It is argued in this thesis that, contrary to much previous work on the subject, the history of English Studies in higher education is not best understood in terms of the emergence of a mature form of academic activity which has since continued to develop through time on the basis of the unity of its object (lq`English literature') and of its mode of study (lq`literary criticism'). Instead, this history examines the conditions which allowed the initial emergence, specification and delimitation of the new academic discipline of `English Language and Literature', and the sequence of subsequent institutional and discursive modifications and transformations which brought about substantial alterations to the field of study. Through a series of case studies of the English Association, the Newbolt Report, the Review of English Studies, and of the diverse tendencies which have characterised the discipline since the nineteen-forties, it is argued that `English Studies' must be analysed as an entity not having any single or consistent fixed centre. It is further shown that within the variable discursive and institutional articulations which have characterised English Studies as a field of activity, account must be taken of a much wider range of objects and relations than can be encompassed within `literature' and `criticism'; in fact, the discipline is shown to have been just as concerned with, for example, approved modes of communication, and Englishness. The thesis examines the specific historical conditions under which such objects and issues were brought into mutual relation through the establishment of full academic disciplinary status, the installation of an integrated career structure and professional norms, and the development of a distinctive documentary field, set of professional associations, range of pedagogic activities, and mechanism for the selection of students.

The complexity of healthcare is increasing due to new discoveries in the treatment of disease, the multiple pathologies of an ageing population and changes in working patterns and job roles. In addition, an increase in professional, regulatory and public scrutiny has led to revelations of poor care leading to preventable disability and death. Inquiries into sub-standard care have uncovered a number of professional lapses, in particular failures in teamwork and leadership. Medical undergraduates are future doctors. Their ability to work effectively within teams and to lead when necessary will therefore have a significant impact on the health of the population. In order to improve leadership and teamwork abilities we must be able to assess them. A literature review searching for a tool to assess teamwork and leadership in the medical undergraduate was carried out. As a consequence of an unsuccessful search, a tool was developed and evaluated, using data from existing tools and from a series of focus groups with medical undergraduates. The focus groups and an examination of the reasoning of assessment participants also informed a study on the justifications for failing to challenge poor performance by a more senior member of staff. The tool data showed adequate validity and reliability for formative assessments in a simulated environment. The focus groups and examination of reasoning highlighted the continued existence of the medical hierarchy, with steep authority gradients. This tool can be used in formative assessments, but further research is required before it is used outside the simulated environment and consideration must be given to psychometrics, feasibility and cost. The teaching and assessment of teamwork and leadership, should be given more time in the undergraduate curriculum and medical schools, regulatory bodies, deaneries and trusts should collaborate on minimising the unprofessional behaviours of senior healthcare personnel.

This PhD thesis explores the experiences of the increasing number of Chinese undergraduate students located within the UK higher education system. In order to ensure a positive learning experience for these students, and to facilitate the development of their confidence and independence in learning, it is essential that the particular needs of the Chinese students are fully understood and addressed. This thesis is premised on the assumption that students‘ own perceptions of their needs are central to this task. The study contributes to the literature on international undergraduate students‘ experience within the UK. It develops an analytical framework based upon the Chinese 'contexts of origin‘ of these students, their UK 'contexts of destination‘ and the 'institutional learning contexts‘. The framework as outlined in the chapters comprising Part 1 views the mediation of cultural difference as central to the resolution of academic challenges faced by Chinese students. Within this framework the 'contexts of origin‘ are understood with reference to Chinese geopolitical and geo-economic environments, Chinese traditions and education values, and the Chinese education system; the UK 'contexts of destination‘ are elaborated in terms of the development of UK higher education, the internationalisation and marketisation of UK higher education, and the literature on international students‘ overall experience; finally, the 'institutional learning contexts‘ involve an examination of the challenges posed by the academic conventions of UK higher education and of the coping strategies developed by the students. As outlined in Part 2, the study is based on semi-structured interviews and autobiographical accounts of 18 Chinese undergraduate students in an English university. Following from a discussion of the methodology employed, Part 3 provides an analysis of the evidence gathered in the course of the study. This analysis is organized around three interconnected themes: 'communities of learning‘, 'learning across language boundaries‘, and 'becoming an independent learner‘. These themes emerged from both the development of the analytical framework and from the initial round of data analysis. The study argues that the challenges faced by Chinese undergraduate students within the UK are culturally, socially and linguistically constituted and cannot therefore be understood simply as technical and narrowly study-related concerns. Their development as independent learners is formed by their motivation to learn and a wide range of capabilities acquired during their study in the UK. Part 4, which comprises the concluding chapter of the thesis, draws out some wider implications of the study for the education of overseas students within the UK higher education system. These include stronger institutional and departmental support, enhanced professional awareness and practice to facilitate transition, and the creation of a social space for cultural mediation – a 'third place‘ – within which to negotiate common understandings and practices. Throughout, the emphasis is on the support needs of overseas students as defined and understood by the students themselves and as interpreted by a researcher who is himself a Chinese student studying within the UK higher education system.

he persistent patterns of under-representation of certain social groups at higher education (HE) identified that the current strategies used as part of the widening participation agenda required revising. Outreach activities are the main strategy used by the widening participation agenda to address the under-representation of certain groups of young people such asthose from disadvantaged backgrounds at HE. owever, a shortage of robust evidence made it difficult to determine the actual mpact and effectiveness of these outreach activities. This thesis addressed this gap n knowledge by establishing robust approaches to designing and evaluating outreach activities. To achieve this, a different perspective was taken; this hesisdemonstrated howpsychology can improve the design and evaluation of outreach activities. The use of psychological theories such as cognitive behavioural herapy and attribution theory were demonstrated indevising the outreach ntervention ThinkSmart as being valuable for outreach activities. The evaluationof ThinkSmart showed a short-term practical significance, thus the intervention did have an impact on the recipients, this however, was not sustained. To support the evaluation of ThinkSmart a measure of intention to engage with HE was devised and validated, 'Students Intentions Towards University' (SITU) due to one not currently existing in the literature, despite progression to HE being a key outcome for outreach activities. To understand the effectiveness of ThinkSmart, unique to the thesis a process evaluation was undertaken to explore the implementation process. The approach showed that the components required for behavioural change were ignificantly under implemented, which impacted on the overall success of ThinkSmart explaining to some degree the small short-term gains of recipients. inally to support the development of well-designed interventions to impact on the evident disparities in the patterns of participation in HE, as well as providing a ramework for further research in this area, an ecological model of educational progression was devised. The model established the importance of the individual in understanding how best to address the objective of the widening participation; as this an explain why despite their background young people can achieve. Therefore in summary outreach activities need to consider the individual but in light of the contextual factors presented in the model. This thesis hasdemonstrated that it is important to evaluate outreach activities robustly and to do so principles ofpsychology should be incorporated to improve the design and evaluation of outreach activities, to positively impact on the likelihood of non-traditional students, i.e. those from disadvantaged backgrounds engaging with HE, addressing the widening participation agenda objectives.

Low student achievement and decreasing student engagement have provoked a call for pedagogical change in the UAE. In an attempt to address these challenges an intervention was introduced that consisted of an alternate pedagogical approach in the form of standards-focused project-based learning which is an active-learning approach where students drive their own learning through the completion of a project(s) that promotes inquiry, standards alignment, and collaborative research. This action research study sought to analyse the effectiveness of this alternate approach by answering two research questions using by collecting and analysing both quantitative and qualitative data. The first research question was: what kind of change can be brought about by engaging students in a student-focused and active learning environment by the design and implementation of a standards-focused project-based learning model? The second research question was: what is the difference in exam scores between students in a lecture-based class and students in an active-learning class that utilizes a standards-focused project-based learning curriculum? In response to these research questions, statistical significance was found in the difference between the mean examination scores of the Foundation course experimental section and the Foundation course control section. No significance was found when comparing the mean examination scores of the First year education experimental section with the first year education control section. Four primary themes were identified through thematic content analysis of the feedback shared by the participants during the focus groups. The four themes were (a) connection between teaching style and performance, (b) students’ preparedness for exam, (c) positive influence of peer pressure and (d) students driven by an external locus of control.

<p> The present study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study &ndash; 2, which is a longitudinal study of a nationally represented sample of students with disabilities between the years 2000 and 2010. Using this dataset, the relationships among disability type area of study, and degree completion were explored. The final sample included approximately 310 students classified as having learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was hypothesized that individuals with ASD would prefer fields of study where there was limited social interaction to a greater degree than those with LD or ADHD. Additionally, it was hypothesized that students with ASD would be more likely than their LD and ADHD counterparts to choose fields of study in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Results from two path analysis models, however, revealed no significant findings. Consequently, it appears as though other factors or a combination of factors better account for the postsecondary outcomes of students with disabilities. The primary implication of these findings is that professionals and caregivers should refrain from making assumptions about area of postsecondary study or degree completion based simply on students&rsquo; disability types. Furthermore, it does not appear warranted to direct students with disabilities to select specific types of academic majors simply because it is assumed that pursuing those majors will result in better postsecondary outcomes.</p>

