First of all, may we welcome the new members who have joined our Network 22 list.
ECER 2006 Conference in Geneva
As in previous years, Network 22 had a full and varied programme prepared for ECER of approximately 100 papers. These included:
Two Roundtables:
- ‘The Bologna Process - in Process’, and ‘The Scholarship of Teaching in the University of Granada’
and a Symposium:
- ‘Motivations, Identity Threat and Achievement in Educational Settings: Social Psychological Perspectives’.
The paper presentations (and 3 posters) covered the following themes:
- Managed learning environments and E-learning
- Learning contexts and knowledge production
- Work-based learning & learning in professional contexts
- Transition from Higher Education to working life
- Lifelong learning, widening participation and knowledge creation
- Higher Education reform: moving into inter-disciplinarity
- Higher Education and the wider society: developing critique and citizenship
- The relationship between societies in transition and Higher Education systems - Developing quality – in teaching and knowledge innovation
- New challenges and transformations in Higher Education
- International co-operation
- Innovation in Higher Education curricula
- Pedagogical forms influencing curricular outcomes
- Developing shared understanding of curricula - Crossing borders: widening participation
- Students as learners
- Student retention and motivation
- Graduate employability
- The influence of Higher Education environments on students study strategies
- Postgraduate teaching & learning
- Developing academic practice
- Academics as teachers: conceptions of teaching and learning
- Academics as teachers: developing quality
- Academic development: changing careers, identities and roles
It can be seen that there is much change and innovation taking place in higher education, and that universities in all European countries
(and beyond) are facing difficult but similar challenges as the landscape of higher education increasingly expands and transforms.
The presentations were mainly focused on identifying, researching and reporting on these changes, thus raising many issues that we have to seriously consider for the future and generating much discussion both during the conference sessions and the social events.
Impact of the Bologna Declaration and the Lisbon Agreement was in evidence in a number of the papers and presentations.
For those colleagues who did not attend ECER this year but are interested in seeing the full programme, it is still available on the EERA website <link http: www.eera.ac.uk>www.eera.ac.uk
Network 22 Meetings
There were two Network 22 meetings in our programme schedule.
Our first meeting took place on Thursday 14th between 12.45 - 13.15, and approximately 50 people attended.
A smaller (but longer) meeting took place on Saturday morning from 9.30 – 11.30.
The following items were discussed
- In order to reduce the amount of separate paper presentations and parallel sessions – as the large number of separate papers is in danger of fragmenting the programme and the group - we discussed if people would be interested in arranging Round Tables and/or Symposia. Members considered this a good idea.
Action: Convenors could be contacted via e-mail before February (as soon as possible in fact) with people’s ideas about what they plan to present at the next Conference. This way, we can bring people with similar themes together beforehand and Symposia and Roundtables can organised. In addition, we can plan early on joint Network symposia for the Conference. - Jani Ursin presented the Network 22 website <link http: ktl.jyu.fi ktl eeranetwork22.>ktl.jyu.fi/ktl/eeranetwork22. This website has grown in function over the last year, and offers useful information on HE events globally. A number of national agencies are beginning to use the website, for example, to advertise conferences, other networks, job advertisements and books.
- A suggestion was made that that network members additionally contribute to the Network website with links to their national agencies and associations for Higher Education.
- Martin Lawn, the editor of EERJ, has initiated a discussion about publishing papers from Network 22 in an EERJ issue. At the meeting this generated a discussion about interesting emergent themes, such as Bologna and the transition between education and work life.
- Following the previous topic we discussed different ways of further initiating collaborative projects, books, etc. via the web page and via the e-mail list. We felt encouraged to take initiatives and to look for funding sources so that groups also can meet.
The network e-mail address is <link>eeranetwork22@lists.jyu.fi
Since the Meeting we have already received two e-mails outlining two people’s research and writing interests. They are included further on under the section on ‘future research and planning’ and have also been placed on the website. - There was a proposal from Mari Karm (Estonia) for some kind of mid-term/year meeting. A number of people expressed an interest.
