Agent technologies are a promising approach to solving a number of prob-lems concerned with personalised learning due to the inherent autonomy and independence they provide for learners. The objective of this thesis is to find out whether a multiagent system could potentially replace a centralised infra-structure, and to explore the impact of agents taking different strategies. More specifically, our aim is to show how intelligent agent systems can not only form a good framework for distributed e-learning systems, but also how they can be applied in contexts where learners are autonomous and independent. The study also aims to investigate fairness issues and propose a simple framework of fair-ness definitions derived from the relevant literature. To this end, a university course selection scenario has been chosen, where the university has many courses available, but has only sufficient resources to run the most preferred ones. Instead of a centralised system, we consider a de-centralised approach where individuals can make a collective decision about which courses should run by using a multi-agent system based on voting. This voting process consists of multiple rounds, allowing a student agent to accurate-ly represent the student’s preferences, and learn from previous rounds. The ef-fectiveness of this research is demonstrated in three experiments. The first ex-periment explores whether voting procedures and multiagent technology could potentially replace a centralised infrastructure. It also explores the impact of agents using different strategies on overall student satisfaction. The second ex-periment demonstrates the potential for using multiagent systems and voting in settings where students have more complex preferences. The last experiment investigates how intelligent agent-based e-learning systems can ensure fairness between individuals using different strategies. This work shows that agent technology could provide levels of decentrali-sation and personalisation that could be extended to various types of personal and informal learning. It also highlights the importance of the issue of fairness in intelligent and personalised e-learning systems. In this context, it may be said that there is only one potential view of fairness that is practical for these systems, which is the social welfare view that looks to the overall outcome.

The objectives of this study are to assist Thai university students to develop their writing by using a teaching approach that focuses on the introduction of discourse within a genre approach based on the teaching and learning cycle of Feez (1998). This approach is considered suitable for an approach to teaching writing focused on discourse, because its design requires English language teachers to consider the importance of the whole text. It allows students to view texts as a whole, not in separated sentences, especially when they organise and connect ideas during writing. The study draws on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative approach concentrates on the development of the students‟ writing by comparing the mean scores from the initial and final writings of students. Forty students were requested to complete four writing assignment during the course. The data were analysed by employing a pair sample t-test to compare initial and final scores. The iii qualitative approach deals with how peer feedback helps promote reader awareness and the attitudes of students and teachers. The qualitative data were gathered by various instruments, such as questionnaires, interviews, students‟ reflective writing, peer feedback, and so on. The results of the study revealed that: 1) students can perform better in writing ability, demonstrated from the overall scores. There is significant difference (p<.05) between the overall mean score in the final assignment and the initial assignment; 2) students are concerned about how to provide sufficient information for the readers. They understand the role of the writer, which is to provide more information for the readers, and are aware of the role of the reader; 3) the use of peer feedback is beneficial for students, and it also promotes student awareness of the sense of audience; 4) The attitudes of the students and teachers were positive towards teaching that focused on discourse structure. The students found that it was useful for them, because they realised how to connect and organise cohesive text; 5) most of the teachers noted that it was beneficial to be introduced to the way of teaching writing through approach focusing on discourse structure. 6. The modified version of Feez‟ cycle of teaching and learning is beneficial and support students to improve their writing through the course. 7. Portfolio assessment is an effective measure that helps students gauge their progress and allows them to see their writing improves in later drafts. 8. Students‟ reflective writing helps them promote their awareness of readers during the course.

To predict and explain E-learning usage in higher educational institutes (HEIs) better, this research conceptualized E-learning usage as two steps, E-learning uptake and continuance. The aim was to build a model of effective uptake and continuance of E-learning in HEIs, or ‘EUCH’. The EUCH model was constructed by applying five grounded theories: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT); Keller’s ARCS model; Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA); Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT); and Adaptation Level Theory (ALT). The preliminarystudy was conducted with experts and end users (students) to confirm the factors of E learning uptake and continuance. With confirmation through triangulation from at least two source of data (literature, expert and end user review), all the proposed factors were indeed confirmed. A longitudinal study was conducted in a Thai university to: (a) assess the model’s performance for E learning uptake and continued use; (b) validate the relationships between the proposed EUCH model variables; and (c) investigate the consequence of E-learning usage on students’ learning performance. The results of the longitudinal study suggested that: (a) the EUCH model does as well in predicting the uptake and continued use of E-learning as the existing comparative models (TAM, UTAUT and ECM), the improvement however was found in its explanation; (b) students’ initial expectations influence their uptake of E-learning and the changes in their expectation during usage time period have an influence on their continued use; (c) no influence was found from E-learning usage on students’ learning performance. Even though the effect of E-learning usage to a student’s learning performance are not confirmed by the empirical results of this study, it could be argued that E-learning usage is an initial condition for realizing the benefits of E-learning on students and HEI: if there is no use, there will be no benefit. Although its predictive power and precision of equation prediction on E-learning uptake and continuance was not found to be an improvement on comparative models on purely statistical grounds, the EUCH model, which bridges the existing gap between findings on uptake and continuance of E-learning, provides an improved understanding of the processes of E-learning usage and the prediction of E-learning usage at any given time within a single model.

