Innovation and transformation in higher education

The terms innovation and transformation have become very popular in higher education (García-Morales, Garrido-Moreno, and Martín-Rojas 2021; Tierney and Lanford 2016). Both are concerned with change, and are often used interchangeably. However, they are not exactly the same. Innovation focuses on introducing something new to the established processes, products, services or technology, with the intention to improve the effectiveness and efficiency (O'Sullivan and Dooley 2008). In higher education, for instance, video conferencing software, such as Microsoft Teams, and Zoom and online quiz tools, such as Mentimeter were used during the pandemic to engage students in online learning (O'Dea 2021). Rule-based chatbots are now integrated to support university admissions process (Nguyen et al. 2021).

The meaning of transformation is however more complex and can be interpreted in different ways based on categories of effort (Antony 2016). At the operational level, transformation shares a similar meaning as innovation. At the strategic level, the emphasis is on fundamental changes, and may include changing the core identify of the organisation. For example, Google has transformed from providing online advertising to video streaming and Amazon has transformed from selling books online to cloud hosting (Antony 2016). In Higher education, some well-known examples include the rise of online only and distance learning courses; and using data visualisation software such as Tableau and PowerBI to record and manage admissions data (Delcoure and Carmona 2019). Since transformations by and large are enabled or supported by technology, digital transformation is probably the most familiar type of transformation in higher education.

This issue is comprised of five articles and one book review. It delves into the multifaceted concept of innovation and/or transformation in higher education, and examines it from different perspectives, such as students, staff and management. It is worth noting that the innovative ideas proposed, and the transformation implemented appear to be mainly at the operational level. Implementing these changes at a more strategic level could however result in strategic transformation and potentially lead to a paradigm shift at both the institutional and sector-wide levels.

The following two papers were shortlisted for the AHUA Dr Jonathan Nicholls Memorial Essay Prize. Both explore an innovative way of addressing critical challenges higher education is facing, such as student inequality imposed by financial barriers and assessment and feedback. Dye-Stonebridge (2023) argues that improving financial support through loans or parental contribution may not be the best solution for students in financial difficulty over the long term. Instead, she proposes a new and innovative solution, namely a graduate-funded endowment, to address student funding issues in the UK higher education. This endowment is supported by the voluntary donations of the graduates and can be used to help reduce inequalities in student living expenses, like housing, energy, food, and care.

Baartman and Quinlan (2023) propose programmatic assessment (PA), an innovative approach to transform higher education assessment and feedback practice in the Netherlands. The aim is to better address the following areas: promoting learning, assuring assessment rigour, and communicating students’ employability. Programmatic assessment assesses student learning and progress over an extended period of time. Based on their experience in adopting PA in various subject fields in the Netherlands, the authors provide four action steps, supported by practical examples, for helping educational practitioners implement PA in their own teaching.

In this issue, the other three papers are concerned with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in different country contexts, such as the UK and Iran, and from different perspectives. For example, the paper by O’Dea (2023) investigates the recent transformations in UK higher education in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era through the perspective of international students. The pandemic-imposed disruption has changed the way university delivers learning and teaching. After the pandemic, universities must innovate to help students, in particular international students re-adjust to campus life. Using Schlossberg’s transition theory as the analytical lens, the author analyses the factors affecting the sense of academic and social belonging of Chinese direct entry students, and describe them using the 4S framework, namely self, strategies, situation and support.

Situated also in the UK context, the paper by Moxey and colleagues (2023) nevertheless focuses on student overseas learning experience. Particular attention is paid to historically marginalised students. University-organised educational trips abroad are often attractive to students. This is because this type of learning experience offers student a valuable opportunity to immerse in a new culture and environment, increase self-confidence and enhance social and communication skills. However, many of these trips had to be cancelled or postponed during or after the Covid-pandemic era. In this paper, the authors share their experience in organising an educational trip to Norway during the pandemic, including the challenges and lessons learnt. At the end of the paper, they provide suggestions on actions that universities should take in the event of a similar travel disruption in the future.

Jafari (2023) examines the requisite transformations essential in the post-pandemic era in Iranian higher education. The qualitative study was however conducted from senior management perspective. The findings, based on semi-structured interviews, suggest four sets of contrasting challenges from a more macro level (e.g., institutional level). The challenges include social health versus social and cultural harms; globalisation versus localisation; existing curriculum versus emerging curriculum and honesty versus academic Dishonesty. The paper concludes with the recommendations for senior management teams.

The final paper included in the issue is the book review written by Yarrow (2023). The book, titled ‘Queer Precarities in and out of Higher Education’, explores potential transformative approaches with regard to inclusivity, with a particular focus on queer individuals in higher education. Yarrow affirms the contribution of the book to existing literature by addressing the overlooked challenges faced by these individuals. The author also identifies the main limitation of the book - there is a lack of attention to the country contexts outside the UK and US. This results in a lack of inclusive voice in the book.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xianghan O’Dea

Dr Xianghan O'Dea (SFHEA) has worked in the higher education sector in the UK for over 20 years. Over the course of her academic journey, Christine has always been interested in using disruptive technology to foster an inclusive and dynamic learning environment, to engage diverse students, and to cater to various learning styles. She is active in research and her main interests include AI in education (AIED) with a particular focus on AI literacy, digital education, and digital transformation. Her academic contributions have been acknowledged (inter)nationally through publications in reputable journals (e.g., British Journal of Educational Technologies, Studies in Higher Education), presentations at international conferences (BERA, SRHE), workshops (SRHE, QAA) invited speeches (Imperial College London, The Centre for Global Higher Education.