Palmira Juvcevicene, (Lithuania) as part of the UNIQUAL Conference Steering Committee suggested that we combine a mid-term meeting with the UNIQUAL Conference.
Action: Barbara to discuss this possibility further with Palmira and come back to the Network with ideas. The results of our conversation are reported below under the UNIQUAL heading. - It was suggested by Tom Maxwell (Australia) that at the next ECER Conference the Network 22 Dinner takes place the during the first evening of the Conference. This would be a very nice beginning to our network programme.
Action: the Convenors to contact Ghent University before the Conference in order to find a suitable venue and members to let us know if they would like to participate. (Nearer the time of course).
In response to this item when it was sent out as a Network 22 Newsletter we have already had an offer of help on this suggestion. - ECER 2007. This will be held in at the University of Ghent in Belgium.
The dates are: Monday 17th & Tuesday 18th September (Pre-Conference) and Wednesday 19th – Friday 21st (Main Conference).
The conference theme will be “Contested Qualities of Educational Research”.
Other Conferences that Network 22 works with
- International Conference - The Transformation of Higher Education: International Influences’ (20 - 22 November 2006) is taking place at the Université du Littoral Cote d'Opale (ULCO), Boulogne-sur-Mer, France Laboratoire LCEM/MUSE (JE 2373).
A number of our Network members will be presenting at this Conference. Please contact Imelda Elliott (<link>ImeldaElliott@aol.com) for more information about the Conference or look at <link http: www.univ-littoral.fr muselcem>www.univ-littoral.fr/muselcem - UNIQUAL - International Conference on Universities’ Quality Development.
This is an annual international conference that moves between three collaborating universities in Lithuania, Norway and China (University of Xiamen).
Network 22 has been involved in this Conference since it began in 2003. This year, the conference is being held in October in China, and next year it will be held in October in Lithuania.
In 2008 however it has been suggested that the Conference – which is due to be held in Norway - could take place in late spring instead and that it is combined with a mid-year EERA Network 22 Conference. If this worked well, this pattern could then be repeated in China in 2009. This idea is being discussed at the next UNIQUAL Steering Committee meeting in Xiamen next week.
Action Point: May we please ask that Network members respond to this idea. It would only make sense to go ahead if there were a reasonable number of people who expressed an interest in participating in such a conference.
And finally, future research ideas and planning
Network members have already offered a list of research interests and planning, which we have listed below. The original lists with the names of the people who submitted them are posted on the Network website.
They would welcome contact and collaboration.
- Bologna: Reflections on the Bologna Process, EQF, Dublin descriptors
- The Tuning Project (Bologna)
- Degree Programme Leaders as Pedagogical Leaders implementing the Bologna Process
- Curriculum development processes in higher education
- Undergraduate curricula
- The impact of professional Master-programmes in Finland
- Challenges of Leadership in Higher Education Institutions
- Transforming teaching: challenges of the three tasks of professional higher education in Finland
- Teacher Collaboration: team teaching in practice
- Tutoring and guidance of adult learners in higher education
- Developing assessment methods in higher education
- Learning environments in (professional) higher education
- Ethical dimensions in professional higher education
- Regional development: impact of HEI (and VET) in the learning regions
- Generic and professional competencies in professional higher education
- HE expertise in the future - Student orientation in professional higher education
Barbara Zamorski – Network Convenor <link>b.zamorski@uea.ac.uk
Elinor Edvardsson Stiwne – Network Co-Convenor <link>elied@ibv.liu.se
Jani Ursin – Network Co-Convenor <link>jani.ursin@ktl.jyu.fi
For information on the EERA Network 22 'Research in Higher Education', please visit: <link http: ktl.jyu.fi ktl eeranetwork22>ktl.jyu.fi/ktl/eeranetwork22
Please note: The content of this report was originally sent out to Network 22 members as a Post- Conference Network Newsletter. It has been adapted slightly for this report.