The continued importance of university rankings has only served to fuel the growth of the "world-class" university movement. There is a growing impression that, in a globalised and interconnected world, no country can do without a world-class university. No country, that is, except Brazil. While Brazil has the resources necessary to…

Much of the current literature related to Open Educational Resource (OER) development and practice concentrates on higher education, although a growing body of work is also emerging for the primary and secondary school sectors. This article examines the user perspectives of teachers and teacher educators, regarding: discovery of teaching…

In the academic environment the reputation is linked to research performance. However, the questions "what reputation actually is, how it is formed and which are the best ways to measure it?" still remain and they raise tension and confusion between academics. The evaluation methods tend to over emphasise research and fail to address the…

Quality assurance in the area of higher education has become a central issue among both politicians and scientists. University evaluations which refer to both research and teaching are an important element of quality assurance. The present contribution starts out by determining the different components of quality at universities according to…

Since its independence in 1965, Singapore has adopted a developmental state orientation and has placed a strong emphasis on education to meet its socio-economic development needs. In line with its aspirations to be a regional education hub, the Singapore higher education system hosts a number of prestigious institutions and international…

This article assesses the status and practice of higher education quality assurance in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on degree-granting tertiary institutions. A main finding is that structured national-level quality assurance processes in African higher education are a very recent phenomenon and that most countries face major capacity constraints.…

Modern Australia evolved from separate colonies, which came together as a federation a century ago. The balance of state/federal responsibilities is relevant to most aspects of Australian life. This includes higher education, where universities are largely state owned but federally funded (with government funding declining), while the other higher…

Automated assessment is an emerging innovation in educational praxis, however its pedagogical potential is not fully utilised in Australia, particularly regarding automated essay grading. The rationale for this research is that the usage of automated assessment currently lags behind the capacity that the technology provides, thus restricting the…

In recent years, Bahrain has taken serious actions to diversify its sources of income and solve major national problems such as unemployment. Through this process it discovered that one of the main factors for its economic problems was the quality of higher education on offer. This led to the creation of a national Quality Assurance Authority that…

This article inquires into the "calculative practices" that are used to regulate quality in higher education. After providing a historical snapshot of the antecedents of quality regimes, I discuss university ranking systems (league tables) and the UK's Research Assessment Exercise. I ask two questions: first, what do the visibilities of…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to ascertain students' perceptions on quality of services provided by private universities in Thailand and Japan and how these affected decisions selecting a university. A comparative study aims to focus on how cultural and economic factors affected their decisions. Design/methodology/approach: Research design…

No doubt there are detractors who cringe at the prospect of connecting the term customer service with an institution of higher education. Some may consider the term demeaning. However, given the college funding crisis and current economic climate, a quality customer service strategy is a prudent adjunct to any marketing activity undertaken. It is…