Search results for: graduate business education

Authors: Kurotimi M. Fems, Francis D. W. Poazi, Helen Opigo

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The concepts of entrepreneurship education together with graduate entrepreneurship have taken centre stage in many countries as a 21^st century strategy for economic growth and development. Entrepreneurship education has been viewed as a pre-requisite tool for a more effective and successful business operation. This paper seeks to verify if entrepreneurship education is pre-requisite to graduate entrepreneurship, and to ascertain if such other factors as the need for achievement, competence and experience etc. also play a foundational role in the choice of a graduate becoming an entrepreneur. The scope of the research study is entrepreneurs within Yenagoa metropolis in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The sample target is graduates engaged in entrepreneurship activities (graduates who own and run businesses). Stratified sampling technique was used and 101 responses were obtained from a total of 300 questionnaires issued. Bar chart, tables and percentages were used to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed that personality traits, situational circumstance, need for achievement and experience/competence were the foundational factors stimulating graduate entrepreneurs to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits. Of all, personality trait showed the highest score with 73 (73%) out of 101 entrepreneurs agreeing. Experience/Competence and situational circumstances followed behind with 66 (65%) and 63 (62.4%), respectively. Entrepreneurship education revealed the least score with 33 (32.3%) out of 101 participating entrepreneurs. All hope, however, is not lost, as this shows that something can be done to increase the impact of entrepreneurship education on graduate entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Creative destruction, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship education, graduate entrepreneurship, pre-requisite

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Authors: Kurotimi M. Fems, Francis D. W. Poazi, Helen Opigo

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Entrepreneurship education and graduate entrepreneurship have taken centre stage in many countries as a 21st century strategy for economic growth and development. Entrepreneurship education has been viewed as a pre-requisite tool for a more effective and successful business operation. The purpose of this study is to ascertain if entrepreneurship education is a foundational requirement for graduate entrepreneurial engagement or, if other factors such as personality trait, need for achievement, situational circumstances or experience and competence played a more vital role in stimulating graduate entrepreneurial engagement. The scope of the research study is entrepreneurs within Yenagoa metropolis in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The sample target is graduates engaged in entrepreneurship activities (graduates who own and run businesses). Stratified sampling technique was used and 101 responses were gotten from a total of 300 questionnaires issued. Bar chart, tables, and percentages were used to analyze the data collected. Findings: The findings revealed that personality traits, situational circumstance, need for achievement and experience/competence were the foundational factors stimulating graduate entrepreneurs to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits. Of all, personality trait showed the highest score with 73 (73%) out of 101 entrepreneurs agreeing. Experience/Competence and situational circumstances followed behind with 66 (65%) and 63 (62.4%) respectively. Entrepreneurship education revealed the least score with 33 (32.3%) out of 101 participating entrepreneurs. All hope, however, is not lost, as this shows that something can be done to increase the impact of entrepreneurship education on graduate entrepreneurship.

Keywords: creative destruction, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship education, graduate entrepreneurship, pre-requisite

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Authors: Sunday Ose Ugadu

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Unemployment, especially graduate unemployment is, for now, the greatest problem facing Nigeria as a nation. It is responsible for most of the other ills of the country, including kidnapping, armed robbery, youth restiveness, thuggery, to mention but a few. More and more people in Nigeria are now losing confidence in the prospect of tertiary education as an instrument par excellence for effecting national development. This paper, therefore, critically examined the problem of graduate unemployment in Nigeria. It briefly traced the history of university education in Nigeria. The rate and causes of graduate unemployment in Nigeria were also discussed. Previous attempts made by the government to solve the problem of unemployment were highlighted. The paper also harped on the prospect of entrepreneurship education as an instrument for fighting graduate unemployment identifying obstacles to entrepreneurship education in Nigeria. The paper drew conclusion, and major recommendation made was a call for converting the National Youth Service Corps Scheme in Nigeria to entrepreneurship and skills acquisition scheme as soon as possible.

Keywords: graduate, unemployment, entrepreneurship education, national development

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Authors: Terada Pinyo

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This study is a survey research designed to evaluate the quality of graduate students and factors influencing their quality. The sample group consists of 240 students. The data are collected from stratified sampling and are analyzed and calculated by instant computer program. Statistics used are percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cramer’s V and logistic regression analysis. It is found that the graduate students’ opinions regarding their characteristics according to the Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF) are at high score range both overall and specific category. The top categories that received the top score are interpersonal skills and responsibility, ethics and morals, knowledge, cognitive skills, numerical analysis with communication and information technology skills, respectively. On the other hand, factors affecting the quality of graduate students are cognitive skills, numerical analysis with communication and information technology, knowledge, interpersonal skills and responsibility, ethics and morals, and career regarding sales/business, respectively.

