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Trends in Higher Education
Special Issues
Higher Education: Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Understanding
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Higher Education: Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Understanding

A special issue of Trends in Higher Education (ISSN 2813-4346).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 October 2024 | Viewed by 9672

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nataša Erceg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Physics, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Interests: physics education
Prof. Dr. Ivica Aviani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: solid state physics; physics education; biophysics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We live in highly volatile and unstable times, where external challenges and opportunities such as demographic shifts, political change, economic crises, wars and global pandemics have a significant impact on trends in higher education. Apart from the fact that higher education is increasingly placed in the context of global challenges, one of the prominent trends refers to the increasing influence of technology on higher education teaching, as well as the key role of higher education in the research, development, dissemination and application of new technological achievements. For example, thanks to modern technology, learning has become easily accessible and convenient, and teachers have become educational facilitators who adapt to the changing demands. The tendency is also to make higher education accessible to all interested students without reducing its quality. This results in the need for content and teaching methods in higher education that are adapted to individuals and depend on their choices. To this end, it is expected that diverse knowledge and flexible ways of teaching and learning are promoted, which in turn would encourage lifelong learning and motivate students to engage in real-world problem-solving. An important trend in higher education is also the underpinning of institutional teaching on the results of innovative research and the use of students' acquired knowledge and practices for the development of skills for life and responsible citizenship. In this sense, students are increasingly emphasizing the development of their soft skills that are valued in the workplace, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, people management, creativity, and teamwork. As responsible citizens, they should be able to meet the needs of society and the community at the global, regional, and local levels, especially when it comes to sustainability, socioeconomic development, and addressing environmental and climate challenges, after completing higher education.

This Special Issue is intended to serve a wide range of trends in higher education that emerge from different educational perspectives in response to global challenges. The collection of articles in this Special Issue will be a resource for appropriate theories, approaches, and practices that will help the broader higher education community continue to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning at its institutions.

Accordingly, articles on (but not limited to) the following topics are of interest:

  • trends in learning and teaching in higher education
  • trends in higher education curriculum development
  • trends in higher education in STEM
  • trends in testing and assessment in higher education
  • modern technology in higher education
  • trends in higher education policy
  • trends in lifelong learning of higher education teachers.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Nataša Erceg
Prof. Dr. Ivica Aviani
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 single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Trends in Higher Education is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1000 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

  • higher education
  • trends
  • learning
  • teaching
  • curriculum
  • STEM
  • testing and assessment
  • modern technology
  • policy
  • lifelong learning

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1116 KiB  
Article
In Search of a More Balanced Engineering Curriculum: The Perspective of Students, Teachers, Alumni and Employers
by Carla Ferreira, Bárbara Gabriel, Robertt Valente, António Andrade-Campos, João Dias-de-Oliveira, Victor Neto, Sandra Soares, Teresa Carvalho and Cláudia Figueiredo
Trends High. Educ. 2024, 3(1), 142-154; https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu3010008 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 675
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to raise important issues in engineering education in the face of contemporary challenges and demands through the voices of different stakeholders in engineering curricula and in the practice of professional engineering. Several challenges and future perspectives are [...] Read more.
The purpose of this paper is to raise important issues in engineering education in the face of contemporary challenges and demands through the voices of different stakeholders in engineering curricula and in the practice of professional engineering. Several challenges and future perspectives are based on important skills, like soft skills, which are required by employers and include communication, decision-making, problem-solving, leadership and emotional intelligence, as well as the ability to work with people of different backgrounds and apply technical knowledge. A qualitative data analysis of interviews with students, alumni, teachers and employers revealed the demand for more balanced qualified curricula for higher education institutions in the field of engineering. This includes the promotion of collaborative learning spaces, authentic learning experiences based on engaging students in real situations, project-based learning, industrial visits, guest lectures and problem-solving methodologies that are perceived by these stakeholders as essential in the construction of a curriculum, in line with the specific technical competences of each area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education: Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Understanding)
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17 pages, 2406 KiB  
Article
The Use of Educational Process Mining on Dropout and Graduation Data in the Curricula (Re-)Design of Universities
by Alexander Karl Ferdinand Loder
Trends High. Educ. 2024, 3(1), 50-66; https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu3010004 - 17 Jan 2024
Viewed by 583
Abstract
High college dropout rates are not a desired outcome for university management. Efforts have been made to increase student retention via understanding dropouts and building support mechanisms. With the emergence of Big Data, educational process mining came into existence, allowing for new methods [...] Read more.
High college dropout rates are not a desired outcome for university management. Efforts have been made to increase student retention via understanding dropouts and building support mechanisms. With the emergence of Big Data, educational process mining came into existence, allowing for new methods of structuring and visualizing data. Previous studies have established an approach to generate process maps from the course sequences students take. This study improves this method by focusing on visualizing students’ pathways through a study program dependent on their status as a “dropout” or “graduate” and on the level of every degree program. An interactive framework in a web application dedicated to curriculum designers was created. The data of 53,839 students in 78,495 studies at the University of Graz (Austria) between 2012/13 and 2022/23 were used for process mining. The generated process maps provide information on the exam sequence of students. They have been implemented in discussion forums with stakeholder groups and are part of the curriculum (re)design processes. The maps provide the benefit of being able to compare and monitor successful and non-successful students’ maps using real-time data. Despite their use for curriculum development, they are limited in their size and the number of exams that can be displayed, making them a good fit for early dropout evaluation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education: Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Understanding)
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15 pages, 2045 KiB  
Article
Assessing Service Quality Using SERVQUAL Model: An Empirical Study on Some Private Universities in Bangladesh
by Umma Salma Hoque, Nazmoon Akhter, Nurul Absar, Mayeen Uddin Khandaker and Abdullah Al-Mamun
Trends High. Educ. 2023, 2(1), 255-269; https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu2010013 - 13 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 7641
Abstract
The increased competitive academic environment pushes higher institutions to improve their service quality for meeting the market demands. It is thus necessary to assess the factors that satisfy students and make them loyal to the university. This study has focused on assessing service [...] Read more.
The increased competitive academic environment pushes higher institutions to improve their service quality for meeting the market demands. It is thus necessary to assess the factors that satisfy students and make them loyal to the university. This study has focused on assessing service quality, using the SERVQUAL Model to measure students’ satisfaction with private universities in Bangladesh. In the study, the primary data collection method through a questionnaire with the 5-point Likert scale was adopted to collect data from 229 students who are currently studying in different private universities in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Structural equation modeling (SEM) has been performed to analyze the data through the AMOS 22 statistical package. The findings report that a comfortable lecture room under the tangible dimension, providing service on time under the reliability dimension, the capacity of administrative staff to solve immediate problems under the responsiveness dimension, proficient lecturers for teaching and research under the assurance dimension, and focus of university management on students under the empathy dimension have a great influence on student satisfaction. The study concludes that managers and authorities of private universities must focus on ensuring better service quality as student satisfaction largely affects the sustainability and recurrence development of the institutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education: Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Understanding)
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