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"De Wit, Kurt"
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Brand Communication of Higher Education Institutions: a Call for Multichannel Communication Analysis in Higher Education Branding Research
Research on branding is an established sub-discipline in the higher education literature. However, studies in this field have somehow produced contradictory results: some studies point at isomorphism, others find differentiation. Our study wants to offer a possible explanation for this paradox, by proposing a more nuanced view on brand communication. Based on a multiple case study of three Flemish universities, our results mainly point at isomorphism in communication channels with a general focus that are addressed towards a broad audience. In specific communication channels, targeted towards specific stakeholders, we identify high levels of differentiation. We discuss these findings against the background of the strategic ambiguity perspective on communication in complex stakeholder environments.
Journal Article
Higher education system reform
The Bologna Declaration started the development of the European Higher Education Area. The ensuing Bologna Process has run for already 20 years now. In the meantime many higher education systems in Europe have been reformed - some more drastically than others; some quicker than others; some with more resistance than others. In the process of reform the initial (six) goals have sometimes been forgotten or sometimes been taken a step further. The context too has shifted: while the European Union in itself has expanded, the voice for exit has also been heard more frequently. Higher Education System Reform: An international comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna critically describes and analyses 12 Higher Education Systems from the perspective of four major questions: What is currently the situation with regard to the six original goals of Bologna? What was the adopted path of reform? Which were the triggering (economic, social, political) factors for the reform in each specific country? What was the rationale/discourse used during the reform? The book comparatively analyses the different systems, their paths of reforms and trajectories, and the similarities and the differences between them. At the same time it critically assesses the current situation on higher education in Europe, and hints towards a future policy agenda. (Verlag).
eBook
What Europe wanted and what Flanders achieved
The Flemish government used the Bologna Process as a window of opportunity to implement thorough changes in the higher education system. From the academic year 2004-2005 onwards, the question arises what the actual effects of the policy changes have been and whether these effects are still in line with the initial goals of the Bologna Process. In order to assess the possible divergence between the intentions of Bologna and the results of this process, we applied Pettigrew's model (1987; Pettigrew et al., 1992) of organizational change to developments in Higher Education (HE) in Flanders. In a broad sense, Flanders has, together with other European countries, met the intended goals. When we focus on the details, gaps become apparent between the intended policy goals and the results at the system level. Flanders has been quick to adopt the Bologna goals, but has also been quick in adapting them. On the basis of the Flemish case, we conclude more in general that the Bologna Process has been broadened in scope in the course of its existence, partly based on an overly optimistic assessment of reaching the intended results. It might be time to refocus the process on a more limited number of goals, in order to leave room for every HE system to catch up with the original goals and to avoid a further deviation towards alternate results that might no longer be in line with was intended initially. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).
Journal Article
Artificial intelligence supported patient self-care in chronic heart failure: a paradigm shift from reactive to predictive, preventive and personalised care
Heart failure (HF) is one of the most complex chronic disorders with high prevalence, mainly due to the ageing population and better treatment of underlying diseases. Prevalence will continue to rise and is estimated to reach 3% of the population in Western countries by 2025. It is the most important cause of hospitalisation in subjects aged 65 years or more, resulting in high costs and major social impact. The current “one-size-fits-all” approach in the treatment of HF does not result in best outcome for all patients. These facts are an imminent threat to good quality management of patients with HF. An unorthodox approach from a new vision on care is required. We propose a novel predictive, preventive and personalised medicine approach where patients are truly leading their management, supported by an easily accessible online application that takes advantage of artificial intelligence. This strategy paper describes the needs in HF care, the needed paradigm shift and the elements that are required to achieve this shift. Through the inspiring collaboration of clinical and high-tech partners from North-West Europe combining state of the art HF care, artificial intelligence, serious gaming and patient coaching, a virtual doctor is being created. The results are expected to advance and personalise self-care, where standard care tasks are performed by the patients themselves, in principle without involvement of healthcare professionals, the latter being able to focus on complex conditions. This new vision on care will significantly reduce costs per patient while improving outcomes to enable long-term sustainability of top-level HF care.
