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"Higher education"

Even though leadership is a well-known research topic, academics have recently begun to pay more attention to it. More than leaders in other contexts, leaders in academia are continually challenged by managing autonomy, change, and uncertainty. It is necessary to understand academic leadership within this frame. First and foremost, academic autonomy is crucial since it is intimately tied to academic identity. Academics are free, as organizational structures do not bind them. Second, academic leaders must continually pay attention to the aspect of change, as institutions are expected to both originate and respond to social change. Finally, academic leaders face an ongoing dilemma of uncertainty due to the lack of predictability in research achievement and academic career prospects. Thus, they bear significant responsibility in these difficult times. It is vital to distinguish between administrative and formal leadership duties and those of informal research leaders. Since academic leadership development is often overlooked, we need to explore the difference between administrative and research-based management and conclude by stressing the need for academic leadership training (Reframing academic leadership, Jossey-Bass Publishing, Hoboken, NJ, 2021). Furthermore, academic leaders must monitor when standards change and curricula are realigned to match new technological work-based learning by boosting research and activating management roles in this direction (Educ Manag Admin Leadersh 35(4):449–477, 2007; Fraser, Setting up a mentoring scheme. https://heeoe.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/docustore/rcpsych_-_setting_up_a_mentoring_scheme.pdf; Carlsson et al., Research Quality and the Role of the University Leadership Commissioned by the Association of Swedish higher education (SUHF)/Experts’ Committee on Quality. https://suhf.se/app/uploads/2019/07/Expertgruppen-kvalitet-2010-2011-Bilaga-4-Research-Quality-and-the-Role-of-the-University-Leadership.pdf, 2014; Hayashi, California State University, Northridge, CA Grace Fisher-Adams California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 2015). © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Background: Learning portfolios (LPs) provide evidence of workplace-based assessments (WPBAs) in clinical settings. The educational impact of LPs has been explored in high-income countries, but the use of portfolios and the types of assessments used for and of learning have not been adequately researched in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated the evidence of learning in registrars’ LPs and the influence of the training district and year of training on assessments. Methods: A cross-sectional study evaluated 18 Family Medicine registrars’ portfolios from study years 1–3 across five decentralised training sites affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the portfolio and quarterly assessment (QA) scores and self-reported clinical skills competence levels. The competence levels obtained from the portfolios and university records served as proxy measures for registrars’ knowledge and skills. Results: The total LP median scores ranged from 59.9 to 81.0, and QAs median scores from 61.4 to 67.3 across training years. The total LP median scores ranged from 62.1 to 83.5 and 62.0 to 67.5, respectively in QAs across training districts. Registrars’ competence levels across skill sets did not meet the required standards. higher skills competence levels were reported in the women’s health, child health, emergency care, clinical administration and teaching and learning domains. Conclusion: The training district and training year influence workplace-based assessment (WPBA) effectiveness. Ongoing faculty development and registrar support are essential for WPBA. Contribution: This study contributes to the ongoing discussion of how to utilise WPBA in resource-constrained sub-Saharan settings. © 2024. The Authors.

Today, in the context of withdrawal from the Bologna process, further transformations of our educational system are being carried out. The purpose of these transformations is proclaimed to be the creation of a national education system based on the accumulated experience and return to the best domestic traditions. At the same time, the proposed measures, which actually concern only the ratio of the three levels of higher education and do not address a number of sore points of the existing system, can be called “reforms” very roughly. This leads us to a broader problem - a number of key words that define the discourse within which our education is discussed are imprecise and ambiguous. And this not only prevents any agreement, but in some cases also proves to be simply harmful. A number of important words and concepts related to them are analysed in the historical context and in the context of the ongoing changes in the education system. The materials are words and concepts behind them, the criterion of selection of which is the reflection of important features of the current education system. The words are reform, competence, humanitarian component and a number of others. A comparative analysis of these words is carried out, taking into account the experience of foreign countries. It is shown that the imprecise use of the given words does not allow setting the necessary tasks clearly and, in general, introduces serious confusion in the discourse related to education. Moreover, since the selected words turn out to be profoundly interrelated in this discourse, their uncertainty increases, and, ultimately, the participants of the educational process find themselves in a situation where meaningful dialog is practically impossible. As a result of the word-by-word analysis, it is easy to demonstrate that, without clarifying the meanings of the named words and the concepts they denote, meaningful discussion of educational problems does not yield the desired consequences. It is suggested to work on purifying the language of educational discourse. This can be done through precise definitions of the used words-terms and argumentation aimed at clarifying any proclaimed goals and objectives. Only then can we achieve at least a relative common understanding and appropriate effectiveness in working together to improve our education. © 2024 Tomsk State Pedagogical University. All rights reserved.

