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Unbundling the Faculty Role in Higher Education: Utilizing Historical, Theoretical, and Empirical Frameworks to Inform Future Research
Abstract
The growth in online and distance education has focused increased attention on unbundling faculty roles in delivering instruction, yet unbundling related to faculty work has been occurring in higher education for over three centuries. In this paper, we examine unbundling of the faculty role in higher education to provide scholars, university leaders, faculty, disciplinary leaders, and policy makers with historical context, theoretical frameworks, and gaps in the empirical literature to inform research and decision-making pertaining to the differentiation of university and faculty tasks. We describe unbundling historically in order to highlight how the faculty role has shifted over time, demonstrating this is not a new phenomenon. We also review theoretical frameworks and their mechanisms to inform our understanding of the history and future of unbundling and suggest the importance of multiple theories to best understand this complex phenomenon. We then examine the limited empirical research findings on unbundling the faculty role, which have not been synthesized to date. We conclude by offering directions for future research regarding unbundling based on the history, theory, and empirical research reviewed, as well as recommendations for policy.
... Gerhke and Kezar (2015) provided some insight on the function of teaching in their discussion of the unbundling of the faculty role in higher education. They explained that the roles of research and teaching were unbundled between 1950 and 1980 during the growth of the US higher education system as new types of institutions that focused on teaching rather than research emerged. ...
... In Scholarship Reconsidered, Boyer (1990) outlined how the many roles of faculty should be integrated, but with flexibility to allow professionals to focus more on one area of research than other depending on the needs of the institution. However, the unbundling of faculty roles continues today as institutions hire for roles that are teaching-only or research-only (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015). ...
... However, this is in conjunction with many other responsibilities, such as service to their institution or profession and advising or mentoring students outside of class (89 percent of respondents), conducting research (80 percent), fundraising and grant writing (50 percent), and grant administration (30 percent) (Blankstein, 2022). With such a complex array of responsibilities, each requiring their own expertise, it is easy to see how teaching may not be highly valued in some institutions or quality may not be a primary concern (Bess & Dee, 2008;Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Steinert et al., 2019;Wright, 2005). ...
... In an effort to account for institutional size in this study, a measure for total undergraduate enrollment was included in the model. Finally, building on prior findings that suggest that the share of part-time faculty on a campus also affect the quality of instruction and the likelihood of completion (Garcia, 2015;Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Frye, 2017), a measure the share of part-time faculty on campus was also included in the analysis. ...
... Previous research has found that faculty composition may affect student completion, particularly as it relates to shares of full-time versus part-time faculty employed at postsecondary institutions (Garcia, 2015;Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Frye, 2017). Given these findings, this analysis included a predictor for measuring the relationship between the share of part-time faculty and Latino student completion at public four-year colleges and universities. ...
... Given these findings, this analysis included a predictor for measuring the relationship between the share of part-time faculty and Latino student completion at public four-year colleges and universities. It is important to also point out that faculty makeup at an institution is routinely used as a proxy for measuring the quality of instruction and universally considered a core function of the institution (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Frye, 2017). The descriptive trends described in prior chapters of this dissertation demonstrated how the share of general resources available to invest in areas of instruction at institutions are likely to influence decisions made about faculty hiring. ...
Postsecondary attainment rates for Latinos in the United States have improved steadily over time, however Latinos continue to have disproportionately reduced opportunities in obtaining baccalaureate degrees in comparison to their White peers. These disparities are found at all levels of education and are particularly evident among graduates of various Latino backgrounds. Of particular relevance to this study is the premise that the majority of Latinos who enroll in a college or university in the United States do so at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The more than 500 HSIs in this country represent 17 percent of all postsecondary institutions and educate nearly 70 percent of all Latinos. Yet, the relatively brief history of HSIs is one of institutions that receive less funding per pupil, spend less money on academic and support services, and continue to rely on public support for more than 60 percent of their revenue. Hence, making HSIs more dependent on state support in comparison to their non-HSI counterparts. This level of dependency on public support by HSIs also threatens their financial resiliency when this resource is reduced. The U.S. Congress established the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institution (Title V) program in 1998 to provide HSIs with additional financial support and ultimately improve postsecondary success for Latino students. Presently, we are more than two decades removed from when HSIs were first recognized and the Title V program was launched, and no single evaluation has examined whether Title V is meeting its stated goals. This study represents a first-ever rigorous assessment of the Title V program’s effectiveness in one of its most frequently cited aims, improving six-year completion rates for Latinos pursuing a baccalaureate degree in the United States. The results from this analysis suggest that Title V awards have no statistically significant relationship on six-year completion rates for Latino students at public four-year HSIs during the period observed (1997-2012). At first glance these results may bring into question the efficacy of the Title V program in meeting its stated goal of improving completion rates for Latino students; however, this study offers an explanation to help make sense of these results. Anchored in the theoretical perspectives applied in this study and the empirical trends observed in the review of the literature, the findings from this assessment suggest that variations in the financial contexts of public HSIs shape organizational behavior and drive performance outcomes at these institutions (i.e., completion rates). This study emerges during a moment in the history of American higher education in which hard decisions about the investment of limited resources are becoming increasingly difficult and publicly challenging. The recent pandemic has placed yet another unexpected strain on public resources. If advocates for HSIs and the Title V program expect to secure continued investments and potentially expand the base of support, then researchers and policymakers alike must work to identify ways to demonstrate the efficacy of programs such as this one and further ensure that these programs effectively improve postsecondary success for Latino students. Moreover, given the growing representation of Latino undergraduates in the American system of higher education and the gaps that persist in completion rates between Latinos and their White peers, it is of utmost importance that researchers continue to rigorously assess and evaluate programs that effectively seek to improve baccalaureate completion rates for Latino students.
... The previous section introduced the idea of unbundling of educator roles in the technology enhanced learning literature, involving a renegotiation of power between individuals involved in online learning initiatives. The phenomenon of unbundling of roles has also been discussed in the wider literature on higher education (King and Bjarnason, 2003;Gehrke and Kezar, 2015) and ...
... 2018). According to their historical review of unbundling in HE, Gehrke and Kezar (2015) argue that the sources of pressure to unbundle roles remain consistent in terms of demands external to universities themselves and new ideas in how to enact education, rather than a solid evidence base. aspects of this function taken on by "E-learning co-ordinator" or "Learning Technologist" para-academic roles. ...
... This may make applying them in practice more difficult, but they nevertheless offer an empirical basis on which to analyse MOOC development. This empirical basis is a strength of Whitchurch's work in a field where exploration of changing roles often relies on conceptual arguments and ideology (Gehrke and Kezar, 2015). However, Gehrke and Kezar also highlight the long history of such changes in HE going back some "300 years", providing a reminder that although this particular idea of third space may be novel, the creation of 'new professionals' and unbundling of established roles is certainly not a new process in HE overall. ...
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been portrayed as “agents of change” in Higher Education (HE) which impact on educator practices, course design and teaching. However, MOOCs do not ‘fit’ neatly into existing university organisational structures, or align completely with conventional university functions. Few studies have looked at the complexity of the relationship between social change and the construction of MOOCs within higher education, particularly in terms of educator and learning designer (LD) roles and practices. To address this gap, this study combines the analytic strategy of Socio-Technical Interaction Networks (STIN) with the social theory of a ‘third space’ in HE. Thus it analyses socio-technical activity which spans professional and academic domains of HE in order to account for both educator and LD roles. The approach balances concerns with social and technical factors in analysing the relationship between technologies and social and organisational change related to MOOC development.
The research involves a multi-site case study of three UK HE institutions. It aims to capture an empirically based, nuanced understanding of the extent to which MOOCs are socio-technically constructed in particular contexts, and the social implications of developing MOOCs, especially for educator and LD roles and practices. The findings highlight the complexity of interactions and collaborative processes underlying MOOC development. LDs are shown to occupy a hub-like position within a network of social actors, incentives, pressures and technologies involved in MOOC development and implementation. This LD role is enacted within an emergent ‘third space’ which spans conventional academic and professional boundaries and functions, allowing LDs and seemingly peripheral actors to significantly shape and partially unbundle the roles of educators in determining course structure and content.
The study contributes a valuable socio-technical element to research on the third space which frequently identifies TEL projects as characteristic of third space activity, yet fails to consider the role of technology in co-constructing this space. The findings also provide a richer understanding of the LD role and the way social and technical means can be deployed to shape this role and the roles of others within a third space context. The thesis has implications for the planning and implementation of online learning projects and other domains of inter-professional practice in which Web technology and education coincide.<br/
... The traditional faculty member's role in the North American higher education context is often conceptualized as a blend of research, teaching, and service to the department, institution, discipline, and/or larger communities (Boyer 1990;Cummings 1998;Gehrke and Kezar 2015;Macfarlane 2011). Faculty who are hired as academics with these blended mandates tend to report generally high job satisfaction (Teichler et al. 2013). ...
... Research was later added and then prioritized through funding models (beginning especially in Germany). Service has seen the strongest emphasis worldwide in the American higher education system, as it has developed over the last 250 years (Cummings 1998;Gehrke and Kezar 2015;Scott 2006). Around the 1960s in North America, the purpose of higher education emphasized ways to improve society through research which, combined with concurrent increases in student demand, led to a proliferation of institutions and faculty positions. ...
... These positions include service, and may or may not include a mandate for research or other scholarly activities. TFF and similar positions have existed in some institutions for decades, but often lack job security or full-time status, and, especially in the United States, rarely offer a tenure opportunity (Baldwin and Chronister 2001;Gehrke and Kezar 2015). Flexibility in the traditional research, teaching, and service roles of academics also exists in other countries. ...
