'Falling Behind'

This study investigated how selected Australian
universities evaluated and adopted various learning
management systems in their teaching and learning
programs, given claims of uncritical evaluation,
problems and cautions in the Australian and North
American higher education literatures. A grounded
theory of uncritical decision making was ultimately
developed around the core category falling behind ,
which appeared in three university case studies, in
interviews with experts from the Australian higher
education sector, and was also found in both the
Australian and overseas higher education
literatures. This grounded model highlights the
interplay between internal and external university
environments, a range of internal and external
moderating influences, as well as the significant
influence of the Vice Chancellors in each
university. This study should be of great interest
to researchers, policy makers and managers in higher
education, especially those with an interest in
teaching and educational technologies.

Autorentext

Jonathan G.M. Pratt, BBus, LLB, MMgt, PhD: Jonathan is an academic in the Faculty of Business at the University of Technology, Sydney. He conducts research in management and higher education, and teaches in the Faculty's undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

Klappentext

This study investigated how selected Australian universities evaluated and adopted various learning management systems in their teaching and learning programs, given claims of uncritical evaluation, problems and cautions in the Australian and North American higher education literatures. A grounded theory of uncritical decision making was ultimately developed around the core category 'falling behind', which appeared in three university case studies, in interviews with experts from the Australian higher education sector, and was also found in both the Australian and overseas higher education literatures. This grounded model highlights the interplay between internal and external university environments, a range of internal and external moderating influences, as well as the significant influence of the Vice Chancellors in each university. This study should be of great interest to researchers, policy makers and managers in higher education, especially those with an interest in teaching and educational technologies.