Keywords: student quality evaluation, Thai qualifications framework for higher education, graduate school, cognitive skills

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Authors: Seden Demirtaş, Feyza Tantekin Erden

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The importance of research in early childhood education is growing all around the world. This study aims to investigate research trends in graduate theses written in Turkey in the area of early childhood education. Descriptive, contextual and methodological aspects of graduate theses were analyzed to investigate the trends. A sample of the study consisted of 1000 graduate theses (n= 1000) including both MS theses and Ph.D. dissertations. Theses and dissertations were obtained from the thesis database of Council of Higher Education (CoHE). An investigation form was developed by the researcher to analyze graduate theses. The investigation forms validated by expert opinion from early childhood education department. To enhance the reliability of the investigation form, inter-coder agreement was measured by Cohen’s Kappa value (.86). Data were gathered via using the investigation form, and content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results of the analysis were presented by descriptive statistics and frequency tables. Analysis of the study is on-going and preliminary results of the study show that master theses related to early childhood education have started to be written in 1986, and the number of the theses has increased gradually. In most of the studies, sample group consisted of children especially in between 5-6 age group. Child development, activities (applied in daily curriculum of preschools) and teaching methods are the mostly examined concepts in graduate theses. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were referred equally by researchers in these theses.

Keywords: content analysis, early childhood education, graduate thesis, research trends

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Authors: Harun Bozna

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MOOC (massive open online course) is a groundbreaking education platform and a current buzzword in higher education. Although MOOCs offer many appreciated learning experiences to learners from various universities and institutions, they have considerably higher dropout rates than traditional education. Only about 10% of the learners who enroll in MOOCs actually complete the course. In this case, perceptions of participants and a comprehensive analysis of MOOCs have become an essential part of the research in this area. This study aims to explore the MOOCs in detail for better understanding its content, purpose and primarily drop out issues. The researcher conducted an online questionnaire to get perceptions of graduate students on their learning experiences in MOOCs and arranged a semi- structured oral interview with some participants. The participants are Turkish graduate level students doing their MA and Ph.D. in various programs. The findings show that participants are more likely to drop out courses due to lack of time and lack of pressure.

Keywords: distance education, MOOCs, drop out, perception of graduate students

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Authors: Akumeyam Elvis Akum, Njanjo Thecla Anyongo Mukete, Fonkeng George Epah

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Globally, the goal of higher education is to enhance graduate employability skills. Paradoxically, Cameroon’s graduate employability rate is far below the graduation rate. This worrisome situation caused the researcher to hypothesize that the teaching and learning experiences account for this increasing disparity. The study sought to investigate the effect on graduate employability of the teaching of organizational, problem-solving, innovation, and risk management skills on graduate employability. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with a quantitative approach. Data was collected by quantitative techniques from a random sample of 385 graduates using closed-ended structured questionnaire. Generally, findings revealed that entrepreneurship education does not sufficiently enhance graduate employability in the University of Buea. Specifically, the teaching of organizational skills does not significantly enhance their employability, as an average of 55% of graduates indicated that the course did not sufficiently help them develop skills for planning, management of limited resources, collaboration, and the setting of priorities. Also, 60% of the respondents indicated that the teaching of problem-solving skills does not significantly enhance graduate employability at the University of Buea. Contrarily, 57% of the respondents agreed that through their experiences in entrepreneurship education, their innovation skills were improved. The study recommended that a practical approach to teaching should be adopted, with attention to societal needs. A framework to ensure the teaching of entrepreneurship to students at the undergraduate level is recommended, such that those who do not continue with university studies after their Bachelor’s degree would have acquired the needed skills for employability.

