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- Convenor:
-
Martha Merrill
(Kent State University)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Zumrad Kataeva
(Nazarbayev University)
- Discussant:
-
Chris Whitsel
(North Dakota State University)
- Formats:
- Panel
- Theme:
- Education
- Sessions:
- Sunday 17 October, -
Time zone: America/New_York
Long Abstract:
Innovations in higher education in Central Asia are not identical, but rather are driven by different contexts and different goals. The speakers in this panel will discuss new practices and policies in three countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
Dilrabo Jonbekova, Tatyana Kim, and Yevgeniya Serkova examine government scholarships for international education in Kazakhstan and how their recipients contribute to social change. Considering the scarcity of scholarly research on scholarship programs’ contribution to countries’ development in the post-Soviet space, and most importantly a dearth of literature on outcomes from government scholarship programs, this study will contribute to global research on scholarship programs from within a non-western context.
Martha Merrill and Shakhnoza Yakubova studied the enabling resolutions of five South Korean International Branch Campuses (IBCs) in Uzbekistan. Between 2017 and 2020, the number of IBCs leaped from seven to more than 20. Five are branches of South Korean universities. They differ from each other on seven characteristics. The wording of the resolutions suggests a market-driven, negotiated entry of IBCs into Uzbekistan, rather than a centralized analysis of economic and educational needs.
In 2016, independent accreditation replaced state attestation of higher education institutions in Kyrgyzstan. Chynarkul Ryskulova has studied the implementation of these processes at the American University in Central Asia, as well as professors’ perceptions of accreditation at several public universities. Given professors’ universal response of “too much paperwork” and their lack of understanding of quality assurance as a continuous process rather than a once-in-five-years event, she has been working with one of the independent accreditation agencies to revise the required documentation.
Alan DeYoung and Andrey Khojee studied a curricular innovation at Westminster International University in Tashkent. This paper explores how Global and International Citizenship education evolved at Westminster International University of Tashkent. The implications of this learning, and of students’ internationalized learning from the more than 20 IBCs in Uzbekistan, may be broader and deeper than what was originally foreseen.
Each of these four innovations has implications for policy and practice.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Sunday 17 October, 2021, -Martha Merrill (Kent State University) Shakhnoza Yakubova (Kent State University)
Paper long abstract:
When Shavkat Mirziyoyev became president of Uzbekistan in December 2016, he inherited a country with a huge youth population, limited access to higher education, and an economy still transitioning from the Soviet system. Branch campuses of universities from other countries, which can provide youth with marketable skills, increase access to higher education, and introduce new technologies for economic development, were seen as an option for rapid change. Thus, between 2017 and 2020, the number of international branch campuses leaped from seven to more than 20. Five are branches of South Korean universities. The enabling resolutions for these five IBCs show that no single template exists for all of the campuses. Although four are located in Tashkent, otherwise the five South Korean International Branch Campuses differ in the year they were founded, their languages of instruction, the disciplines offered, the financial support from the Uzbek side, the composition of the Board of Trustees, the need to meet state educational standards, and the expected contribution to higher education reform in Uzbekistan. The wording of the resolutions suggests a market-driven, negotiated entry of IBCs into Uzbekistan, rather than a centralized analysis of economic and educational needs.
Alan DeYoung (University of Kentucky) Andrey Khojeev (Westminster International University in Tashkent)
Paper long abstract:
Most international universities in Central Asia have minimum entrance requirements to master before students are allowed into specialized degree courses, programs and classes. The entrance standards are set by international partners, and frequently require fluency in either English or another global language. In addition, more elite international universities require may a "foundation" course which allegedly increases capacity of local students to master "critical thinking;" how to make informed study choices; and how to navigate within a foreign credit hour system. Andrey Khojeev and Alan DeYoung studied how a gateway curricular foundations course - (I-Citizen) - is being used at the first non-Russian international branch campus in Uzbekistan where English is the medium of instruction: Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT). They detail how a Western global and international citizenship education course I-Citizen - is infused into the degree programs of WIUT and is rhetorically reflected in the universities' other formal and informal curricula. Their paper also attempts to evaluate if and how teachers use the module, and perceptions of the relevance of the module for later degree studies: How does I-Citizen achieve or fall short of university claims related to its utility in the university learning process?. Their research is based partly upon surveys and interviews of students and teachers; and explores how the concept itself was instituted and has evolved over the past twenty years at WIUT. They specifically investigate how students and teachers do or do not understand if and how the knowledge, skills and values espoused in the I-Citizen program module enable them to perform better as students and job seekers upon graduation. The implications of this possible internationalized learning within the more than 20 IBCs in Uzbekistan, may be broader and deeper than what was originally foreseen.
