Brokers are individuals who facilitate transfer of knowledge and resources, and coordinate efforts across boundaries of organizations. They are defined by their role rather than their organizational position. Brokers might be imperative for the formation and maintenance of inter-institutional relationship as they have the responsibility and the…

This study explores the potential of a new perspective on research into the impact of higher education on students' civic engagement. We propose shifting from viewing engagement as the key dependent variable to two "fundamental constituents": political interest and agency. Both constituents have been presented as either static or…

Professional learning networks (PLN) in Higher Education represent new social configurations for networked workplaces in which education, research and innovation can be combined. Here academic staff engages with others outside of their everyday organisational community. This study identifies and conceptualizes essential behaviours that…

First-year learning communities (FLCs) are known to improve student integration during the first year at university. The FLC classroom social climate and its potential role in contributing to this positive effect of FLCs have not been studied. The current study wants to elucidate students' perceptions of the social climate within the Utrecht…

The aim of this paper is to investigate the organization of research in high-performing research groups in an age of increasing competition and pressure from outside and within higher-education institutions. To explore how researchers navigate such pressures and demands, the practice and perceptions of four high-performing research groups in…

This article looks at how membership of a community impacts learning for individuals. Community membership and learning have received much attention from scholars and practitioners alike (for example, in Wolfensberger, 2012; Inkelas, Jessup-Anger, Wawrzynski, & Benjamin, 2007; Wenger, 1998). Specifically, many studies have focused on learning…

This mixed-methods study examines the design and delivery of MOOCs to facilitate student self-monitoring for self-directed learning (SDL). The data collection methods included an online survey (n = 198), semi-structured interviews of MOOC instructors (n = 22), and document analysis of MOOCs (n = 22). This study found that MOOC instructors viewed…

Given the challenging transition from secondary school into higher education, this quasi-experimental study measured the effects of a pre-academic programme (i.e. before starting at university) on student-faculty interactions, student-peer interactions, sense of belonging, and first-year academic performance. Fifty-eight first-year students…

So far, few articles about innovations in Dutch or American honors programs appear to link their findings to an existing body of research about innovations in higher education in general. Although scholars are starting to make this connection more and more (see Kallenberg; NRO, "Excellentie" and "EXChange"; NWO,…

This article explores the perceptions of participants following the first International Summer Institute (SI) on students as partners in higher education, a four-day professional development experience designed to foster student-staff partnerships. Approximately 9 months after the Institute, 10 participants were interviewed to understand their…

The paper describes an approach to the sustainable introduction of IT in developing countries based on international collaboration between students taking the form of a knowledge bridge. The authors consider the challenges for introducing information technologies in developing countries; one of these is lack of reading materials ultimately leading…

While the time-honoured one-to-one supervisory model of higher research degree training has its advantages, recent research suggests that the model also has significant drawbacks, including its hierarchical nature. Nevertheless, this pedagogical model remains the default for higher research pedagogy. Using the discipline of music as a case study,…

Today, millions of students cross geographic, cultural, and educational borders for their higher education. Trends of international student mobility are significant to universities, educators, business leaders, and governments to increase revenue and campus diversity in the global marketplace. As such, it is vital to examine recent trends in…

Despite all intentions in the course of the Bologna Process and decades of investment into improving the social dimension, results in many national and international studies show that inequity remains stubbornly persistent, and that inequity based on socio-economic status, parental education, gender, country-of-origin, rural background and more…

Since 2006, the Netherlands has been actively engaged in a process of developing, piloting, and institutionalizing a new 2-year, short-cycle higher education degree, titled the "associate degree". This initiative evolved as a collaborative grassroots effort spearheaded by several Dutch national higher education and business organizations…