Disabilities and neurodiversity are dominantly understood as something that challenges higher education rather than something that enriches it: ableist underpinnings characterize higher education despite policies of widened access. While earlier research has explored ideas such as 'inclusive pedagogies' and 'pedagogies of belonging', these…

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts in higher education are decades old, yet progress continues to be slow and elusive for many campuses. Recent events in colleges and universities across the United States suggest that long-standing challenges related to access, equity and inclusion remain as entrenched and intractable as they have ever…

The concept of student engagement has become somewhat of an enigma for educators and researchers, with ongoing discussions about its nature and complexity, and criticism about the depth and breadth of theorising and operationalisation within empirical research. This equally applies to research conducted in the field of educational technology and…

In this study, we interviewed victims of bias incidents and members of a bias response team to investigate the process the team used to respond to incidents. Incidents included acts of sexism, homophobia, and racism on a large, predominantly White research university in the Midwest. Data were analyzed using a 4-stage coding process. The emergent…

This paper sets out to examine the situated nature of graduate attributes through using activity systems theory to explore their contextual nature. It builds on earlier work into graduate attributes by examining the reasons behind the significant variation in their interpretation, thus providing an analysis of the contextual nature of teaching and…

There are two sides to a coin when it comes to implementing technology at universities; on one side, there is the university using technologies via the virtual learning environment that seems to be outdated with the digital needs of the students, and on the other side, while implementing technology at the university learning environment the focus…

An internal assessment was conducted utilizing a sociotechnical systems approach and cultural lens as a means of exploring the dynamics of a blended doctoral program. Blended learning environments were conceived of as sociotechnical systems, and blended programs were defined as programs that utilize multimodal means for the mediation of…

The vision of academic and business leaders often sets a pattern for all activities to follow. Organizational objectives, tasks, performance, and uses of resources are needed to obtain and reach current and future society trends influencing organizational goals. This paper identifies 5 steps leaders need to create a systems approach toward…

While most organizations react to economic downturns by downsizing and cutting training and educational "costs," a few others thrive under adversity by engaging in innovative practices supported by extensive and creative uses of educational technology. This article examines how diverse organizations benefit from the cycles of "creative…

In 2007, the author examined existing academic libraries in the United States to determine best practices for the design, implementation and service of learning commons facilities. A primary objective of this study was to discover how to create a higher education learning environment that sustains scholarship, encourages collaboration and empowers…

Describes an organizational learning course based on transformative learning theory that illustrates approaches to developing constructive learning environments, enhancing team learning, examining mental models, supporting systems thinking, and achieving personal mastery. (SK)

Some of the psychological parameters of a student's educational environment which relate causally to the phenomenon of test anxiety are explored, as are the relationships of all of these factors to the student's academic performance. The study was based upon a person-environment concept of academic behavior. Particular interest centered upon the…

Technology and educational changes force educational systems to modify their infrastructure to offer new teaching services to the learning community. The aim of this research paper is to present an infrastructure from a broader systems perspective that helps educators understand the relationship between a Web educational system and its…

This digest reviews what instructional designers do, describes knowledge management, and indicates how knowledge management is influencing instructional design. The first section defines instructional design (ID) and briefly describes the ID process. The second section covers knowledge management (KM), including definitions of KM and systems,…

A model of higher education learning and teaching based on systems theory, in which all parts of the teaching-learning context are seen as seeking equilibrium, is proposed. The task of the teacher is seen as achieving good teaching practices that are workable within the existing matrix of systems and subsystems. (Author/MSE)