful study. The majority of the respondents preferred to have a completely face-to-face class, but they are receptive to online learning. However, they need to get situated in academic situations that facilitate their technology literacies and skills. Also, the institutions and lecturers should go in the same direction. Therefore, the data sources can contribute meaningful insights for policy-makers to design accessible and adaptive online learning for the students.

Unleashing frugal innovation in private higher education institutions via intellectual capital: a systematic literature review

Background: Given the persistent challenges to the higher education business model, private higher education institutions (PHEIs) are exploring myriad ways to increase enrolment and income, while aggressively managing spending. Many PHEIs are facing financial distress and struggling because of decreasing budgets and declining revenue. Thus, carving unique strategies that direct the institution to focus on its core competencies, making additional budget cuts without compromising quality, developing new revenue streams, embracing new technology, and offering affordable programs, will ultimately lead to financial success. Frugal innovation (FI) can shed light on these challenges. Methods: This paper presents a systematic literature review to investigate and analyse prior research that focused on FI within the sphere of intellectual capital (IC) and information technology capabilities (ITC) research, and their relationships in PHEIs. Transfield’s five phases were employed to extract journal articles published over a thirty-year period (1990 to 2020) from major online databases using keyword searches. Although an initial search generated 76,025 papers, the search for IC and FI yielded 41 papers, and finally only two papers were selected as they clearly related IC with FI. Results: There was a research gap in the literature published from 1990 to 2020 regarding IC applications to achieve FI. This work revealed that IC and ITC research for FI in PHEI remain insufficiently explored. Conclusions: Further research is required on the evaluation model of IC, ITC and FI, methodologies, empirical analysis, and the development of measurement metrics. A limitation to this study is the number of keywords selected.

Perceived Human Resource Management Practices and Demographic Profile of Staff at Private Higher Education Institutions in Oman

This study described the perceived implementation of human resource management (HRM) practices and staff’s demographic profile at private higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Sultanate of Oman. It further explored the relationship of staff profile and HRM dimensions. Purposive sampling was used with a 50 per cent response rate. The instrument is composed of two parts; the first part includes staff profile while second part consists of 10 HRM dimensions clustered in 36 HRM practices. The findings revealed that all HRM dimensions were often applied and more than half of the respondents were academic staff, expatriates, male, and from affiliated, and college HEI. As to relationship, it was found that staff’s designation and residential status had high significant relationship in most of the HRM dimensions while staff’s HEI affiliation, classification and gender had high significant relationship with two HRM dimensions.

Factors contributing to Gen Z's deep learning: investigating undergraduates' course experience in Malaysian private higher education institutions

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relationship between undergraduates' course experience and their deep learning approach and to identify areas of improvement to facilitate students' deep learning in the private higher education context.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 844 Malaysian undergraduate students who studied in six private higher education institutions (HEIs) in Penang and Selangor. This study used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) for data analysis.FindingsThe findings revealed that good teaching and appropriate assessment have no significant relationship with deep learning. Generic skills, clear goals and standards, appropriate workload and emphasis on independence are positively related to deep learning. Generic skills and emphasis on independence are two domains that deserve attention to enhance deep learning among undergraduates.Practical implicationsLecturers need to focus on to the cultivation of generic skills to facilitate students' deep learning. Student autonomy and student-centred teaching approaches should be empowered and prioritised in teaching and learning.Originality/valueThe current study has its originality in providing empirical findings to inform the significant relationship between dimensions of course experience and deep learning in Malaysian private HEIs. Besides, it also identifies the areas of improvement concerning teaching and learning at the private HEIs using importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA) in a non-Western context.

Enhancing student retention. A study in private higher education institutions in the South East of México

In a study I conducted in local private higher education institutions, it was observed that the most important reasons for student retention are outstanding personalized attention by tutors, school authorities, staff and professors, followed by the economic factor and academic achievement. So, quality in attention is the first step for creating a positive learning environment for students to engage in their own learning, making schools become places where talent and opportunities meet. Then, more than thinking in retaining students through financial strategies, marketing efforts or trying to amaze them with impressive buildings and facilities, there must be better academic tutoring and vocational orientation, less students per tutor and more effectiveness for solving their problems, also eliminating useless remedial courses. Close and frequent relation with school authorities is very important for enhancing confidence.

Choice of Response Strategy Adopted by Indian Private Higher Education Institutions Collaborated with Foreign Education Institutions: Applying Porter’s Five Force Model

Market follows the profit and compete for the resources to get competitive advantage that is inevitable. Private higher education institutions in India collaborate with foreign education providers to deliver education services in variety of modes for enlarging the student share in the market. Applying Porter’s Five Force Model it was analysed how the institutions in NCR of India position themselves in the market forces and strategise to get comparative advantage. India with huge size of middle class and vast system of higher education always attract the foreign institutions to collaborate and expand. The restrictive and proscriptive regulation does not allow foreign qualification in India except twinning mode. The finding of the present analysis using porter’s five force model suggest that regulation of the state must be comprehensive and supportive to encash the flow of market innovations that happen to be. Thoughtful regulatory framework may reap the benefit other wise institutions under market forces offer unrecognised foreign degree in informal way under the orbit of formal institution that motivate less quality tier II and III institutions to supply educational services disguising under formal system of higher education.