Phillips Brian J., Mahidol University International College

Fujiwara Takayoshi, Mahidol University International College

Cross-cultural experiences are becoming more and more important and appreciated in the undergraduate university education. This paper examines how international students gain such experiences in Thailand under the initiatives of Mahidol University International College (MUIC), in two different forms: study tour arrangements and internship placements. The experiences in both forms are always highly valued by the participants, as they can broaden their perspectives and understand the cultural diversities. MUIC has been hosting educational and study tours of various kinds over the past few years. Each of these tours is organized and arranged by a partner university abroad for their students, in cooperation of MUIC. The participants of these tours visit places of cultural and historical interests, and attend lectures on topics in their fields of study given by MUIC faculty members while in Bangkok. They are complemented by opportunities to meet and interact with MUIC students. Shorter College, Georgia, USA, is one of the most successful partner universities to operate these educational tours. Since 2003, they have been organizing the study tour with different themes every year. MUIC has been arranging study tours from Mexican institutions, and a study tour will be organized for a Japanese university for the first time this year. MUIC also has been making arrangements for internship placements for international students, providing opportunities to gain practical experiences in their respective discipline in different cultural environments. Students underwent internships at Mahidol University’s Siriraj Hospital and Neuro-Behavioral Biology Center, Central Institute of Forensic Science, National Cancer Institute of Thailand, and among others. Under the leadership of the first author, Chief, International Networking Development, MUIC has been playing an important and remarkable role in offering opportunities to have cross-cultural experiences for overseas students, and consequently striving to enhance understanding of Thai culture among people abroad.

V.Rasiah R.Ratneswary, Taylor 's College, Malaysia

This paper investigates the key factors and impact of a first year course in the University of the West of England programme upon the quality of student learning. It provides an insight into the students’ perception of the key factors that they considered influenced their learning. The conceptual framework for this study is based on the guidelines of good practices advocated by the various researches done on the enhancement of the quality of student learning. The study used a specifically-designed questionnaire to elicit information with regards to the overall effectiveness of the first-year syllabus of this programme in terms of the lecturers’ attributes, the teaching and learning methodologies adopted, the skills attained by the students and the development and enhancement of their value system. The findings showed that the students appreciated the empowerment efforts by their lecturers which prepared them to be responsible and independent learners. The various active teaching and learning methodologies implemented by the faculty members of this programme had empowered the students and this contributed to the eventual ownership of their learning. As a result of this, the students found themselves equipped with the various soft and hard skills that are industry-relevant which would become essential to them when they start working. It is hoped that the findings obtained from this study will provide institutions of higher learning and their respective faculty members a set of considerations for devising educational policies and practices that will successfully enhance student learning.

Choi Sheena, Indiana University

Piao Taizhu, Yanbian University

Many countries recently began to invest significantly in creating world-class institutions apreciating the connections between the quality of higher education and national prestige and influence in the international community. However, such drive may, in some cases, present additional challenges of overlooking higher education institutions’ responsibility to meet unique regional needs. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges that China’s recent drive for creating world-class higher education institutions poses on their regional ethnic minority universities. Yanbien University and Yanbian Science and Technology University, which serve largely ethnic Korean population in Northeast China, are the focus of the study.

Kindler Anna M., The University of British Columbia

In many countries around the world public research intensive universities have long been appraised, compared and ranked predominantly based on the quantity and quality of research output. Consequently, hiring practices, tenure and promotion guidelines and other rewards systems have focused on attracting and fostering excellence in research.

At the same time, the essential mandate of the universities has remained bi-fold. Alongside their research mission, the universities have continued to be charged with the responsibility to provide educational programs, including those catering to the needs of undergraduate students. In this presentation, I will argue that this strong emphasis on research has contributed to an increased polarity between the two aspects of the universities’ mission and have posed new challenge that universities urgently need to address in order to continue to successfully respond to the full scope of societal expectations.

Drawing on my administrative experiences at the University of British Columbia, I will outline different dimensions of this challenge and encourage discussion about the ways in which research intensive universities can work towards a culture where both research and teaching effectively matter. I will address opportunities and obstacles that universities face as they ponder the usefulness of Boyer’s “priorities of the professoriate.”

I will specifically consider the value of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in re-imagining the concept of a research intensive university as an institution that is both research and teaching intensive. I will offer examples of how SoTL can not only lead to the improvement of educational outcomes but also how it can help public universities grow in their ownership of accountability measures and link these measures to quality improvement. I will offer reflections regarding the necessity of policy changes and other forms of institutional support in order to allow SoTL to have a transformative impact within a research intensive university.

Oliver Diane, Texas Tech University

Nguyen Kim Dung, HCMC University of Pedagogy

Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong, Vietnam National University

The paper begins with a discussion of globalization, policy attraction, and the confluence around assessment of higher education internationally. It then examines the literature on Vietnam's efforts to develop an accreditation system for higher education and key aspects of accreditation development in the United States (U.S.). The historical picture of U.S. higher education accreditation and assessment is held up against Vietnam's current situation to identify potentially useful concepts and processes that can be drawn from the U.S. experience. The paper concludes with eight insights that may be useful to Vietnam, as well as other developing countries that are experiencing rapid growth in their higher education systems, and are seeking funding support from international agencies.

