Syntheses of Higher Education Research: What We Know

About the Author Malcolm Tight is Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University, UK, where he directs the Doctoral Programme in Educational Research (Higher Education). Product Description As higher education has massified there has been a greater need for higher education research: to better understand and improve practice and provision. The expansion of higher education research has in turn led to systematic reviews and meta-analyses being carried out of areas of the field, so as to synthesise or summarise the qualitative and quantitative findings of this research. These systematic reviews and meta-analyses give an account of where we are now in higher education research. Malcolm Tight takes a global perspective, looking beyond Anglophone originating English Language publishing, particularly Africa, East and South Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, bringing together their findings to provide an accessible and practical overview. Bringing together over 96 systematic reviews and 62 meta-analyses focusing on particular topics in higher education research, Tight explores key topics: teaching and learning, course design, the student experience, quality, system policy, institutional management, academic work, and knowledge and research. Review “The “go-to” contemporary reference source for Masters Dissertation and PhD students who are beginning to undertake systematic and critical inquiry into higher education policies, practices and issues.” ―Bernard Lisewski, Senior Lecturer in Academic Practice Development and Programme Leader for the MA in Higher Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK“Having this book means that you are ready to study any topic of higher education research with a knowledgeable mentor. Only Professor Tight can do this magnificent work!” ―Jung Cheol Shin, Professor in Higher Education Policy, Seoul National University, South Korea“Synthesizing the results of research is demanding, bringing together the wide variety of syntheses is an even greater challenge. Malcolm Tight has done an excellent job for the literature on higher education. He has distilled here what we can be confident about and what we should investigate further.” ―David Boud, Alfred Deakin Professor and Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Australia“It covers a wide range of topics - from course design and student experience to institutional management and knowledge and research - and will provide an invaluable resource for practitioners and policymakers, as well as higher education researchers.” ―Rachel Brooks, Professor of Sociology, University of Surrey, UK“This excellent piece of scholarship characterizes and encapsulates the evolution of the field of higher education worldwide. It sets the groundwork for future research on the field as a whole and by theme, both of which needed to better understand the field, to cement the identity of higher education researchers, and to draw insights for policy and practice in present and future challenging times.” ―Hugo Horta, Associate Professor, Social Contexts and Policies of education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong“Malcolm Tight continues his important endeavor of mapping the field of higher education research, its strengths and weaknesses, its gaps and congested areas. This overview will help readers to learn the lessons from this rich literature and identify new areas for productive investigation” ―William Locke, Professor and Director of Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia