The Academic Reading Format International Study (ARFIS) collected data from more than 21,000 university students in 33 countries regarding their reading format (print or electronic) preferences and behaviors when engaging with academic texts during a three-year period. Quantitative analysis shows a consistent preference for print reading among…

Purpose: This research reveals how a virtual exchange (VE) can foster transnational collaboration in higher education, assist students acquire key learning outcomes and raise awareness regarding the complexities affecting development policy and sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach:…

This paper discusses the effects of large-scale studies, including international comparative studies and national studies using nationally representative samples, on policy making and practices pertinent to mathematics education in Taiwan, through the lens of Taiwanese societal and cultural characteristics. Taiwan has been through several…

The impact of the PISA study on Polish education policy has been significant, but probably different from any other country. Poland has not experienced the so-called "PISA shock," but its education system has been benefiting considerably from PISA. For experts and policy makers, it has been a useful and reliable instrument that has made…

Numerous microeconomic studies demonstrate the significant individual returns to tertiary education; however, little empirical evidence exists regarding the effects of higher education massification and diversification agendas on long-term macroeconomic growth. The researchers used the Uzawa-Lucas endogenous growth model to tertiary education…

The article discusses comparative organizational studies, focusing on change in higher education institutions, and in particular (but not only) on studies that compare organizations in different national settings. It first presents and discusses different approaches to comparison based on a couple of typologies that have been developed to identify…

The digital revolution and automation are accelerating changes in the labour market and in workplace skills, changes that are further affected by fluctuations in international and regional economic cycles and employment opportunity. These factors pose a universal policy challenge for all advanced economies and governments. In the workplace, people…

This article examines a case of what Olssen et al. (2004) call "managerial oppression" set in a faculty of international studies of a Japanese university. Japanese universities have, in recent times, been facing the financial pressures of a falling birthrate and dwindling enrolments. To remain solvent, some universities have had to…

Higher education had a predominant national and institutional focus for a long time. In Europe, supra-national political activities played a major role for increasing the interest in comparative research. Comparative perspectives are important in order to deconstruct the often national perspective of causal reasoning, for proving benchmarks, for…

During recent decades, the rise of the global economy launched a wide array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world. Heightened concern about the quality of schools launched what is arguably the most pervasive, intense, and protracted attempts at educational reform in recent history. Examinations of the…

Comparative and international studies of education that focus on policy borrowing and transfer must be expanded to account for aspects of what Terence Halliday and Bruce Carruthers call "global norm-making." Such an approach examines how global policies are refracted within divergent but interrelated sociopolitical and economic contexts,…

A national qualifications framework (NQF) is an instrument used to classify a country's qualifications at different levels. Each level is defined by a set of learning outcomes expected at that level. NQFs can be useful tools in education and training reforms and are vital reference points for lifelong learning and comparing qualifications across…

The Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program provides funds to institutions of higher education, a consortia of such institutions, or partnerships between nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education to plan, develop, and implement programs that strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in…

International large-scale assessments (ILSAs) play a distinct role in the United States' decentralized federal education system. Separate from national and state assessments, they offer an external, objective measure for the United States to assess student performance comparatively with other countries and over time. The US engagement in ILSAs…

National curricula need to change drastically to comply with the competences needed for the 21st century. In this paper eight frameworks describing 21st century competences were analysed. A comprehensive search for information about 21st century competences was conducted across the official websites of the selected frameworks, resulting in 32…