Keywords: employability, entrepreneurship education, graduate, innovative skills, organizational skills, problem-solving skills, risk management skills

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Authors: Nasir Khalid

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In Malaysia, higher education is big business. There are many companies that are willing if not already to invest heavily in higher education for students that aspire to pursue their degree in diploma, undergraduate as well as graduate studies. These companies sometimes even have a joint venture twinning program with other already established universities in and across Europe, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Some of these investments have been successful whereas others find themselves limited by the obstacle of receiving new students. Recently, the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education has stopped issuing licenses to set up private institutions of higher education. This paper will thus examine the factors affecting the success of private higher education businesses in Malaysia. The samples will consist of thirty private institutions [N=30]. Among the factors that will be mentioned in the literature are academic programs, student quality and achievement, student employability, alumni satisfaction, student enrolment, institutional environment, lecturer-quality and effectiveness of supporting staff. A questionnaire was developed and analyzed using statistical analysis. The result of this study found that the top three factors affecting the success of private higher education businesses in Malaysia are student enrolment, institutional environment and the academic programs offered.

Keywords: higher education business, successful business factors, private institutions, business in Malaysia

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Authors: Terada Pinyo

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This study is the survey research, designed to find out the threshold competency of graduate students in terms of knowledge excellency and professional skills proficiency based on Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF). The sample group consisted of 240 students. The results were collected by stratified sampling, using study programs for each stage. The results were analysed and calculated by computer program. Statistics used during analysing were percentage, mean, and standard deviation. From the study, the threshold competency of graduate students were in very high score range in both overall and specific category. The top category which received the most score was interpersonal skills and responsibility, following by ethics and morality, knowledge and skills, and numerical communication and information technology.

Keywords: threshold competency, Thai qualifications framework for higher education, graduate school

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Authors: Emily Carrothers

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This research takes a critical look at the development of the social worker subjectivity, particularly in Canada. Through an interrogation of required graduate course texts, this paper explicates the discursive formation, orientation, and maintenance of the social worker subject and the conceptualizations of poverty in graduate social work education. This research aims to advance understandings of power and ideology in social work graduate texts and formations of particular dominant constructions of poverty and social worker subjectivity. Guiding questions for this inquiry include: What are social workers being oriented to? What are social workers being oriented away from? How is poverty theorized, discussed and/or attached to social location in social work education? And, how are social workers implicated in contesting or reinforcing poverty? Using critical discourse analysis, 6 texts were analyzed with a particular focus on ways in which notions of poverty are discursively represented and ways in which notions of the formation of the social worker were approached. This revealed that discursively underpinning social work in anti-oppressive practice (AOP) can work to reify hierarchal structures of power that orient social workers away from structural poverty reduction strategies and towards punitive interactions with those that experience poverty and multiple forms of marginalization. This highlights that the social worker subjectivity is formed in opposition to the client, with graduate texts constructing the social worker as an expert in client’s lives and experiences even more so than the client.

Keywords: Canada, education, social work, subjectivity

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Authors: Ricardo Bragança, Tom Vinaimont

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This paper discusses the introduction of processes of self-determined learning (heutagogy) into a graduate course on financial modeling, using elements of entangled pedagogy and Biggs’ constructive alignment. To encourage learners to take control of their own learning journey and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, each session in the course receives tailor-made media-enhanced pedagogical assets. The design of those assets specifically supports entangled pedagogy, which opposes technological or pedagogical determinism in support of the collaborative integration of pedagogy and technology. Media assets for each of the ten sessions in this course consist of three components. The first component in this three-pronged approach is a game-cut-like cinematographic representation that introduces the context of the session. The second component represents a character from an open-source-styled community that encourages self-determined learning. The third component consists of a character, which refers to the in-person instructor and also aligns learning outcomes and assessment tasks, using Biggs’ constructive alignment, to the cinematographic and open-source-styled component. In essence, the course's metamorphosis helps students apply the concepts they've studied to actual financial modeling issues. The audio-visual media assets create a storyline throughout the course based on gamified and real-world applications, thus encouraging student engagement and interaction. The structured entanglement of pedagogy and technology also guides the instructor in the design of the in-class interactions and directs the focus on outcomes and assessments. The transformation process of this graduate course in financial modeling led to an institutional teaching award in 2021. The transformation of this course may be used as a model for other courses and programs in many disciplines to help with intended learning outcomes integration, constructive alignment, and Assurance of Learning.

Keywords: innovative education, active learning, entangled pedagogy, heutagogy, constructive alignment, project based learning, financial modeling, graduate business education

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Authors: Md. Awal Hossain Mollah

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Corporate governance is playing a crucial role for ensuring social accountability and responsibility of business organization through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the last two decades. In Bangladesh, CSR is a growing and popular concept and a recent development. Various business and corporate organizations are playing crucial role for helping vulnerable sections of our society now. For instance, Dutch Bangla Bank has been providing scholarship for under graduate and graduate students in our country which is very helpful for promoting poor and meritorious students in Bangladesh. In this study, how far CSR is playing its role for ensuring human right in Bangladesh will be examined with specific case studies. The study focus will reflect on both developed and developing nations based on literature review and possible empirical evidence.

Keywords: CSR, corporate governance, social security, Bangladesh, scholarships, graduate students, Dutch angla Bank

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Authors: C. F. Jones Couto, L. C. Motlhaolwa, K. Williams

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This article explores the re-imagining of physical education teacher education in South African higher education. Utilising student reflections from a physical education practical module, valuable insights into student experiences were obtained about the current physical education pedagogical approaches and potential areas for improvement. The traditional teaching model of physical education is based on the idea of teaching students a variety of sports and physical activities. However, this model has been shown to be ineffective in promoting lifelong physical activity. The modern world demands a more holistic approach to health and wellness. Data was collected using the arts-based collage method in combination with written group reflections from 139 second-year undergraduate physical education students. This study employed thematic analysis methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of the data and extract a broader perspective on the students' experiences. The study aimed to empower student teachers to learn, think, and act creatively within the many educational models that impact their experience, contributing to the ongoing efforts of re-imagining physical education teacher education in South African higher education. This research is significant as the students' valuable insights reflected that they can think and work across disciplines. Sustainable development goals and graduate attributes are important concepts that can contribute to student preparation. Using a multi-model educational approach based on the cultural-historical theory, higher education institutions can help develop graduate attributes that will prepare students for success in the workplace and life.

Keywords: holistic education, graduate attributes, physical education, teacher education, student experiences, sustainable development goals

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Authors: Janet Lynn S. Montemayor

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Dropping survivability and rising drop-out rate in the graduate school is attributed to the demands that come along with research-related requirements. Graduate students tend to withdraw from their studies when confronted with such requirements. This act of succumbing to the challenge is primarily due to a negative mindset. An understanding of students’ view towards research is essential for teachers in facilitating research activities in the graduate school. This study aimed to develop a tool that accurately measures attitude towards research. Psychometric properties of the Research Attitude Inventory (RAIn) was assessed. A pool of items (k=50) was initially constructed and was administered to a development sample composed of Masters and Doctorate degree students (n=159). Results show that the RAIn is a reliable measure of research attitude (k=41, αmax = 0.894). Principal component analysis using orthogonal rotation with Kaiser normalization identified four underlying factors of research attitude, namely predisposition, purpose, perspective, and preparation. Research attitude among the respondents was analyzed using this measure.

Keywords: graduate education, principal component analysis, research attitude, scale development

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Authors: Elzo Alves Aranha, Marcio M. Araki

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Business model (BM) is a term that has been receiving the attention of scholars and practitioners and has been consolidating itself as a field of study and research. Although there is no agreement in the academic literature on the definition of BM, at least there is an explicit agreement: BM defines a logical structure of how an organization creates value, capture value and delivers value for the customers and stakeholders. The lack of understanding about connections and elements among BM and higher education, university, and entrepreneurship education opens a gap in the academic literature. Thus, it is interesting to analyze how BM has been approached by the literature and applied in higher education, university, and entrepreneurship education aimed to know the main streams of research. This is because higher education institutions are characterized by innovation, leading to a greater acceptance of new and modern concepts such as BM. Our research has the main motivation to fill the gap in the academic literature, making it possible to increase the power of understanding about connections and aspects among BM and higher education, university, and entrepreneurship education. The objective of the research is to analyze the main aspects among BM and higher education, university, and entrepreneurship education in academic literature. The research followed the systematic literature review (SLR). The SLR is based on three main factors: clarity, validity, and auditability. 82 academic papers were found in the past 10 years, from 2009-2019. The search was carried out in Science Direct and Periodicos Capes databases. The main findings indicate that there are links between BM and higher education, BM and university, BM, and entrepreneurship education. The main findings are inserted within seven aspects. The findings are innovative and contribute to increase the power of understanding about the connection among BM and higher education, university, and entrepreneurship education in academic literature. The research findings addressed to the gap exposed in academic literature. The research findings have several practical implications, and we highlight only two main ones. First, researchers will be able to use the research findings to mitigate a BM research agenda involving connections between BM and higher education, BM and university, and BM and entrepreneurship education. Second, directors, deans, and university leaders will be able to carry out BM awareness programs, BM professors training programs, and makers planning for the inclusion of BM, as one of the components of the curricula of the undergraduate and graduate courses.