Chynarkul Ryskulova (American University of Central Asia)
Paper long abstract:
Almost five years have passed since Kyrgyzstan introduced independent accreditation of higher education institutions. The implementation of accreditation standards and criteria by accreditation agencies allows educational institutions to create mechanisms for the continuous improvement of quality of education. However, many university professors’ overall understanding of the quality assurance system is very low; they do not see quality assurance as a continuous process that can promote the quality of education. Part of the reasons for misunderstanding the accreditation purposes and standards is the poor management of the accreditation process at different levels, and the absence of institutional structures to support institutional assessment, to collect and analyze data about educational practices and internal quality control policy.
The purpose of the study is to explore the Agency for Quality Assurance in the Field of Education’s (EdNet) standards, and university professors’ perceptions of the accreditation process in Kyrgyzstan. This is a qualitative study with the focus on developing an in-depth description and analysis of accreditation process at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), as well as professors’ perceptions of accreditation at several public universities. The author will describe the process, practice and quality management of accreditation from the perspective of educators and accreditors, specifically how accreditors evaluate academic programs based on student learning, what evidence of student learning the accreditors can accept, and what criteria EdNet uses to determine whether or not universities have a quality management system in place.
The author will present some findings from the research conducted from April to September, 2021 in Kyrgyzstan. The researcher will collect the data from multiple sources: semi-structured interviews with accreditors and university professors, review of the EdNet accreditation standards, and self-study reports of the academic programs.
Independent accreditation is a new quality assurance system in higher education of Kyrgyzstan that was started in 2016. This study will contribute to the improvement of the quality management process in higher education in Kyrgyzstan, provide recommendations to faculty and university administrations on the continuous institutionalization of a quality assurance system based on student learning outcomes, and provide recommendations to EdNet on updating its standards and approaches to accreditation, which will enhance the cultivation of quality culture at higher education institutions.
Key words: higher education, accreditation, professors, quality assurance, management
Dilrabo Jonbekova (Nazarbayev University) Yevgeniya Serkova (Nazarbayev University) Tatyana Kim (University of Calgary)
Paper long abstract:
This study seeks to examine how graduates of two Kazakhstani government scholarship programmes, namely ‘Bolashak’ (‘Future’ in Kazakh language) and Nazarbayev University, view their contribution to the development of their home country. We specifically focus on the alumni contribution in creating pathways for social change in Kazakhstan. The paper aims to identify factors that support and hinder government scholarship recipients’ contributions to the development of their country. The following research questions guide this study: (1) How do government scholarship alumni perceive their contribution to their home country development and creating pathways for social change? (2) What contextual factors and programme characteristics support or impede alumni contributions to their home country? Participants were selected based on purposeful maximum variation sample. The three key criteria for the selection of participants included: (a) alumni who received full funding from Bolashak and Nazarbayev University, (b) alumni who currently reside in Kazakhstan, (c) alumni who studied at Masters level. The data for the study consist of individual semi-structured interviews with 80 alumni of the two government scholarship programmes. Half of the alumni were selected from STEM fields and the other half were selected from fields of social sciences. The data collection for this project was completed in April. Currently we are in the process of data analysis and hoping to present our findings at CESS annual 2021 conference. The study is significant on many fronts. It is timely and has policy and practical relevance, as well as in the contribution to international research on scholarship and mobility programmes. Findings will be transferable to other scholarship and mobility programs, particularly those with similar characteristics and operating in similar national contexts. Findings can also provide insights into how to more effectively implement these programmes to ensure that they achieve their goals. In addition, the study can assist programme administrators to revise eligible fields or further assist students in their choice of field of study. This study can also inform policymakers in Kazakhstan, as well as in other post-Soviet and post-colonial countries undergoing political, economic and social transition and grappling with skill shortages. Considering the scarcity of scholarly research on scholarship programmes contribution to countries’ development in the post-Soviet space, and most importantly a dearth of literature on outcomes from government scholarship programmes, this study will contribute to global research on scholarship programmes from within a non-western context.