Author: Michael Shattock
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335240453
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 237
Book Description
"There is no truer text to the topic than Managing Successful Universities ... The second edition is a full revision in which globalisation, managing financial disjuncture and the enhancement of research performance all loom larger than before. Like its predecessor this book will be used throughout the English speaking world and beyond." Professor Simon Marginson, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne "[This] is the manual par excellence for modern university leadership and management. In my role as a business school dean, it is by far the most useful single book I have ever read - and continue to read." Professor Mark Taylor, Dean, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick "When I began my career in university management, there was just one book on managing UK universities. Now there must be twenty or thirty but none is as comprehensive, authoritative, readable, and important as Shattock's Managing Successful Universities ... Read this valuable book and learn much from it!" David Palfreyman, Director of OXCHEPS and Bursar, New College, University of Oxford This bestselling book defines good management in a university context and how it can contribute to university success. Extensively updated to reflect political, financial and social developments since the first edition, it includes a new chapter on the management of teaching and research and gives in-depth coverage to managing retrenchment and the importance of human resource management. Drawing on the literature of management in the private sector as well as from higher education and on the experience of the author it emphasizes: The holistic characteristics of university management The need to be outward looking and entrepreneurial in management style, and The ways successful universities utilize the market to reinforce academic excellence
EBOOK: Managing Successful Universities
Author: Michael Shattock
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335240453
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 237
Book Description
"There is no truer text to the topic than Managing Successful Universities ... The second edition is a full revision in which globalisation, managing financial disjuncture and the enhancement of research performance all loom larger than before. Like its predecessor this book will be used throughout the English speaking world and beyond." Professor Simon Marginson, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne "[This] is the manual par excellence for modern university leadership and management. In my role as a business school dean, it is by far the most useful single book I have ever read - and continue to read." Professor Mark Taylor, Dean, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick "When I began my career in university management, there was just one book on managing UK universities. Now there must be twenty or thirty but none is as comprehensive, authoritative, readable, and important as Shattock's Managing Successful Universities ... Read this valuable book and learn much from it!" David Palfreyman, Director of OXCHEPS and Bursar, New College, University of Oxford This bestselling book defines good management in a university context and how it can contribute to university success. Extensively updated to reflect political, financial and social developments since the first edition, it includes a new chapter on the management of teaching and research and gives in-depth coverage to managing retrenchment and the importance of human resource management. Drawing on the literature of management in the private sector as well as from higher education and on the experience of the author it emphasizes: The holistic characteristics of university management The need to be outward looking and entrepreneurial in management style, and The ways successful universities utilize the market to reinforce academic excellence
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335240453
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 237
Book Description
"There is no truer text to the topic than Managing Successful Universities ... The second edition is a full revision in which globalisation, managing financial disjuncture and the enhancement of research performance all loom larger than before. Like its predecessor this book will be used throughout the English speaking world and beyond." Professor Simon Marginson, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne "[This] is the manual par excellence for modern university leadership and management. In my role as a business school dean, it is by far the most useful single book I have ever read - and continue to read." Professor Mark Taylor, Dean, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick "When I began my career in university management, there was just one book on managing UK universities. Now there must be twenty or thirty but none is as comprehensive, authoritative, readable, and important as Shattock's Managing Successful Universities ... Read this valuable book and learn much from it!" David Palfreyman, Director of OXCHEPS and Bursar, New College, University of Oxford This bestselling book defines good management in a university context and how it can contribute to university success. Extensively updated to reflect political, financial and social developments since the first edition, it includes a new chapter on the management of teaching and research and gives in-depth coverage to managing retrenchment and the importance of human resource management. Drawing on the literature of management in the private sector as well as from higher education and on the experience of the author it emphasizes: The holistic characteristics of university management The need to be outward looking and entrepreneurial in management style, and The ways successful universities utilize the market to reinforce academic excellence
EBOOK: Entrepreneurialism in Universities and the Knowledge Economy: Diversification and Organizational Change in European Higher Education
Author: Michael Shattock
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 033523769X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Book Description
