Something to talk about: Content and Language Integrated Learning in Modern Languages in British Higher Education. A case study of German at Aston University

This thesis investigates Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in German undergraduate programmes in the UK. At its core is a study of how one German department integrates the teaching of language and content in its undergraduate programmes and how instructors and students experience this approach. This micro-context is embedded in the wider macro-context of UK Higher Education and subject to outside forces - be they political, economic, socio-cultural - whose effects will manifest in more or less obvious ways. Data was collected via an online survey of Heads of German at British universities to determine the status quo of CLIL in UK Higher Education and to investigate how certain institutional parameters determine the introduction of CLIL in Higher Education. This project employs a mixed-method case study approach and is based on student questionnaires and semi-structured interview with German teaching staff. The study brings to light a number of significant aspects. For example, contrary to popular belief, content provision in the L2 is rather common at British universities, which is currently not reflected in the research. Student data indicates that German students perceive clear advantages in the university’s approach to CLIL. They consider German-taught content classes challenging yet beneficial for their language development. Staff interviews have yielded intriguing information about perceived advantages and disadvantages of CLIL, about its implications for classroom practice, and about instructors’ attitude towards teacher training, which echo findings from similar investigations in European contexts. Finally, the results of the macro-analysis and the case study are compared and contrasted with findings from European research on ICLHE/CLIL to determine differences and similarities with the British context, a set of recommendations is made regarding CLIL practice at the case study institution, and some implications these indings may have for the future of CLIL in British higher education are discussed.

Assessing learning in Higher Education

Assessing Learning in Higher Education addresses what is probably the most time-consuming part of the work of staff in higher education, and something to the complexity of which many of the recent developments in higher education have added. Getting assessment ‘right’– that is, designing and implementing appropriate models and methods, can determine the future lives and careers of students. But, as Professor Phil Race comments in his excellent and thought-provoking foreword, students entering higher education often have little idea about how exactly assessment will work, and often find that the process is very different from anything they have previously encountered. Assessing Learning in Higher Education contains innovative approaches to assessment drawn from many different cultures and disciplines. The chapter authors argue the need for changing assessment and feedback processes so that they embrace online collaboration and discussion between students as well as between ‘students’ and ‘faculty’. The chapters demonstrate that at some points there is a need to be able to measure individual achievement, and to do this in ways that are valid, transparent, authentic – and above all fair. Assessment and feedback processes need to ensure that students are well prepared for this individual assessment, but also to take account of collaboration and interaction. The respective chapters of Assessing Learning in Higher Education all of which are complete in themselves, but with very useful links to ideas in other chapters, provide numerous illustrations of how this can be achieved.

Education 2.0: Exploring the challenges of Corvinus University in the long tail economy of global higher education

Our basic storyline is how the business and economics higher education landscape has changed with the introduction of the Bologna programs. We borrowed the fashionable long tail concept from e-business, and used it for modeling the new landscape of internationalization of universities. Internationalization, mobility, and the appearance of the internet generation at the gates of our universities in our opinion has brought us to a new e-era which, appropriately to our web analogies we might as well call Education 2.0.In our paper first we show the characteristics of the long tail model of the Bologna-based European higher education and potential messages for strategy making in this environment. We illustrate that benchmarking university strategies situated in the head of the long tail model will not always provide strategic guidance for universities sitting in the tail. For underlining some key concerns in the Hungarian niche, we used Corvinus University as a case study to illustrate some untapped challenges of the Hungarian Bologna reform. We explored three areas which are crucial elements of the “tail” strategy in our opinion: a) the influence of state regulation, b) social situations and impacts and c) internal university capabilities.

Felsőoktatási intézmények közbeszerzési sajátosságai = Public Procurement Characteristics of Higher Education Institutions

A kutatók a 2000-es évek eleje óta foglalkoznak a közbeszerzés és a versenyképesség kapcsolatával. A két terület közötti összefüggés egyértelmű, melyet vizsgálatainak is megerősítenek. Az Európai Unió tagállamainak jogalkotón folyamatos a nyomás, hogy a közbeszerzést különböző célokra használják fel. Mindez segít a közbeszerzés értelmezési körének kitágításában, de felhívja a figyelmet arra, hogy a jogalkotóknak elsősorban néhány kiemelt témára kell összpontosítaniuk, mint az innováció vagy a fenntarthatóság. A felsőoktatási intézmények közbeszerzésben betöltött szerepén túl fontosságuk a konzorciális beszerzések, a közbeszerzés képzés, továbbá az innovatív termékek, technológiák beszerzési gyakorlatában betöltött szerepük miatt kiemelkedő. Hazánkban ez az első alkalom, hogy feltárjuk kifejezetten nagy közbeszerző felsőoktatási intézményeik piaci szerepét és elemezzük közbeszerzési gyakorlatuk sajátosságait, viszonyítjuk eddigi kutatási eredményeinkhez. ______ Researchers have focused on the relation between public procurement and competitiveness since the early 2000s. The relation between corporate competitiveness and public procurement is beyond doubt, evidenced by our research findings. There is growing pressure on the legislators of EU Member States to use public procurement for certain purposes. This helps to widen the scope of procurement, but the regulators have to focus on several priorities like innovation and sustainability. The importance of universities in the development of consortial purchasing, purchasing education, procurement of innovative goods and technologies is unquestionable. It is the first opportunity in Hungary to analyze the role of large contracting authorities, participants of the higher educational market in public procurement and to explore the characteristics of their public procurement practice in order to make comparison between universities and other public procurement market players.

A felsőoktatási képzések munkaerő-piaci szempontból (Higher education programs from point of view of labor market)

A munkaerő-piaci követelményeknek megfelelően kialakított képzések versenyképesebbek a társaiknál. A napjainkban is zajló magyar felsőoktatási reform központi elemét alkotja a képzések ennek megfelelően történő átalakítása. Mindez létjogosultságot ad egy olyan rendszernek, amely a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem gazdaságinformatikus BSc-képzésének kompetenciaelemeit kívánja vizsgálni az állásajánlatokban megnyilvánuló munkaerő-piaci igények tükrében. Az ontológiaalapú módszertan egy egységes fogalmi kört biztosít a munkaerőpiac eltérő szemléletű oldalán kifejlesztett modellek egységesítésére és összehasonlítására. ____ Tendencies can be observed on international and domestic levels that call for restructuring of higher education according to the needs of labor market. This paper presents an information system that can investigate the compliance of education programs and current labor market needs. Competences serve as a basis for this compliance checking, which is built on ontologybased approach. Having examined the distribution of roles (developer, operator etc.) appeared in IT job offers in time and space, a prototype of this system will be showed, related to Business Informatics degree program at Corvinus University of Budapest.

The European Patterns of "Homo Academicus“ and The Chances of Its Evolution In Current Hungarian Higher Education

In the recent four or five years, there have been abrupt and radical changes in the governance of Hungarian higher education. It can then be interesting to assess the state of “homo academicus“ as it looks currently in Hungary. The notion of “homo academicus“ is obvious: it concerns participants in the system of a country’s higher education. The paper as follows still comes back to the definition of “homo academicus“ by referring first to it as occupation, or rather as a profession that can be interpreted in terms of sociology. Secondly, some historic patterns can also be mobilised, based on the assumption that university is a very European institutions that is even rooted in the tradition of the Middle Ages. The elbow-room of seeking for identity and the role to be filled by academics are limited by the effective system of the governance of higher education. It is a key to the chances of academics of meeting the historically corroborated professional standards that they exercise academic freedom. As it cannot be done individually, but in cooperation (through a collegial system), academic freedom is always combined with collective action. The field where this freedom can be exercised can be specified through university autonomy, the lack of which makes a serious barrier to the full development of a character of “homo academicus“. This is now the case in Hungary, the paper suggests. The paper seeks to gain deeper understanding of the character of academics, their vocation and professional roles, and the governance of higher education, serving as the environment for academic activity, by creating a conceptual framework. The paper is established on the results of sociological research and the experience of legal management, although it remains to be of theoretical nature. It criticises the current Hungarian situation of the governance of higher education, arguing for the reconstruction of university autonomy and financial stability. It also emphasises the importance of predictable regulations.

Mélyszegénységből a felsőoktatásba (From deep poverty to higher education)

A társadalmi egyenlőtlenségek növekedése és a mobilitás csökkenése világszerte aggasztó tendenciákat mutat. Magyarországon a közoktatás szegényeket sújtó, feltűnően diszkriminatív jellege az elmúlt évtizedekben súlyos veszélybe sodorta a társadalmi mobilitást. A felsőoktatás-politika a belépést nehezítve (minimumpont- emelések, duális tandíjrendszer, tandíjemelések) és a teljesítményelvet túlhajszolva tovább súlyosbította a helyzetet, amit a Diákhitel–2 bevezetése sem tudott ellensúlyozni egy olyan környezetben, ahol az állam felsőoktatás-ellenes propagandát folytat, és közben drasztikusan csökkenti a finanszírozást. A hibás szabályozás miatt a többletpontok rendszere sem működik megfelelően. Mindezek miatt a halmozottan hátrányos helyzetű hallgatók felsőoktatás-beli részaránya felvételkor jelenleg fél százalék körül mozog, ami a gimnáziumi férőhelyek tervezett radikális szűkítése miatt várhatóan el fogja érni az abszolút nulla szintet. A tanulmányban bemutatunk egy általunk indított civil kezdeményezést, a Híd a felsőoktatásba elnevezésű programot, amelynek célja, hogy segítséget nyújtson a hátrányos helyzetű, főként roma középiskolásoknak a sikeres egyetemi felvételihez és a diploma megszerzéséhez. A fő tanulság: viszonylag kevés pénzből és rövid idő alatt még akkor is lehet eredményeket elérni, ha az általános társadalmi és politikai környezet egyáltalán nem támogató.

Vágyott kultúra és reális értékítélet - Tudásmenedzsment-rendszer kiépítésének előfeltétele egy felsőoktatási intézményben (Desired culture and real value judgement – Precondition of development a knowledge management system in a higher education institution)

A tudásmenedzsment-rendszerek kiépítése és működtetése egyre népszerűbb vállalati cél. A legnagyobb igyekezet ellenére is kudarccal végződhet egy ilyen változás megvalósítása, ha a szükséges feltételek nélkül próbálkozunk ezzel a beavatkozással a szervezet életében. Az egyik legfontosabb előfeltétel a bizalomra, közös tanulásra, fejlődésre épülő, nyitott szervezeti kultúra, mely a tanulószervezeti jellemzőkkel írható le. A szerzők kutatásukban arra voltak kíváncsiak, milyen elképzeléseik, vágyaik vannak a felsőoktatásban oktató kollégáknak az ideálisnak nevezett szervezeti kultúráról. Ezeket az elképzeléseket egy külső tanácsadó cég által végzett kérdőíves felmérésen alapuló vizsgálat segítségével tudták meg, melynek kiértékelésére a circumplex-módszer szolgált. Az eredményeket összevetették a tanulószervezeti jellemzőkkel, vizsgálva azt a hipotézist, miszerint az oktató kollégák tudat alatt is olyan ideális szervezetet képzelnek el, mely a tanulószervezeti kultúra jellemzőivel azonos. _________ To create and to operate a knowledge management system is becoming a more and more popular target of the companies. Realizing the changes above can result in a failure – in spite of the biggest will – if organizations lack certain prerequisites which are necessary in companies’ lives. One of the most important prerequisites is organizational culture which can be characterized by confidence, common learning, development and open atmosphere. This is called a learning organizational culture. In their research the authors would have liked to know what kind of dreams the colleagues have about their own organizational culture. They achieve these results from an investigation with questionnaires which were realized by an advisory team. To evaluating the results of this investigation circumplex method was used. These results were compared with the characteristics of learning organization to confirm our hypothesis. According to this idea colleagues have the same images about their successful organization as the characteristics of learning organizations.

