【Times Higher Education】Dean Macfarlane on changing trends in universities since Covid-19 pandemic

Times Higher Education ran a feature report on the impacts on universities worldwide caused by the Covid breaking out five years ago and the changing trends in universities ever since, covering the positive and negative sides in introducing the online learning mode, the changing operational modes adopted by universities as well as the financial and mental health pressures on students.

Professor Bruce Macfarlane, Chair Professor of Educational Leadership and Dean of the Faculty of Education and Human Development at EdUHK, initially predicted that the pandemic would not lead to lasting changes in universities. However, he now observed that it has accelerated pre-existing trends of casualisation and the streaming of curricula, citing the rise of teaching-only contracts and a focus on efficiency, which have negatively affected faculty time for research.

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