This study explored the complexity of working and teaching within one English post -1992 university from the perspectives of thirteen members of academic staff. Work relationships, work load and perception of the management’s support of teaching were investigated via semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as a theoretical framework. This method offered a way to analyse and interpret the experiences of lecturers working in Higher Education by maintaining a focus on the academics’ own words. Previous research using IPA has been established within health and counselling fields (Smith et al, 2009) and its use within educational settings is emergent (Creanor, Trinder, Gowan et al, 2008; Biggerstaff and Thompson, 2008). The academics interviewed mostly entered higher education with no formal teacher training and many found their initial time in the role to be stressful and poorly managed. Support mechanisms (induction, mentoring, team teaching, teacher training courses) were described as being areas that could all be improved. The dramatic metaphorical language used to describe their entry into the HE system vividly depicted these challenges. The capturing of this highly expressive language offered new insight into understanding the lives of lecturing staff. Participants expressed their working lives with multiple references to the language of war, battle and struggle. Aspects of both vulnerability and tenacity were present in the findings, with the responses to challenges being expressed in both positive and negative ways. Most participants found that the levels of university bureaucracy impeded their teaching effectiveness; they battled with time management and felt tension between the levels of control, audit and freedom within their roles. This was somewhat ameliorated by the satisfaction they gained from teaching their students. The majority described students as consumers who were increasingly demanding and had varied abilities which created challenges for the lecturers. Traditional HE lecture-based techniques were perceived to be less effective in engaging students and most participants actively tried new methods of teaching, despite having little knowledge of theoretical aspects of learning to support this work. Few had experienced formal observation mechanisms and there were mixed responses about the level of support they received from their colleagues around teaching and its associated administrative tasks. The interviewed academics did not perceive that teaching was overtly valued by their superiors as their efforts remained largely unrecognised by those in senior management. Insights into the complex lives of the lecturers gave the researcher scope to create initiatives to promote positive change and make recommendations to senior management that could foster further improvements. In light of the data collected, the induction processes were changed to include more consistent mentoring, peer teaching observation groups (peer learning circles) were coordinated and staff development was organised to facilitate enhanced support for lecturers.

<p> The primary purpose of this study was the exploration of social media utility as a crisis communication practice on three selected university campuses. The overarching research question for this study was &ldquo;How and what social media technologies are selected, planned for, implemented, and monitored in crisis management in selected universities?&rdquo;. This study examines how these institutions used social media during crisis, pinpoints the emergent themes, analyzes the engagement between the selected universities and their social media audience, and analyzes the effectiveness of social media during campus crisis situations.</p><p> The findings of this study include the documentation of institutional practices that contribute to successful social media crisis communication integration. These elements ultimately coalesce into the identification of a series of best practices that can help inform the field and contribute to the establishment of best practices for social media use during campus crisis situations. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

<p> This study provides a qualitative exploration of the ways in which the various degrees of entrepreneurialism and commercialization shape female graduate student training and socialization across science technology and engineering fields. This study explores institutional conditions at three selective and private U.S. research universities that cultivate innovation and entrepreneurship in graduate students to introduce patents, start companies, and/or work in leadership roles in start-ups and corporations. A focus of the study is on institutional factors important to women with doctorate degrees in the STEM fields &ndash; science, engineering, technology and mathematics. Critical factors in each institution&rsquo;s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem are explored, including the institution&rsquo;s role in building innovation and entrepreneurial pathways, their commitment and resources for innovation and entrepreneurship, their culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and their commitment to diversity and inclusion for increasing participation of women in innovation.</p>

<p> Public universities face significant funding challenges as states continue to look for efficiencies or outright cuts. In addition, the call for accountability in higher education continues to grow as state lawmakers, policy analysts, and researchers voice concern that degree attainment has stagnated, is too low to support economic growth, and takes too long. Business and political leaders are also increasingly interested in developing higher education accountability in response to concerns by students and families over the rising cost of a degree. Together, these themes of accountability and cost control have resulted in dramatically different policy innovations in the form of performance-based funding in a growing number of states. However, these policies have thus far produced scant evidence of success. Furthermore, the potential unintended consequences of these policies seem large, including the risk of increased selectivity resulting in increased class-based inequality and the risk of decreased educational quality. Thus, the shift from basing state support on inputs to outputs could be much more than a simple accounting change. By stressing different priorities, the shift may ultimately alter the historic access mission of public higher education. Ohio created a new policy in 2012 that funds 100 percent of undergraduate higher education state appropriations to public universities on the basis of outcomes, the most aggressive policy of its kind in the nation. This study investigated the perceptions of 24 Ohio higher education leaders regarding this policy innovation and combined those responses with related performance metrics in order to synthesize a more comprehensive understanding of early impacts and implications, particularly as it pertains to outcomes, access, and education quality. The results of the investigation suggest that that retention has improved, access has decreased, and quality has been unaffected. University leaders were largely in favor of the policy and supported increased selectivity even in the face of declining enrollments. Although concerns remain regarding at-risk student support, the study suggests that a 100 percent performance-based policy may have positive benefits and achieve the intended objectives. It may also alter our conception of the broad access mission of higher education as access is traded for student success. </p>