Developing Learning Environments: Creativity, Motivation and Collaboration in Higher Education

Prologue: A focus on learning as universities change

Prologue:฀A฀focus฀on฀learning฀as฀ universities฀change฀ - Ora Kwo, Tim Moore and JohnJones This prologue ha s tw o aims. First, i t addresses critica l challenge s fo r university renewal, and the centrality of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Second, it sketches issues in Hong Kong's higher education . The prologue provides a context fo r th e selected contributions . CRITICAL฀CHALLENGES฀FOR฀UNIVERSITY฀RENEWAL฀ The notion that universities are now positioned in a context of complex and multi-dimensional changes has been well documented and rehearsed. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD ) has succinctl y summarize d th e tren d a s globalization , regiona l integration, fragmentation, specializatio n and marginalization o f higher education institutions and the redesign of their programmes and mode s of teaching an d learning (OEC D 1993 ; OECD 1999) . In the vortex of change, universities have been described a s changing fro m a focus o n 'an institution o f society to an institution i n society' (Schulle r 1997) . 2฀Ora ฀Kwo,฀Tim฀Moore฀and฀John฀Jones฀ Discourses on how universities should respond to the challenges of the 21st century are many, ranging from institutional renewal to modellin g universities afte r industria l enterprises . Of course, each discourse ha s its ideological support and deep-seated values. Outlined her e are some converging trend s tha t constitut e a critica l agend a fo r adaptin g universities to contemporary challenges . Accountability฀within฀resource฀constraints฀ Increasing demands are placed on universities from a wider diversity of interested parties, as there are pressures for the broadening of missions to satisf y ne w demand s fro m commerce , industry , governmen t an d society. Essentially, universities have to be more proactive and responsive to changin g environments . Thi s include s assistin g i n economi c development. At the same time, such pressures need to be resisted to a certain extent : universities should not let their mission statements sli p into crud e an d intellectually-impoverished 'productio n o f manpower ' formulations, t o the exclusio n o f other legitimat e socia l and cultura l demands. These matters require scrutiny by all concerned, and not least by universities themselves . Most universitie s world-wid e receiv e substantia l fund s throug h public subsidies . Alongsid e th e genera l tren d o f contemporar y government cutbacks in university funding per capita, the multiplication and differentiation o f higher educatio n institutions also tend to reduce per capit a publi c funding . Consequently , ther e is a growing need fo r universities to seek new sources of funding fo r both existin g demand s and ne w initiatives . Th e value-for-mone y approac h mean s tha t universities have to justify thei r existence in terms of inputs and outputs, cost-effectiveness, an d achievement by students of demonstrable learning outcomes. Issues of accountability and resource competition intensif y the pressure for universities to demonstrate tha t they deserve ongoin g public funding . A majo r challeng e fo r academic s concern s th e development o f appropriate evaluation mechanisms that both meet th e need fo r accountability and promote desirable learning initiatives. Prologue฀3฀ Adaptability฀and฀choice฀ Students are typically now paying more for higher education than thei r predecessors a fe w year s ago . Th e proliferation o f higher educatio n institutions an d the multiplication o f programmes of distance learnin g give students more choices. As customers in a learning market, they can make choice s accordin g t o thei r (o r thei r parents' ) preference s fo r institutions an d programmes. The challenge fo r institutions i s that of educating potential student s about their learning needs, and ensurin g the quality of the programmes through which such needs can be met. There i s a ne w deman d fo r 'vision ' an d 'mission ' statements . Universities in the past often complacentl y assumed that these were not needed. In developing new and expanded objectives tha t are fuelled b y the broader demands, universities need to re-visit and re-construct thei r processes, governance an d relationshi p wit h broade r constituencies . There i s a parallel nee d t o updat...