Teaching Focused Faculty (TFF) roles are growing across Canada and around the world, raising questions about how to understand the nature of faculty work and how faculty in non-traditional work distributions feel about their work. Our study is the first attempt to survey TFF members’ work and job attitudes at large research intensive universities in Canada. Our data contribute to the literature on the nature of faculty work, by revealing that TFF engage in a wide variety of work, including teaching, service, curriculum leadership, and often research in pedagogy and/or disciplines. TFF report mixed messages about what their departments and institutions expect of them. Our data also contribute to the literature on how faculty feel about their work. Consistent with other research on faculty job attitudes, TFF report valuing their jobs highly. Our data also reveal that feeling integrated into mainstream institutional culture is a particularly important contributor to this sense of value. Taken together, our findings can be used to inform the research literature on faculty work, as well as by administrators seeing to implement or enhance TFF ranks at their institutions.
... The rigorous research and analysis available (e.g. Gehrke & Kezar 2015;Macfarlane 2011) has tended to focus on the changing nature of academic work and the faculty role. ...
... However, we are not here faced with a simple monodirectional trajectory from bundled to unbundled. As shown by Gehrke and Kezar (2015), unbundling is not a new phenomenon, and there have been moves towards and away from different forms of bundle throughout the history of higher education. Indeed, the bundling of teaching and research only took place in the 19 th century, and there have been significant fluctuations in the roles pertaining to academic staff, with the pastoral role, for example, periodically emerging and receding from view. ...
... A primary factor is that unbundled forms of teaching may not provide sufficient learner support. There is substantial research evidence that the fragmentation of the learning environment and learning support has a negative impact on learning, particularly for non-traditional students, and conversely of the positive impact of interactions with academic staff outside the classroom, for example through participation in research projects, or through seeking general advice and guidance (see Gehrke & Kezar 2015). Furthermore, the portrayal of learning associated with unbundling is predominantly transmission-based, involving the acquisition of knowledge and skills through mono-directional absorption in isolated individuals. ...
Unbundling is the process through which products previously sold together are separated into their constituent parts. In higher education, this dynamic has been driven primarily by financial motivations, and spearheaded by the for-profit sector, but also has pedagogical motivations through its emphasis on personalisation and employability. This article presents a theoretical analysis of the trend, proposing new conceptual tools with which to map the normative implications. While appearing to offer the prospect of financial viability and increased relevance, unbundling presents some worrying signs for universities: first, the removal of possible synergies between teaching and research, and between different modes of learning; second, the undermining of the ability of institutions to promote the public good and ensure equality of opportunity; and third, the threat of hyperporosity to the conducting of basic research with long-term benefits.
... The sharing or splitting of tasks associated with instruction is broadly referred to as unbundling. For example, rather than a single faculty member overseeing a course, the roles may be split into course design, delivery, and assessment (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Smith, 2010). Thus, a faculty member teaching online may or may not design and develop the course that they are teaching. ...
... The courses were the product of numerous faculty and existed as part of an assembly line in which the faculty member's job is to teach what is already there, regardless of whether or not that design fits their teaching style. This assembly line approach is an example of how the traditional faculty role is unbundled (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Smith, 2010). The instructors viewed teaching online as populating question banks, a much different approach than they took with their face-to-face sections. ...
Although online courses have been a part of academia for nearly 30 years, they are still perceived as “different” than face-to-face instruction. Through in-depth interviews with four instructors, we explored how STEM faculty approach teaching asynchronous online undergraduate STEM courses. The faculty interviewed for this study viewed online courses as “not regular class[es]” and teaching those classes as “not teaching per se.” Each of the instructors had assumptions about what a classroom was and about good instruction, but even for instructors who taught online for multiple years, those assumptions remained grounded in the face-to-face environment. There is a need for greater discussion about what it means to teach in an online environment.
... Similarly, the longer respondents had been on the clinical track at their institution, the greater the perception that promotion policies were clear. Of 77 respondents (those who provided a response to their time on the clinical track and to their agreement about clarity of promotion policies), 12 of 20 faculty on the track for ≥11 years, 4 of 10 faculty on the track for 7-10 years, 4 of 12 faculty on the track for 4-6 years, and 8 of 35 faculty on the track for 0-3 years agreed or strongly agreed that promotion policies were clear (χ 2 [15] = 33.50; P = .004). ...
... In other health science fields, clinical faculty appointments have specialized tracks such as clinician, researcher, or educator to help define their practice roles and provide an organizational structure for their schools. 5,15,16 In our study, about one-quarter of respondents indicated no definition of practice at their institution or that they interpreted practice themselves. Notably, school or unit-specific definitions of practice, as conveyed in respondents' open-ended responses, suggest that definitions of practice vary widely across schools of public health. ...
Objectives:
The clinical professor track has expanded and reflects a trend toward hiring non-tenure-track faculty in public health; however, little is known about this track. We documented characteristics of clinical faculty at US schools of public health.
Methods:
We surveyed clinical faculty at Council on Education for Public Health-accredited schools of public health in the United States in 2019, identified via each school's website. We invited faculty (n = 264) who had the word clinical in their title (ie, apparently eligible faculty), had a working email address, and were not authors of this article to provide information about their rank, degree credentials, expectations for teaching, service, research and practice, and promotion criteria at their institution. In addition, we used open-ended responses to explain and contextualize quantitative data.
Results:
Of 264 apparently eligible faculty surveyed, 88 (33.3%) responded. We included 81 eligible clinical faculty in our final sample, of whom 46 (56.8%) were assistant professors and 72 (88.9%) had a terminal degree; 57 of 80 (71.3%) had an initial contract of ≤2 years or no contract. Most clinical faculty listed service (96.2%), teaching (95.0%), and student advising/mentoring (86.3%) as duties; fewer clinical faculty reported research (55.0%), practice (33.8%), or clinic (7.5%) duties. Only 37.1% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that promotion policies for clinical track faculty were clear.
Conclusions:
If most clinical faculty are at the lowest academic rank, with short contracts and unclear expectations, it will be difficult for clinical faculty to advance and challenging for schools of public health to benefit from this track. Clear institutional expectations for scope of work and promotion may enhance the contribution of clinical faculty to schools of public health and help define this track.
... Um fator primário é que as formas de ensino desagregadas podem não fornecer suporte suficiente para o aluno. Existem evidências substanciais de pesquisa de que a fragmentação do ambiente de aprendizagem e suporte de aprendizagem tem um impacto negativo nesta, particularmente para estudantes não tradicionais e, inversamente, do impacto positivo das interações com o pessoal acadêmico fora da sala de aula, por exemplo, através da participação na pesquisa projetos, ou através da busca de conselhos e orientações gerais (ver GEHRKE;KEZAR, 2015). Além disso, o retrato de aprendizagem associado à desagregação é predominantemente baseado na transmissão, envolvendo a aquisição de conhecimento e habilidades através da absorção mono-direcional em indivíduos isolados. ...
... Em alguns casos, a tríade de ensino, pesquisa e extensão é fortemente defendida como definição da universidade (por exemplo, na América Latina). De fato, a evidência empírica é conflitante sobre o vínculo entre atividades de pesquisa e ensino (de JONGHE, 2015;GEHRKE, KEZAR, 2015), com uma meta-revisão proeminente de 58 estudos que não mostram nenhuma relação significativa entre a excelência nas duas áreas (HATTIE; MARSH, 1996). No entanto, esta descoberta pode ser uma indicação de problemas na coordenação das duas formas de atividade dentro das instituições (e dentro das cargas de trabalho dos acadêmicos individuais), e não da falta de sinergias entre os dois. ...
Unbundling is the process through which products previously sold together are separated into their constituent parts. In higher education, this dynamic has been driven primarily by financial motivations, and spearheaded by the for-profit sector, but also has pedagogical motivations through its emphasis on personalization and employability. This article presents a theoretical analysis of the trend, proposing new conceptual tools with which to map the normative implications. While appearing to offer the prospect of financial viability and increased relevance, unbundling presents some worrying signs for universities: frst, the removal of possible synergies between teaching and research, and between different modes of learning; second, the undermining of the ability of institutions to promote the public good and ensure equality of opportunity; and third, the threat of hyperporosity to the conducting of basic research with long-term benefits.
A desagregação é o processo pelo qual os produtos anteriormente vendidos em conjunto são separados em suas partes constituintes. No ensino superior, esta dinâmica tem sido impulsionada principalmente por motivações financeiras e liderada pelo setor com fins lucrativos, mas também tem motivações pedagógicas através da ênfase na personalização e na empregabilidade. Este artigo apresenta uma análise teórica da tendência, propondo novas ferramentas conceituais para mapear as implicações normativas. Embora pareça oferecer perspectivas de viabilidade financeira e maior relevância, a desagregação apresenta alguns sinais preocupantes para as universidades: primeiro, a remoção de possíveis sinergias entre ensino e pesquisa, e entre diferentes modos de aprendizagem; em segundo lugar, o enfraquecimento da capacidade das instituições de promover o bem público e garantir a igualdade de oportunidades; e, em terceiro lugar, a ameaça de hiperporosidade na realização de pesquisas básicas com benefícios no longo prazo.
... Creation of these positions must be weighed against the structural and cultural barriers that these faculty face, which can be substantial (Cross & Goldenberg, 2009). There are many reasons to oppose the unbundling of traditional faculty commitments (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015). ...
Large enrollment, introductory science and engineering classes at research universities are frequently the subject of Discipline-Based Education Research projects and are commonly taught by non-tenure track faculty. However, tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty may encounter different institutional structures that impact their implementation of, or intention to use, evidence-based instructional practices. We used a multiple nested case study framed by the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform model to identify structural, cultural, and personal components of reform that differed by faculty position and home academic department in the context of a discipline-based education research project. Structural, cultural, and personal drivers and barriers to reform differed between position types and among departments but there were interactions between these two effects, suggesting both need to be considered in reform efforts and research projects. Overall, involvement in the discipline-based education research project served as a positive experience, addressed barriers and enhanced drivers for adopting EBIP. Our study highlights factors that promote and prevent the integration of evidence-based practices, and we suggest that involvement in discipline-based education research can encourage the adoption of student-centered pedagogy in science and engineering classes.