Journal Article
The consequences of European integration for higher education
Higher education in Europe faces many challenges. This article focuses on the growth of the European Union and the subsequent pressure on the nation-states. It describes the higher education policy of the European Union, points to its complexity, and tries to gain insight into this complexity by viewing the EU as a whole of interrelated networks, that are asymmetrical in nature but are also, to a certain extent, characterized by stability. The role of the nation-state is defined as that of partner in the network instead of the major actor in higher education's environment. The article points to the consequences of this European construction for higher education in Europe and for higher education research.
Journal Article
ICT learning experience and research orientation as predictors of ICT skills and the ICT use of university students
Since our first studies of information and communications technology (ICT) skills and ICT use at universities in 2004, ICT and its use by students has changed greatly. In order to obtain a more detailed picture of ICT skills, we first construct a new instrument to measure the self-perception of ICT skills (49 items) and of ICT use (53 items) by students. This allows us to find some patterns for ICT skills and ICT use. In order to explain these patterns, two basic hypotheses are formulated. The first suggests that positive ICT learning experiences at home, in school, and with peers could contribute to mastering a higher level of ICT skills and more frequent use of ICT among bachelor’s students, a hypothesis that aligns with Dewey’s learning theory. The second hypothesis suggests that there is a similarity between the characteristics of information systems and scientific research, and that students who identify more with scientific research would be more likely to have greater ICT skills and a higher frequency of ICT use. Both hypotheses are tested among bachelor’s students, using some important contextual variables (gender, domain of study, ICT course in secondary school or at university, and education level of parents). It can be concluded that there is a relationship between the ICT learning experience and the research-oriented identity commitment of bachelor’s students on the one hand, and their command of ICT skills and the frequency of use of computers, ICT instruments, and ICT programs on the other.
Journal Article
Change in study programmes
Both in the Netherlands and Flanders, the lack of efficiency in the supply of programmes in the university sectors was considered a policy problem in the late 1980s and beginning of the 1990s. This article explores how the institutional context of the university sector (including the governmental steering model and the conflicting interests regarding the programme supply) played a role in the responses regarding the programme supply of four universities in the two higher education systems. The cases show that the institutional context provided mixed incentives, leading to both predictable and unpredictable responses. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).
Journal Article
Exploring the Self-Reported ICT Skill Levels of Undergraduate Science Students
Computers have taken an important place in the training of science students and in the professional life of scientists. It is often taken for granted that most students have mastered basic Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) skills; however, it has been shown that not all students are equally proficient in this regard. Starting from theories of socialization and technology acceptance we report how we constructed a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the variance in the basic ICT skill levels of science students. We also present the results of a test of this model with university bachelor’s science students. Basic ICT skills were measured using a new, elaborate instrument allowing students to rate their skills in detail. Our results show that science students score high on basic ICT skills and that our SEM explains a large part of the variation in the ICT skill levels of these students. The most explanatory power is coming from four variables: the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness of a personal computer, the anxiety for using a personal computer, and students’ belief that ICT is necessary for scientific research.
Journal Article
First year university students’ self-perception of ICT skills: Do learning styles matter?
Do ICT skills of freshmen change in 6 months at the university? What is the contribution of learning styles (or patterns) to the explanation of the variance in self-perceived ICT skills and the possible change in these skills? And what is the contribution of learning styles and of gender, social class, and ICT course attendance to the explanation of the variance in these skills? To answer these questions, data were collected in a panel research project that recruited 714 freshmen at a large Belgian university. The data show that the ability of the students to maintain a computer and to develop a website improves at the university but not the ability to use the Internet or to apply basic ICT skills. The analyses show that there is a link, albeit weak, between learning styles and self-perceived ICT skills. Learning styles can partially explain differences between groups of students with different characteristics. The data show that having a certain learning style might influence the perception of students of their ICT skill, but learning styles do not allow one to predict the change in the self-perceived ICT skills of the students.
Journal Article