How entrepreneurial are European universities? Perhaps more than is generally realised. What are the factors that encourage entrepreneurialism to flourish in research, technology transfer, teaching, regional engagement and internationalization? How do different kinds of HEIs - , comprehensive, specialist, regional or private - , address these issues? What are the conditions which stimulate or inhibit the “academic intrapreneur”? And in what forms does entrepreneurialism contribute to the knowledge economy? This book, which is the product of a major EU funded research programme and is based on twenty-seven institutional case studies, attempts to offer answers to these questions through a series of cross national thematic studies. It considers how national systemic characteristics in financial arrangements, human resource management and institutional governance impact on entrepreneurialism and suggests ways in which individual initiative can be released and universities freed up to make their contribution to the EU Lisbon Strategy.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 033523769X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Book Description
How entrepreneurial are European universities? Perhaps more than is generally realised. What are the factors that encourage entrepreneurialism to flourish in research, technology transfer, teaching, regional engagement and internationalization? How do different kinds of HEIs - , comprehensive, specialist, regional or private - , address these issues? What are the conditions which stimulate or inhibit the “academic intrapreneur”? And in what forms does entrepreneurialism contribute to the knowledge economy? This book, which is the product of a major EU funded research programme and is based on twenty-seven institutional case studies, attempts to offer answers to these questions through a series of cross national thematic studies. It considers how national systemic characteristics in financial arrangements, human resource management and institutional governance impact on entrepreneurialism and suggests ways in which individual initiative can be released and universities freed up to make their contribution to the EU Lisbon Strategy.
EBOOK: Sustaining Change in Universities
Author: Burton Clark
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335224547
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
·What can be done to ensure universities are well positioned to meet the challenges of the fast moving world of the 21st century? This is the central question addressed by Burton R. Clark in this significant new volume which greatly extends the case studies and concepts presented in his 1998 book, Creating Entrepreneurial Universities. The new volume draws on case studies of fourteen proactive institutions in the UK, Europe, Australia, Latin America, Africa, and the United States that extend analysis into the early years of the twenty-first century. The cumulative international coverage underpins a more fully developed conceptual framework offering insight into ways of initiating and sustaining change in universities. This new conceptual framework shifts attention from transformation to sustainability rooted in a constructed steady state of change and a collegial approach to entrepreneurialism. It contains key elements necessary for universities to adapt successfully to the modern world. Lessons for reform can be drawn directly from both the individual case studies and the general framework. Overall the book offers a new form of university organization that is more self-reliant and manages to combine change with continuity, traditional academic values with new managerial values. Essential reading for university administrators, faculty members, students and researchers analysing higher education, and educational policymakers worldwide, this book advocates a highly proactive approach to university change and specifies a new basis for university self- reliance. Burton R. Clark is Allan M. Cartter Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During his career, he has taught at five leading US universities: Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, Yale and UCLA. He has published widely on the nature of university organization and the realistic possibilties of reform, linking research for understanding with research for use.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335224547
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
·What can be done to ensure universities are well positioned to meet the challenges of the fast moving world of the 21st century? This is the central question addressed by Burton R. Clark in this significant new volume which greatly extends the case studies and concepts presented in his 1998 book, Creating Entrepreneurial Universities. The new volume draws on case studies of fourteen proactive institutions in the UK, Europe, Australia, Latin America, Africa, and the United States that extend analysis into the early years of the twenty-first century. The cumulative international coverage underpins a more fully developed conceptual framework offering insight into ways of initiating and sustaining change in universities. This new conceptual framework shifts attention from transformation to sustainability rooted in a constructed steady state of change and a collegial approach to entrepreneurialism. It contains key elements necessary for universities to adapt successfully to the modern world. Lessons for reform can be drawn directly from both the individual case studies and the general framework. Overall the book offers a new form of university organization that is more self-reliant and manages to combine change with continuity, traditional academic values with new managerial values. Essential reading for university administrators, faculty members, students and researchers analysing higher education, and educational policymakers worldwide, this book advocates a highly proactive approach to university change and specifies a new basis for university self- reliance. Burton R. Clark is Allan M. Cartter Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During his career, he has taught at five leading US universities: Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, Yale and UCLA. He has published widely on the nature of university organization and the realistic possibilties of reform, linking research for understanding with research for use.