... This is an important area of study as the idea of a university develops and evolves. For some, unbundling has been happening since the beginnings of the contemporary university (mode 1 as the sole academic researching and teaching) and higher education's growth and success has seen specialist roles (careers, accommodation, management, estates etc) being required for large-scale institutions the size of the modern university (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015). The recent attention and growing literature on the unbundled university shows that the university in Mode 3 is enacted in many ways through many nodes including new technologies, private commercial interests and the residue (genealogy) of the university of the past (i.e research and teaching). ...
The idea of a modern university is a constantly changing and often contested concept. This paper traces the idea of a university using three modes. These modes are the Mode 1 Ivory Tower, Mode 2 Factory and Mode 3 Network. This framework draws upon higher education literature as well as three modes of knowledge production. I use these modes as a framework to describe the genealogical and historical development of the university in the Western world. These however are not purely historical and elements of their characteristics can be found within and between university institutions today. A genealogy shows a historical path dependency (i.e a teaching and research institution) of the idea of a university and a new materialism perspective shows the coming together of the many elements of the network assemblage which includes the discourse on the idea of a university clashing with new ideas, technologies and policy. The growth and development of the modern university from small, autonomous, elite and autonomous in mode 1 to large, mass regulated factory with marketplace outputs within neoliberal societies is well documented. The Mode 3 Network University is emerging with a potential for universal access with networked societies and technologies and has many actors influencing its becoming and idea. The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and a broadening multidisciplinary approach to the field of Networked Learning has been called for and I introduce the possibility of theoretically analysing the becoming and enactment of the Mode 3 Network University using concepts and frameworks from the broad field of New Materialism. Such approaches take into account the complex assemblage and network of actors which are human and non-human in the growing and diversifying university. The growth and marketisation of the university has added to this complexity with commercial 'unbundling' taking place. Degrees, institutions and functions are being unbundled and rebundled and this active complex network of actors including technologies, humans (academics, students, employers, wider public) and the residual path dependency of the three modes are in tension and conflict but come together to enact the modern university. New Material methodologies allow for these many influences to come together in a 'flat ontology' to allow for a more nuanced and new approach to research in Networked Learning.
... This is an important area of study as the idea of a university develops and evolves. For some, unbundling has been happening since the beginnings of the contemporary university (Mode 1 as the sole academic researching and teaching) and higher education's growth and success has seen specialist roles (careers, accommodation, management, estates etc) being required for large-scale institutions the size of the modern university (Gehrke and Kezar, 2015). Learning and instructional designers, policy makers, management, technologists and media specialists are part of this increasing 'third space' (Whitchurch, 2015) professional working in universities and other learning environments (Brigance, 2011;Tracey, Hutchinson and Grzebyk, 2014;Brown, 2016;Ashby and Exter, 2019). ...
Universities have grown to be complex institutions, networked both inwardly and outwardly within society. This has produced a complex network of humans, technologies, discourses, policy, and diverse and contested path dependent ideas on what a university is and does. Digital technologies have changed many social practices but promises of innovation and revolution in higher education have not in the mainstream materialised. New materialisms provide theoretical perspectives for research and practice within the contemporary Mode 3 Network University. The network from a new materialist perspective brings together human relationships, technologies and collaborative enquiry and action. These perspectives question exclusive human agency to shape and use technologies in simple and instrumental ways to achieve desired ends. Many actors, both human and non-human come together and are entangled, in constant flux to enact the becoming of the network university. This raises the question of how technologies are adopted and designed in the network where agency does not reside exclusively with the individual human, such as policy maker, designer or technologist. New materialisms provide the perspective that the human designer affects and is affected by the network assemblage and rather than being a fixer or solutionist, designs with the human and non-human networked university.
... While SoTL can offer an in situ approach to professional development (Chalmers 2011;Fanghanel 2013) and enable reflection on practice, it often presents faculty with methodological challenges including the understanding of issues such as validity, reliability, and practicality (Hubball, Clarke, and Poole 2010). These challenges can make SoTL pursuits daunting for some faculty, especially when faced with other competing priorities and heavy workloads (Gehrke and Kezar 2015). Strategic support can help "faculty members to move beyond disciplinary research boundaries, embrace broader social science methodologies, and collaborate with students, colleagues, and key stakeholders in the field" (Hubball, Pearson, and Clarke 2013, 51). ...
We present the design and evaluation of an institutional support model for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): the SoTL Seed Program. In this model, faculty from across disciplines partner with graduate students with expertise in educational and social science methodologies to implement SoTL investigations. We interviewed and obtained feedback from both faculty and graduate students about their experiences. A qualitative approach based on grounded theory suggests that organized and sustained partnership between faculty and graduate students offers a viable institutional framework to support SoTL across academic disciplines. In our institution, partnerships in SoTL have resulted in facilitating academic and professional development for both faculty and graduate students, establishing communities of practice for SoTL, and providing infrastructure for systematic engagement with SoTL.
... This is an important area of study as the idea of a university develops and evolves. For some, unbundling has been happening since the beginnings of the contemporary university (mode 1 as the sole academic researching and teaching) and higher education's growth and success has seen specialist roles (careers, accommodation, management, estates etc) being required for large-scale institutions the size of the modern university (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015). The recent attention and growing literature on the unbundled university shows that the university in Mode 3 is enacted in many ways through many nodes including new technologies, private commercial interests and the residue (genealogy) of the university of the past (i.e research and teaching). ...
The idea of a modern university is a constantly changing and often contested concept. This paper traces the idea of a university using three modes. These modes are the Mode 1 Ivory Tower, Mode 2 Factory and Mode 3 Network. This framework draws upon higher education literature as well as three modes of knowledge production. I use these modes as a framework to describe the genealogical and historical development of the university in the Western world. These however are not purely historical and elements of their characteristics can be found within and between university institutions today. A genealogy shows a historical path dependency (i.e a teaching and research institution) of the idea of a university and a new materialism perspective shows the coming together of the many elements of the network assemblage which includes the discourse on the idea of a university clashing with new ideas, technologies and policy. The growth and development of the modern university from small, autonomous, elite and autonomous in mode 1 to large, mass regulated factory with marketplace outputs within neoliberal societies is well documented. The Mode 3 Network University is emerging with a potential for universal access with networked societies and technologies and has many actors influencing its becoming and idea. The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and a broadening multidisciplinary approach to the field of Networked Learning has been called for and I introduce the possibility of theoretically analysing the becoming and enactment of the Mode 3 Network University using concepts and frameworks from the broad field of New Materialism. Such approaches take into account the complex assemblage and network of actors which are human and non-human in the growing and diversifying university. The growth and marketisation of the university has added to this complexity with commercial 'unbundling' taking place. Degrees, institutions and functions are being unbundled and rebundled and this active complex network of actors including technologies, humans (academics, students, employers, wider public) and the residual path dependency of the three modes are in tension and conflict but come together to enact the modern university. New Material methodologies allow for these many influences to come together in a 'flat ontology' to allow for a more nuanced and new approach to research in Networked Learning.
... It has become common-place to ask whether higher education is 'unbundling' (Craig, 2015;Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;McCowan, 2017) in line with approaches taken from business operations with the aim of efficiency and competitiveness. Wright (2014) claims that the name of Humboldt is used to describe an elitist and a traditional past and to decry and resist a marketised, neoliberal future. ...
Creating and disseminating knowledge through research and teaching has long been regarded as the hallmark of the modern university. However, new university business models have called into question the ‘bundling’ of teaching and research, and sustained research on the relationship between teaching and research has found little evidence of an insoluble connection between the two activities. In this article, we explore the relationship between teaching and research from the perspective of universities’ institutional discourse. We use corpus‐assisted discourse analysis to examine the relationship between research and teaching as presented in two sets of institutional texts currently influential in UK Higher Education: Research Excellence Framework environment statements and Teaching Excellence Framework provider submissions (a total of 2143 documents and 12,492,071 words). Our findings show that, while universities emphasise the value of research to their teaching, they do not always emphasise (or sometimes even decry) the influence of teaching on their research. We empirically evidence that, according to what universities themselves write in institutional texts, teaching and research are not always in a mutually beneficial entanglement, but often rather a one‐way relationship in which research expertise and institutional prestige are used to bolster claims of teaching excellence. This has implications for the communication of both the vision and the purpose of a university in regulatory exercises and wider policy, but also speaks to the broader idea and practice of being a university in the twenty‐first century.
... Or as Ovetz (Ovetz, 2015) puts it "faculty autonomy over course 374 design, content, delivery, and student assessment have been challenged, and even 375 displaced, by the efforts to replace content-based assessment of learning, represented by the 376 grade and degree, with competency-based standards, rubrics, departmental and student 377 learning objectives, badges, micro-credentials, pathways, and certifications." Learning 378 assessment pushes education from relying on faculty grading and the granting of degrees 379 to external assessment and to the "the differentiation of instructional duties that were once 380 typically performed by a single faculty member into distinct activities performed by various 381 professionals, such as course design, curriculum development, delivery of instruction, and 382 assessment of student learning" (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015). Intelligent tutoring systems can 383 then be based on these validated curricular maps and pedagogies. ...
This essay describes trends in the organization of work that have laid the groundwork for the adoption of interactive AI-driven instruction tools, and the technological innovations that will make intelligent tutoring systems truly competitive with human teachers. Since the origin of occupational specialization, the collection and transmission of knowledge have been tied to individual careers and job roles, specifically doctors, teachers, clergy, and lawyers, the paradigmatic knowledge professionals. But these roles have also been tied to texts and organizations that can disseminate knowledge independently from professionals. Professionals and organizations turn knowledge into texts and tools that enable lay people to access knowledge without the intermediation of professionals or organizations. In the 21st century, one emerging tool for transmitting knowledge is the intelligent tutoring system. This paper examines how technological, epistemic, and economic trends in education are supporting the routinization, proletarianization, and automation of the occupation of teaching, leading to the increasing substitution of intelligent tutoring systems for human instruction.
Some trends, such as standardized curricula and testing, both restrict teachers’ professional autonomy and facilitate the creation of pedagogical tools. Other trends reduce teachers’ ability to resist automation. The growth of adjunct teaching and paraprofessional roles in higher education allows organizations to take over and rationalize parts of the traditional teacher role. Faculty evaluations and learning outcomes assessment weaken professional claims to be the sole arbiters of instructional quality and student learning. The widespread use of intelligent tutoring systems also depends on the sophistication of software capable of performing the social-emotional and cognitive roles that educators perform. Eventually, pedagogical software will be able to interactively individualize curricula to the needs and interests of every learner, more cheaply, quickly, and accurately than any human teacher. Assessment of learning will be continuous, and certification of learning will be for specific skills instead of broad area competencies. Intelligent tutoring systems will help transition education from its medieval and industrial-era model to more accessible and flexible continuing education for employment and life enrichment.
... There are many reasons cited for unbundling the faculty model including: (1) enrolments growths (2) fluctuations in enrolments at institutional and programme levels (3) diminishing resources (4) corporatisation and (5) technology (Gehrke and Kezar, 2015). According to Wechsler (2004) unbundling the teaching role couldtheoreticallyimprove the cost effectiveness and the quality of the learning experience. ...
This paper illustrates how unbundling has progressed from university-controlled approaches to incorporating partnership organisations into the delivery of university functions, specifically teaching. In this paper, we limit the scope of unbundling to the management of online teachers using three Australian case studies. In the first section, we review the literature for reasons that support unbundling the teaching approach, the effectiveness of this approach, and criticisms posed. Then we use aspects of the literature to present an unbundled teaching hierarchy. We use three examples from the hierarchy in the context of three Australian case studies that are illustrative of how online teachers are managed in Australian higher education. As discussed in this paper, the opportunities and challenges associated with unbundling university teaching have implications for the quality of the student experience, teacher experience, and cost effectiveness for institutions.
... Examining the constellation of producers contributing to MOOC design and creation, and how this constellation developed historically, is beyond the scope of this thesis. Doing so would require a description of the 'bundling' and 'unbundling' of faculty roles in higher education through the specialisation of tasks and the simultaneous growth of professional staff aimed at achieving greater cost-effectiveness and improved learning outcomes (McCowan, 2017;Gehrke and Kezar, 2015;Tucker and Neely, 2010). Such a discussion spans from medieval times to the present. ...
This thesis examines the tensions and contradictions of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as a force for more inclusive tertiary education, particularly for adults without a college degree in the United States. Through a multimethodological research approach yielding three discrete papers, presented as chapters, this work seeks to augment and clarify the existing MOOCs literature across conceptual, quantitative, and qualitative domains. The first paper develops a conceptual framework, ‘hegemonic design bias,’ that describes the socio-technical development ecosystem in which MOOCs are embedded. This framework helps account for why MOOCs have yet to serve as a democratising force in education by highlighting the processes and constraints that bias MOOC production toward the already well-educated. The potential economic implications of these developments are also considered. The second paper provides insight into how underrepresented learners are engaging with entry-level MOOCs. The exploration of learning analytic data from an initial sample of more than 260,000 enrolees through cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression indicates that students without a college degree are more likely to be high-performing learners compared to college-educated students in these courses. Additionally, students from approximated lower socioeconomic backgrounds are no less likely to be successful than students from approximated middle and higher socioeconomic backgrounds in these courses. The third paper provides insight into the opportunities and challenges producers face in building inclusive MOOCs through a qualitative analysis of six semi-structured interviews. The interviews unearthed diverse conceptions of inclusion among producers that reflect a sincere normative commitment to make inclusive MOOCs, though the conceptions were quite distinct and fragmented. Producers were intentional about utilising best-practice pedagogy, as well as innovative program design, to include diverse learners. Innovative technology partners helped create interactive, unique experiences, but this also led to challenges in harmonising the design process and required the considerable influence of intermediary actors. To conclude, I briefly consider the implications of these findings for research, practice, and policy, with particular attention to how the public and social sectors can incentivise improved design of MOOCs with the specific intent of helping adults without college degrees develop human capital in order to remain economically resilient amidst the disruptions of skills-biased technological change.
... Apart from the two main organisational templates (that is, the research and the entrepreneurial university blueprints), there is another trend in HE worthy of attention. Academic discourse refers to the process as 'unbundling' (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Robertson & Komljenovic, 2016;Bass & Eynon, 2017). Unbundling means the breaking up of certain products and services which were formerly considered a unit. ...
Recently, several expectations have been raised towards higher education institutions (HEIs). These expectations are about the roles HEIs should play and responsibilities they should have in society. This article focuses on three different responses. The first section touches upon the organisational template of the entrepreneurial university concerning the economic role of HEIs. Secondly, issues of teaching and present HEIs' attempts to respond to the expectations in relation to human value creation are discussed. Thirdly, social engagement and open science is investigated as a response to the question of societal value creation. Finally, in connection with these topics, the article touches upon the possible consequences of organisational homogeneity and heterogeneity to HE in general.
... The unbundling of functions of the university has been viewed in a positve light when helping to reduce costs and take advantage of specialist expertise and technology, which can help to increase access to a university education. The negative view of unbundling includes loss of expertise, deprofessionalisation of faculty and the removal of a holistic approach to a university experience and mission (Gehrke and Kezar 2015). A case study of a major multinational providing digital platform products and services by Williamson (2020) concluded that marketisation is accomplished through a complex sociotechnical assemblage 'including platforms, as well as the numbers and charts, human and nonhuman agents, machine learning algorithms, visualizations and infographics, market valuations, reports and discourses that all support the construction, maintenance and diffusion of those platforms' (14). ...
Technology has dominated discourse on the future university and how digital technologies disrupting wider societal activities can be leveraged in higher education. To gain an insight into UK institutional perspective on technology adoption in teaching and learning and visions for the future, two corpora of text are analysed: Teaching Excellence Framework statements (n = 88) and university strategy documents (n = 88), totalling 1, 129, 736 words. Quantitative empirical analysis reveals that institutions write about how they ‘use’ technology for teaching and learning. Interpretative analysis found that technology is ‘used’ as an end in itself as well as a means for specific ends (such as assessment and feedback and flexible learning). Using concepts from science and technology studies and philosophy of technology, these perspectives are theorised as instrumentalist, substantivist and essentialist and problematised when viewing technology in education as apolitical, neutral and inevitable. Perceived neutrality ignores the many competing ideologies and interests at play. In this context, a dichotomy of ‘pedagogy first’ or ‘technology-led’ design is explored. Critical theory of technology is used to bridge these binary discourses which are described as reductive in a complex sociotechnical university assemblage.
... Preservation of research time perhaps contributes to the intense sense of busyness we have observed among the ES faculty, because prior scholarship indicates that time spent on teaching and service accrues in addition to rather than instead of time devoted to research (Milem et al., 2000). Unbundling of faculty work, that is, deconstructing the faculty role to distribute certain functions to others (advising or even teaching) (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015), further reinforces the ratchet by empowering faculty to focus on research. The social distance between faculty and students uncovered in our prior work (Briody, Wirtz, et al., 2019) likely has its origins in these ratchet and unbundling arguments. ...
Background
Prior efforts to understand faculty culture have largely described monoliths where individuals are differentiated by their productivity. Little prior work provides rich faculty subcultural descriptions and their connections to specific activities, including disposition to change.
Purpose/Hypothesis
This article describes the goals, assumptions, methods, and inferences made about faculty culture within an engineering department at a large university with very high research activity, with the potential to enrich future discussions about change among the target audience of engineering faculty, administrators, and researchers.
Design/Method
We employ cultural consensus theory (CCT) to characterize faculty culture, based upon a detailed survey, analysis, and member checking. We use the academic ratchet ‐ as a theoretical framework to interpret CCT results, and extend our understanding using previously published change theories.
Results
We discovered two faculty subcultures of roughly equal membership: (a) change‐oriented and (b) continuity‐embracing. Members of each subculture agree on the primacy of research but differ in their views of change, leadership, and trust. Members of the change‐oriented subculture seek large‐scale changes but feel disempowered to pursue them, while members of the continuity‐embracing subculture seek modest changes and feel empowered to enact them.
Conclusions
We introduce a scalable, person‐centered culture characterization approach (CCT) to the engineering education research community. This approach deepens our understanding of faculty culture, and our results reinforce the central role of the academic ratchet in shaping faculty activities. This analysis illustrates the potential roles of each subculture in enacting change of various types and magnitudes.
... Previously, course development was part of a "cottage industry" (Elton, 1996, p. 138) where academics worked independently as a "jack-of-all-trades" (Moore, 2007, p. 113) on the teaching, research and service aspects of their work to a great extent. In their historical review of unbundling in universities, Gehrke and Kezar (2015) found that unbundling processes are often a response to pressures external to universities or new ideas in education. As an example of this, online learning initiatives are frequently initiated or influenced by external factors such as the massification of HE (Selwyn, 2017), something certainly relevant to MOOC initiatives in UK universities. ...
