M.Ed. / Despite the substantial body of Educational Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research there is very little evidence that the theoretical frameworks that underpin research studies have been considered, or applied optimally. The central argument of this dissertation is that theoretical frameworks serve as epistemological guides that account for the knowledge that is produced in a study. The purpose of this inquiry is to explore how theoretical frameworks are evident in selected masters dissertations and doctoral theses at selected South African universities. A blended theoretical framework, situated in interpretivist theory, with an element of critical theory and positivist theory frames this study. A review of components of research dissertations required both quantified and qualitative data. A mixed methods approach was used to conduct a methodological inventory - cum survey review of 103 texts. A research template was devised in order to record and analyse the data that would be isolated in a reading of the texts, with specific reference to the sections of texts that showed the use of terms related to theoretical frameworks. The findings reveal that studies that were theoretically developed yielded data that could be interpreted in more depth, while a substantial majority of authors that employed their theoretical frameworks in a very limited way, presented findings that were no more than descriptive in nature. I conclude that the reason for the theoretically impoverished studies is possibly, more broadly speaking, located in the wider South African socio-economic, political and localised context. South African Higher Education Institutions face pressures of having to produce masters and doctoral studies in order to secure funding, while supervisors face pressures of having to publish to secure promotion and employability. In the process, students are not given enough opportunity for theoretical emancipation.

This study describes what higher education institutions (HEIs) that are known for their research excellence are doing to implement current student and teaching oriented higher education (HE) policies in England and Wales. Pressures to reach increasingly higher levels of excellence in both teaching and research challenge existing structures and mechanisms in these researchintensive universities (RIUs). Options for overcoming challenges are discussed by bringing together perspectives of different stakeholders. This thesis is based on analysis of documentary and empirical data to gain insight into perspectives and experiences of stakeholders of the implementation of current HE policies in England and Wales. Documentary data consisting of publicly available material about HE policies has been analysed by an interpretive analysis of policy, and papers about research have been systematically reviewed. The contents of interviews with academics in four RIUs have been analysed in case studies. This study contributes to existing research on ‘professionalism’ (see, for example, Kolsaker, 2008), ‘effective teaching’ (see, for example, Hunter & Back, 2011), and ‘evaluating teaching quality’ (see, for example, Dornan, Tan, Boshuizen, Gick, Isba, Mann, Scherpbier, Spencer, Timmins, 2014). This study also complements The UK Higher Education Academy’s (HEA) research in this area including Gibbs’ report on quality (2010) as well as earlier work on reward and recognition (2009). Key findings give insight into a troublesome relationship between teaching and research activities, which is at the core of many of the challenges RIUs are facing. Findings showing academics strong interest in their students, teaching, and research highlight their engagement in the development of these key activities. These support recommendations for development processes in RIUs involving organisation wide engagement to build parity of esteem between research and teaching to achieve aims to reach their full potential in terms of excellence in HE.

While existing literature shows a considerable increase in the numbers of women in academia research on the experiences of women in universities has noted their continued occupation of lower status academic positions in relation to their male counterparts. As the ladder gets higher, the number of women seems to drop. These studies indicate the marginalization of women in academic settings, highlighting the various forms of subtle and overt discrimination and exclusion women face in academic work environments. In this study I ask how academic women in South Africa narrate their experience of being ‘outside in’ the teaching machine. It has been argued that intertwined sexist, patriarchal and phallocentric knowledges and practices in academic institutions produce various forms of discrimination, inequality, oppression and marginalization. Academic women report feeling invisible and retreating to the margins so as to avoid victimization and discrimination. Others have pointed to the tension between the ‘tenure clock’ and the ‘biological clock’ as a source of anxiety among academic women. Where a masculinised presentation of the self is adopted as a solution to this dilemma, the devaluation of the feminine in the academic space is confirmed. However, experiences of academic women are not identical. In the context of studies showing the importance of existing personal and social resources, prior experience and having mentors and role models in the negotiation of inequality and discrimination, I document the narratives of women academics who are the first in their families to graduate with a university degree. These first-generation academic women are therefore least likely to have access to social and cultural resources and prior experiences that can render the academic space more hospitable for the marginalised. Employing Spivak’s deconstruction of the concept of marginalisation as my primary interpretive lens, I explore the way in which, in their narratives, first-generation academic women negotiate marginality. These narratives depict a marginality that might be described, following Spivak, as ‘outside/in’, that is, as complex and involving moments of accommodation and resistance, losses and gains, pain and pride.