Fujiwara Takayoshi, Mahidol University International College

Phillips Brian J., Mahidol University International College

The objective of this study was to investigate whether an undergraduate education contributes to the epistemological development of Thai university students. That is to examine whether students make any change in their beliefs and views on knowledge and knowledge acquisition while they study in university. A questionnaire, asking participants to indicate how they agree or disagree to statements on knowledge and knowing, was administered to a total of 467 students of a university in Thailand, including 257 first-year students and 210 students just finished their undergraduate programs. Through factor analysis, four dimensions were identified: Quick Learning, Fixed Ability, Stable Knowledge, and Simple Knowledge. These four factors represent the four conceptual hypothetical dimensions. However, the structure of some factors was not clear-cut. The items representing three different conceptual dimensions were merged into one of the identified factors. This finding appears to confirm a dimensional structure of the Thai university students’ personal epistemology, as it was previously endorsed by the authors. Yet further investigations are necessary to clarify the nature of these relatively independent dimensions. Significant differences were identified between the first-year students and the students who were to graduate in terms of their personal epistemological development level. The students already completed their undergraduate study were significantly more epistemologically developed than the students who are about to begin their undergraduate study. This tendency of development was only noticeable among the largest categories of the students: those graduated from local Thai high schools and Arts and Business majors. These results suggest that undergraduate education facilitates the development of perspectives toward knowledge and knowing, provided that these two groups of students share similarities in many aspects, at least in this particular educational institution. Considering the aims of the undergraduate education, potential usages of the epistemological survey were also discussed.

Lapanachokdee Warunee, Chulalongkorn University

The three objectives of research are 1) to evaluate the higher educational institutes' external quality reports. (meta-evaluation). 2) to synthesize the meta-evaluation results. (results from objective 1). 3) to develop two composite indicator sets: composite indicator sets of higher educational institutes' quality and composite indicator sets of the quality of higher educational institutes' external quality reports. Source of study is The total 260 reports on external quality evaluation of higher educational institutes which were assessed in the first round and were approved by The Office of the National Education Standards and Quality Assessment. The study will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is the meta-evaluation of external quality reports by evaluating the accordance between external quality evaluation and four main evaluation standards of The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation; utility, feasibility, propriety and accuracy. The second phase is uncertainty and sensitivity analysis to develop two composite indicator sets: composite indicator sets of higher educational institutes' quality and composite indicator sets of the quality of higher educational institutes' external quality reports. The Simlab 2.2 is used to analyze uncertainty and sensitivity to study the sources of composite indicator variance in each step of the composite indicator development. (to answer the objective 3). Now, It is in phase 1 process (meta-evaluation) and will be finished before The First International Conference of Asia-Pacific Education Research Association (APERA 2006).

Bora Bhaskarjyoti, Gauhati University

Das Partha Pratim, Gauhati University

Education in general and Higher Education (HE) in particular are expected to train manpower to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing scenario in a knowledge-dominated and globalised world. Our traditional universities must work hard to introduce qualitative- changes in the teaching, learning and evaluation processes so that HE-systems become student-centric, sensitive and anticipatory. The challenges to traditional universities are coming from many different fronts. Under such circumstances, the possibility of ‘engagement with society as a Core Value of a university ‘ is gaining acceptance. The North Eastern Region of India has a population size of 3.5 crores with more than 200 tribes with different ethnicity, speaking different languages and dialects and having distinct culture, customs and food habits. Gauhati University is the oldest, largest and –the mother university of the region established in 1948. In different laboratories of the University, in addition to research of fundamental nature, various other types of research works are going on. This piece of wring has focused only on some of the problems faced by the higher education system especially herein the Gauhati University. Some Departments of Gauhati University in last couple of years have got a number of projects under SAP, FIST etc. for claiming to be a university with potential for excellence. Gauhati University is getting leased line connectivity under UGC-Info-Net programme for online journals, LAN etc. These will fulfill one of the most important requirement of a modern day university i.e. connectivity. The Gauhati University (GU) Academic Council’s recent approval of 12 new degree programmes and 32 PG diploma/certificate courses for the varsity departments and the colleges affiliated to it is definitely a move a move in the right direction. With all these, Gauhati University has a very bright prospect to be a leader in higher education in the country in a near future.

Smith Richard J M, AUT University

Jesson Joce, The University of Auckland

This paper outlines a critical view of the work and the processes of the Aotearoa/New Zealand Teaching Matters Forum. Documentary analysis is used to critically unpack the ‘official’ documentation and consultation responses to highlight the supposed ‘apolitical’ and democratic education policy process whereby a Government appointed body came to a agreed position to produce a report for Cabinet on Teaching Excellence. The primary objective of the Forum, as set out in its initial Terms of Reference was to provide advice on the setting up of a National Centre on Tertiary Teaching Excellence, however, it was also required to engage with the wider education sector on options for supporting effective teaching and learning. The Forum was established at the end of 2004 as a government appointed body of individuals (rather than representatives) with interest in ‘Teaching Excellence’ and a range of expertise from across the tertiary sector. The Forum, ‘nominally’ independent of Government, was supported by a project team from the MoE, the (TEC), and with some involvement from the NZQA.