In university educational technology projects, collaborations with external partners pose a range of opportunities and challenges. Educational projects are often associated with unbundling of conventional higher education roles though there is limited empirical work in this area. This is particularly the case with massive open online courses (MOOCs), where further research is needed into the production of courses and the roles of those who produce them. This study investigated the extent to which conventional roles of academics are unbundled during MOOC production partnerships between universities and an external MOOC platform provider. The findings indicate that aspects of conventional educator roles are substantially unbundled to learning designers and other seemingly peripheral actors. Unbundling is partially driven by pragmatic decisions shaping course production processes which need to accommodate the massive and open properties of MOOCs, the nature of cooperation agreements with external platform providers and the reputational risk associated with such public ventures. This study adds to empirical knowledge on the unbundling of roles in online learning projects, and the findings have relevance for those involved in decision-making, planning and development of such projects in higher education. Implications for practice or policy: Managers of online learning projects could use these insights to inform recruitment or training of learning designers (e.g., instructional designers, educational designers). Managers of online learning projects could use these insights to inform planning and decision making for projects involving external partners and collaborations. Learning designers could use these insights to help plan for online learning projects which involve open content, massive numbers of participants, high-profile collaborations.
... Meg kell említenünk azonban még egy trendet a felsőoktatásban, amely a két fő szervezeti modell (azaz a kutató-egyetemi és a vállalkozó egyetemi jelleg) mellett megjelent. Az akadémiai diskurzus ezt 'unbundlignak' nevezi (Barber et al., 2013;Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Robertson & Komljenovic, 2016;Bass & Eynon, 2017;McCowan, 2017). Ez a jelenség arra utal, mikor egy korábban megbonthatatlan egységnek tűnő terméket vagy szolgáltatást részeire bontanak, és ezek önálló egységként jelennek meg a piacon. ...
A felsőoktatási jövőjével kapcsolatbanhárom olyan kihívás-területet azonosítottunk, amelyek a szervezeteket nehézségek és választások elé állítják. Egyrészt megvizsgáljuk, hogy az egyetemek lehetséges gazdasági szerepével kapcsolatban milyen elvárások fogalmazódnak a vállalkozó egyetem koncepciója keretében. Arra is kitérünk röviden, hogy milyen próbálkozások történtek az elmúlt években ennek a szervezeti sablonnak a kiterjesztésére, úgymond befogadóbbá tételére. Másodikként áttekintjük, hogy az egyetemek mennyire és hogyan képesek az emberi értékteremtéshez, szűkebb értelemben a hallgatók foglalkoztathatóságához hozzájárulni. Ez a kérdés különösen érdekes, ha elfogadjuk annak az állításnak a létjogosultságát, hogy a jövőbeni környezet, amelyre a hallgatókat fel kellene készíteniük alapvetően bizonytalan és kiszámíthatatlan. Végül a társadalmi értékteremtéssel kapcsolatban felmerül annak a kérdése is, hogy az intézmények mennyire képesek megtartani esetleg kiterjeszteni azt a szerepüket, hogy hozzájáruljanak a társadalmi szintű változásokhoz, valamint tematizálják a társadalmak önértelmezésével kapcsolatos diskurzusokat.
... Whereas critics of corporatization have understood unbundling as a means of deskilling academic workers, the entrepreneurial model assumes that each professor and PhD carries a portfolio of skills that might be used separately. 44 Kelsky, for instance, has monetized graduate student advising as The Professor Is In, and Rockquemore's NCFDD serves as an online stand-in for faculty mentorship and professional development offered by universities. Their success highlights the value of the advising, mentoring, and collegial work that is often invisible in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions. ...
... In universities, research conduction and production is largely a means for hierarchal promotions and financial benefits with a limited concern for providing solutions to problems faced by societies and businesses. The real impact of universities' research on society is an issue that universities must address through promoting a culture of problem-based research [107] and teaching faculty must remain involved in advancing their knowledge through research involvement [108]. Universities facing challenges to motivate and engage faculty in the process of conducting research effectively must devise strategies to eliminate research reluctance and resistance. ...
This study envisions the architecture of a modern era university with sustainable standards of excellence. Sustainable University Excellence is herein defined as the ability of a university to excel in the core areas of knowledge creation and dissemination via the mobilization of human, social, intellectual, and financial capital to serve on socioeconomic and environmental fronts ethically, efficiently, and effectively to secure a sustainable future. Seven core performance domains of a university are explored: Teaching quality, research culture, technological capability building, accessibility, community engagement, internationalization, and environment, which should be prioritize in order to continuously advance along a sustainable excellence continuum. This study provides a self-assessment methodology that universities can employ to compare their performance relative to the aforementioned domains, thus enabling the identification of performance gaps, the knowledge of which is crucial to the formulation of more targeted strategy. This approach allows decision makers to form a more coherent vision for sustainability within institutional and broader contexts. The approach proposed herein incorporates the three aspects of sustainability that form the so-called Triple Bottom Line (TBL).
... In addition to these structural inequities, contingency for women has an impact on the day-to-day realities of their work. With the unbundling of faculty work, or increased specialization of faculty roles, non-tenure-track positions have high teaching loads (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Schuster & Finkelstein, 2006). This can be particularly problematic for Women of Color in non-tenure-track positions (Boss et al., 2019;Navarro, 2017). ...
This qualitative study examines the ways in which 15 full-time non-tenure-track Women of Color faculty members (NTWCFs) at historically White colleges and universities experienced identity taxation in their work. Critical race theory and critical race feminism were used as theoretical frameworks. Participants experienced identity taxation in 3 ways: care for marginalized students, overburdened with institutional service, and obligations to teach colleagues about race and racism. Although these findings are consistent with the research on tenure-track and tenured Women of Color faculty members, non-tenure-track faculty members faced distinct implications from identity taxation. This included feeling pressured to do this work in hopes of maintaining their position or securing a more permanent one as a result of the tenuous nature of their contracts. Given the overrepresentation of Women of Color in non-tenure-track positions, these findings illustrate a systemic problem that keeps Women of Color in unstable and financially unsustainable academic positions.
... Breaking down, separating and reorganising the tasks of university educators is not a new phenomenon. As Gehrke and Kezar (2015) show, professional unbundling has been a dynamic process throughout the history of higher education. Nevertheless, digitalisation and AI based algorithms can accelerate this process and chip away the professional and intellectual authority of university educators (Ford, 2015;Susskind & Susskind, 2015). ...
One of the main missions of higher education is to prepare the young (but not exclusively them) for future challenges. It not only has the potential to change individual lives but it can also make the social fabric more resilient and adaptive. However, presently this future is highly uncertain and fraught with risks. This radical uncertainty makes it difficult to identify future-proof knowledge, skills and capacities. Moreover, it also raises questions about the possible roles higher education should play in future societies. We argue that higher education should be an active agent in shaping future society. In order to fulfil its potential as such, this type of agency-orientation should transcend its core activities, like research and teaching, currently built into its institutional settings. This special issue highlights certain possible directions for change as far as HEIs are concerned. These future possibilities are in relation to learning, ethics, fairness, community involvement and the role of research at institutions which were formerly teaching-oriented. These can be seen as first steps towards understanding what organisational changes are needed for HEIs to maintain their social relevance and to actively shape their environment.
... Las ideas sobre "desensamblar" la institución universitaria no son nuevas (Wang, 1975). Pero en los últimas décadas, la tecnología digital se ha alimentado en una de las claves del proceso según sus partidarios (Craig, 2015;Craig y Williams, 2015) y, como denuncian algunos autores (McCowan, 2017), ya ha desagregado el trabajo de los docentes (Gehrke y Kezar, 2015), especialmente en las modalidades online (Tucker y Neely, 2010). ...
... Las ideas sobre "desensamblar" la institución universitaria no son nuevas (Wang, 1975). Pero en los últimas décadas, la tecnología digital se ha alimentado en una de las claves del proceso según sus partidarios (Craig, 2015;Craig y Williams, 2015) y, como denuncian algunos autores (McCowan, 2017), ya ha desagregado el trabajo de los docentes (Gehrke y Kezar, 2015), especialmente en las modalidades online (Tucker y Neely, 2010). ...
Analizar cómo se materializará el potencial disruptivo de las cadenas de bloques (blockchain) en la educación superior es una tarea compleja. Sobre todo, porque la educación superior es un entorno complejo y contradictorio en el que coexisten visiones contrapuestas sobre su misión, organización y gobierno. La sobreexpectacion creada alrededor de blockchain se traduce en promesas exageradas y cierto determinismo tecnológico generalizado. En este capítulo se pretende, por una parte, ofrecer razones para moderar el entusiasmo y, por otra, ayudar a discernir los supuestos ideológicos y la visión de la educación supe- rior que subyacen a las propuestas de desagregación de la educación superior y creación de “nuevos ecosistemas educativos” basada en el uso de la tecnología digital en general y blockchain en particular. La desagregación suele formar parte de procesos complejos de privatización de servicios públicos y de creación de nuevos mercados. Blockchain ha sido saludado desde ciertos sectores ideológicos y eco- nómicos con intereses bien definidos en el nuevo mercado de la educación superior como una innovación disruptiva, con incontables ventajas. Pero los problemas políticos no suelen tener soluciones tecnológicas.
... Las ideas sobre "desensamblar" la institución universitaria no son nuevas (Wang, 1975). Pero en los últimas décadas, la tecnología digital se ha alimentado en una de las claves del proceso según sus partidarios (Craig, 2015;Craig y Williams, 2015) y, como denuncian algunos autores (McCowan, 2017), ya ha desagregado el trabajo de los docentes (Gehrke y Kezar, 2015), especialmente en las modalidades online (Tucker y Neely, 2010). ...