EBOOK: Managing Institutional Self Study
Author: David Watson
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 033522833X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
This book is about the use of evidence in the leadership and management of universities and colleges. The role of institutional self-study in establishing strategy and measuring progress is examined across the full range of institutional activities, with many worked examples. Practical guidance is also set in the context of theory about organisational learning within complex enterprises at the start of the 21st century, as well as an account of the state of the art within higher education in the UK, with some international comparisons. Because of the nature of the business – knowledge production and use –universities should be better at organisational learning than they are. This book shows how disciplined self-study can assist decision-making, general effectiveness and reputational positioning for universities and colleges. The book explores why self-study matters, the key processes and techniques, as well as what can be delivered. In addition to the internal drivers to enhance self-study capacity and practice, institutions are increasingly required to produce explicit and transparent accounts of their activities and performance to external bodies, to support marketing, to respond to multiple stakeholders and to meet external reporting and regulatory requirements. At the heart of the book is the case for the development of the university or college as a mature, self-reflective community, making full use of its analytical and other resources.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 033522833X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
This book is about the use of evidence in the leadership and management of universities and colleges. The role of institutional self-study in establishing strategy and measuring progress is examined across the full range of institutional activities, with many worked examples. Practical guidance is also set in the context of theory about organisational learning within complex enterprises at the start of the 21st century, as well as an account of the state of the art within higher education in the UK, with some international comparisons. Because of the nature of the business – knowledge production and use –universities should be better at organisational learning than they are. This book shows how disciplined self-study can assist decision-making, general effectiveness and reputational positioning for universities and colleges. The book explores why self-study matters, the key processes and techniques, as well as what can be delivered. In addition to the internal drivers to enhance self-study capacity and practice, institutions are increasingly required to produce explicit and transparent accounts of their activities and performance to external bodies, to support marketing, to respond to multiple stakeholders and to meet external reporting and regulatory requirements. At the heart of the book is the case for the development of the university or college as a mature, self-reflective community, making full use of its analytical and other resources.
EBOOK: Successful Research Careers: A Practical Guide
Author: Sara Delamont
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335224792
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
It is not hard to be a research active academic, or to build a research group, or to create a research culture. Here are sensible strategies available to everyone, and that empower everyone in higher education. Seizing the opportunities, refusing to be a victim, and – most importantly – learning how the system works, are among the strategies available to anyone motivated to succeed. This book takes a radical, unstuffy look at higher education. It is of interest and relevance to anyone working in the higher education sector. Based on the authors’ research on research groups, and on their experience as Head of Department, Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor, the book provides advice for younger academics making their way in the system, and for more senior people who need to mentor research staff, build research groups and shape research-led careers. The book provides practical advice on key aspects of research activity: getting research grants, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and writing books. The current climate of research activity is discussed in the context of Research Assessment, and the context of ‘glittering prizes’.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335224792
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
It is not hard to be a research active academic, or to build a research group, or to create a research culture. Here are sensible strategies available to everyone, and that empower everyone in higher education. Seizing the opportunities, refusing to be a victim, and – most importantly – learning how the system works, are among the strategies available to anyone motivated to succeed. This book takes a radical, unstuffy look at higher education. It is of interest and relevance to anyone working in the higher education sector. Based on the authors’ research on research groups, and on their experience as Head of Department, Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor, the book provides advice for younger academics making their way in the system, and for more senior people who need to mentor research staff, build research groups and shape research-led careers. The book provides practical advice on key aspects of research activity: getting research grants, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and writing books. The current climate of research activity is discussed in the context of Research Assessment, and the context of ‘glittering prizes’.
EBOOK: The Question Of Morale: Managing Happiness And Unhappiness In University Life
Author: David Watson
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335240690
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
There is a comforting tale that heads of higher education institutions (HEIs) like to tell each other. "Go around your university or college," they say, "and ask the first ten people who you meet how their morale is. The response will always be 'rock-bottom.' Then ask them what they are working on. The responses will be full of life, of optimism and of enthusiasm for the task in hand." The moral of the story is that the two sets of responses don't compute; that the first is somehow unthinking and ideological, and the second unguarded and sincere. The thesis of this book is that the contradictory answers may well compute more effectively than is acknowledged: that the culture of higher education and the mesh of psychological contracts, or "deals," that make it up make much of the current discourse about happiness and unhappiness in contemporary life look simplistic and banal. In particular, the much-vaunted "science of happiness" may not have much to say to us. There is also a potential link between the Manichean discourse about morale and our wider culture's approach to happiness. Both normally deal in extremes, and much more rarely in graduations. Why is so much discourse about contemporary higher education structured around (real and imagined) unhappiness? How does this connect with the realities of life within (and just outside) the institutions? Does it matter, and, if so, what should we be doing about it? Based on historical, sociological and philosophical analysis, this book offers some answers to these questions.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335240690
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
There is a comforting tale that heads of higher education institutions (HEIs) like to tell each other. "Go around your university or college," they say, "and ask the first ten people who you meet how their morale is. The response will always be 'rock-bottom.' Then ask them what they are working on. The responses will be full of life, of optimism and of enthusiasm for the task in hand." The moral of the story is that the two sets of responses don't compute; that the first is somehow unthinking and ideological, and the second unguarded and sincere. The thesis of this book is that the contradictory answers may well compute more effectively than is acknowledged: that the culture of higher education and the mesh of psychological contracts, or "deals," that make it up make much of the current discourse about happiness and unhappiness in contemporary life look simplistic and banal. In particular, the much-vaunted "science of happiness" may not have much to say to us. There is also a potential link between the Manichean discourse about morale and our wider culture's approach to happiness. Both normally deal in extremes, and much more rarely in graduations. Why is so much discourse about contemporary higher education structured around (real and imagined) unhappiness? How does this connect with the realities of life within (and just outside) the institutions? Does it matter, and, if so, what should we be doing about it? Based on historical, sociological and philosophical analysis, this book offers some answers to these questions.
EBOOK: The Enquiring University
Author: Stephen Rowland
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335230180
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
What is the purpose of higher education? How do teaching and research relate? Are the intellectual purposes of higher education in need of restoration? The Enquiring University explores the ways in which teaching, research and learning are related to each other and to a wider social context, one in which ideas about the nature of the university and knowledge are changing. The book is readily accessible, drawing upon insights that emerge from a wide range of disciplines. Throughout the book, Stephen Rowland develops a conception of enquiry which can play a central role in how we are to understand academic work. It is a concept which values the academic tradition of a love for the subject, while at the same time encouraging exploration across disciplinary and other cultural boundaries. While such a notion of enquiry may seem to be under threat from many of the recent developments in higher education, this book indicates ways in which the appropriate spaces can be opened up to enhance a spirit of enquiry amongst academic staff and their students. The Enquiring University is key reading for university lecturers, those studying for higher degrees in higher education and policy makers.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335230180
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 153
Book Description
What is the purpose of higher education? How do teaching and research relate? Are the intellectual purposes of higher education in need of restoration? The Enquiring University explores the ways in which teaching, research and learning are related to each other and to a wider social context, one in which ideas about the nature of the university and knowledge are changing. The book is readily accessible, drawing upon insights that emerge from a wide range of disciplines. Throughout the book, Stephen Rowland develops a conception of enquiry which can play a central role in how we are to understand academic work. It is a concept which values the academic tradition of a love for the subject, while at the same time encouraging exploration across disciplinary and other cultural boundaries. While such a notion of enquiry may seem to be under threat from many of the recent developments in higher education, this book indicates ways in which the appropriate spaces can be opened up to enhance a spirit of enquiry amongst academic staff and their students. The Enquiring University is key reading for university lecturers, those studying for higher degrees in higher education and policy makers.