Keywords: business model, entrepreneurship education, higher education, university

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Authors: Chux Gervase Iwu, Simon Nsengimane

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Entrepreneurship stimulates socio-economic development in many countries, if not all. It creates jobs and decreases unemployment and inequality. There are other benefits that are accruable from entrepreneurship, namely the empowerment of women and the promotion of better livelihoods. Innovation has become a weapon for business competition, growth, and sustainability. Paradoxically, it is a threat to businesses because products can be duplicated; new products may decrease the market share of existing ones or delete them from the market. This creates a constant competitive environment that calls for updates, innovation, and the invention of new products and services. Thus, the importance of higher education in instilling a good entrepreneurial mindset in students has become even more critical. It can be argued that the business environment is under enormous pressure from several factors, including the fourth industrial revolution, which calls for the adoption and use of information and communication technology, which is the catalyst for many innovations and organisational changes. Therefore, it is crucial that higher education students are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to respond effectively to the needs of the business environment and create a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem. In South Africa, entrepreneurship education or some form of it has been a privilege for economic and management fields of study, leaving behind other fields. Entrepreneurship should not be limited to business faculties but rather extended to other fields of study. This is perhaps the reason for low levels of entrepreneurship uptake among South African graduates if they are compared with the graduates in other countries. There may be other reasons for the low entrepreneurship uptake. Some of these have been documented in extant literature to include (1) not enough time was spent teaching entrepreneurship in the business faculties, (2) the skills components in the curricula are insufficient, and (3) the overall attitudes/mindsets necessary to establish and run sustainable enterprises seem absent. Therefore, four important areas are recognised as crucial for the effective implementation of entrepreneurship education: policy, private sector engagement, curriculum development, and teacher development. The purpose of this research is to better comprehend the views, aspirations, and expectations of students and faculty members to design an entrepreneurial teaching model for higher education institutions. A qualitative method will be used to conduct a purposive interview with undergraduate and graduate students in select higher institutions. Members of faculty will also be included in the sample as well as, where possible, two or more government personnel responsible for higher education policy development. At present, interpretative analysis is proposed for the analysis of the interviews with the support of Atlas Ti. It is hoped that an entrepreneurship education model in the South African context is realised through this study.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, higher education institution, graduate unemployment, curriculum development

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Authors: Samah Senbel

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Database Design is a fundamental part of the Computer Science and Information technology curricula in any school, as well as in the study of management, business administration, and data analytics. In this study, we compare the performance of two groups of students studying the same database design and implementation course at Sacred Heart University in the fall of 2018. Both courses used the same textbook and were taught by the same professor, one for seven graduate students and one for 26 undergraduate students (juniors). The undergraduate students were aged around 20 years old with little work experience, while the graduate students averaged 35 years old and all were employed in computer-related or management-related jobs. The textbook used was 'Database Systems, Design, Implementation, and Management' by Coronel and Morris, and the course was designed to follow the textbook roughly a chapter per week. The first 6 weeks covered the design aspect of a database, followed by a paper exam. The next 6 weeks covered the implementation aspect of the database using SQL followed by a lab exam. Since the undergraduate students are on a 16 week semester, we spend the last three weeks of the course covering NoSQL. This part of the course was not included in this study. After the course was over, we analyze the results of the two groups of students. An interesting discrepancy was observed: In the database design part of the course, the average grade of the graduate students was 92%, while that of the undergraduate students was 77% for the same exam. In the implementation part of the course, we observe the opposite: the average grade of the graduate students was 65% while that of the undergraduate students was 73%. The overall grades were quite similar: the graduate average was 78% and that of the undergraduates was 75%. Based on these results, we concluded that having both classes follow the same time schedule was not beneficial, and an adjustment is needed. The graduates could spend less time on design and the undergraduates would benefit from more design time. In the fall of 2019, 30 students registered for the undergraduate course and 15 students registered for the graduate course. To test our conclusion, the undergraduates spend about 67% of time (eight classes) on the design part of the course and 33% (four classes) on the implementation part, using the exact exams as the previous year. This resulted in an improvement in their average grades on the design part from 77% to 83% and also their implementation average grade from 73% to 79%. In conclusion, we recommend using two separate schedules for teaching the database design course. For undergraduate students, it is important to spend more time on the design part rather than the implementation part of the course. While for the older graduate students, we recommend spending more time on the implementation part, as it seems that is the part they struggle with, even though they have a higher understanding of the design component of databases.