Hace casi dos años hablábamos de Blockchain y sus posibilidades en Educación. Hoy sale el que posiblemente sea el primer libro en español sobre las aplicaciones de la tecnología Blockchain en Educación. Es un tema tan reciente y a la vez tan candente que todavía no estamos seguros de dónde va a llevar. Los editores de este libro estamos convencidos que Blockchain es una tecnología que va a revolucionar el registro de eventos en bases de datos, un cambio disruptivo al nivel de lo que supuso Internet o la Web.
https://basiletic.blogspot.com/2016/08/blockchains-una-revolucion-que-esta.html
Este cambio afectará a múltiples campos y, entre otros, también al educativo. No es el tema central de la Educación, no es el objetivo básico de la investigación educativa, y no va a representar un cambio en el modo como enseñamos y aprendemos tan importante como pudo ser la implantación de la escuela pública en el siglo XIX, pero va a solucionar algunos problemas, va a ofrecer vías de desarrollo a ideas largamente ancladas y nos va a permitir entender el futuro de otra forma.
Puede ser también que genere cambios en los actores más relevantes del sistema educativo. A largo plazo puede contribuir a una democratización o a una liberalización, pero puede contribuir a poner el sistema en manos de empresas orientadas al lucro inmediato. No se puede predecir ni un futuro negro ni uno de color rosa. Pero algo va a cambiar.
Para tener más pistas sobre lo que va a significar este cambio hemos invitado a algunos de los actores más relevantes en este momento en la implantación de la BC en Educación a contribuir con textos nuevos o nunca antes publicados en castellano. En un campo tan dinámico no es extraño que aparezcan nuevas iniciativas, pero las recogidas aquí́ son, sin duda, las pioneras y las que están marcando el desarrollo de esta tecnología.
Este texto espera ayudar a comprender mejor esta tecnología y sus posibilidades en la Educación. Y quizás anime a investigar mejor cómo aprovecharla para mejorar nuestra actividad docente y los aprendizajes de nuestro alumnado. Es un libro del siglo XXI y, como algunos otros de la colección Transmedia XXI, en la frontera entre lo real, lo posible y lo soñado.
... Ce questionnement fait écho à celui exprimé par les chercheurs nord-américains quant aux effets du « dégroupage » (unbundling) 7 de l'enseignement en tâches distinctes (conception des contenus, encadrement, évaluation, certification) sur la qualité de l'enseignement et l'identité professionnelle professorale. Le risque de la déqualification et de la déprofessionnalisation (deskilling) des enseignants et les effets négatifs du dégroupage sur la démocratie et la collégialité académique a également été souligné, lorsque certaines de ces tâches sont confiées à des personnes occupant des statuts d'emploi contractuels et périphériques et leur gestion aux professionnels du management ou de l'ingénierie de la formation (Feenberg, 2015;Gehrke et Kezar, 2015;Hanson, 2009;Macfarlane, 2011;Noble, 1998;Paulson, 2002). L'augmentation du nombre de cours en ligne dans les EP s'accompagnerait de l'engagement des enseignants (ou d'autres acteurs) à temps partiel, contractuels et peu intégrés dans la vie académique (Bedford, 2012;Carnevale, 2004;Mueller, Mandernach et Sanderson, 2013;Salley et Shaw, 2015). ...
Resumé
La technologisation et la rationalisation de l’enseignement sont au cœur de la recherche sur les compétences et la professionnalisation des acteurs de l’encadrement des étudiants dans les cours à distance et en ligne, menée dans les universités à distance unimodales et, plus récemment, dans les universités présentielles. Les effets de ces processus sur les compétences et la professionnalisation des acteurs de l’encadrement à distance et en ligne ne sont pas clairement établis et donnent lieu à des interprétations divergentes. Les progrès de la recherche sont freinés par un cloisonnement des communautés de recherche constituées autour de cette problématique dans les universités à distance unimodales et dans les universités présentielles, que ce soit dans le contexte anglophone ou francophone. Afin de contribuer à remédier à ce problème, nous avons 1) constitué une base documentaire comportant près de 500 textes recueillis et sélectionnés à l’aide de la méthodologie herméneutique de revue de littérature et 2) établi un portrait global de la recherche sur les compétences et la professionnalisation des acteurs de l’encadrement à distance dans les cours à distance et en ligne, offerts dans les universités unimodales à distance et dans les universités présentielles. Nous croyons que la base documentaire, disponible en accès libre, favorisera la construction de la « mémoire collective », tandis que les résultats présentés dans le portrait global contribueront à construire un langage commun et favoriseront ainsi la cumulativité de la recherche.
Abstract
The processes of technologization and rationalization of higher education are at the heart of the research on the tutoring skills and competencies in the distance and online courses carried out in the unimodal distance universities and more recently, in the dual-mode universities. The effects of these processes on the competencies and professionalization of distance/online teachers and tutors are not established and give rise to divergent interpretations. The progress of research in this area is hampered by silo work of research communities in unimodal distance universities and dual-mode universities, whether in the English-speaking or French-speaking context. To help remedy this problem, we have 1) built an open-access documentary base with nearly 500 texts collected and selected using the hermeneutic literature review methodology and 2) compiled a global portrait of the research on competencies and professionalization of tutors and teachers acting in the distance and online courses in the unimodal distance and dual-mode universities. We believe that the open-access documentary base will promote the construction of the "collective memory" on distance and online tutoring, while the results presented in the overall portrait will help to build a common language and thus encourage the cumulative knowledge in this research area.
... Taken together, the academic profession has been unbundled and pulled apart (Bansel, Davies, Gannon, & Linnel, 2008;Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Lorenz, 2012;Rhoades & Olave-Torres, 2015). From a scientific management perspective, unbundling the faculty role makes sense. ...
The aim of this chapter is to reimagine organizational theory so that higher education researchers and administrators can go about their work in ways that foreground justice. In Sect. 11.1, we set higher education in context and highlight ways in which justice has historically and persistently been undermined in the name of or through the administration of U.S. higher education. In Sect. 11.2, we sketch out our understanding of organizational theory and theories within the critical paradigm. In Sect. 11.3, we discuss several familiar organizational perspectives—which we present as schools of thought—only to reimagine them by infusing each with ideas, commitments, and insights drawn from the critical paradigm. To illustrate how conventional and reimagined organizational perspectives assist leaders and researchers, we apply both to issues of injustice within the field of higher education. Finally, in Sect. 11.4, we conclude with a summative discussion, note the limitations of our work, and offer various ways that leaders and scholars might use this chapter for policy, practice, and research.
... The traditional full-time tenure-track faculty model that incorporated research, teaching, and service, and has been in place for almost hundred years is being challenged by other models that may be more responsive to the financial needs of the institutions of higher education, society in general, and students in particular (Finkelstein & Schuster, 2011;Kezar, 2013). A major direction in such changes is fueled by the idea of "unbundling," or going from bundled tasks and services offered by a single institution or individual to the distribution of these among multiple providers (Gehrke & Kezar, 2015;Kezar, 2013;McCowan, 2017). Unbundling can be conceptualized across multiple strata of higher education from the higher education as a system to institutions, courses, faculty and staff. ...
Background
Faculty is inseparable from the design and implementation of competency‐based programs. Yet prior research on competency‐based education (CBE) has mainly focused on program design and implementation, paying less attention to the faculty roles and perception of their involvement.
Aims
This paper explores faculty perceptions of their own roles relating to the design and the pilot semester implementation of a new competency‐based transdisciplinary program at a large Midwest research‐intensive university.
Methods
Using a phenomenological approach, we conducted semistructured interviews with faculty involved in the program design and implementation of the pilot semester in this program ( n = 7) to gain an understanding of the varied demands and expectations, as well as their perceptions of such roles in the context of the program.
Results
Our findings showed a variety of faculty functions pertaining to their roles within our CBE environment. The faculty interviewed also tended to be actively engaged in terms of student onboarding, motivation, and encouragement, particularly earlier in the semester. Facilitation of students’ learning and competency attainment at the prescribed level of mastery led to the need for ongoing review and feedback of students’ work, and a higher workload than a traditional course. Yet, the faculty had positive responses to the program and their work, which in part may relate to their early buy‐in into the program as part of their collaboration on the program design.
Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.
This chapter examines the complex landscape of faculty accountability in modern higher education institutions. It analyzes the traditional supervisory structures and evaluation systems while highlighting emerging challenges and tensions in faculty assessment. Additionally, it explores the multiple dimensions of faculty accountability, including the tenure and promotion process, the role of student evaluations, and peer review systems. Particular attention is given to how these systems impact faculty of underrepresented identities and the increasing prevalence of non-tenure track positions. This chapter also explores how mission creep and shifting faculty-student dynamics affect accountability standards. Through an analysis of current practices and limitations, the chapter provides evidence-based recommendations for improving faculty accountability systems while promoting equity and institutional effectiveness in higher education.
The syllabus, also known as the course plan, is a document rooted in the interaction between instructors and learners in the classroom, yet it serves additional functions within the institution. Its expanding application beyond the classroom to address accountability and program evaluation underscores the importance of acknowledging the multifaceted nature of the syllabus, housing diverse requirements and goals that may not always seamlessly align. For instance, the imperative for a succinct and easily comprehensible document for learners may conflict with the document’s contractual function, necessitating specific length and tone considerations. Beyond examining its content, a comprehensive study of the collective uses of this tool offers insights into practices at the classroom, departmental, and institutional levels. This paper introduces a framework based on a scoping review of syllabus use in higher education literature. Employing an Activity Theory lens, nine interconnected uses are identified and categorized into three primary purposes. Analysis of these uses also sheds light on potential tensions related to syllabus use as a contract, blurred authorship, and the diverse stakeholders as audiences. By offering a broader perspective on the diverse functions of the syllabus, the presented framework can help inform discussions aimed at harmonizing the complex practices shaped by this institutional tool.
