ASSESSMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICE QUALITY: INTEGRATION OF SERVQUAL MODEL AND AHP METHOD

Author(s): Radenko Milojević,Marija Radosavljević / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

In order to sustain or improve a position, higher education institutions have to realize that service quality is a critical condition for survival and growth in the education market. Therefore, the purpose of the research presented in this paper is to emphasize quality as a source of competitive advantage of higher education institutions, as well as to identify opportunities for improving service quality. The main objective of the research is to evaluate whether service quality determines students’ satisfaction. The data provided by empirical research, conducted at universities in Serbia, have been subject to model that is usually used for service quality assessment and evaluation (SERVQUAL model). This model is valuable, but certainly not sufficient for creating an improvement map. Therefore, for identification of improvement priorities, in addition to SERVQUAL model, AHP method, pared t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis have been used. The results of the analysis indicate a gap between service quality that students expect and perceive. In addition, based on quantitative analysis, priorities for improvement of service quality are identified.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND BALKAN COUNTRIES’ COMPETITIVENESS

Author(s): Tanja Stanišić,Miljan Leković,Lazar Stošić / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

The main purpose of the research is to determine the link between the quality of higher education and the competitiveness level of the Balkan countries. In addition, the goal is to identify critical factors in the field of higher education that require improvement. The methods used in the paper are comparative analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, cluster analysis and benchmarking analysis. The results of the research point to the fact that there is no high positive correlation between the quality of higher education and the competitiveness level of the Balkan countries. However, it is noticed that the Balkan countries record better results when it comes to higher education than the level of competitiveness. Apart from the necessity of improving certain domains of higher education, the priority of the education policy and development policy makers in the Balkan countries should be the utilization of the results achieved in education in the function of improving competitiveness.

AESTHETIC COGNITION IN ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION: A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO DEVELOP LEARNING PROCESS IN DESIGN STUDIOS

Author(s): Rokhsaneh Rahbarianyazd,Hourakhsh Ahmad Nia / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

Aesthetics and the design studio have been widely regarded as germane to architecture education and architectural design education respectively. Despite this obvious importance and relationship, very scant studies have been done on how aesthetics as a concept, has been thought in architectural schools especially with regard to the pedagogue of acquiring aesthetic knowledge as perceived by instructors and students in the Design Studio. Moreover, despite its centrality in architectural studies, there is a current gap in literature pertaining to aesthetics and the steps to teaching it in architectural design studios. This paper presents a discussion on the aesthetics and the process of teaching it in design studio using a qualitative grounded theory approach. In view of the paucity of work on the teaching pedagogue in architectural design studios, this study aim at shedding light on how students and studio instructors perceive the extant state of the methods of teaching aesthetics and identify the aesthetics of architecture. In this regard, the study by hypothesizing the design studios as the core contributor in architectural design developed the contributing elements in aesthetic education of architecture.

DIDACTIC TRENDS AND PERCEIVED TEACHERS’ TRAINING NEEDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY

Author(s): Adolfo Bautista Cremadez,Marisol E. Cipagauta / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

Today’s world requires people who manage their learning and professional updating processes, which claims for a change in educational practices in all levels of education. However, in Higher Education, this transformation relies mostly on teacher’s efforts to innovate within the learning environments, requiring institutional efforts to generate strategies towards educational innovation. This paper presents the analysis of didactic trends and training needs of teachers at UNIMINUTO Colombia, based on the data gathered at the Annual Meetings for Innovative Pedagogical Practices and an additional survey applied on-line, to determine teachers’ training needs and, furthermore, institutional strategies to strengthen the teaching-learning process. The study uses a mixed methodology through a concurrent triangulation design with qualitative and quantitative methods, with an exploratory scope; both quantitative and qualitative parts of the study counted on a voluntary sampling method. Trend analysis shows that the most used didactic methods are Project-Based learning, Research-Based Learning, and Collaborative Learning. However, the analysis of teachers’ appropriation of knowledge about didactics, especially on those strategies, is low or basic, which compared to the training needs expressed by teachers demonstrate that training processes in educational innovation and new teaching methods is crucial to help educational innovation initiatives to evolve. The study stablishes a trend towards the use active-learning methodologies in pedagogical practices, highlighting the necessity of teachers’ training in how and when to use them, and setting the importance of including communication skills as a topic in teachers’ training programs.