EBOOK: Teaching for Quality Learning at University
Author: John Biggs
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335242766
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
"This book is an exceptional introduction to some difficult ideas. It is full of downright good advice for every academic who wants to do something practical to improve his or hers students’ learning." Paul Ramsden, Brisbane, Australia "Biggs and Tang present a unified view of university teaching that is both grounded in research and theory and replete with guidance for novice and expert instructors. The book will inspire, challenge, unsettle, and in places annoy and even infuriate its readers, but it will succeed in helping them think about how high quality teaching can contribute to high quality learning." John Kirby, Queens University, Ontario, Canada This best-selling book explains the concept of constructive alignment used in implementing outcomes-based education. Constructive alignment identifies the desired learning outcomes and helps teachers design the teaching and learning activities that will help students to achieve those outcomes, and to assess how well those outcomes have been achieved. Each chapter includes tasks that offer a 'how-to' manual to implement constructive alignment in your own teaching practices. This new edition draws on the authors' experience of consulting on the implementation of constructive alignment in Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Malaysia including a wider range of disciplines and teaching contexts. There is also a new section on the evaluation of constructive alignment, which is now used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment, as it has been shown to: Assist university teachers who wish to improve the quality of their own teaching, their students' learning and their assessment of learning outcomes Aid staff developers in providing support for departments in line with institutional policies Provide a framework for administrators interested in quality assurance and enhancement of teaching across the whole university. The authors have also included useful web links to further material. Teaching for Quality Learning at University will be of particular interest to teachers, staff developers and administrators.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335242766
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
"This book is an exceptional introduction to some difficult ideas. It is full of downright good advice for every academic who wants to do something practical to improve his or hers students’ learning." Paul Ramsden, Brisbane, Australia "Biggs and Tang present a unified view of university teaching that is both grounded in research and theory and replete with guidance for novice and expert instructors. The book will inspire, challenge, unsettle, and in places annoy and even infuriate its readers, but it will succeed in helping them think about how high quality teaching can contribute to high quality learning." John Kirby, Queens University, Ontario, Canada This best-selling book explains the concept of constructive alignment used in implementing outcomes-based education. Constructive alignment identifies the desired learning outcomes and helps teachers design the teaching and learning activities that will help students to achieve those outcomes, and to assess how well those outcomes have been achieved. Each chapter includes tasks that offer a 'how-to' manual to implement constructive alignment in your own teaching practices. This new edition draws on the authors' experience of consulting on the implementation of constructive alignment in Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Malaysia including a wider range of disciplines and teaching contexts. There is also a new section on the evaluation of constructive alignment, which is now used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment, as it has been shown to: Assist university teachers who wish to improve the quality of their own teaching, their students' learning and their assessment of learning outcomes Aid staff developers in providing support for departments in line with institutional policies Provide a framework for administrators interested in quality assurance and enhancement of teaching across the whole university. The authors have also included useful web links to further material. Teaching for Quality Learning at University will be of particular interest to teachers, staff developers and administrators.
