Teaching and learning:an overview of the thematic section

Higher education institutions today operate in a rapidly changing environment and this is undoubtedly reflected in their core functions of teaching and learning. Teaching and learning in higher education are influenced by a well-rehearsed set of global trends such as the changing demography of student populations and higher participation of non-traditional students; growing global interconnectedness and the proliferation of digital media; and an increasing market orientation in higher educatio

Decision support issues in Central and Eastern Europe

Universities in Central and Eastern Europe are caught between enforced data reporting (because the governments want them to account for their activities and performance) and institutional research for strategic development (because universities want to do better). Since the capacity for institutional research is in most universities still fairly limited (there are a few institutional researchers employed and these tend to work with centralized, yet non-integrated information systems), the emphasis of institutional research tends to be more on formal reporting than on supporting decision-making. Given that majority of universities in the region is still predominantly funded by the state, government steering crucially influences university practices. In most of national systems the governments have not developed performance-oriented financing and quality assurance mechanisms that would, in turn, prompt universities to adapt performance-oriented management practices with data analytics as a vital part

Bodo visokosolski ucitelji podprli ali zavrli nacrt slovenske vlade o internacionalizaciji visokega solstva?

The present article is concerned with the question of how conducive the academic culture and climate in Slovenian higher education institutions are to internationalisation. Our underlying assumption is that academic staff represent either an important driving force or an obstacle to the implementation of internationalisation policies formulated at the national level and diffused into institutional practices. Specifically, we investigate whether the present academic attitudes and behaviours are in line with the internationalisation aims and objectives stated in the National Higher Education Programme 2011–2020. Our findings point to generally favourable attitudes of academics towards internationalisation. We also find that academics’ own priorities regarding internationalisation tend to be higher than the perceived priorities of their respective institutions. At the same time, however, the preferences of academics regarding the various activities associated with the “internationalisation of study at home”, especially conducting courses in foreign languages, are lower and highly divergent, and might therefore obstruct the government’s agenda in this regard. (DIPF/Orig.

Student Participation in European Governance

Although student participation in HE governance continues to be a value in Europe, the terms of participation are rapidly changing. The reasons lie broadly in the modernisation agenda for European universities: new public management approach in institutional governance and rising tuition fees. As a result, institutional preference for student participation is changing from decision-making function in governing towards an advisory function in quality assurance and new styles of student engagement in institutional efforts to enhance student experience and in the student centered learning. In other words, while the formal student participation in governing appears to be weakening, the informal student participation is strengthening

European Students in the Bologna Process

One of the student organizations in Europe has played a particularly visible role in the Bologna process. ESIB (the National Unions of Students in Europe), which has been renamed ESU (European Students' Union [www.esib.org]), has taken active part in the Bologna process, ensuring that student interests were reflected in its policies. At the same time, ESU used the process to upgrade its visibility and role in European higher education policymaking in general. The Bologna process has thus unexpectedly also created circumstances that led to cooperation among the student unions and strengthened their resolve to empower ESIB to represent them on the European level

European Students in the Bologna Process

One of the student organizations in Europe has played a particularly visible role in the Bologna process. ESIB (the National Unions of Students in Europe), which has been renamed ESU (European Students' Union [www.esib.org]), has taken active part in the Bologna process, ensuring that student interests were reflected in its policies. At the same time, ESU used the process to upgrade its visibility and role in European higher education policymaking in general. The Bologna process has thus unexpectedly also created circumstances that led to cooperation among the student unions and strengthened their resolve to empower ESIB to represent them on the European level

The road to differentiation in Slovenia

While diversity of higher education institutions is in principle almost unanimously viewed as a favorable condition, the mechanisms to achieve it are the source for much contention. Positive financial incentives ("carrots") are proving to be more politically palatable, and hence easier to implement, than negative financial measures ("sticks"). The article describes the case of Slovenia, where the government has proposed positive financial incentives to achieve two goals: to reward excellence, but also to "shape-up" the least successful institutions, and, thus, instigated institutional diversification in Slovenian higher education

The Myth of Power: Governing Reform in the Bologna Process of Higher Education

How does one effectively reform higher education systems and structures in a transnational context? This is the key question countries have struggled with since their signing of the Bologna Declaration in 1999, which launched the Bologna Process and the development of a European Higher Education Area. Although, initiated by EU( Candidate) countries, a voluntary governing model was opted for positioning the reform process independently of the EU decision making structures. Over time the national representatives stressed that national authorities should be responsible for (organizing) (higher) education. Now, after the twentieth anniversary of the Bologna Declaration, is a good moment to look back at the choices made thus far and the extent to which they have appropriate considering the ambition and scope of the Bologna agenda