CONTOPIREA DINTRE CULTURĂ ȘI LOC ÎN PROCESUL DE FORMARE A DISCURSULUI EXPOZIȚIONAL

Author(s): Adrian Ioniţă,Isabela Bogdan Astrid / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2019

Through this paper we aim, stricto sensu, to evaluate the relationship between the concepts of place and culture and what they entail, in order to provide a point of connection with the museum environment. Lato sensu, we will achieve this also through an applicability of the aspects that are related to sensoriality and symbolization, both in a framework dominated by the economic aspect, dynamic of change according to the infinite variables that are born, and because of climate change and the accentuation of some extreme phenomena (the devastating effect of natural hazards). Basically, these changes are in close connection with the notion of place and culture, because, as will be elaborated during the study, they determine a way to situate ourselves, to relate to the context in a constructive way.

CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Author(s): Dalia SUSNIENĖ,Gediminas SARGŪNAS,Laszlo T. Koczy / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Nowadays higher education and its institutions get lots of attention experience considerable pressure for improvement of their performance. The situation is not so simple as it may look from the first glance, as there are various and different efforts to achieve quality and the lack of agreed model for quality assurance system does not help to find a good solution. The aim of this paper is to present a general view and a brief literature review of the main aspects related to quality assurance in higher education and present a common framework for quality assurance at higher education institution. The introduce conceptual quality assurance model in this research can be a good starting point to address the service, education and implementation aspects synergistically.

Study Regarding the High Schoolers' Perception of the Physical Education Teacher's Personality

Author(s): Tatiana Dobrescu / Language(s): English Issue: 4 Sup1/2019

To find out what are the personality traits of the physical education teacher, evaluated through the perception of teenage pupils, constitutes the starting point of a sociological intervention conducted in high school. The paper stems from the author's loyalty toward the profession of physical education teacher, trying to support the identification of certain personality traits that are different through its instructional content and organizational framework from other teaching professions. The paper starts from the belief that the instructional process that is specific to this field, influenced by the people contributing to the formation of specific attitudes and character traits, can lead to valuable influences in modeling the personality of physical education teachers. The research consisted in applying a 12-item questionnaire with closed and open answers, organized at the ”Eremia Grigorescu” Technological High School of Mărăşeşti, county of Vrancea, on two eleventh grade groups of pupils, which totaled a number of 50 subjects. The perceptions of the subjects regarding the various topics were evaluated by grouping the items into 5 categories, according to their importance given by each subject. The data has permitted the assessment of the subjects' opinions on categories of assertions, measured on a scale of 1 to 5 for each question. The items proposed in the questionnaire envisaged the character, behavioral, attitudinal traits as components of the personality of physical education teachers manifested during the high school educational process. The results of this sociological intervention show that in the investigated subjects’ opinion, the physical education teacher’s personality is perceived as a model and an example for life.

A Meaningful Academic Life: Improvised, Amusing, Unsettling

Author(s): Arthur P. Bochner / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

In this essay, originally presented to an audience of colleagues, students, and university faculty, I briefly review the meanings I ascribe to my experience of nearly half a century as a university faculty member. I emphasize the improvisational quality of professorial life, the amusing characters I was able to observe and with whom I often worked, and several unsettling and agitating dimensions of university life that I experienced along the way. Inspired by the challenge of educating the whole person, mind and heart, and passionate about the moral, emotional, and literary urgency of the human sciences, I plan to continue to focus on self-clarifying, evocative, and potentially transforming stories.

Perception of Teachers in Higher Education towards Ethical Issues of Information Technology Use

Author(s): Ioana Boghian,Liliana Mâţă / Language(s): English Issue: 4 Sup1/2019

Our paper presents the results of a type of qualitative research meant to identify the perspective of teachers in higher education on the ethical issues related to information technology use. The research is based on the analysis of the data content obtained by applying a semi-structured interview to 31 teachers working in higher education institutions in Romania. The data processing and interpretation allowed the identification and definition of the general and specific thematic categories related to the perception of teachers in higher education on the ethical aspects of information technology use. The research results are analyzed from the perspective of the following thematic directions: ethical problems of the use of information technology by teachers in teaching-learning-evaluation activities, ethical problems of the exploitation of technological resources in carrying out research activities, problematic aspects of the ethical use of technological tools in online communication, teacher training in higher education in the field of ethical use of IT, introduction of these topics in academic courses, existence of rules at the university level for teacher ethical use of IT.

