The Trouble With Higher Education

Author : Trevor Hussey
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135237522
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Trouble with Higher Education written by Trevor Hussey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-04-04 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Trouble with Higher Education is a powerful and topical critique of the Higher Education system in the UK, with relevance to countries with similar systems. Based on the authors’ experiences that span over 30+ years of fieldwork, the issues discussed focus on the problems facing the principle responsibilities of universities: teaching, learning and research. The first half of the book identifies a number of problems that have followed the growth of mass education. It examines their causes and explains their damaging effects. The second half of the book offers a broad vision and makes a number of practical suggestions for ameliorating the problems and improving higher education. Supported by research, the suggestions include: ways of managing universities; proper inspection; better ways of organising students’ learning; improving teaching and learning; better approaches to assessment, and the proper use of ideas such as learning outcomes. Topics discussed include: Chronic under-funding, the replacement of student grants with loans and the introduction of tuition fees. The growth of managerialism. The emphasis on accountability and decline of trust. The growth of a competitive, market ethos. Modular degrees, knowledge treated as a commodity and students seen as customers. The drift towards a two-tiered system, with teaching colleges and research universities. Casualisation of the academic profession. The Trouble with Higher Education is aimed primarily at a professional audience of academics, educationalists, managers, administrators and policy makers, but would interest anyone concerned about higher education. It is suited to professional development courses, and Master’s and doctoral level studies.

Author : Jason Brennan
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190846305
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.05/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Cracks in the Ivory Tower written by Jason Brennan and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Academics extol high-minded ideals, such as serving the common good and promoting social justice. Universities aim to be centers of learning that find the best and brightest students, treat them fairly, and equip them with the knowledge they need to lead better lives. But as Jason Brennan and Phillip Magness show in Cracks in the Ivory Tower, American universities fall far short of this ideal. At almost every level, they find that students, professors, and administrators are guided by self-interest rather than ethical concerns. College bureaucratic structures also often incentivize and reward bad behavior, while disincentivizing and even punishing good behavior. Most students, faculty, and administrators are out to serve themselves and pass their costs onto others. The problems are deep and pervasive: most academic marketing and advertising is semi-fraudulent. To justify their own pay raises and higher budgets, administrators hire expensive and unnecessary staff. Faculty exploit students for tuition dollars through gen-ed requirements. Students hardly learn anything and cheating is pervasive. At every level, academics disguise their pursuit of self-interest with high-faluting moral language. Marshaling an array of data, Brennan and Magness expose many of the ethical failings of academia and in turn reshape our understanding of how such high power institutions run their business. Everyone knows academia is dysfunctional. Brennan and Magness show the problems are worse than anyone realized. Academics have only themselves to blame.

Author : John R. Thelin
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000787621
Total Pages : 535 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Higher Education written by John R. Thelin and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-13 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The latest book in the Core Concepts in Higher Education series brings to life issues of governance, organization, teaching and learning, student life, faculty, finances, college sports, public policy, fundraising and innovations in higher education today. Written by renowned author John R. Thelin, each chapter bridges research, theory and practice and discusses a range of institutions – including the often overlooked for-profits, community colleges and minority serving institutions. In the book’s second edition, Thelin analyzes growing trends in American higher education over the last five years, shedding light on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. He covers reconsideration of the rights of student-athletes, provides fresh analysis of the brick-and-mortar campus, and includes a new chapter exploring school admissions, recruitment and retention. Rich end-of-chapter "Additional Readings" and "Questions for Discussion" help engage students in critical thinking. A blend of stories and analysis, this book challenges present and future higher education practitioners to be informed and active participants, capable of improving their institutions.

Author : Ryan Craig
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 1137279699
Total Pages : 254 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book College Disrupted written by Ryan Craig and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-03-10 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cites the growing prevalence of online courses, "unbundled" programs and education that is disconnected from sports and other previously valued university qualities to profile revolutionary changes occurring in higher education today.

Author : Bryan Caplan
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691201439
Total Pages : 551 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Case against Education written by Bryan Caplan and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-20 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why we need to stop wasting public funds on education Despite being immensely popular—and immensely lucrative—education is grossly overrated. Now with a new afterword by Bryan Caplan, this explosive book argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skills but to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As only to forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for average workers, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy. Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense—The Case against Education points the way.

