Douglas Hill

Challenges to Christian Higher Education at a Time of Increasing Emphasis on Research

In Australia, both Christian and non-Christian higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced a rapidly changing external environment that is becoming more performance-driven, particularly in relation to faculty research. Academics working in Australian Christian HEIs often feel pressure to keep pace with their counterparts in non-Christian HEIs. Without proactive steps by Christian HEIs and the faculty serving in that context, decreasing levels of government funding to support research may be targeted to non-Christian HEIs. The result of this pattern would potentially influence the ability of Christian HEIs to attract high-caliber staff and students. The focus of this article, a case study involving a large Australian Protestant Christian HEI, examines the process of moving from a teaching-led culture to one reflecting a strong nexus between teaching and research. The research methodology included observations made during site visits, reviews of relevant documents, individual semistructured interviews with eight faculty, and follow-up information obtained from the same participants. A thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006), identified the primary theme that emerged as that of the journey followed by the participants as the research and publication output of the institution was enhanced. The participants’ personal standing within their institution was also increased during this process. Four related subthemes described in the paper included struggles, advances, barriers/blocks, and supports/backers—as part of the individual and institutional journey. Implications of the findings for higher education professionals within and beyond the research site are presented.

Research Experiences of Staff within a Specialist UK Higher Education Institution: Challenges, Opportunities and Priorities.

The study discussed here was based on a collective case approach involving a specialist UK higher education institution. Six individual interviews were carried out with a cross-sectional sample of the institution’s staff members. Additional information was gained through observations and examination of relevant documents. These data were interrogated with the purpose of exploring how the institution had made the transition from a teacher training college to a teaching-led higher education institution with a particular commitment to developing research capacity. This analysis yielded a number of key findings: first, the institution had experienced a cultural shift, with research forming a more noticeable profile; second, practitioner-oriented research was the dominant research endeavour; and third, there appeared to be an incomplete understanding of the potential of research to change a staff member’s career and teaching practice. The article concludes by giving consideration to the implications of the findings.

Developing a Learning Style Instrument for Use in Upper Primary Schools

Abstract This article describes the development and validation of a Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) for use with upper primary school children studying science in an Asian context. The subjects involved in the development of the LSQ were primary four pupils from six schools in Penang, Malaysia. The four important learning dimensions identified were (1) concrete‐abstract, (2) passive‐active, (3) low‐high self‐confidence/self‐esteem, and (4) superficial‐deep motivation. This LSQ would be useful for primary teachers to improve their effectiveness in the teaching of science.

The transition from a university college to a university: a United Kingdom study

As a result of policy changes, nearly all university colleges in the UK have been redesignated as universities. This transition was studied in one such institution using semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of six academic staff and the transcripts subjected to a thematic analysis. This analysis identified three themes: staying in the past, developing as a university and awakening to challenges. A cultural framework was used to help interpret the results of the analysis which highlights how the traditions of the institution have influenced the speed and direction of the cultural change process. Another key finding from the analysis was that very few of the leadership strategies commonly used to support a process of transition appeared to be employed. The article concludes by offering insights about the change processes relevant to leaders of other institutions in the process of changing, or seeking to change, status in similar or related ways.