Diagnostics of Leadership Qualities of Specialists of "Man–Man" Type of Professions in Military and Civil Higher Education Institutions: Psychological and Pedagogical Approach

Author(s): Olga Soroka,Svitlana Kalaur,Andrii Balendr / Language(s): English Issue: 4 Sup1/2019

The article deals with the actual practical aspects of the problem of leadership qualities of future specialists of "man–man" type in military and civilian institutions of higher education. The aim of the research is to present the results of empirical research on the comparative diagnosis of the formation of leadership qualities of future specialists in the social sphere (psychologists, social employees) and cadets (military lawyers, psychologists). According to the results of scientific works, it has been determined that leadership qualities are a set of qualities that reflect the attitude to other people and society as a whole, allow oneself to influence other people, contribute to the creation of a positive atmosphere in the group, the team, is displayed in a stable, active, responsible behavior in order to achieve one's own and collective goals. Leadership qualities include commitment, determination, confidence, responsibility, activity, efficiency, success, influence, endurance.Diagnostics of formation of leadership qualities has been carried out by means of survey and a psychodiagnostic technique of the leadership abilities diagnostics by E. Zharikov, E. Krushelnytsky. The diagnostic results showed the predominance of students and cadets of the average level of leadership qualities formation.

Politeness Strategies in Higher Education: A Student Approach to the Sense of Humour

Author(s): Alina Turculeţ / Language(s): English Issue: 4 Sup1/2019

The issue of pragmatic politeness has a growing impact in all sustainable communities. The positive politeness strategies enhance the community spirit due to their benefits regarding the close relationships among its members. The marks of positive politeness are some specific communicative behaviours identified at verbal interactional level. One of these stands in ludic or playful behaviour that might be expressed as humour. The playful attitude towards the message fulfils functions that overlaps the communication situation, showing the transmitter's care, the empathetic attitude towards the receiver's problems and needs. In this manner, reducing the distance between interlocutors outlines the group identity. On the other hand, the humour represents in educational field a mean to strengthen the referential power of teachers. Therefore, our research interest to investigate the students’ perception about the values and attitudes related to the sense of humour identified in their teachers’ behaviour becomes legitimate. The questionnaire-based inquiry was developed in the first semester of the academic year 2019-2020, among the students from Transilvania University enrolled in senior years of Bachelor degree. Our results are in line with some findings of a previous research regarding the communicative styles of primary school teachers. The playful behaviour differentiate the profiles of effective teachers. The specific of educational relationships has its own background in higher education. The students’ perception about their professors’ sense of humour confirm that sense of humour is seen like an artifice to reduce the distance and increase the effectiveness.

Can Online Collaborative Work Offer a Solution to the Over Crowded Classes in Egyptian Universities?

Author(s): Nashwa Ismail,Gary Kinchin / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

This study investigates tutors’ perception towards students’ group work when they learn online as a proposed solution for overcrowded classes. The study context is theEgyptian Higher Education (HE) system and the research participants were 20 HE tutors who either teach in a blended learning environment or virtual classroom. This research adopted a phenomenological qualitative approach and data were collected through focus groups and one-to-one interviews. The study concluded that online collaborative learning offers opportunities for studying outside the standard brick-andmortar classroom and potentially overcoming the problem of overcrowded classes. Although such option has certain advantages, it also presents its own challenges. Tutors acknowledged the benefits of online collaborative learning; however, the tutors also raised some cultural and pedagogical concerns they deemed as hindrances to the learning effectiveness as a whole. Recommendations concerning the effective implementation of online collaborative learning are given.

