View
0
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
Teaching, learning, and research in higher education
Faculty views on opportunities and challenges forinternationalization
Oana Maria Carciu (University of Zaragoza, Spain)Laura-Mihaela Muresan (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)
Supported by the “EDURES” Master Programme of the Bucharest University of Economic Studiesand Project FFI2015-68638-R MINECO/FEDER, EU Ecologies of genres and ecologies of languages: the dynamics of local, transnational and international scientific communication
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Outline
• Contextualisation of the study
• The case study: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies
• Methodology
• Findings: academics’ perceptions of internationalisation, enabling andhindering factors, key participants’ roles and responsibilities
• Concluding remarks
• Further research
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
The context of the study
• Research partnership: GLE project
University of Zaragoza Bucharest University of Economic Studies
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
different highereducation
institutions
values of internationalization
internationalizationpolicies, language
planning & language education
for academics
The context of the study
• Themes in research on internationalization from 1980 to 2014 (Yemini & Sagie, 2016)
• European Higher Education Area (EHEA)• teaching, learning, and research priorities in education policy (Sin, 2015) →
success of reforms
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
English as a lingua
franca 12.05%
multicultural
issues 11.86%
ICT/online learning
9.95%
lifelong/adult
learning 7.68%
student mobility
11.84%
competition 9.78%internationalization
policies 9.69%
internationalization
abroad 9.77%
quality assurance
8.17%
internationalization
at home 9.14%
The case: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Research questions
Q1: What are the academics’ perceptions of internationalization?
Q2: What enabling factors? And hindering factors?
Q3: Faculty - key actors or agents?
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Methodology
Qualitative single-case study
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
CASE
semi-structured interviews
What is an international campus?
Data
collection &
triangulation
(dependability)Unit of
analysis
English-medium teaching
programmes
institutional strategic plan
The Bucharest
University of
Economic Studies
opportunistic
convenience
sampling
“thick
description”
(Duff, 2008)
triangulation of themes between
study authors
10 participants
recorded & transcribed interviews
Methodology
ATLAS.ti 8.2.0
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Findings
Q1: What are the academics’ perceptions of internationalization?
• teacher & student mobility
• research stays (documentation visits & exchange of best practice)
• participation in joint research projects
• dual degree programmes
• SWOT: internationalization activities aimed at the whole studentbody, not only those who are mobile (Beelen & Jones, 2015: 12)
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Findings
Factors influencing internationalization - the academics' view
• Teaching and learning dimension• a rise in English-medium instruction programmes
• multilingual pedagogy, not English only
BUT
• reserved perception of faculty with reference to the need for internationalization of the curricula
• lack of linguistic and academic study skills competences of incoming students → low standards
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
FindingsFactors influencing internationalization
• Mobility of staff• individual-level initiated partnerships
• capitalized on both for the teaching and research
BUT
• decentralised and incoherent recruiting of students and international faculty, no clear direction
• ensuring funding, tedious administrative procedures
• oganisational mechanisms to structure the involvement of facultyand administrators throughout the institution are critical to thedevelopment of internationalization (Childress, 2009)
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Findings
Factors influencing internationalization
• Faculty professional development• the only university in Romania that organizes a masters programme for the
development of teaching and research skills in English (EDURES)
BUT
• need for continuous professional development: short-term workshops toimprove skill in research methods & writing scientific articles in English
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Findings
Factors influencing internationalization
• Research dimension• international partnerships
• research centres
BUT
• funding
• ensuring access to specialized literature
• international visibility of published research
• integration of research centres into international networks
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Findings
Q3: Faculty - key actors or agents?
• Faculty
• “key participants” (Dewey & Duff, 2009)
• “have authority over the focus of their curricula, research, and service, thedevelopment of a critical mass of faculty supporters throughout an institutionenables an international dimension to be infused into an institution’s ethos and activities” (Childress, 2009: 16)
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Findings
Q3: Faculty - key actors or agents?
• Faculty• the process of internationalization is bottom-up, stimulated by the
involvement of faculty in internationalization activities
• their main contribution as agents is developing interdisciplinary collaboration
• critical question for internationalization: a strategic plan is necessary not onlyto sustain and encourage them, but also help faculty understand HOW theycan participate as key actors
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Conclusions
• participants acknowledge the importance of the institution’sinternationalisation activity
• the respondents view this activity as closely related to student activities and staffing practices
• the teaching and research activity of the academic staff is perceived as a relevant vehicle for internationalization
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Further research
• replication: various cultures and education systems
• follow-up after the adoption of the internationalization strategic plan
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
References
Childress, L. (2009). “Internationalization plans for higher education institutions”. Journal of Studies inInternational Education 13(3): 289-309.Bardi M. & L.-M. Muresan (2014). “Changing research writing practices in Romania: Perceptions andattitudes” in K. Bennett (ed.), The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137351197_8Duff, P. (2008). Case study research in applied linguistics. New York and London: Routledge.Muresan, L.-M. & C. Pérez-Llantada (2014). “English for research publication and dissemination in bi-/multiliterate environments: The case of Romanian academics”. Journal of English for AcademicPurposes 13: 53-64. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2013.10.009Sin, C. (2015). “Teaching and learning: A journey from the margins to the core in European highereducation policy” in A. Curaj, L. Matei, R. Pricopie, J. Salmi & P. Scott, (eds.), The European HigherEducation Area, 325-341. Springer.Yemini, M. & N. Sagie (2016). “Research on internationalization in higher education – exploratoryanalysis”. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603108.2015.1062057
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
Acknowledgements
We thank the academics at The Bucharest University of Economic Studies fortheir interest and willingness to take part in this study.
O.M. Carciu thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness andthe European Social Fund for their financial support to the project Ecologies ofgenres and ecologies of languages: the dynamics of local, transnational andinternational scientific communication (project code FFI2015-68638-RMINECO/FEDER, EU). genresandlanguages.org
AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April
http://www.edures.ase.ro/
Recommended