Higher Education Research: The Developing Field

Research into higher education has blossomed internationally during the last few decades, as participation in higher education has expanded and concern over delivering it effectively has increased. Higher Education Research offers an overview of what we have learnt through researching different aspects of higher education. Leading academic in the field and editor of Studies in Higher Education, Malcolm Tight codifies and classifies all research on higher education, offering an accessible and fully comprehensive guide to the field and its scope, including:
· Teaching and learning
· Course and research design
· Student experience
· Quality
· System policy
· Institutional management
· Academic work
· Knowledge and research

Tight explores a range of perspectives, including radical, critical, postmodern and feminist perspectives. He discusses the work of key researchers (e.g. Becher, Marton), and explores the varied use of methodologies (e.g. documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews), theoretical frameworks (e.g. communities of practice, the research/teaching nexus) and research designs (e.g. phenomenography, threshold concepts). Drawing on a wealth of research, he offers insights on topics where further research is needed, paving the way for future research.