Teaching, learning, and research in higher education · Oana Maria Carciu (University of Zaragoza, Spain) Laura-Mihaela Muresan (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)

Teaching, learning, and research in higher education

Faculty views on opportunities and challenges forinternationalization

Oana Maria Carciu (University of Zaragoza, Spain)Laura-Mihaela Muresan (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)

Supported by the “EDURES” Master Programme of the Bucharest University of Economic Studiesand Project FFI2015-68638-R MINECO/FEDER, EU Ecologies of genres and ecologies of languages: the dynamics of local, transnational and international scientific communication

AESLA 2018, Cádiz, 19-21 April

Outline

• Contextualisation of the study

• The case study: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

• Methodology

• Findings: academics’ perceptions of internationalisation, enabling andhindering factors, key participants’ roles and responsibilities

• Concluding remarks

• Further research


The context of the study

• Research partnership: GLE project

University of Zaragoza Bucharest University of Economic Studies


different highereducation

institutions

values of internationalization

internationalizationpolicies, language

planning & language education

for academics

The context of the study

• Themes in research on internationalization from 1980 to 2014 (Yemini & Sagie, 2016)

• European Higher Education Area (EHEA)• teaching, learning, and research priorities in education policy (Sin, 2015) →

success of reforms


English as a lingua

franca 12.05%

multicultural

issues 11.86%

ICT/online learning

9.95%

lifelong/adult

learning 7.68%

student mobility

11.84%

competition 9.78%internationalization

policies 9.69%

internationalization

abroad 9.77%

quality assurance

8.17%

internationalization

at home 9.14%

The case: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies


Research questions

Q1: What are the academics’ perceptions of internationalization?

Q2: What enabling factors? And hindering factors?

Q3: Faculty - key actors or agents?


Methodology

Qualitative single-case study


CASE

semi-structured interviews

What is an international campus?

Data

collection &

triangulation

(dependability)Unit of

analysis

English-medium teaching

programmes

institutional strategic plan

The Bucharest

University of

Economic Studies

opportunistic

convenience

sampling

“thick

description”

(Duff, 2008)

triangulation of themes between

study authors

10 participants

recorded & transcribed interviews

Methodology

ATLAS.ti 8.2.0


Findings

Q1: What are the academics’ perceptions of internationalization?

• teacher & student mobility

• research stays (documentation visits & exchange of best practice)

• participation in joint research projects

• dual degree programmes

• SWOT: internationalization activities aimed at the whole studentbody, not only those who are mobile (Beelen & Jones, 2015: 12)


Findings

Factors influencing internationalization - the academics' view

• Teaching and learning dimension• a rise in English-medium instruction programmes

• multilingual pedagogy, not English only

BUT

• reserved perception of faculty with reference to the need for internationalization of the curricula

• lack of linguistic and academic study skills competences of incoming students → low standards


FindingsFactors influencing internationalization

• Mobility of staff• individual-level initiated partnerships

• capitalized on both for the teaching and research

BUT

• decentralised and incoherent recruiting of students and international faculty, no clear direction

• ensuring funding, tedious administrative procedures

• oganisational mechanisms to structure the involvement of facultyand administrators throughout the institution are critical to thedevelopment of internationalization (Childress, 2009)


Findings

Factors influencing internationalization

• Faculty professional development• the only university in Romania that organizes a masters programme for the

development of teaching and research skills in English (EDURES)

BUT

• need for continuous professional development: short-term workshops toimprove skill in research methods & writing scientific articles in English


Findings

Factors influencing internationalization

• Research dimension• international partnerships

• research centres

BUT

• funding

• ensuring access to specialized literature

• international visibility of published research

• integration of research centres into international networks


Findings


• Faculty

• “key participants” (Dewey & Duff, 2009)

• “have authority over the focus of their curricula, research, and service, thedevelopment of a critical mass of faculty supporters throughout an institutionenables an international dimension to be infused into an institution’s ethos and activities” (Childress, 2009: 16)


Findings


• Faculty• the process of internationalization is bottom-up, stimulated by the

involvement of faculty in internationalization activities

• their main contribution as agents is developing interdisciplinary collaboration

• critical question for internationalization: a strategic plan is necessary not onlyto sustain and encourage them, but also help faculty understand HOW theycan participate as key actors


Conclusions

• participants acknowledge the importance of the institution’sinternationalisation activity

• the respondents view this activity as closely related to student activities and staffing practices

• the teaching and research activity of the academic staff is perceived as a relevant vehicle for internationalization


Further research

• replication: various cultures and education systems

• follow-up after the adoption of the internationalization strategic plan


References

Childress, L. (2009). “Internationalization plans for higher education institutions”. Journal of Studies inInternational Education 13(3): 289-309.Bardi M. & L.-M. Muresan (2014). “Changing research writing practices in Romania: Perceptions andattitudes” in K. Bennett (ed.), The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137351197_8Duff, P. (2008). Case study research in applied linguistics. New York and London: Routledge.Muresan, L.-M. & C. Pérez-Llantada (2014). “English for research publication and dissemination in bi-/multiliterate environments: The case of Romanian academics”. Journal of English for AcademicPurposes 13: 53-64. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2013.10.009Sin, C. (2015). “Teaching and learning: A journey from the margins to the core in European highereducation policy” in A. Curaj, L. Matei, R. Pricopie, J. Salmi & P. Scott, (eds.), The European HigherEducation Area, 325-341. Springer.Yemini, M. & N. Sagie (2016). “Research on internationalization in higher education – exploratoryanalysis”. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603108.2015.1062057


Acknowledgements

We thank the academics at The Bucharest University of Economic Studies fortheir interest and willingness to take part in this study.

O.M. Carciu thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness andthe European Social Fund for their financial support to the project Ecologies ofgenres and ecologies of languages: the dynamics of local, transnational andinternational scientific communication (project code FFI2015-68638-RMINECO/FEDER, EU). genresandlanguages.org


http://www.edures.ase.ro/

Documents

Teaching, learning, and research in higher education · Oana Maria Carciu (University of Zaragoza, Spain) Laura-Mihaela Muresan (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania)