This paper discusses Finnish-Russian relations from the perspective of cooperation in higher education, and particularly Finnish-Russian double degree programmes prior to 2022. It asks how internal stakeholders, in double degree programmes perceived the role of their cooperation from the point of view of interstate relations, and how cooperation…

As higher education quality assurance in many countries in Europe has become a mature activity, some agencies carrying out external quality assurance are developing beyond their core tasks and missions. The current study identifies new tasks taken up within quality assurance agencies and analyses the drivers behind such development. Based on an…

In this article, we analyse reforms of academic quality assurance in light of organizational theory using the case example of Finnish higher education. Our purpose is to shed light on the processes behind repeated reforms and the motivation to continuously modify quality models that have only been in use for a relatively short period of time. In…

Even though quality assurance has played a role in European higher education for decades by now, it is still a topic of great discord. While several studies have focused on the initiation phase of quality assurance, little attention has been paid to the question on how attitudes towards quality assurance in higher education change over time. This…

Higher education is based on a disciplinary system and science-specific educational programmes, but multi/interdisciplinarity (MD/ID) knowledge, working methods and collaboration are becoming common in the workplace with complex tasks and digital work environments. This article will provide an insight into these issues by presenting a study of the…

During the current millennium, universities have faced a new kind of problem: there is not enough higher learning in higher education. Driving forces have mainly been economical, since financial pressure and effort for increasing efficiency have given rise to growing amount of accessed and graduated students. In addition, a pressure for…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is (1) to provide a critical analysis of the Finnish experience of education reforms based on published Chinese research on Finnish education and (2) to discuss how such experience can serve as a model as China embarks on its own path toward educational reform. Design/Approach/Methods: This article is based on…

To obtain a better understanding of country-specific policies, a country-specific literature review was undertaken. The search entailed key-terms focusing on relevance and the three higher education relevance dimensions. The main outcomes of the country-specific literature review are discussed in this chapter. We do so by analysing the typically…

Teachers' competence in launching and managing pedagogical change collaboratively is crucial for the continuous development of their work as well as for meaningful student learning. However, research on how teachers can thrive in their profession in the changing higher education environment is limited. This study investigated the experiences of…

This paper elaborates on the notion of object-oriented collaborative learning by building on empirical material from two case studies in higher education. Prior empirical findings show how knowledge objects are evolving entities, shaped by the interactions between participants, and how students learn from engaging in knowledge practice that…

In 2010, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture formulated Finland's first education export strategy. This policy document attributed Finnish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) a significant role in the emerging sector by declaring them as "engines" of education export. Situated in a phenomenological approach towards…

In the economic pressure of recent decades, many universities have invested in increasing the number of accessed and graduated students. However, this has led to another problem: there is not enough higher learning in higher education. According to generally accepted view, the problem lies in the eagerness of overplaying immediate skills in…

Some students perceive that online assessment does not provide for a true reflection of their work effort. This article reports on a collaborative international project between two higher education institutions with the aim of researching issues relating to engineering student perceptions with respect to online assessment of mathematics. It…

In this paper, we develop an information distortion model (IDM) of social class differences in self-beliefs and values. The IDM combines psychological biases on frame-of-reference effects with sociological foci on ability stratification. This combination is hypothesized to lead to working-class children having more positive math self-beliefs and…

This study investigates the educational attainment of an aging workforce from the perspective of educational credentialing. The research questions are defined as follows: Why are workers over age 50 attaining university degrees? How do they narratively construct the rational for pursuing well-recognized credentials in midlife? The specific focus…