Student’s Perception of Teachers’ Knowledge, Attitude and Skills in the Teaching of Technical Drawing in Edo and Delta States, Nigeria

Author(s): Patrick Oyaimare Uddin,Raymond Uwameiye,Samuel Chukwuemeka Nwachokor / Language(s): English Issue: 05/2019

This paper focuses on students’ perception of teachers’ knowledge, attitude and skills in the teaching of technical drawing in Edo and Delta States of Nigeria. The empirical results are based on a quantitative survey of 300 students who were asked to evaluate their technical drawing teachers. The findings show that technical drawing students perceived their technical drawing teachers to have some negative attitudes because they disliked some of their students (2.18±1.17), rarely show concern when students have problems of poor understanding of some technical concepts (1.27±1.13) and always waited for students to remind them of their teaching periods (2.30±1.15). Some of the positive attitudes attributed to their teachers were; they always encourage good laboratory habits among technical drawing students (3.39±0.93) and encouraged parents to equip their children with the required materials they need for effective learning of technical drawing (3.34±0.91). Further, students perceived their teachers effective in preparing and organizing lesson notes adequately (3.27±0.93) as such applied facts and principles to problem-solving (3.31±0.86). The findings support the conclusion that there are aspects of teachers’ knowledge, attitude and skills in teaching technical drawing that is less than excellent and in need of further enhancement.

Erasmus mobilities and European identity- an exploratory incursion

Author(s): Cristina Cojocaru / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The Erasmus programme - EU`s flagship student exchange programme – has drawn more and more scholarly attention in the last decades, proportionally with its expansion. In this context, the link between an Erasmus experience abroad and European identity has also been explored by a series of studies. This paper aims to“zoom in” on this matter through a review of the literature that deals with this topic,touching also upon some of the relevant theories and policy documents for the study of this subject matter. To begin with, it will provide some clarifications about the concept(s) of (European) identity, putting them in the context of the Erasmus programme. Further on, it will engage in a mapping exercise of the some of the various approaches that have been taken, the case studies and the research methodologies that have been used or the results that have been observed in the dominant literature on this subject.

Diagnosing the Negative Psycho-Emotional States among Students

Author(s): Olena Vasylenko,Taisiia Komar,Svitlana Pilishek,Olesia Posvistak,Yevhen Potapchuk / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The article deals with the problem of diagnostics of negative psycho-emotional states among students. The research done demonstrates that during the period of study at higher educational establishment students often experience states of stress, depression, apathy, fear, asthenia, rigidity, anxiety, aggression, frustration, etc. Such states are predetermined by the fact that new conditions of student’s life lead to defensive reactions to various kinds of threats: threat to positive outcome of an important activity, threat to life, threat to well-being, threat to prestige. Negative psycho-emotional states affect various spheres of young people’s lives and lead to a deterioration of their wellness, health condition as well as to the rise of psychosomatic and psychoneurological diseases. In order to get a better understanding of peculiarities of development and expression of negative psycho-emotional states the diagnostic research of all students at Khmelnytskyi National University whose major is Psychology has been done. The findings demonstrate that starting the first days of study at university the students undergo the effects of various negative psycho-emotional states such as: depressed mood, sadness, anxiety, concern, decreased intellectual productivity, unreasonable malaise, intermittent sleep, decreased working ability. However, while studying at university, they learn gradually to overcome and control their negative emotions and experiences. The findings also demonstrate that not all students, even in their final year of study, succeed in it. Therefore, the need to apply methods and means of psychoprophylaxis of negative psycho-emotional states among students has been developed and substantiated.

The Necessity of Change and Development of the Higher Education Institution in the Age of Globalisation

Author(s): Liliana Budevici-Puiu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The age of globalisation impose a series of transformations that higher education institutions must to run through in order to withstand the market of knowledge and educational services supply. Thus, higher education institutions, like all open systems, are permanently submitted to constant pressure to change and development. In the content of the article we intend to map out a model of the dimension of change in the higher education institution, focused on the intervention for organizational development. Organizational development means change, plus constructive growth on basis of the sustained efforts of professional teams through normative, re-educational strategies, for modifying the institutional “philosophy”, values, systems, behaviours and last but not least the vision to improve the organizational force, to develop learning processes and problem solving, through management support. The phenomenon of globalisation has brought about changes in the world economic structures, which generated the increasing of the importance of the internationalization strategy of higher education, of ensuring the quality of the study process, of the performing human resources that have high qualifications competences for the competitiveness of the national systems. Throughout the course of the work we will evoke some essential elements from which the institutional change can start, either from a mood of the management or the employees who feel the need for renewal, or from an inefficiency of the control at the organizational level, or due to a failure of the innovation and receptivity to new ideas that appear. Also, in our scientific approach, we will focus on over some contemporary methods and techniques that can be approached to produce change and organizational development. The model of change and development of the higher education institution in the age of globalisation that we will finally propose, may serve as a benchmark for similar entities to raise greater awareness among the employees on the need to accept these stringent processes.

