This paper provides a qualitative review of research related to sexual harassment interventions employed in institutions of higher education (IHEs) and introduces a needs assessment process that IHE administrators can use to inform their choice of intervention. Additionally, this paper provides direction regarding how to assess the impact of…

Colleges and universities depend upon external approvals from accreditors, government agencies, and national organizations. These approvals require periodic review of institution-prepared reports and self-studies documenting the continued validity of offered degrees and programs, student support and success, institutional effectiveness, and…

High-stakes examinations enjoy widespread use as summative assessments in higher education. We review the arguments for and against their use, across seven common themes: memory recall and knowledge retention; student motivation and learning; authenticity and real-world relevance; validity and reliability; academic misconduct and contract…

University participation gaps between free school meals (FSM) and non-FSM students have remained largely stable in the UK since 2006. The efficacy of UK widening participation (WP) interventions in changing attitudes towards university and increasing participation of disadvantaged students is uncertain. Some approaches have shown to be effective…

It is widely acknowledged that graduates need to develop skills and competences beyond the theoretical knowledge nurtured within higher education curricula. In the last twenty years there has been an increased interest in supporting learners with work-based learning (WBL) (e.g. apprenticeships, practice-based lab sessions, project-based learning).…

A method called multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUA) provides a decision-making framework that facilitates comparative analysis of multiple real-world decision alternatives with unique complex attributes. Utility analysis as a measure of effectiveness has been minimally used by educational researchers to date, despite clear relevance in complex…

Accreditation systems in higher education are widespread both in the USA and in Europe. However, numerous reservations have appeared in the literature about whether these systems can comprehend and represent the quality of university courses. This study sets out to contribute to this debate by discussing whether the results of the recent…

Digital and social media have grown exponentially to become highly influential spheres of public communication -- increasingly crowded, contested, and corrupted, and increasingly in need of scholarly engagement. Alternative metrics ('altmetrics') that are generated from social and digital media platforms have become more important as indicators of…

The UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) introduced impact as an indicator in the evaluation of higher education research quality in 2014. Impact case studies (ICS) are the basis of this evaluation. ICS use "narrative" explanations of how research causes 'benefits to society'. This article analyses the evolving roles of the ICS and the…

Institutional researchers are often tasked with assessing why college-wide initiatives succeed or fail. This can be a difficult task: researchers need to discriminate between multiple feasible explanations, work with limited data, and produce compelling narratives. Process tracing is a qualitative methodology that enables researchers to make valid…

Education has moved higher up on the policy agenda and serving the public good has acquired new meanings. This entails demands to provide policy and market with instruments to enable evidence-based or at least evidence-informed choices in a so-called competitive global knowledge economy. This has, not surprisingly, led to a struggle about…

This article provides a look at the various levels within the Cooperative Extension System and the use of evidence within these levels. The authors examine the factors associated with credible evidence and the various levels. The impact of factors such as politics, science, stakeholder support, and expectations are discussed. The various levels…

In the 21st century, when the knowledge-based economy is steering improvement and development, STEM education has gained increasing momentum and importance. This study aims to identify the current trends in STEM education, and also explores and identifies research trends and patterns in articles published between 2014 and 2016 on STEM education…

Through this paper, we explore "unbundling," the separation of various aspects of education, resources, teaching and assessment (Ossiannilsson et al., 2015) and "rebundling," where these activities are "recombined into new configurations with little loss of functionality" (Ge et al., 2004, p. 1). We chart the…

Europe's knowledge economies need high-level skills, the capacity to innovate and to support democratic societies. In this perspective, the main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevance of higher education and how this is promoted in various countries in Europe and beyond. The evidence, conclusions and…