ABSTRACT
People use models all the time, often without being aware that they are doing so, to structure conversations about universities, teaching and learning. University leaders use structured ideas to tune strategy with institutional dynamics and to promote their institution to government, business and the community. Learners interact with structures all the time, through curricula, assessments, timetables and campus designs. Models help institutional managers frame evaluations, market the strengths of their units, and structure conversations about emerging practices and ideas. Parents and alumni use patterned language to discuss the quality and characteristics of universities. As they prepare and teach, faculty use structures to distinguish student behaviours and expectations, to design courses and to locate their teaching in broader contexts. Researchers use frameworks often, to focus and conduct inquiry, link ideas, locate analysis within fields of knowledge, and clarify assumptions and perspectives. Policy-makers adopt models which enhance their capacity to understand diversity and manage strategies and change. Models fuel the subtext of university life, and frame trends and discussions about higher education. Well-designed and applied models enhance the clarity, efficiency and effectiveness of analysis and practice.