Author : John M. Ellis
Publisher : Encounter Books
ISBN 13 : 1641772158
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Breakdown of Higher Education written by John M. Ellis and published by Encounter Books. This book was released on 2021-08-10 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of near-riots on campuses aimed at silencing guest speakers has exposed the fact that our universities are no longer devoted to the free exchange of ideas in pursuit of truth. But this hostility to free speech is only a symptom of a deeper problem, writes John Ellis. Having watched the deterioration of academia up close for the past fifty years, Ellis locates the core of the problem in a change in the composition of the faculty during this time, from mildly left-leaning to almost exclusively leftist. He explains how astonishing historical luck led to the success of a plan first devised by a small group of activists to use college campuses to promote radical politics, and why laws and regulations designed to prevent the politicizing of higher education proved insufficient. Ellis shows that political motivation is always destructive of higher learning. Even science and technology departments are not immune. The corruption of universities by radical politics also does wider damage: to primary and secondary education, to race relations, to preparation for the workplace, and to the political and social fabric of the nation. Commonly suggested remedies—new free-speech rules, or enforced right-of-center appointments—will fail because they don’t touch the core problem, a controlling faculty majority of political activists with no real interest in scholarship. This book proposes more drastic and effective reform measures. The first step is for Americans to recognize that vast sums of public money intended for education are being diverted to a political agenda, and to demand that this fraud be stopped.

Author : Marybeth Gasman
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429796099
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Contemporary Issues in Higher Education written by Marybeth Gasman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-12 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The latest text in the Core Concepts in Higher Education series, this volume speaks to the complex dimensions that higher education scholars and educators need to understand about the shifting role of postsecondary education in the United States. Chapter authors clarify current issues affecting the field, and offer fresh perspectives articulating how policy, demographic, and institutional changes influence the everyday practices of those who work in higher education. This book explores macro perspectives affecting institutional decision-making and processes as well as students’ perspectives on campus—from colleges’ credentialing procedures to the current demographic changes in students’ enrollments, to students’ social identities. Guiding questions at the end of each chapter offer readers an opportunity to frame discussions in which they can engage and invite readers to consider avenues for future research and exploration. This is a valuable resource for graduate students, administrators, and researchers who seek to understand and improve the policies and contexts of higher education today.

Author : Wendy Fischman
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262547260
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Real World of College written by Wendy Fischman and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-08-01 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why higher education in the United States has lost its way, and how universities and colleges can focus sharply on their core mission. For The Real World of College, Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner analyzed in-depth interviews with more than 2,000 students, alumni, faculty, administrators, parents, trustees, and others, which were conducted at ten institutions ranging from highly selective liberal arts colleges to less-selective state schools. What they found challenged characterizations in the media: students are not preoccupied by political correctness, free speech, or even the cost of college. They are most concerned about their GPA and their resumes; they see jobs and earning potential as more important than learning. Many say they face mental health challenges, fear that they don’t belong, and feel a deep sense of alienation. Given this daily reality for students, has higher education lost its way? Fischman and Gardner contend that US universities and colleges must focus sharply on their core educational mission. Fischman and Gardner, both recognized authorities on education and learning, argue that higher education in the United States has lost sight of its principal reason for existing: not vocational training, not the provision of campus amenities, but to increase what Fischman and Gardner call “higher education capital”—to help students think well and broadly, express themselves clearly, explore new areas, and be open to possible transformations. Fischman and Gardner offer cogent recommendations for how every college can become a community of learners who are open to change as thinkers, citizens, and human beings.

Author : George M. Robinson
Publisher : iUniverse
ISBN 13 : 0595365922
Total Pages : 125 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ethical Problems in Higher Education written by George M. Robinson and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2005 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ivory Tower Myth suggests that the world of higher education has no moral problems. Unlike ethical conflicts in business, politics and medicine, ethical problems in higher education receive little publicity. But devotion to the pursuit of knowledge does not ensure ethical behavior. Power, competition, pressure and lust for recognition create moral conflicts. Some are unique to higher education but many are common to the world off-campus. This book uses ethical theories as a tool to analyze real examples from our colleges and universities. Topics include: academic freedom, plagiarism, cheating, research fraud, equal opportunity, evaluation, tenure, student-faculty relationships.

Author : Harry Brighouse
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022625948X
Total Pages : 181 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Aims of Higher Education written by Harry Brighouse and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-05-04 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book features a group of top-notch philosophers tackling some of the biggest questions in higher education: What role should the liberal arts have in a college education? Should colleges orient themselves to the educational demands of the business sector? What is the role of highly selective colleges in the public sphere? To what extent should they be subsidized directly, or indirectly, by the public? Should they simply teach students skills and academic knowledge, or should they play a role in shaping character, and if so to what end? Should highly selective colleges admissions practices give an edge to racial minorities, or legacies, or poor students? How much should the public purse subsidize disadvantaged students attending such institutions? These questions are fundamentally about moral and political valuesquestions of distributive justice and of what constitutes valuable education. Philosophers are trained to identify value considerations in great detailindeed, often with more precision than is ever needed for practical purposes!but most disagreements about policy and practice proceed with minimal attention to the values assumed on either side, and all sides can benefit from more clarity about exactly what moral values are at play. The philosophers here, then, address some of the fundamental questions underlying debates about higher educationand in ways that are interesting and accessible to others."