The Transfer of Cultural Assumptions About American Higher Education in a Global Society: Perceptions of Visiting Russian Scholars
C. Carney Strange, Advisor This study examined the transfer of ideas about higher education gleaned from Russian administrators and faculty members, who returned to home institutions in the former Soviet Union following an exchange visit to the United States to gain insight into the workings of our complex higher education model. At the core of this assessment were these Russian educators’ perceptions of institutional output and process goals attributed to the U.S. institutions that hosted them, and their comparative experiences and expectations in the Russian system. The instrument used in this study is an adaptation of the Institutional Goals Inventory (IGI), a 95-item, Likert-type measure (Peterson, 1970) that assesses the importance attributed to 13 institutional output and 9 institutional process goals. For purposes of this study each goal was evaluated by respondents, as they perceived its associated items to reflect what they observed in the U.S., what they experience in their home institutions, and what they idealize for institutional aspiration in the Russian system. Data were gathered on-line through a Web-based survey, offered both in English and Russian, with minor modifications for clearer cross-cultural understanding. Through a combination of program participant lists, electronic networks, and direct solicitation, this method yielded a usable sample of 70 respondents, all of whom were individuals with careers in various disciplines from colleges and universities in the former Soviet Union.
Higher Education in Transition to a Market Economy: A Case Study
This paper reports on the situation in Russian higher education since the start of transition, and presents a case study of the finance and budgetary arrangements at the University of Tomsk in some detail. It then illustrates some aspects of the situation in Tomsk with reference to four important issues facing Russia's incompletely reformed economy. These are: (1) ownership, property rights and governance issues; (2) funding issues and the state budget; (3) the tax regime; and (4) non-functioning of the market economy. The paper concludes by highlighting areas in which further reform progress is urgently needed in order to enable universities to function more normally.
Educational innovation in Musical Language Course: responses and the overcoming of limitations
This article presents an innovative methodological proposal for the development of auditory education in the course of the Language of Music. Based on this proposal, we analyze an educational community’s response to the innovations implemented, and we identify the limitations recognized throughout the learning and teaching process, as well as the strategies developed to overcome them. To this end, we applied a qualitative methodology with the classroom-based research method. The compilation of data was carried out through participant observation, captured in the journals of the professor and researcher, interviews and analysis of documents. The research results demonstrate that patience, responsibility and perseverance in their work on behalf of the professors have been key to overcoming the limitations identified and in promoting that students enjoy and learn their class contents in meaningful ways. Recibido 05/02/2018 Aceptado: 09/03/2018