This essay aims to uncover capitalism’s influence over student affairs labor in higher education, by which is meant the labor of non-faculty, student-facing professionals on collegiate campuses globally. It contrasts with works foregrounding neoliberal analyses of the profession, which tend to show the impacts of neoliberal capitalism on student affairs labor in the present, disembodied from the whole of the capitalist system. With assistance from Marx’s notion of contradiction (derived from his dialectical approach), this essay reveals how capitalism’s influence on American higher educational institutions transformed the faculty role and paved the way for student affairs to come into existence. The use of Marx’s value-form helps explain the nature of student affairs practitioners’ labor as abstract. Following that, this work establishes student affairs labor as producing the labor-power commodity for capitalism and implements Marx’s subsumption categories to identify the ideal subsumption of student affairs labor. To conclude, there is brief discussion of an alternative to the current neoliberal university and student affairs labors’ place within it. Achieving this alternative will require political struggle against capitalism and organizing for the common.
A syllabus is often perceived as merely a list of readings and deadlines, but this research highlights its far more significant role in higher education. Course outlines serve as multifaceted tools that extend beyond their apparent simplicity, contributing to learning, teaching, and administrative functions. This study identifies nine distinct uses of syllabi, categorized into three main groups: learning tools that guide and engage students, teaching tools that support educators in achieving their objectives, and administrative tools that help align institutional policies and practices.
These findings underscore the depth of information embedded within these seemingly straightforward documents. However, the multifunctionality of syllabi often introduces tensions and conflicts. When a single document is designed to address the needs of diverse audiences, it can lead to competing priorities and challenges.
By examining the broader implications of syllabi, this research reveals their foundational role in shaping academic engagement, fostering alignment within educational environments, and addressing the complex dynamics of higher education.
This chapter has traces how neoliberal thinking and practices have shaped the reorganisation of higher education worldwide, especially in high-income economies such as Australia. Funding cuts, user-pays, inter-university competition and entrepreneurial management, are commonplace. The consequences for academic work, in terms of role fragmentation and job insecurity, are familiar. At the same time, universities claim a public purpose and remain largely state-funded. They are gaining new roles delivering ‘universal’ higher education and can claim growing public support. This chapter outlines how these dynamics are shaping outcomes, crises and possibilities.
Since the onslaught of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in 2012‚ unbundled forms of online learning offered via partnerships with external online program management (OPM) and MOOC providers have grown significantly across the university sector. These ventures differ but predominantly promote a model of online model of online course development whereby subject content is developed within universities and teaching and administrative support is offered by the OPM company. This model has been characterized as an unbundling of educational services and has significant implications for how curriculum and teaching are structured and practiced in universities. This chapter discusses the problem of unbundling curriculum and pedagogy and locates the book as focused on curriculum as a starting point‚ against the more popular emphasis on pedagogy and student learning. It introduces two curriculum issues taken up in the book which are amplified in an unbundled context: differences between disciplines and fields in the formulation of curriculum‚ and the extent these are recognized in university strategy; and the push for constructivist pedagogies, and its effects on curriculum construction. The chapter also describes the research project underpinning the book and its approach to examining case studies of OPM and MOOC developments from the early 2010s through interviews with the academics and university leaders involved and documentary analysis of curriculum and policy materials.
Understanding the curriculum implications of unbundled online learning requires engagement with the wider context in which unbundled initiatives are emerging. This chapter discusses the changing context of university teaching from the perspective of institutional and academic work. It considers the shifting governance of teaching, the rise of unbundled online learning in the university sector, and the dominant frames in which learning and teaching are being positioned and understood in higher education today. The chapter shows that unbundled online learning is emerging in a context in which academic autonomy over teaching is diminishing and digital technologies are principally used to serve managerial purposes rather than transformative agendas, raising particular issues for what unbundled online initiatives might offer. It also demonstrates that discussions of university teaching have been dominated by arguments for constructivist and active learning pedagogies on the one hand, and outcomes-based approaches to curriculum development on the other. It suggests that these perspectives raise some particular issues about how curriculum is framed and understood in higher education.
The use of on-line education (OLE) to deliver higher education using learning management systems (LMS) has received growing critical attention for its reliance on precarious faculty, high dropout and failure rates, and as a form of privatization. While these critiques are well grounded, they overlook the role of OLE as a strategy for rationalizing teaching and deskilling academic labor in order to produce more self-disciplined precarious “platform” workers who can labor remotely under the control of algorithmic management. To recompose the power of academic workers, new tactics, strategies, and objectives based on an analysis of the new technical composition of capital in higher education are needed.
Denne artikel bidrager med viden om de roller og kompetencer, der er behov for hos undervisere ifm. tilrettelæggelse, gennemførelse og evaluering af effektiv blended learning og forslag til alternative måder at organisere disse opgaver på. Via litteraturstudier identificeres de mest centrale opmærksomhedspunkter og udfordringer for den blendede underviser. Rollegallerier og kompetence-paletter præsenteret i 6 tekster gennemgås og analyseres. Det konkluderes, at der ikke er konsensus i litteraturen om roller, kompetencer og anvendelse af begreber. Samtidig er det underbelyst, hvilke roller og kompetencer, der er nødvendige for at skabe et godt blend. Fokus er oftest, hvad det kræver at varetage online delen af blended learning. Forfatterne præsenterer deres bud på den blendede undervisers roller og kompetencer og konstaterer, at det er en særdeles kompleks opgave at varetage blended learning, og at der stilles store krav til den blendede underviser. Derfor foreslås alternative måder at organisere arbejdet på, nemlig unbundling af underviserrollen, udvikling af ressourcer og tilrettelæggelse af kompetenceudvikling.
The focus of this paper is on the contestations and dilemmas emergent in higher education curriculum in a context of increasing processes of unbundling, digitisation and marketisation. The paper explores the notion of contestation through the theoretical lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. It points to illustrative examples of this contestation from empirical data drawn from stakeholder research in South African higher education. The paper grapples with understandings of the concept of curriculum and argues how these have been shaped by – and are shaping – emergent meanings of curriculum in an unbundling context. The argument is that these emergent meanings are a function of different explicit and tacit understandings of curriculum and what higher education offers to students. These understandings are deepened or modified by processes of unbundling. Empirical data from the research study shows these understandings to be forming against the backdrop of powerful cultural and agentic forces and players.
The ability of universities to fulfil the developmental role is not only dependent on their internal workings, but also on the external policy environment. This chapter addresses three major global trends affecting higher education: status competition, manifesting itself principally through international university rankings; commodification, appearing through the expansion of the private sector but also marketisation within public sectors; and unbundling, the disaggregation of the various functions of the university and constituent parts of the teaching and learning process. While these three are complex and sometimes contradictory processes, they all have a potential negative impact on the ability of universities to promote the SDGs, through reducing the resources available for contribution to the public good, and encouraging exclusivity rather than inclusivity.
Contemporary changes in the domain of knowledge production are usually seen as posing significant challenges to ‘the University’. This paper argues against the framing of the university as an ideal-type, and considers epistemic gains from treating universities as assemblages (e.g. DeLanda, M. 2016. Assemblage Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press) of different functions, actors and relations. It contrasts this with the concept of ‘unbundling’, using two recent cases of controversies around academics’ engagement on social media to show how, rather than having clearly delineated limits, social entities become ‘territorialised’ through boundary disputes. The conclusion extends this discussion to the production of knowledge about social objects in general.
Ce chapitre présente une vue d’ensemble de la problématique de l’encadrement des étudiants en contexte « numérique ». en relation avec les changements organisationnels et technologiques affectant les pratiques d’enseignement. Après avoir distingué l’approche institutionnelle de « soutien à l’apprenant » de l’approche centrée sur l’encadrement pédagogique dans les cours, il décrit les pratiques et les compétences en encadrement à distance des cours en ligne et hybrides dispensés par les établissements « unimodaux à distance », «présentiels » et « bimodaux ». Est également abordé le phénomène de l’encadrement à distance dans les cours « en présence ». Dans la mesure où l’on assiste actuellement à l’émergence de nouvelles pratiques d’encadrement médiatisées accomplies par des acteurs de plus de plus en diversifiés, ce chapitre soutient que leur contribution à la construction des « savoirs d’action » sur l’encadrement à distance devrait être prise en considération pour constituer une pédagogie « numérique » collégiale de l’enseignement supérieur.
The Faculty Factor (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016) creatively mines fresh—and heretofore unavailable—data sources to follow the fortunes of the American faculty through the lingering Great Global Recession of 2008. Building on The American Faculty (Johns Hopkins, 2006), Finkelstein and Schuster, now joined by Valerie Martin Conley, document the emergence of a “new” model of academic work and careers in the United States built on an increasingly contingent, stratified academic workforce; the unbundling of the traditionally integrated role into specialist teaching, research and administrative roles, and the progressive yielding of faculty authority on campus, even in academic matters, to a growing core of full-time professional administrators. This volume includes two chapters that explicitly place the U.S. faculty in international perspective.
Abstract:
Purpose
– To measure the degree of implementation and satisfaction level with the outsourcing initiatives from higher education institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
– Uses a survey questionnaire to measure the levels of satisfaction with the institutions’ services and the questionnaire was based on six factors that are deemed significant in making a privatization decision. It was tested for validity and was then e‐mailed to a total of 138 presidents and/or vice‐presidents of all private and public schools in the states of Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia in the USA.
Findings
– It was observed that the vast majority of institutions in all three states surveyed hold on to the concept of outsourcing according to their position in the system. The research shows that the possible motivations for outsourcing are cost savings and budgetary constraints, improvement of quality of services and staffing, lack of capability, safety concerns or liability of service, command from governing bodies, and pressure from peer institutions.
Research limitations/implications
– This is not an exhaustive survey of all private and public schools in the USA and it surveyed only the opinions of presidents and/or vice‐presidents of the selected schools. A case study may provide in‐depth analysis of outsourcing in institutions of higher education.
Practical implications
– Focusing solely on surveys alone to determine the level of satisfaction of outsourcing in institutions of higher education can lead to false information.