A tudományterületi sajátosságok következményei a kutatásban, az oktatásban és a felsőoktatási intézmények vezetésében (The consequences of disciplinary difference on teaching, research and institutional management of higher education)

A szerző tanulmányában vizsgálja a tudományterületek különbségeinek következményeit az oktatásban, a kutatásban és a felsőoktatási intézmények irányításában. A tanulmány első felében a tudományterületek episztemológiai és közösségi különbségeit tárgyalja Becher és Trowler (2001) népszerű kategorizálása alapján. A tanulmány második felében a tudományszerveződésre, a publikációs gyakorlatra, a doktori képzésre, az oktatás céljára és formáira, a diákok tudásképére, valamint a menedzsmentfelfogásra gyakorolt hatást mutatja be. A konklúzióban egyrészt a minőség- és teljesítményértékelési rendszerek differenciált megközelítésének szükségességére hívja fel a figyelmet, másrészt arra, hogy a Bologna-rendszer és az élethosszig tartó tanulás erősödésének következményeként egy-egy mesterszakon nemcsak a hallgatóság háttere, előismerete lesz sokszínű, hanem a tudásról alkotott képe is. Ez újfajta oktatói szerepeket és oktatási megközelítéseket tesz szükségessé. ________ In the article the consequences of disciplinary difference on teaching, research and institutional management is examined. In the first part of the paper the epistemological and sociological differences of scientific disciplines are summarized based on the popular typology of Becher and Trowler (2001). In the second part the influence of differences on organisation of sciences, publication practices, PhD studies, the goal and form of teaching, students’ conception of knowledge as well as on the understanding on management and leadership are discussed. In the conclusions, attention is drawn on the necessity of differentiation in quality and performance management processes. Another conclusion is that new roles for teachers and approaches for teaching is required if students’ conception of knowledge become more heterogeneous which is the result of result of life long learning and Bologna-reform.

Recent Developments in the Autonomy and Governance of Higher Education Institutions in Hungary: the Introduction of the Chancellor System

After the change of regime in 1989, Hungarian higher education started to return to its Humboldtian tradition. It was widely accepted that academic freedom could be guaranteed by high degree of institutional autonomy manifested especially in structures of self-governance and avoidance of direct state supervision/interventions. Attempts to introduce boards and other supervising bodies were successfully resisted until 2011. The new government coming into power in 2010, however, introduced new mechanisms of supervision and changed institutional governance and reduced institutional autonomy considerably. Changes in the selection of rectors, the appearance of state-appointed financial inspectors and the newly appointed Chancellors responsible for the finance, maintenance and administration of institutions are important milestones in this process. In the paper I review these developments focusing especially on the analysis of the Chancellor system.

Central European Higher Education Cooperation Conference Proceedings

This volume comprises of selected papers that were originally presented at the first Central European Higher Education Cooperation (CEHEC) conference held in Budapest from 28-29 January 2015. The CEHEC was the first of a series of conferences organized at the initiative of the Center of International Higher Education Studies (CIHES) at Corvinus University of Budapest and Central European University (CEU), in collaboration with partners from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.

Horizontal diversity of higher education institutions. The case of Hungary – in European context

In the European Higher Education Area the diversification of higher education is considered to be an emphasized value, a guarantee of creativity. The various institutional rankings are the displays of vertical diversity, but in parallel with these, there is an increasing attention directed at horizontal diversity, the entirety of the institutions' activities. The European Mapping Project (U-map) undertook this challenge. The paper presents the research program, which is an attempt to adapt the U-map model to Hungary. According to the results, the U-map method which was intended for application on an international level, is very useful in the identification of the main groups of institutions in a specific national higher education system as well, and may provide a basis for the creation of institutional strategies and the development of the institutions’ network.