In order to arrive at informed judgments about the quality of research institutions and individual scholars, funding agencies, academic employers and researchers have turned to publication rankings. While such rankings, often based on journal citations, promise a more efficient and transparent funding allocation, individual researchers are at risk of showing adaptive behavior. This paper investigates whether the use of journal rankings in assessing the quality of scholarly research results in the unintended consequence of researchers adapting their research topics to the publishing interests of high-ranked journals. The introduction of the Handelsblatt Ranking (HBR) for economists in German language institutions serves as a quasi-natural experiment, allowing for an examination of research topic dynamics in economics via topic modeling and text classification. It is found that the Handelsblatt Ranking did not cause a significant shift of topics researched by German-affiliated authors in comparison to their international counterparts, even though topic convergence is apparent.

When her life starts falling apart, a journalist and writer heads for a small rural town. Here the strange and wonderful tales about a local woman ignite her curiosity. As the town's secrets unravel she finds the truth behind all the fantasies. And in fighting her own demons she makes an unusual connection to this woman. She soon realises that this connection holds the key to her own salvation. Or her downfall.

Mit dem vorliegenden Band „Nach Bologna: Praktika im Studium – Pflicht oder Kür? Empirische Analysen und Empfehlungen für die Hochschulpraxis“ von Wilfried Schubarth, Karsten Speck und Andreas Seidel wird die Reihe „Potsdamer Beiträge zur Lehrevaluation“ unter neuem Titel und veränderter inhaltlicher Schwerpunktsetzung fortgeführt. Die Umbenennung in „Potsdamer Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung“ versteht sich als ein Schritt hin zu einer thematischen Öffnung der Reihe für die verschiedensten Felder der Hochschulforschung. Der vorliegende Band widmet sich einem der zentralen Reformziele von Bologna: der Frage des Praxis- und Berufsbezugs und dabei insbesondere den Praxisphasen im Studium. Mit der Bologna-Reform werden im bildungspolitischen Bereich sehr vielfältige strukturelle und inhaltliche Ziele verfolgt. Das Ziel dieses Bandes besteht deshalb darin, empirische Forschungen zu Praxisbezügen und Praxisphasen im Studium vorzustellen, diese in den Kontext aktueller Debatten um Studienqualität und Studienreform zu stellen sowie Folgerungen für die Gestaltung von Praxisphasen abzuleiten. Inhaltliche Schwerpunkte bilden das BMBF-Forschungsprojekt ProPrax und die Praxisphasen im Lehramtsstudium. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes gehen aus einem gleichnamigen Workshop hervor, der am 1. Oktober 2010 in Potsdam stattfand. / The present conference volume „Beyond Bologna: Internship in studies – obligation or option? Empirical analysis and recommendations on the praxis of higher education“ by Wilfried Schubarth, Karsten Speck and Andreas Seidel is part of the serial “Potsdamer Beiträge zur Lehrevaluation” which is actually renamed as “Potsdamer Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung“. The new title supports modified focal points for research and provides opportunities for several fields of higher education research. The volume focuses on the practical relevance and the development of professional skills in academic studies as one of the central intentions of the Bologna Process. This Reform involves a variety of structural and content-related intentions in the field of educational policy. The aim of this conference volume is therefore to present empirical research with regard to practical relevance and internship in academic studies. It is linked to the current debate concerning quality of academic studies as well as the higher education reform in general and draws conclusions for the practical implementation of academic internships. The ProPrax research project, founded by the BMBF, and its first results as well as internships in teacher education are main issues of this volume. The contributions result from the correspondent Potsdam conference on October 1st 2010.

A collection of mostly lyrical poems. The poems explore moments of experience and thought relating to longing and belonging, in terms of relations, memory and place. The poems are mostly short and intense. Silence and implied meanings are often as important as what is said; shadows are evoked to recall substance. Though short, the poems are not tightly closed – on the contrary, meanings proliferate in the process of exploration.

A collection of mostly lyrical poems. The poems explore moments of experience and thought relating to longing and belonging, in terms of relations, memory and place. The poems are mostly short and intense. Silence and implied meanings are often as important as what is said; shadows are evoked to recall substance. Though short, the poems are not tightly closed – on the contrary, meanings proliferate in the process of exploration

A collection of mostly lyrical poems. The poems explore moments of experience and thought relating to longing and belonging, in terms of relations, memory and place. The poems are mostly short and intense. Silence and implied meanings are often as important as what is said; shadows are evoked to recall substance. Though short, the poems are not tightly closed – on the contrary, meanings proliferate in the process of exploration

This collection of poems explores the boundaries between certainty and uncertainty, between the desire for meaning and the destabilisation of meaning. The content encompasses everyday life, love and loss, and the ambiguities are reflected in the forms used, so that, for instance, the linear continuity of narrative and the musicality of the lyric may be juxtaposed with the fragmented and imagistic leaps of the associative poem.