Originality/value
– Provides valuable empirical evidence in designing and implementation of outsourcing in institutions of higher education.
Keywords:
Higher education, Outsourcing, Costs, Service quality assurance, United States of America
Learning at any age is neurobiological: a process occurring through alterations in the microscopic structure and functioning of the brain. The inputs, processes, and outputs of learning are brain functions. Learning can be visualized, located, and measured through brain imaging techniques that depend methodologically on the biological nature of perception, memory, and learning. The stages of cognitive development, which represent the cumulative neurobiological effects of many interactions between persons and the world around them, are generated by multitudes of changes in cells, circuits, and networks of the brain. There is no mind without brain; the experiences of consciousness, thinking, learning, and memory are physical expressions of the work of the brain. The state of mind/brain is a major determinant of a learner's readiness to learn; recognizing the oneness of mind and brain-and therefore of mind and body-should cause reassessment of many structures, policies, and practices in education.
The influence of student-faculty interactions on the academic achievement of Latina/o college students is examined using a national cross-sectional sample of 836 students (36.1% men, 63.9% women). Students' college grades were regressed onto college and student variables, and a variety of student-faculty interactions. Academically related and personal interactions with faculty, as well as the perceived quality of relationships with faculty were found to be positively associated with academic performance.
Near peer teaching is a model of instruction that has been shown to be an effective approach to learning. It is a teaching exchange whereby students of similar backgrounds, separated by one to two years, teach each other. Students agreed that near peer teaching is a valuable component of the University of the Sciences Doctor of Physical Therapy program as it helps prepare them for their future roles as health care professionals. While this study focused on physical therapy education, it is believed that the use of near peer teaching is an important component of higher education curricula.
Black students' participation in higher education has experienced periods of growth and decline. The recent resurgence and proliferation of racial incidents on college campuses,coupled with a floundering economy, signals a need to place this issue at the forefront of our educational agenda once again. In this article, Walter R. Allen presents the results of a quantitative study on the differences in the college experience between Black undergraduates who attended historically Black colleges and universities and those who attended predominantly White colleges and universities. Building on the results of a number of related studies and analyzing data from the National Study on Black College Students, Allen further examines the effects of key predictors on college outcomes among these two groups of students. He thus sets the stage for some provocative conclusions, with implications that extend beyond the boundaries of academia.
Higher education institutions are increasingly opting to outsourcing methods in order to sustain themselves and this creates a gap of literature in terms of how they perceive the relationship. This research paper attempts to identify the behavioral and psychological factors that exist in the engagement thus providing valuable information to practicing and potential clients, and vendors. The determinants were gathered from previous literatures and analyzed to formulate the factors. This study adopts the case study and survey approaches in which interviews and questionnaires are deployed on employees of IT-related department in a Malaysian higher education institution.
This is a book review, not a research article, and I do not have a copy to share.
The roots of controversy surrounding higher education in the US extend deep into the past. This original, incisive history goes far in offering a needed sense of perspective on current debates over such issues as access, costs, academic quality, social equity, and curricula. Eminently readable and always lively, this timely historical account is sure to be an invaluable resource for assessing the present condition and future prospects of American colleges and universities.
Today, the American research university is widely recognized as the global “gold standard” for cutting-edge research, innovation, and graduate education. With the exception of a few subspecialty areas—ceramic engineering; oceanography (Goodwin and Nacht 1991)—American scholars and researchers have led the world in refereed journal publications, citations, patents, and Nobel Prizes. As a result, many look to American research universities as a model for the identification, incubation, and support of academic talent. Indeed, for scholars across the globe, American universities still serve as a magnet in the increasingly global academic marketplace.
This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of the scholarship on student-faculty interaction, highlighting the experiences of diverse students within these relationships and how the frequency, quality, and outcomes of student-faculty interactions vary based on the social identities of those interacting. The review is organized into four sections. The first section focuses on the ways in which student-faculty interaction has been studied and defined in previous scholarship, noting ways these relationships are distinctive for people of color. Second, we review theoretical perspectives useful in understanding the motivation and outcomes of student-faculty relationships. The third section reviews literature documenting the experiences and outcomes of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty. The final section identifies areas for future study, highlighting the implications of extant work in the field.
During the last two decades, there has been a significant growth in the share of faculty members at American colleges and universities that are employed in part-time or full-time nontenure-track positions. Our study is the first to address whether the increased usage of such faculty adversely affects undergraduate students' graduation rates. Using institutional level panel data from the College Board and other sources, our econometric analyses suggest that the increased usage of these faculty types does adversely affect graduation rates at four-year colleges, with the largest impact on students being felt at the public master's level institutions. © 2005 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.
Higher education is becoming destabilized in the face of extraordinarily rapid change. The composition of the academy's most valuable asset-the faculty-and the essential nature of faculty work are being transformed. Jack H. Schuster and Martin J. Finkelstein describe the transformation of the American faculty in the most extensive and ambitious analysis of the American academic profession undertaken in a generation. A century ago the American research university emerged as a new organizational form animated by the professionalized, discipline-based scholar. The research university model persisted through two world wars and greatly varying economic conditions. In recent years, however, a new order has surfaced, organized around a globalized, knowledge-based economy, powerful privatization and market forces, and stunning new information technologies. These developments have transformed the higher education enterprise in ways barely imaginable in generations past. At the heart of that transformation, but largely invisible, has been a restructuring of academic appointments, academic work, and academic careers-a reconfiguring widely decried but heretofore inadequately described. This volume depicts the scope and depth of the transformation, combing empirical data drawn from three decades of national higher education surveys. The authors' portrait, at once startling and disturbing, provides the context for interpreting these developments as part of a larger structural evolution of the national higher education system. They outline the stakes for the nation and the challenging work to be done. © 2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved.
"Two of the most visible and important trends in higher education today are its exploding costs and the rapid expansion of online learning. Could the growth in online courses slow the rising cost of college and help solve the crisis of affordability? In this short and incisive book, William G. Bowen, one of the foremost experts on the intersection of education and economics, explains why, despite his earlier skepticism, he now believes technology has the potential to help rein in costs without negatively affecting student learning. As a former president of Princeton University, an economist, and author of many books on education, including the acclaimed bestseller The Shape of the River, Bowen speaks with unique expertise on the subject. Surveying the dizzying array of new technology-based teaching and learning initiatives, including the highly publicized emergence of "massive open online courses" (MOOCs), Bowen argues that such technologies could transform traditional higher education--allowing it at last to curb rising costs by increasing productivity, while preserving quality and protecting core values. But the challenges, which are organizational and philosophical as much as technological, are daunting. They include providing hard evidence of whether online education is cost-effective in various settings, rethinking the governance and decision-making structures of higher education, and developing customizable technological platforms. Yet, Bowen remains optimistic that the potential payoff is great.
In this chapter, we explore the shifting nature of academic work at European and US research universities. Our analyses reveal four trends. First, despite significant differences in higher education governance, institutional environments have led to a shift away from the “integrated scholar” model toward structurally differentiated academic roles. Second, the priorities of external funding agencies influence the types of research performed in the United States and Europe, leading faculty to use diverse strategies to preserve their autonomy and address externally-defined research agendas. Third, in Europe, the quantification of research outputs has become a common trend whereas in the United States, publish-or-perish logics define the academic hierarchy of disciplines and institutions. Fourth, faculty identity is increasingly shaped by the institutional context such as the norms of academic capitalism, especially in the United States. The study revealed that research would benefit from employing innovative theoretical frameworks that explain changes in academic work.
A systematic approach to assessing retention programs focuses on student success and continual improvement in retention. The approach is a dynamic and ongoing practice built into the daily work of faculty, staff, and other college personnel and is based on the theoretical framework for comprehensive retention research (Levitz & Noel, 1985). The framework has been extensively used in retention research (Congos & Schoeps, 1997; Molnar, 1996). Three major components of retention research have been identified: determining dropout predictors, identifying critical points, and validating outcomes assessment of retention endeavors. This article describes the research approach that yielded data used in designing and implementing meaningful interventions for freshmen to enable them to attain their academic and personal goals. The research was also used in reports provided for local and state educators, legislators, the general public, and others interested in the value of investing in higher education.
This study makes use of detailed student-level data from eight cohorts of first-year students at Northwestern University to investigate the relative effects of tenure track/tenured versus contingent faculty on student learning. We focus on classes taken during a student's first term at Northwestern and employ an identification strategy in which we control for both student-level fixed effects and next-class-taken fixed effects to measure the degree to which contingent faculty contribute more or less to lasting student learning than do other faculty. We find consistent evidence that students learn relatively more from contingent faculty in their firstterm courses. This result is driven by the fact that the bottom quarter of tenure track/tenured faculty (as indicted by our measure of teaching effectiveness) has lower "value added" than their contingent counterparts. Differences between contingent and tenure track/tenured faculty are present across a wide variety of subject areas and are particularly pronounced for Northwestern's averages and less-qualified students. © 2015 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015.
Building on Tinto's internationalist theory of student departure, this study examines student perceptions of faculty teaching skills as a precursor to student persistence. Using path analysis to consider this link, the findings demonstrate a significant influence of faculty teaching skills on student persistence. Theoretical and practical implications are then discussed.
In this wide-ranging analysis, Elliot Krause considers the autonomy and leverage of modern professional groups---medicine, law, university teaching, and engineering---in the United States and four European countries over the past three decades. Finding that each group has experienced a decline in its power relative to that of state and capitalist institutions, Krause considers the implicatons for professionals and those they serve.
This study investigated the impact of TA training and preparation and prior teaching experience on undergraduate students' and TAs' self-perceptions of nine teaching effectiveness factors. Comparisons of self-ratings and student ratings were made for TAs representing four different colleges. Results reveal that TAs with either K-12 or college teaching experience were consistently rated as more effective.