This study investigated staff conceptions of internationalisation from a Health Sciences Faculty perspective in a university in the South of England. Of particular interest were the conceptions of internationalisation that staff use, the constituents of internationalisation, the process that it followed and what staff considered to be the implications for delivery of a programme of internationalisation. Findings were based on an initial questionnaire and interviews with members of academic staff within the Faculty. A phenomenological approach was adopted for the analysis. There were several key outcomes of the study. Internationalisation was considered as developing people’s knowledge of global issues, their awareness of other ways of knowing and being, growth in intercultural sensitivity and skills and ability to see the bigger picture and their position within it. Participants considered that internationalisation was also enhancing people’s ability both to cooperate and collaborate with others and adapt to a changing world. Acquiring knowledge, skills and vision was the basis for this. Internationalisation was considered a process where the stages of input, activities, output and outcome formed the signposts of a complex, interlinked set of stages. The internationalisation stages were positioned within a surrounding external environment of overarching issues that influenced it at different levels (global, national, HE and individual). Strategy was central to the process and was achieved when the resources, input and activities were weighed against the tangible benefits, outcomes and profits gained against a background of how the institution interpreted and managed changes in the external environment.

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This study is an investigation into the backgrounds of senior managers and leaders in the Further Education (FE) sector in England. In particular, the research aims to establish whether there is a link between the educational, professional or experiential background of a leader and the style of leadership that they perceive they display. There is a paucity of research that has been carried out on the subject of leadership in the further education arena. This thesis focuses on three approaches to leadership, transformational, distributed and managerial, which, it is argued, are the most relevant in the FE sector. The thesis also seeks to explore other factors that have an influence on the way in which FE principals lead. The research is carried out using a mixed method approach. An internet survey and semi-structured interviews are used as the data gathering tools. The study suggests that there are many influences on the way in which FE principals lead which include their background in addition to college culture and the context in which the college operates.

Although English for Specific Purposes (ESP) approach is widely applied in science to many non-native speakers around the world, higher education institutions in Libya are striving to remain competitive in on-going changes in the science field. There is an ever increasing demand for communication in English in study and in work places, and some institutions have taken steps to develop newer academic programs as a means to meet students’ needs. However, few studies have been carried out to customise ESP courses to suit the Libyan scientific environment. The primary focus of this study is to explore the language needs of undergraduate science students in Libya. The Needs Analysis Framework was used to investigate the extent of English use among computer science, chemistry and physics undergraduates. For this purpose, multiple-instruments were used including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and teaching materials. The questionnaires were completed by 127 science students while the semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 faculty members. The classroom observations were conducted with three classes namely Computer Science, Chemistry and ESP, and teaching materials were collected from each of these subjects. The study reveals that English language is generally needed in the science settings. Moreover, it plays a significant role in computer science in particular, as most of its discourses are conducted in English. However, it plays only a limited role in the teaching of Chemistry and Physics. The study suggests that collaboration between science disciplines and English teachers are needed in terms of the ESP programme if such programmes are to be successful.

This thesis investigated how the Arab and western media affected the staff and students of one Libyan university, Sebha University, through their presentation of the major Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan. In particular, the research focused on the reporting by Al-Jazeera and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The study attempted to show how these two channels represented the main incidents of Arab Spring uprising and examined whether this representation was influenced by any ideology the channels attempted to propagate. It should be noted, however, that the researcher was not seeking to support any one ideological approach but was, rather, concerned with the ways in which such reporting impacted on the respondents of the study. The methodological approach was qualitative in nature and 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the staff (15 interviews) and students (15 interviews) of Sebha University, Libya. In order to gain further evidence about students’ and lecturers’ experiences and their views toward the two channels, 12 articles (6 from Al-Jazeera and 6 from the BBC), relating to the critical events of the three Arab Spring uprisings, were analysed using the main assumptions of Critical Discourse Analysis and Systemic Functional Linguistics. The study found that most of lecturers and students indicated that the two channels were, indeed, different in terms of their reporting of the events of the Arab Spring uprisings and, whilst the BBC was trusted for its dispassionate observations, Al-Jazeera was considered to be ideologically driven. This reporting caused a range of problems for the lecturers and students. Most notably, the students were concerned about the perceived lack of security, the reporting of which was a particular feature of the Al-Jazeera channel. On the other hand, both the students and the lecturers observed that the BBC was neutral and professional and without political propaganda. The main professional recommendations resulting from the study were that the university under scrutiny, and universities more widely, need to ensure that they have in place well developed systems for supporting both staff and students during times of stress, including during periods of national crisis. It is also suggested that national and international agencies and researchers must consider further the nature and impact of media reporting in an era of mass communication.

