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Higher Education Learning Practices

Higher Education Learning Practices is a research topic within Education. Science Explorer counts 27k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the recognition, validation, and accreditation of prior learning in higher education, particularly in the context of competency-based education. It explores policies, practices, and challenges related to acknowledging informal, non-formal, and formal learning experiences of adult learners. The cluster also delves into the implications for lifelong learning and the role of prior learning assessment in shaping educational pathways.

  • Recognition
  • Prior Learning
  • Higher Education
  • Competency-Based Education
  • Validation
  • Informal Learning
  • Non-Formal Learning
  • Policy and Practices
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Adult Education
Research works
27k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+29%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
25% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Higher Education Learning Practices

Which countries lead Higher Education Learning Practices research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (852 and 519 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 852 works
  2. 2 China 519 works
  3. 3 Indonesia 413 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 379 works
  5. 5 South Africa 268 works
  6. 6 India 258 works
  7. 7 Australia 244 works
  8. 8 Malaysia 142 works
  9. 9 Canada 140 works
  10. 10 Germany 134 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 25.4%China: 15.5%Indonesia: 12.3%United Kingdom: 11.3%6 others listed: 35.4%25%largest
United States852 · 25.4%China519 · 15.5%Indonesia413 · 12.3%United Kingdom379 · 11.3%6 others listed1,186 · 35.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Higher Education Learning Practices research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of South Africa publishes the most Higher Education Learning Practices research, followed by Yogyakarta State University and University of Johannesburg.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 38 works
  2. 2 Yogyakarta State UniversityIndonesia 27 works
  3. 3 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 26 works
  4. 4 State University of PadangIndonesia 22 works
  5. 5 University of Hong KongChina 21 works
  6. 6 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 21 works
  7. 7 University of DebrecenHungary 20 works
  8. 8 Addis Ababa UniversityEthiopia 20 works
  9. 9 Deakin UniversityAustralia 19 works
  10. 10 Universiti Teknologi MARAMalaysia 19 works

Who are the leading researchers in Higher Education Learning Practices?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Higher Education Learning Practices include George Davey Smith, Seeram Ramakrishna and Joseph E. Stiglitz.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Seeram Ramakrishna Singapore 186k citations
  3. 3 Joseph E. Stiglitz United States 167k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Higher Education Learning Practices?

The most cited paper in Higher Education Learning Practices is "The Internationalization of Higher Education: Motivations and Realities" (Philip G. Altbach, Jane Knight, 2007), with 3,493 citations. Next come "The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development" (2,870) and "Freedom to Learn" (2,281).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Internationalization of Higher Education: Motivations and Realities Philip G. Altbach, Jane Knight · Journal of Studies in International Education 30 Aug 2007 3,493
2 The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development Malcolm S. Knowles, Elwoodd F. Holton, Petra A. Robinson et al. · Civil War Book Review Open access 2005 2,870
3 Freedom to Learn Edgar Z. Friedenberg · The Journal of Higher Education Mar 1971 2,281
4 A Critical Theory of Adult Learning and Education Jack Mezirow · Adult Education Sep 1981 2,203
5 Peer Assessment Between Students in Colleges and Universities Keith James Topping · Review of Educational Research Sep 1998 2,051
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Higher Education Learning Practices research done?

The largest centres of Higher Education Learning Practices research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Melbourne (Australia), Budapest (Hungary) and Beijing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Bloemfontein.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 71 works
  2. 2 MelbourneAustralia 68 works
  3. 3 BudapestHungary 66 works
  4. 4 BeijingChina 62 works
  5. 5 PretoriaSouth Africa 58 works
  6. 6 Kuala LumpurMalaysia 49 works
  7. 7 JohannesburgSouth Africa 48 works
  8. 8 YogyakartaIndonesia 46 works
  9. 9 JakartaIndonesia 43 works
  10. 10 BangkokThailand 42 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. BloemfonteinZA · 27.5 works16×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Higher Education Learning Practices than the world average.

See Higher Education Learning Practices on the map

Where is the best place to study Higher Education Learning Practices?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Hong Kong, Deakin University and Education University of Hong Kong score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 26.23%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Hong K…Deakin UniversityLancaster UniversityEducation University…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Hong KongChina 84.646.0%4.2×21 +76.7%
2Deakin UniversityAustralia 74.739.3%7.9×19 +44.8%
3Education University of Hong KongChina 65.326.2%18.3×14 +150.4%
4Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom 64.528.7%8.2×11 +135.6%
5University of South AfricaSouth Africa 63.310.7%16.6×38 +80.9%
6Nazarbayev UniversityKazakhstan 61.834.3%10.7×8 +96.1%
7University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 58.710.3%8.0×26 +110.9%
8Monash UniversityAustralia 57.627.7%3.1×16 +12.5%
9University of the Free StateSouth Africa 56.720.6%13.4×17 +122.1%
10Griffith UniversityAustralia 56.318.5%7.0×16 +18.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Higher Education Learning Practices, country by country

Is Higher Education Learning Practices research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 29% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Higher Education Learning Practices.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Higher Education Learning Practices as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.038% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Higher Education Learning Practices0.029% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Higher Education Learning Practices over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Higher Education Learning Practices10.4% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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