Publikationen

The subject of this study is the analysis of the websites of 20 U.S. universities that contain information and support services to enable accessible, digital teaching. The goal of the analysis is first of all a detailed description of the content of these information portals, which focuses in particular on the aspects of organizational anchoring, addressee orientation, and content design, as well as on identifying good practice. The findings are then discussed with a view to their possible transferability to the German higher education system. If a transfer to the German higher education system makes sense and is possible, corresponding recommendations will be formulated.

The EUROSTUDENT VII – Synopsis of Indicators is the central publication of the EUROSTUDENT project and the result of the collaboration of a European-wide network. It comprises data from student surveys conducted in 25 countries in the European Higher Education Area during the seventh round of the EUROSTUDENT project. Adopting a broad, comparative perspective, the EUROSTUDENT VII – Synopsis of Indicators provides information on students’ socio-economic and study-related backgrounds, their study conditions and experiences, including international mobility, and their living conditions. It aims to inspire policy debates on the topic of the social dimension and lay the ground for further research.

We found that (a) student evaluation of teaching (SET) is present cross-nationally; (b) SET was initiated in the US during the 1950s by students and adopted in the 1970s by universities, while German and Colombian universities started implementing SET during the 2000s; and that (c) common cultural elements for adopting SET include increasing accountability, competition and student empowerment. Concerns for academic freedom in Germany and faculty diversity in the US influence SET’s diffusion and implementation. Our findings test the neo-institutional proposition about the diffusion of similar evaluation practices into university teaching and allows extending theoretical interpretations of the transfer of evaluation practices.

The article examines the development of university governance in Germany after 1945, distinguishing between the ordinariate and the group university as well as the university under the paradigm of the new governance model as stages of development. As a supplement to the classical periodization for West Germany, important aspects of the development of higher education in the GDR are addressed. The study is guided by the governance approach with its distinction of five central governance mechanisms based on the so-called "governance equalizer" (Schimank). The article concludes with an outlook on currently discussed perspectives of higher education development in Germany.