International scholarship programs for higher education attract a substantial body of funding each year from national governments, supranational bodies, large charitable foundations, higher education institutions, and many smaller organizations. With aims variously shaped by international development and public diplomacy considerations, international scholarships fund students at higher education institutions worldwide. As the investment in, and scope of, scholarship programs has expanded, concurrent commitment to analysis and evaluation of their outcomes—both to improve policy making and justify further funding—has increased. This article explores several of the key methodological and conceptual challenges in the evaluation of international scholarship outcomes, focusing on the relationship between aims and outcomes, difficulties with “attribution” and “contribution,” and scholarship programs in comparison with their alternatives. The relationship between evidence gathering and policy making is considered in context of international scholarship programs, and several potentially useful future developments in evaluation approaches are suggested.
In the changing context of globalised higher education, a series of pedagogical shifts have occurred, and with them, a number of interactive learning approaches have emerged. This article reports on findings taken from a large-scale study that explored the socio-political impact of virtual world learning on higher education in the UK, specifically with regard to Second Life. Three dominant frames of reference emerged following analysis of data gathered from student and staff perspectives of their experience and use of Second Life, namely: (i) games and gaming media; (ii) disciplinary learning; and (iii) institutional space and ownership. Such frames of reference were evident in the practices of those involved in using virtual worlds, but it is suggested here that they have largely been overlooked in the literature in terms of their impact and how they may inform learner understandings. We argue that these frames of reference need to be recognised and located in the design and use of virtual worlds in higher education. Throughout the article we present our findings in relation to perspectives emanating from Europe as well as Australasia and the wider Asia Pacific.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include an explicit commitment to "substantially expand" the study-abroad scholarships available to developing countries (Target 4b). Although this Target indicates a level of consensus about the benefits of scholarship programmes, it is made ambiguous by assuming coherence among many types of scholarship programme with different aims, approaches, and undergirding theories. In this paper, we examine the potential consequences of underpinning Target 4b through three theories: human capital, human rights, and human capabilities. Through the lenses of these three theories, we find significantly different outcomes projected for the ways that scholarship programs are linked to sustainable development. Additionally, failing to comprehend the theoretical frames that undergird scholarship programs creates an opportunity for diverse (and sometimes perverse) outcomes that may not serve the world's compact for a sustainable future. We propose a way forward through a human capabilities approach.
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