The 1st International Higher Education Studies Conference (IHEC 2015), organized by Boğaziçi University and Turkish Education Association on the conference theme “The changing world and higher education: Identity, policy and reform models”, took place at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, on October 14-16, 2015.
The main goal of this conference was to promote collaboration, share and discuss emerging trends, research findings and theoretical perspectives in the context of higher education. In order to achieve this, the conference focused on macro perspectives into higher education policies, educational models, methods, and reforms.
The selected manuscripts presented in the conference were fully refereed and accepted manuscripts were published in Education and Science Journal (SSCI) (Special Issue) (in English) and in Journal of Higher Education and Science (in Turkish). Please visit the following link to access the April 2016 Special Issue in Education and Science Journal:
Developing a Research Agenda on Higher Education: Implications for Method, Theory and Policy
Organizing Committee Co-Chairs were Prof. Dr. Ziya Selçuk and Assoc. Prof. Fatma Nevra Seggie. The conference began with opening remarks by Gülay Barbarasoğlu, Rector of Boğaziçi University, and Selçuk Pehlivanoğlu, President of Turkish Education Association, and continued with presentations and panels. As the keynote speakers, Prof.Dr. Durmuş Günay, Former Executive Committee Member of Council of Higher Education, attented the conference with his speech titled “A Philosophical look to the university and Turkish universities” and Prof. Dr. William Tierney, Southern California University, attended the conference with his speech titled “Barriers to innovation and creativity in higher education”. Two panels in Turkish were moderated, and “Quality in Turkish Higher Education” and “Third Generation Universities in Turkey” were discussed in those panels.
The conference brought together many academicians and/or administrators (members of Council of Higher Education, rectors, employees of the Ministry of National Education, Master and Ph.D. students, a variety of non-governmental organizations etc.) from different countries such as Azerbaijan, China, Finland, Cyprus, Qatar, Malesia, Pakistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, and the USA.
The conference theme, dedicated to 22 subtopics, was exploited in 20 different sessions with 24 papers in Turkish and 55 papers in English. More information on the conference committees, presenters, and session abstracts can be found in the 1st International Higher Education Studies Conference (IHEC 2015) Booklet prepared by TEDMEM. All conference announcements were posted on the IHEC 2015 website, which was created both in English and Turkish, and all abstract submissions were made through the submission form on the website.