Influence, policy formation, and higher education in Florida: 1989--1994

This study examined the perceptions of state governmental officials and administrators from the state university system, community college system, and independent institutions concerning the ability of various groups to influence state-level higher education policy formation. The study was conducted in Florida for the period 1989-94. Florida has a history of legislative involvement in higher education, a unique system of state universities and community colleges, and a limited number of private institutions of higher education. This study was grounded in the works of Mortimer and McConnell (1978), Millett (1987), Marshall, Mitchell, and Wirt (1989) and Finitfer, Baldwin, and Thelin (1991).^ The study represented the application of an embedded, single-case design. A survey was the primary collection instrument. Respondents were asked questions concerning: (a) personal involvement in higher education, (b) perceptions of the ability of various groups to influence higher education policy, (c) the names of particular individuals considered key players in higher education policy formation, (d) important state-level documents, (e) personal knowledge of key areas of policy formation, and (f) emerging higher education issues in Florida. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the different sections of the survey.^ The findings indicated that a power and influence hierarchy exists among the various groups that attempt to influence higher education policy and that this hierarchy is recognized by state government officials and higher education administrators. While an analysis of variance of the various groups revealed a few differences between state government officials and higher education personnel, the high overall agreement was an important finding. Leading members of the legislature, especially the Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and key staff members, especially from the Senate Ways & Means Committee, were considered the most influential. Representatives from higher education institutions and research organizations were considered among the least influential. Emerging issues identified by the respondents included: (a) the political nature of state-level policy formation, (b) the role of legislative staff, (c) the competition for state moneys, (d) legislative concern for state-wide budgetary efficiency, and (e) legislative attempts to define quality and supervise academic program development for higher education. ^

A distance education case study: A comparison of instructional delivery methods practiced by higher education faculty and emerging standards

The purpose of this research was to compare the delivery methods as practiced by higher education faculty teaching distance courses with recommended or emerging standard instructional delivery methods for distance education. Previous research shows that traditional-type instructional strategies have been used in distance education and that there has been no training to distance teach. Secondary data, however, appear to suggest emerging practices which could be pooled toward the development of standards. This is a qualitative study based on the constant comparative analysis approach of grounded theory.^ Participants (N = 5) of this study were full-time faculty teaching distance education courses. The observation method used was unobtrusive content analysis of videotaped instruction. Triangulation of data was accomplished through one-on-one in-depth interviews and from literature review. Due to the addition of non-media content being analyzed, a special time-sampling technique was designed by the researcher--influenced by content analyst theories of media-related data--to sample portions of the videotape instruction that were observed and counted. A standardized interview guide was used to collect data from in-depth interviews. Coding was done based on categories drawn from review of literature, and from Cranton and Weston's (1989) typology of instructional strategies. The data were observed, counted, tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted solely by the researcher. It should be noted however, that systematic and rigorous data collection and analysis led to credible data.^ The findings of this study supported the proposition that there are no standard instructional practices for distance teaching. Further, the findings revealed that of the emerging practices suggested by proponents and by faculty who teach distance education courses, few were practiced even minimally. A noted example was the use of lecture and questioning. Questioning, as a teaching tool was used a great deal, with students at the originating site but not with distance students. Lectures were given, but were mostly conducted in traditional fashion--long in duration and with no interactive component.^ It can be concluded from the findings that while there are no standard practices for instructional delivery for distance education, there appears to be sufficient information from secondary and empirical data to initiate some standard instructional practices. Therefore, grounded in this research data is the theory that the way to arrive at some instructional delivery standards for televised distance education is a pooling of the tacitly agreed-upon emerging practices by proponents and practicing instructors. Implicit in this theory is a need for experimental research so that these emerging practices can be tested, tried, and proven, ultimately resulting in formal standards for instructional delivery in television education. ^