Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.0
3.0
Journals
Education Sciences
Special Issues
Higher Education Research: Challenges and Practices
share announcement

Special Issue "Higher Education Research: Challenges and Practices"

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Higher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 December 2023 | Viewed by 3384

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria José Sá

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CIPES – Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies, 4450-227 Matosinhos, Portugal
Interests: higher education; student satisfaction; student success; institutional actors; student experience; gender studies; assurance of learning (AoL); quality assurance in higher education; higher education in developing countries; digital literacy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sandro Serpa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Interests: sociology; teaching sociology; sociology of education; organisations; organisational culture; research; scientific communication; psycho-sociology of educational organisations; digital society; digital literacy and society 5.0
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Higher education has long been considered one of the cornerstones of scientific development through teaching and learning (the so-called first mission), but also in the research dimension (second mission) and as the main driving force in social and economic progress (third mission).

However, the purpose and the expectations of higher education stakeholders—not only institutions but also academics, researchers and students from different study cycles, policymakers and companies—are shifting. We are witnessing the reshaping of teaching higher education institutions (HEIs) into research HEIs, with the increase in research hubs, the development of scientific knowledge that can be put into practice for the improvement and progress of society, and the establishment of partnerships with the business community, namely via spin-offs generated in the HEIs.

It is in this context of reformulating the mission of higher education of researching to (re)create scientific knowledge that this Special Issue—Higher Education Research: Challenges and practices—was designed, with the purpose of presenting different kinds of contributions on ways to problematize this scenario, which varies according to the countries and organizations in question. Additionally, we aim to collate studies that analyze the research practices in several HEIs to understand and, thus, develop the potential of Higher Education Research, the means of its future development, the innovations that have emerged from it and their contribution to the evolution of society as a whole.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Maria José Sá
Dr. Sandro Serpa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • research in higher education
  • higher education and the creation of scientific knowledge
  • ethics in research
  • research and career promotion
  • types of research
  • communication of research
  • potential and innovation of higher education research
  • the second mission of HEIs
  • theories and methods in higher education research
  • interdisciplinary research areas for higher education

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

get_app
Article
Does Mentoring Directly Improve Students’ Research Skills? Examining the Role of Information Literacy and Competency Development
by
Anesito Cutillas
,
Eingilbert Benolirao
,
Johannes Camasura
,
Rodolfo Golbin, Jr.
,
Kafferine Yamagishi
and
Lanndon Ocampo
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 694; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070694 - 08 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1121
Abstract
This work proposes a structural model highlighting the research skills of undergraduate students. Due to the stages in their research project implementation, mentoring students becomes a crucial initiative in higher education institutions. Despite substantial progress in the literature linking mentoring and skills development, [...] Read more.
This work proposes a structural model highlighting the research skills of undergraduate students. Due to the stages in their research project implementation, mentoring students becomes a crucial initiative in higher education institutions. Despite substantial progress in the literature linking mentoring and skills development, there is a lack of greater emphasis on research skills, especially for undergraduate students facing research work for the first time. Consequently, the direct relation between mentoring and research skills may not be straightforward. Thus, driven by social learning theory, the proposed model highlights the mediating effects of information literacy constructs and competency development on the relationship between mentoring and research skills. An empirical study of 539 participants via Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling supports six of the seven hypothesized paths. Three major theoretical contributions arise from the findings. Firstly, mentoring improves information-seeking skills and information-sharing behaviors and facilitates students’ competency development due to the technical knowledge transfer from the faculty mentor to student mentees. Secondly, information literacy constructs and competency development promote research skills, emphasizing that students with those behaviors and capacities will achieve enhanced research skills. Finally, our findings suggest that mentoring does not directly translate to improved research skills; instead, information-seeking and sharing behaviors and competency development fully mediate such a link. Thus, mentors must shape these behaviors for mentoring to develop students’ research skills. Theoretical and practical insights are outlined from these findings for university leadership to inform the design of mentoring initiatives for undergraduate students. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education Research: Challenges and Practices)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

get_app
Article
Agon—Are Military Officers Educated for Modern Society?
by
Leif Inge Magnussen
,
Ole Boe
and
Glenn-Egil Torgersen
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050497 - 15 May 2023
Viewed by 846
Abstract
The research question in this article concerns how a competitive environment affects the learner’s (officer cadet’s) personal leadership development and their relationship to their team and with future civilian foundations. More specifically, what are the possible learning effects of the ‘hidden’ curriculum? This [...] Read more.
The research question in this article concerns how a competitive environment affects the learner’s (officer cadet’s) personal leadership development and their relationship to their team and with future civilian foundations. More specifically, what are the possible learning effects of the ‘hidden’ curriculum? This article investigates how more than 250 years of leadership education provides new army officers with new skills and how this environment may affect the cadets’ leadership training. The article builds on ethnographic data gathered during the three-year education programme in most of the relevant practical locations and contexts. Data were collected using both interviews and a questionnaire. Regarding trust in their learning environment, cadets reported a mean score of 2.83 on a 1 (low trust) to 5 (high trust) Likert scale, underpinning interview data regarding the lack of trust in the Norwegian Military Academy (NMA) and in their fellow cadets. Cadets also pointed out that competition hindered their learning (mean = 2.50). These findings are interpreted in relation to possible negative effects stemming from internal competition and the evaluation system as a whole. The overall output of this system is a zero-sum game, and thus affects evaluative practices and learning processes. This study is of relevance to higher education officers responsible for designing learning environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education Research: Challenges and Practices)
get_app
Article
Mentoring and Research Self-Efficacy of Doctoral Students: A Psychometric Approach
by
Juan Antonio Amador-Campos
,
Maribel Peró-Cebollero
,
Maria Feliu-Torruella
,
Alba Pérez-González
,
Cristina Cañete-Massé
,
Adolfo José Jarne-Esparcia
,
Xavier Triadó-Ivern
and
Joan Guàrdia-Olmos
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 358; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040358 - 30 Mar 2023
Viewed by 915
Abstract
Effective mentoring is an integral component of the doctoral dissertation process. This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of two questionnaires developed to assess research self-efficacy and the mentoring/supervision process. The sample comprised 1265 doctorate students (mean age = 32.36 years; standard [...] Read more.
Effective mentoring is an integral component of the doctoral dissertation process. This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of two questionnaires developed to assess research self-efficacy and the mentoring/supervision process. The sample comprised 1265 doctorate students (mean age = 32.36 years; standard deviation = 8.20). Items in both questionnaires had adequate discrimination indexes and principal component analysis supported the unifactorial structure of each questionnaire, with adequate percentages of explained variance (47.5% and 60%, respectively). Reliability was good or excellent: α = 0.71 and α = 0.94. In the research self-efficacy questionnaire, there was a significant interaction between gender and year of doctoral studies. Men had higher scores in the first, second and third years of their doctoral studies than women, but this ranking was reversed for the fourth and fifth years. In the mentoring/supervision questionnaire, PhD students in their first year had a higher score than those in the third, fourth and fifth years, and students in the second year had a higher score than those in the fifth year. Understanding students’ perception of their research self-efficacy and the mentoring process is of great importance given the relationship between the mentoring process and students’ academic performance and personal well-being. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education Research: Challenges and Practices)
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop