Student mobility, defined as the movement of students between national systems of higher education is an activity assuming growing importance within the region of the European Union (EU). In recent years, policy-makers in the EU have ascribed academic mobility a political and economic role of significant proportions. Indeed, student mobility is expected to contribute to the international competitiveness of the European economy, to create European elite identities with a commitment to furthering European integration and to produce a mobile labour force, which is central to the success of the Single Market. In this context, student mobility has been thrust onto the policy agenda of intergovernmental organisations, national governments and higher education institutions within the EU. Although student mobility has become an explicit issue of policy within the EU, there has been little attempt to carefully analyse developments. In fact, the research literature pertaining to academic mobility remains limited, parochial, atheoretical and centred on student experiences. This thesis seeks to develop our knowledge and understanding of undergraduate student mobility in the EU through an analysis of policy at the intergovernmental, national and institutional levels in the context of a policy analysis framework. The result is new theoretically informed insights into the emergence, development, implementation and impacts of student mobility policy. Most notably, the creation of a systems model of the student mobility policy process facilitates an improved understanding of the relative contribution and interdependence of decision-makers at the intergovernmental, national and institutional levels during policy development and implementation. It is hoped that these insights enhance the understanding of those who make, implement and evaluate policy, such that the opportunities and constraints of future years are given considered attention in an area of increasing European significance.

The difference between roles prescribed by teaching methodology and roles that classroom participants are or are not willing to adopt is sometimes cited as one reason for the problems in the implementation of new teaching policy. Personal experience, consistent with such an argument, formed part of the rationale for this research into students’ and teachers’ perceptions of roles in language classrooms in Hong Kong. This thesis presents a pathway for exploring perceptions of roles of students and teachers through the development and use of a conceptual framework. This conceptual framework highlighted the need to explore the concepts of perceptions and roles, and the factors influencing roles. Exploration of these indicated that the research should include an analysis of the research context and two empirical studies. These studies focused on attitudes, beliefs and cultural dimensions and data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The findings identified differences between the perceptions of roles expressed by students and teachers. Comparison was also made with reports from teachers and stereotypical images portrayed in the literature. While findings and differences may in part be associated with the social and economic changes in Hong Kong, they also provide insights that potentially offer greater understanding about the role relationship between students and teachers. These insights include possible implications of these findings for teaching approaches, curriculum and materials design, educational change and teacher education. The findings illustrate that students’ and teachers’ beliefs need to be investigated more deeply to ensure that further information is gained that can be applied to the teaching and learning process.

This research is devoted to focussing on the influence of different learning style on the performance of undergraduate students in various parts of calculus. In carrying out the study, calculus materials were classified into four main categories (Z4,Z5,Z6,Cals) and, for the Iranian students, the results of their mathematical performance in the university entrance examination is labelled (En) to identify their grounding in high school mathematics at the beginning of the calculus course in higher education. Also, in the present study, students' performance (weakness) in the manipulation of mathematical notation and logical discussion is called (Z1) category and (Cal) indicates students' total achievement in calculus examination which is, in fact, the students' performance on the combination of the categories (Z4,Z5,Z6). These calculus categories are described in Chapter 5. However in short term, multi-conceptual and procedural tasks are classified as (Z4). The (Z5) category is defined as the translation processes between mathematical abstraction (analytic/symbolic) and (pictorial/visual) forms of calculus materials. Moreover, multi-skilled, transferable and procedural skills are labelled as (Z6) category. It should be noted that these categories are interrelated in a scheme to exhibit activities in calculus. 572 students participated in the experimental part of this study and were selected from two Iranian universities (Sabzvar University and Mashhad University) and Glasgow University in Scotland, U.K. During the period of the study, the samples of students were subjected to some psychological tests in order to assign their Field-dependent/Field-independent and Convergent/Divergent learning styles. It was found throughout the study that the most effective combination of learning styles which emerged from the interacting picture of all the psychological factors used in the research, were field-independent/convergent (F1+Con) in Iran, and field-independent/divergent (FI+Div) in Scotland in performing on the calculus. On the other hand, the combination of field-dependent and convergent styles (FD+Con) could lessen achievement in calculus by mathematics/physics students, and field-dependent and divergent styles (FD+Div) would lessen attainment in calculus by engineering students. In addition, when the mean scores in calculus categories were calculated for various groups of students with different learning styles, the convergent thinkers (Con) were found to be best in (Z6), while divergent thinkers (Div) exhibited higher performance in (Z5). These findings demonstrate that the Con/Div way of thinking is the most effective in influencing performance in different areas of calculus, the FI/FD factor takes the second position. All these findings have been combined to form a model which emerges at the end of this thesis. Moreover, in Chapters 3 and 4, a comparison is made between calculus in secondary (high school) and higher education in Iran and Scotland, focussing on content, teaching order, learning objectives and teaching methods.

In the past few decades the university has increasingly exploited the commercial potential of select experimental data generated in its molecular biology research laboratories. The university protects such data with intellectual property (IP) rights, and licenses the use of this IP, or sells it outright, to the pharmaceutical industry. Such IP often details the discovery of a novel drug candidate that has potential to treat or cure human disease. Through my eyes as a university lab educator, I argue in this dissertation that the contemporary cultural trend of the university’s sale of its research data to industry was catalyzed by two key concurrent events of late 20th century: a knowledge economy and neoliberalism. Utilizing technology as an analytical lens, I show that key hard and soft technologies gave rise to a knowledge economy; this provided the university with the prime technological platform for the heightened exposure, and conveyance, of its research data to industry. I argue that the contemporary political doctrine of neoliberalism is a control technology because it molds the public sector – including the university – into the competitive free market tendencies of the private sector; this provided the university with the prime economic platform for the sale of its research data to industry. Moreover, I demonstrate that the university’s sale of its select research data to industry has resulted in stronger alliances between the university and industry. Crucially, such alliances, I argue, have a profound impact on American higher education, on two levels: 1) the evolution of the university from a historic to a postmodern institution; and 2) fundamental changes in the nature of learning in the university research lab associated with the rise of the postmodern university. The dissertation concludes by considering various measures that may be used by the lab educator to mitigate these changes in learning in the postmodern university research lab.

This thesis explores how students who spoke English as an additional language (EAL) learned to write in a new discourse community, the difficulties they encountered and the changes that occurred in their perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers. The existing literature reported that learning to write disciplinary assignments is an interactional and dynamic process, encompassing not only writing and reading but also social interactions occurring among novice and more experienced members of the discourse community. Nevertheless, previous studies suggested that HE institutions still tend to hold narrow views on academic writing and to provide little attention to its teaching. Essentially, many studies are limited because they have examined how isolated factors (i.e. tutor written feedback or use of guidelines) impacted on student writing, overlooking the complexity of interactions that can come into play and influence student writing. This research adopted a longitudinal case study to investigate in-depth the writing experiences of five EAL students. To conduct this exploratory project, I employed constructivist and interpretivist approaches and multiple methods such as selfcompletion questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and analysis of tutors‘ feedback sheets and handbooks. This project suggests that indeed learning to write in HE was an active and dynamic process, encompassing interactions with members of the discourse community (tutors, peers and teacher-assistants), with the training system (taught module courses, writing assignments, academic writing class, CELTE support) and with institutional artefacts (samples of previously written work, published guidelines and assessment criteria). Despite a number of literacy practices designed to make the departmental conventions and expectations transparent, there was a level of invisibility of the conventions students were expected to adopt in their writing. As a result, students‘ writing experiences were fraught with tensions and conflicts that influenced their perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers.

This thesis is structured in two parts: the first part investigates topics in economics of education and the second part topics in commodity tax competition. The common thread in the first part is the English 2004 HE reform,we present both theoretical and empirical models that compare the pre-reform and post reform financing schemes, i.e. income contingent loan and mortgage loan. In the first chapter, in a world where graduates are risk averse and receive uncertain earnings, we evaluate which method gives better insurance and returns when the investment in education is risky. In the second chapter we consider the possibility that graduates do not receive an income sufficient to repay completely their loan, that is they are in default. We still develop a theoretical model, structured as a game between government and students, to see whether an ICL or a ML give students higher incentives to put more effort in their studies and avoid the risk of default. In the third chapter we present an empirical analysis, in line with the recent studies on the return to schooling. We first estimate the returns for different levels of education and then we compute the internal rate of return of the investment in higher education versus high school, under a ML and an ICL. In the second part of the thesis we provide an empirical model to develop the key idea that completion of the Single Market in the EU can be interpreted as a kind of "natural experiment" that allows us to separate the effects of tax competition from other forms of strategic interaction. We first find the conditions of cross-border shopping and the government reaction functions in three different market regimes: duty-free market before 1993, mixed market up to 1999, single market after 1999. Second, we provide an empirical test of the theoretical predictions using a panel data set of 12 EU countries over the period 1987-2004.We find that for all excise duties that we consider (beer, ethyl alcohol, still wine, sparkling wine, cigarettes, tobacco, petrol), strategic interaction between countries significantly increased after 1993, consistent with the theoretical prediction.

The thesis draws upon in-depth research into the question of how English Academic Writing (EAW) is conceptualized at a Department of Applied English in a Taiwanese university. A qualitative research approach was taken within a social constructionism framework. Administrators, teachers, and students, were interviewed to explore the impact each of these three streams of influence has on the construction of the idea of EAW within this particular EFL context. These influences add to the mixture forming the conceptualization of EAW with a knock on effect to curriculum planning, teaching pedagogy, and the academic texts students produce. Administrators' design of a writing program and teachers' conceptualizations of EAW have implications for students' experience in learning to write and their own conceptualizations of what EAW is. Excerpts from interviews with teachers across the writing programme reveal how teachers do not share a coherent approach to teaching writing and yet have the understanding that they are conforming to a standardized conception of EAW. This research has important implications for curriculum design and lesson planning in EAW and EFL teacher training. Administrators need to implement a writing program with clear mutual goals as conceptualizations of EAW in an EFL context may be particularly fragile and lack consistency. Further implications of this research touch upon the training EFL teachers receive in graduate programs abroad which contribute to molding their conceptualizations of EAW. This research also points to the importance for administrators, teachers, and students to share a common language with which to discuss EAW issues.

This research aims to investigate Taiwanese university students' motivation for studying English, changes in their motivation and influences which caused the changes, and their perceptions of the role of English as an international language today. The uniqueness of this study lies in using a mixed methods approach (both qualitative and quantitative) to explore L2 motivation from the perspective of English as an international language (EIL). As well as this, it aims to explore and compare university students' motivation for studying English and perceptions of English today based on their subject difference (English majors versus non-majors; the comprehensive university versus the technology university). This thesis begins with an introduction to English education at the tertiary level in Taiwan and my motivation for doing this study. After that, it reviews relevant literature of L2 motivation and English as an international language. Then, it discusses the use of a mixed methods approach and three research instruments (the focus group interview, the interviews and the questionnaire). After the data of the three methods are presented, the discussion integrates insights from different data sources where relevant. The results show that the majority of the students in this research study English because of instrumental and integrative orientation. However, the term 'integrative' in this study has a different interpretation from Gardner's sense of the notion. In terms of motivation changes, the results show that the students' motivation changed because of various influences such as teachers, curriculum, exams, group dynamics and social experiences etc. Another major finding indicates that although the majority of the students and the teachers are aware of the notion of EIL, they are facing a dilemma about following it in the classroom.

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is adopted and/or adapted by Chinese tertiary teachers of English with the experience of teacher education overseas. It employs a case study approach in order to explore the extent to which CLT is compatible with the Chinese EFL context at tertiary level. Twenty-three informants in four institutions participated in this study (including two participating in the pilot study). Classroom observation and semi-structured interview were adopted as instruments for data collection. By looking into the teaching beliefs and actual practice of the target group, an attempt was made to reveal their general conceptions of CLT and their perceptions of good language teaching beyond CLT, as well as to identify the factors conceived as constraints on CLT implementation in the local context. In addition, through observation, an effort was made to explore the extent to which CLT was adopted and adapted in real teaching practice. Adjustments made by the participants to facilitate adoption of the approach were particularly focused on, as well as the extent to which intercultural experience contributed to effective teaching. The main findings suggest that the CLT is seen as important by nearly all the informants in terms of its effectiveness and contributions, potential usefulness and complexity. Although constraints on CLT implementation were both mentioned and observed, ‘communicative ideas’ were found to be widely reflected in the teaching practice of the majority of the participants. The findings show that great attention is paid to learners as they are nowadays greatly involved in different teaching phases (pre-teaching, while-teaching and after-teaching). There exists a tendency of eclecticism in the teaching practices of many informants and the phenomenon of what is termed a ‘seeming-communicative’ approach is reflected in some participants’ ways of teaching due to a recognition of the fundamental importance of the learning skills of recitation and memorization. The experience of teacher education overseas is generally considered as conducive to enhancing practitioners’ intercultural competence and critical thinking -- two factors identified as essential prerequisites for CLT implementation and seeking of appropriate methodology. The findings give rise to discussion of three major problems in relation to interpreting CLT as an appropriate approach in Chinese EFL teaching context. These problems are essentialism, overgeneralization and labeling. The prevalence of these problems confirms that there is a need to understand CLT and its appropriateness in different cultural contexts from an anti-essentialist perspective.

This thesis reports on a practitioner research study which adopts a social constructivist approach (Williams and Burden 1997) to the investigation of classroom motivation. The social constructivist approach to motivation shows its strength in taking into account both the internal and external factors of motivation influences. It places its emphasis on the effect of contextual factors on learner motivation and it considers motivation to be constructed through learners’ interaction with the learning context. Taking into account the notion of social constructivism, this practitioner research study aims to explore how classroom motivation is co-constructed through the social interaction between teachers and learners. The study took place in two English courses for non-English majors in a Taiwanese university for one semester (February 2008—June 2008). Classroom motivation is investigated through a variety of research methods. Both qualitative and quantitative research instruments—questionnaires, learner reflective diaries, post-class reflective writings, learner interviews and teaching journals—were used in an attempt to explore how classroom motivation develops in cycles, in which teachers and learners receive reciprocal effects from each other. The results of the study shed light on how different types of teacher and learner behaviours influence learner and teacher motivation respectively.