Higher education in the United States is facing increasing demands for colleges and universities to demonstrate what students learn and that they are providing a high-quality education experience during the undergraduate years (Pascarealla et al. in "Chang Mag High Learn" 42(1):16-22, 2010). Despite evidence of the elevation of grades in…

This article orients a recently proposed alienation-based framework for student learning theory (SLT) to the empirical basis of the approaches to learning perspective. The proposed framework makes new macro-level interpretations of an established micro-level theory, across three levels of interpretation: (1) a context-free psychological state…

The discourse on the internationalization of higher education emphasizes revenue generation while neglecting other diverse rationales pursued by governments and institutions. For countries that are seeking to venture into a knowledge economy or accrue greater competitive advantages under globalization, many policymakers view cross-border higher…

The global context of contemporary higher education demands international benchmarks. Quality assurance of teaching and learning would benefit from the insights gained from cross-cultural assessments. If cross-cultural assessments are used it is imperative that equivalence is assured, requiring attention to the technical standards used. In this…

High quality provision has been one of the key aims of the current reforms in higher educational institutions across the globe since the beginning of the century and the millennium. Consequently this has led to the increasing demand for quality assurance (QA). This report identifies those institutional processes and structures that support the…

Fairness in access to HE is unarguably a subject of paramount importance. Wherever a student's secondary school scores are relevant for access to HE, grade inflation practices may jeopardize fair access. Pressures for high grading are common in the context of educational consumerism and competition between schools and students. However, they…

This article engages with the question: what does the internationalisation of higher education in times of globalisation sustain and what should it sustain? We first consider, through literature on globalisation and Stier's ("Glob Soc Educ" 2(1):1-28, 2004) work, limitations of currently prevalent perspectives on…

Over the last few decades, globalization and ever-increasing demands of the knowledge-based economy have caused higher education in most countries around the world to undergo significant transformation. Notwithstanding the dramatic changes in higher education, it is clearly noticed that the influence of the European higher education models is…

Scholars have offered numerous approaches and best practices for mentoring faculty, many of which have provided valuable insight into the complex nature of the mentoring process. Yet, little attention has been paid to how faculty mentoring practices can influence a mentee's intrinsic motivation. Through a series of 15 interviews with faculty…

Peer mentoring is becoming increasingly popular in UK higher education, however, there remains little good quality, theoretically driven and evaluative research. The current study aims to bridge the gap between theory, practice and evaluation by providing a controlled evaluation of a peer mentoring scheme within UK universities. 109 first year…

This study explores US funding for university partnerships between the US and Africa. The primary objective was to study how funds are facilitated through partnerships to promote social development and poverty reduction. Findings include the innovative and resilient nature of the 11 projects included in the study as well as pitfalls in the…

This paper examines the responses of a Malaysian public university, namely Universiti Sains Malaysia, to the impact of globalisation vis-à-vis three key issues: international students, academic publications and world university rankings. There are concerted efforts put in place by the university to recruit more international students. But a global…

This paper proposes a model of competence development required of graduates at work which suggests that universities make a difference when they add value to their students. They add value by ensuring that their modes of teaching and learning, and assessment positively enhance the competencies of their students which are important in the labor…

It is well documented that student-athletes underperform academically. Some researchers have suggested that this underperformance is because student-athletes lack motivation in academic endeavors. In contrast, we find that most student-athletes hold positive private attitudes towards academic achievement, but also believe that their peers do not.…

As many countries expand their higher education systems, they must attract, support, and retain qualified academic staff. This paper focuses on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a case study of a nation drawing on large numbers of mostly expatriate faculty working in short-term academic appointments. The paper begins by considering the national…