ERIC Number: EJ1179596
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0309-877X
EISSN: N/A
How Are Universities Responding to Demands for an Improved Learning Environment?
Abualrub, Iyad; Stensaker, Bjørn
Journal of Further and Higher Education, v42 n5 p721-732 2018
Globally, universities are currently facing increased external demands to strengthen and develop their learning environments. The article examines how a sample of Norwegian universities responds to governmental demands concerning establishing good learning environments. Based on document analysis and interviews, the article demonstrates that the concept of the learning environment seems to be interpreted and implemented in a standardised way and that institutional work in this area might suffer from a decoupling between 'administrative' and 'academic' responsibilities. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the universities studied to a great extent seem to rely on copying and imitating understandings of the concept instead of using it to develop more specific and uniquely local practices. In conclusion, the article calls for more attention to the consequences of specific organisational solutions, and it is argued that more attention should be given to identifying factors that enable or constrain how universities handle external pressure for change.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Universities, Educational Improvement, Educational Environment, Program Implementation, Educational Practices, Administrator Responsibility, Educational Change, Case Studies, Educational Policy, Politics of Education, Guidelines, Inclusion, Teaching Methods, Advisory Committees
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A