A training course grounded in the principles of authentic assessment was implemented with 24 academics from two Chilean universities. Through a single-group pre-test/post-test design, the change in the evaluated parameters was analysed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the conducted training. By the end of the course, the assessments were more contextualised, requiring the application of analysis and transfer skills, aligning with the competencies outlined in the graduation profile. Teachers included more open-ended questions focused on knowledge construction and fewer closed-response questions that required memorisation. Additionally, they reduced their beliefs about teaching as transmitting information, and the idea of provoking conceptual change in their students grew. This study shows that training in authentic assessment facilitates a change in the teacher’s beliefs about teaching and assessment, towards teaching focused on conceptual change and assessment for and as learning. It also promotes the transformation of assessment instruments to be more realistic, challenging, and feedback-oriented. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Examining two centuries of university education, this book charts the development of pedagogical approaches since the year 1800 and how they have transformed higher education.While institutions for promoting advanced learning in various forms have existed in Asia, Africa, and the Arab world for centuries, the beginning of the nineteenth century saw the emergence of the modern model of a university with which we are familiar today. This book argues that, in the time since, seven broad teaching approaches were developed across the world which continue to be used today: the disputation, the lecture, the tutorial, the research seminar, workplace teaching, teaching through material making, and role-play. O’Donoghue demonstrates how each has been reconfigured and developed over time in response to the changing nature of higher education, as well as society more generally.This expansive book will be of great interest to historians of education, scholars of education more generally, and teacher practitioners interested in the pedagogical models that shape modern academia. © 2024 Tom O’Donoghue. All rights reserved.

Utilisation of innovative pedagogical technologies diversifies educational process, allows teachers to make learning more effective and boost students' motivation. At the same time, current learning conditions generate numerous challenges both for teachers and students. Under martial law distance education remains in priority due to the risks. In addition, forced migration, aircraft alerts and blackouts seriously influence the abilities of higher education institutions to arrange synchronous learning. Thus, the authors focus on the ways to ensure high quality of education when the learning process is predominantly asynchronous. Learning management systems remain the environment where all learning activities are gathered in one place and available for all teachers and students regardless of time and the participants' location. However, for high quality learning it is not enough just to upload materials for reading and watching. Interaction with peers and teachers is an important part of education. Considering that, the paper addresses the problems of interactive teaching and learning methods implementation in asynchronous mode. LMS Moodle activities which contribute to the organisation of communication and collaboration, formative assessment and problem-based learning are analysed. The results of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University teachers' survey, presented in the article, has shown that although the e-learning system of the university is actively used to provide the educational process, the number of activities used by teachers is limited to Assignment, Lesson, and Quiz. The authors explore the possibilities of other Moodle activities such as Forum, Workshop and Wiki to arrange asynchronous learning and implementation of innovative teaching methods in particular. Teachers and students can significantly benefit from using various LMS Moodle activities and settings for different teaching and learning methods implementation. Under the conditions of war, when the access to educational resources can be limited or available not for all education process participants, it is important to broaden knowledge on existing tools and make the most of their resources to ensure the best possible quality of education. © 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.