ERIALAST ARUSAAMINE KOGEMUSÕPPE KAUDU ÕPINGUTELE EELNEVAL KURSUSEL

Author(s): Katri Kütt,Juhan Aus / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 10/2019

At the Estonian National Defence College (ENDC), junior officers begin their studies with an introductory course. The aim of this extracurricular course for first year students is to harmonise the basic tactical skills that are necessary to proceed with their studies. The average dropout rate in the first year is around 30%, with “wrong profession” being cited as the main reason. It seems to indicate that the introductory course has not served its aim as the focus has been on low level tactical skills and the learning process teacher-centred with a “foggy” methodological background. In 2017/2018, the ENDC organised a pilot course where the focus was on the student- centred approach, an experimental learning cycle, handing over responsibility for learning to students and integrating subjects. The aim of the course was to give first year students a deeper understanding of the tasks and the role of an officer and to even out their basic tactical skills. The modified introductory course comprised three modules, each focusing on a different theme: introduction, teaching and battle drills. In Module 1, the cadets worked on administrative documents and participated in a seminar on leadership to prepare them for upcoming tasks. Module 2 focused on teaching skills and cadets were tasked with training each other in weapon skills and battle drills. Module 3 focused on combat activities (platoon attack, defence etc.), with second year cadets acting as coaches for the first year cadet-leaders during the planning and execution phases and also being responsible for holding after action reviews. After completing the introductory course, the first year cadets (and all the instructors involved) were asked to give feedback in the form of open questions. 70% of the first year cadets (N = 43) gave positive feedback about the course, mainly highlighting independent teaching and leadership experience. Another consistent theme throughout the cadets´ answers was about the feedback they received with regard to their own performance and the opportunity to reflect on those situations with older cadets. On a more critical note, the students indicated feeling that their teaching and leadership skills were not good enough to take on that kind of responsibility and that they were not particularly satisfied with the result. All things considered, the course provided a good overview of what their future jobs might entail. In addition, the second year cadets (N = 35) were asked to reflect on their experience as coaches and observers. Most of their responses focused on their own development as coaches, giving feedback and conducting after action reviews. They were also impressed by the cadets’ gradual improvement in the course of just one week and seeing how reflection actually worked. The feedback from teachers and the planning team (N = 7) concluded that the aim of harmonising cadets’ tactical skills had not been achieved. Based on the feedback, it is possible to conclude that the course fulfilled the aim of providing the cadets with a deeper understanding of their future job and gave an indication of the current level of their teaching and leadership skills. However, the harmonisation of tactical skills was not as successful. The feedback from teachers also indicated that there is a need for better demonstrations during the cadets´ performances. In addition, cadets were reported to be more satisfied with being in charge of the situations (teaching and leading) and valued the experience highly.

Educating the Global Scholar: Toward a Globally Oriented Institution

Author(s): Steve O. Michael / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2013

What constitutes the curricular experience for the award of a baccalaureate degree has never been static and could not have been expected to be if higher education is to fulfill its role to a dynamic society. Since the creation of the modern university, the role of higher education has continued to expand, initially serving to prepare the clergy for the church, later to prepare statesmen, much later to prepare the general citizens for gainful employment. Although performed differently by different institutions, the mission of a modern university is basically a universal one: to generate knowledge, transmit knowledge, serve as the custodian of the stock of knowledge, and provide service to society. In other words, the role of a university is to create, critique, and transform civilizations.

The Erasmus Implications in the European Higher Education System

Author(s): Angela Caramerli / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2013

The purpose of this article is to present the policy pursued by the European Union for higher education, emphasizing the principles that underlie the Member States and the European institutions. At the same time, the article aims to analyze the Erasmus program, as an organization’s instrument which seeks to enhance the cooperation between states, and between universities. Therefore, the program should be analyzed taking into account both advantages and limitations. Finally, there is a need to observe the European Union‘s plans for the next period and how institutions wish to put them into practice.

Magyar nyelvű egyetemi oktatás az újvidéki jogi karon. Egy kísérlet 50 év távlatából

Author(s): Tibor Várady / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 03/2020