This doctoral thesis describes five years of research on an undergraduate accounting information systems module at the China campus of Nottingham University Business School. The central research question is ‘How can small group interactions be designed to improve student engagement in information systems education?’. To this end, an interpretive philosophical paradigm is adopted to address three research questions which are explored in distinct phases: In the first phase a grounded approach is taken to address the question - What influences engagement in small group interactions? The second phase takes the themes identified in the first phase and addresses the question - What strategies might be adopted to address these influences? In the third and final phase, a longitudinal study is conducted, in which the strategies identified in the second phase are then applied, in 3 cycles of action research, addressing the question – How, why and what would be good practice in implementing such strategies? This research finds 36 themes that influence engagement in small group interactions, strategies are then identified to address those themes and those within the scope of control of the researcher are tested. This research confirms that the findings in the extant literature relating to mainland Chinese undergraduate student engagement, in Western undergraduate programmes overseas, also apply to such programmes conducted in the mainland Chinese context. In addition a sense of student empowerment over influencing pedagogy to suit preference in terms of classroom environment, interaction timing, second language use, and tutor focus is found. Among the strategies tested, a problem-based group project, set within a familiar context and informed by an evidence-based design approach, which values the opinion and experience of the student as designer of the proposed problem solution, was found to be the most effective in promoting early engagement in the desired learning process. This study supports the argument that case study approaches, where those studies are set in unfamiliar contexts, may not be best suited for undergraduate programmes due to their inherent contextual uncertainties. This research finds that, through adopting an evidence-based approach to research for such group projects, student evaluation of their own experience and insights changes positively, enabling more rounded and reflective critical argument and decision-making. This work may be seen to contribute to fill gaps both in evidence from practice and in the body of ‘scientific’ evidence in respect of the following contexts, such gaps having been identified by the cited authors as follows: Theoretical contributions 1. Research into the area of Chinese student engagement in Western educational settings e.g. Li and Campbell (2008). 2. Qualitative research methods in general and the adaptation of western approaches to the Chinese context e.g. Watkins-Mathys (2007). 3. Literature relating to evidence-based design in teaching and learning e.g. Groccia and Buskist (2011), Rousseau and Mc Carthy (2007), Wastell (2011) and Ahmadi et al. (2012). 4. Literature relating to alignment of the expectation gap between tutors and students in cross-cultural settings e.g. Zhou et al. (2008). 5. Literature relating to evidence-based design in information systems and accounting literature e.g. Marr (2009), Baskerville (2011), Wastell (2011). Practical contributions 6. The call for case studies that “lionise” evidence-based design and avoid the contextual challenges of [case study] approaches e.g. Starkey and Tempest (2009) and Wastell (2011). 7. Further evidence from the process of adapting British teaching and learning practices for use in the Chinese undergraduate context (Zhou et al., 2008). 8. Further evidence to inform both student/staff induction processes and the body of research on the design of teaching and learning practices at NUBS in China e.g. Waters (2007).

Education is seen to have a central role in the transition towards a sustainable future. Education for sustainable development (ESD) has been heralded by the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development as a tool for achieving global sustainability. The Scottish Government also advocates ESD as the means to providing society with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to live more sustainable lives. Whilst considerable progress has been made in Scotland’s schools, particularly primary schools, and to a lesser degree in university education, there has been limited evidence of the same success in Scotland’s colleges. There has been limited widespread investigation or published work on the advances of ESD in the Scottish college curriculum. This research aimed to explore if an ESD Practitioner could enhance the ESD landscape in Scotland’s colleges by producing learning and teaching materials for curriculum development that could be used by both staff and students. The research also planned to investigate the ESD backdrop in Scotland’s colleges, against which the intervention of curriculum development was set. To explore this, a survey was issued to all Scottish College Principals to determine their opinions of ESD at a senior management level. The survey also asked about the use of the learning and teaching materials within their college. Three colleges were then utilised as case studies to evaluate the use of the learning and teaching materials, within the curriculum, with staff and students. During the research period, the Scottish college sector underwent a major restructuring of college mergers, making this the most volatile period in Scottish college history. These changes impacted upon the research, frequently restricting the research process. Nonetheless, the research established that ESD development in Scotland’s colleges still requires significant work. Moreover, whilst the learning and teaching materials were found to have a modest impact upon the sustainability ethos of those who engaged with them, (particularly upon the students), it was established that effective ESD requires a multi-faceted approach to be successful. Curriculum development on its own will not achieve the step-change that is required for a future thinking society faced with the environmental challenges that are the result of a growing consumerist population, anthropogenic climate change and increasing social injustice. To meet these challenges in Scotland’s colleges, curriculum development must be linked to effective policy, management and drive, as well as campus management, and the recognition of all interested parties and stakeholders as co-constructors of ESD development. Not only is senior management support vital, there also needs to be a recognised sustainability staff member or group, or an ESD Practitioner, helping to drive the ESD agenda forward. Only then will Scotland’s colleges be effective in producing the sustainability focused society that is required.