EBOOK: Managing Civic and Community Engagement
Author: David Watson
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335230377
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
What are, and what should be, the roles of modern universities and colleges in supporting their host societies? Where have these obligations arisen from, and how can they best be responded to? What are the conditions of “membership” of a modern university or college? There is an international revival of interest in issues about the purposes of universities and colleges and their role in a wider society. Much of this is structured around perceptions of the role of higher education in modern knowledge economies. Meanwhile there has been a dearth of scholarly attention to the practice (as opposed to the rhetoric) of civic engagement by universities and colleges in various cultural contexts. This book fills that gap. An historical survey of the “founding” intentions of universities and colleges in different eras and various countries is followed by case studies of successful recent projects carried out at three leading institutions – the Universities of Brighton, Pennsylvania and Queensland. A practical benchmarking questionnaire that was developed with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is also included in order to assist institutions in assessing their own progress. The book contends that genuine engagement, with the community and with civil society, can be uncertain and risky, but that it plays an essential role in managing today’s higher education institutions. Managing Civic and Community Engagement provides key reading for people interested in equity and diversity in higher education, including those studying aspects of higher education management, as well as professionals and policy makers in the field.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335230377
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
What are, and what should be, the roles of modern universities and colleges in supporting their host societies? Where have these obligations arisen from, and how can they best be responded to? What are the conditions of “membership” of a modern university or college? There is an international revival of interest in issues about the purposes of universities and colleges and their role in a wider society. Much of this is structured around perceptions of the role of higher education in modern knowledge economies. Meanwhile there has been a dearth of scholarly attention to the practice (as opposed to the rhetoric) of civic engagement by universities and colleges in various cultural contexts. This book fills that gap. An historical survey of the “founding” intentions of universities and colleges in different eras and various countries is followed by case studies of successful recent projects carried out at three leading institutions – the Universities of Brighton, Pennsylvania and Queensland. A practical benchmarking questionnaire that was developed with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is also included in order to assist institutions in assessing their own progress. The book contends that genuine engagement, with the community and with civil society, can be uncertain and risky, but that it plays an essential role in managing today’s higher education institutions. Managing Civic and Community Engagement provides key reading for people interested in equity and diversity in higher education, including those studying aspects of higher education management, as well as professionals and policy makers in the field.
EBOOK: E-Learning Groups and Communities
Author: David McConnell
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335226396
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
How can we design networked e-learning courses to ensure students participate in them and engage in quality learning outcomes? What happens in an e-learning course that is designed to foster group work and a sense of ‘community’? How can we research e-learning practice in ways that will enhance the processes of learning and teaching? This book outlines approaches to networked e-learning course design that are underpinned by a belief that students learn best in these contexts when they are organised in groups and communities. As such, the book is one of the first to provide a detailed analysis of what goes on in e-learning groups and communities. But how do students react to working in e-learning groups and communities? What determines their willingness to adopt new forms of learning in order to participate in these new courses? What actually happens in an e-learning community, and what impact does this have on students and tutors? This book examines these key questions through a variety of research approaches aimed at exploring the experience of e-learners as they participate in successful e-groups and communities. It also offers ways in which learning outcomes may be achieved in these communities and outlines the specific skills that students would develop through e-learning. E-learning Groups and Communities is essential reading for teachers, trainers, managers, researchers and students involved in e-learning courses as well as people interested in improving the quality of the learning experience.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 0335226396
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
How can we design networked e-learning courses to ensure students participate in them and engage in quality learning outcomes? What happens in an e-learning course that is designed to foster group work and a sense of ‘community’? How can we research e-learning practice in ways that will enhance the processes of learning and teaching? This book outlines approaches to networked e-learning course design that are underpinned by a belief that students learn best in these contexts when they are organised in groups and communities. As such, the book is one of the first to provide a detailed analysis of what goes on in e-learning groups and communities. But how do students react to working in e-learning groups and communities? What determines their willingness to adopt new forms of learning in order to participate in these new courses? What actually happens in an e-learning community, and what impact does this have on students and tutors? This book examines these key questions through a variety of research approaches aimed at exploring the experience of e-learners as they participate in successful e-groups and communities. It also offers ways in which learning outcomes may be achieved in these communities and outlines the specific skills that students would develop through e-learning. E-learning Groups and Communities is essential reading for teachers, trainers, managers, researchers and students involved in e-learning courses as well as people interested in improving the quality of the learning experience.