Keywords: computer science education, database design, graduate and undergraduate students, pedagogy

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Authors: Charlie Yang

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The idea that business practitioners urgently need a more holistic and humanistic philosophy about the free market economy has gained some attraction among business practitioners and business professors. Those who have endorsed “conscious capitalism” as an emerging business philosophy also contended that business education should be grounded in a more positive understanding of capitalism, which enables future business leaders to have a greater impact on the world. This study is designed to critically examine the theoretical foundations of conscious capitalism and its practical and pedagogical possibilities as an emerging business movement. Based on the analysis of qualitative data collected through reflective essays written by business students, I will discuss the pedagogical and practical implications for developing conscious leadership in the context of more transformative and contemplative management education.

Keywords: conscious capitalism, conscious leadership, contemplative management education, contemplative pedagogy

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Authors: Clinton Chidiebere Anyanwu

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Secondary education is a vital part of a virtuous circle of economic growth within the context of a globalised knowledge economy. The teaching of Business Education entails teaching learners the essentials, rudiments, assumptions, and methods of business. Hence, it was deemed necessary for the study to investigate technology integration in Business Education. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), the study observes teachers’ level of technology use in Business Education classrooms. Using a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, probability, and purposive sampling, the majority of participants were found to be not integrating technology to an acceptable level and a small percentage was. After an analysis of constructs from UTAUT, some of this could be attributed to the lack of facilitating conditions in the teaching and learning of Business Education. The implication of the study findings is that poor investment in technology integration in secondary schools in Nigeria affects pedagogical implementations and effective teaching and learning of Business Education subjects. The study concludes that if facilitating conditions and professional development are considered to address the shortfalls in terms of TPACK, technology integration will become a reality in secondary schools in Nigeria.

Keywords: business education, secondary education, technology integration, TPACK, UTAUT

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Authors: Erica Lima

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In Brazil, considering the (little) age of translation studies, it can be argued that the University of Campinas is traditionally an important place for graduate studies in translation. The story is told from the accreditation for the Masters, in 1987, and the Doctoral program, in 1993, within the Graduate Program in Applied Linguistics. Since the beginning, the program boasted cutting-edge research, with theoretical reflections on various aspects, and with different methodological trends. However, on the one hand, the graduate studies development was continuously growing, but on the other, it is not what was observed in the undergraduate degree program. Currently, there are only a few disciplines of Translation Theory and Practice, which does not seem to respond to student aspirations. The objective of this paper is to present the characteristics of the university’s graduate program as something profitable, considering the concern in relating the research to the historical moment in which we are living, with research conducted in a socially compromised environment and committed to the impact that it will cause ethically and socially, as well as to question the undergraduate program paths. The objective is also to discuss and propose changes, considering the limited scope currently achieved. In light of the information age, in which we have an avalanche of information, we believe that the training of translators in the undergraduate degree should be reviewed, with the goal of retracing current paths and following others that are consistent with our historical period, marked by virtual and real, by the shuffling of borders and languages, the need for new language policies, greater inclusion, and more acceptance of others. We conclude that we need new proposals for the development of the translator in an undergraduate program, and also present suggestions to be implemented in the graduate program.

Keywords: graduate Brazilian program, undergraduate Brazilian program, translator’s education, Unicamp

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Authors: Shairn Hollis-Turner

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The changing demands of workplace practice in the field of business information and administration have placed considerable pressure on educators to prepare students for the world of work. In this paper, we argue that appropriate forms of work-integrated learning (WIL) could enhance learning experiences in higher education and support educators to meet industry needs for changing times. The study aims to enhance business information and administration education from a practice perspective. The guiding research question is: How can a systematic understanding of work-integrated learning practices enhance learning experiences in higher education? The research design comprised comparative case studies across three countries and was framed by Activity Theory. Analysis of the findings highlighted the similarities across WIL systems for higher education practices and the differences within the activity systems. The findings showed similarities in program practice, content, placement, and in the struggles of students to find placements. The findings also showed misalignments between WIL preparation, delivery, and future focus of WIL at these institutions. The findings suggest that employment requirements vary across countries and that systems could be improved to meet the demands of workplace practice for changing times for the benefit of students’ learning and employability.

Keywords: business administration, business information, knowledge, post graduate diploma

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Authors: Alice Civera, Mattia Cattaneo, Michele Meoli, Stefano Paleari

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Despite the fact that more equal access to higher education has been an objective public policy for several decades, little is known about the effectiveness of alternative means for achieving such goal. Indeed, nowadays, high level of graduate population can be observed both in countries with the high and low level of fees, or high and low level of public expenditure in higher education. This paper surveys the extant literature providing some background on the economic concepts of the higher education market, and reviews key determinants of demand and supply. A theoretical model of aggregate demand and supply of higher education is derived, with the aim to facilitate the understanding of the challenges in today’s higher education systems, as well as the opportunities for development. The model is validated on some exemplary case studies describing the different relationship between the level of public investment and levels of graduate population and helps to derive general implications. In addition, using a two-stage least squares model, we build a macroeconomic model of supply and demand for European higher education. The model allows interpreting policies shifting either the supply or the demand for higher education, and allows taking into consideration contextual conditions with the aim of comparing divergent policies under a common framework. Results show that the same policy objective (i.e., increasing graduate population) can be obtained by shifting either the demand function (i.e., by strengthening student aid) or the supply function (i.e., by directly supporting higher education institutions). Under this theoretical perspective, the level of tuition fees is irrelevant, and empirically we can observe high levels of graduate population in both countries with high (i.e., the UK) or low (i.e., Germany) levels of tuition fees. In practice, this model provides a conceptual framework to help better understanding what are the external conditions that need to be considered, when planning a policy for increasing graduate population. Extrapolating a policy from results in different countries, under this perspective, is a poor solution when contingent factors are not addressed. The second implication of this conceptual framework is that policies addressing the supply or the demand function needs to address different contingencies. In other words, a government aiming at increasing graduate population needs to implement complementary policies, designing them according to the side of the market that is interested. For example, a ‘supply-driven’ intervention, through the direct financial support of higher education institutions, needs to address the issue of institutions’ moral hazard, by creating incentives to supply higher education services in efficient conditions. By contrast, a ‘demand-driven’ policy, providing student aids, need to tackle the students’ moral hazard, by creating an incentive to responsible behavior.

Keywords: graduates, higher education, higher education policies, tuition fees

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Authors: Jeffrey Ansloos

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International trauma education in low and emerging economies requires innovative methods for capacity building in existing social service infrastructures. This study details the findings of a program evaluation used to assess the learning outcomes and community impact of an international trauma-focused graduate degree program in Guyana. Through a collaborative partnership between Lesley University, the Government of Guyana, and UNICEF, a 2-year low-residency masters degree graduate program in trauma-focused assessment, intervention, and treatment was piloted with a cohort of Guyanese mental health professionals. Through an analytical review of the program development, as well as qualitative data analysis of participant interviews and focus-groups, this study will address the efficacy of the programming in terms of preparedness of professionals to understand, evaluate and implement trauma-informed practices across various child, youth, and family mental health service settings. Strengths and limitations of this international trauma-education delivery model will be discussed with particular emphasis on the role of capacity-building interventions, community-based participatory curriculum development, innovative technological delivery platforms, and interdisciplinary education. Implications for further research and subsequent program development will be discussed.

Keywords: mental health promotion, global health promotion, trauma education, innovations in education, child, youth, mental health education

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Authors: Vladimira Hornackova, Jana Kottasova, Zuzana Vanova, Anna Jungrova

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Present study deals with drama education in preschool education. The research made in this field brings a qualitative comparative survey with the aim to find out the use of methods and techniques of drama education in preschool education at university or secondary school graduate preschool teachers. The research uses a content analysis and an unstandardized questionnaire for preschool teachers and obtained data are processed with the help of descriptive methods and correlations. The results allow a comparison of aspects applied through drama in preschool education. The research brings impulses for education improvement in kindergartens and inspiration for university study programs of drama education in the professional training of preschool teachers.

Keywords: drama education, preschool education, preschool teacher, research

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Authors: Maturos Chongchaikit, Sitthikorn Sumalee, Nopphawan Chimroylarp, Nongluck Manowaluilou, Thapanee Thammetha

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The 2015 Kasetsart University Research Plan, which was funded by the National Research Institutes: TRF – NRCT, comprises four sub-research projects on the development of three OER websites and on their usage study by students in international programs. The goals were to develop the open educational resources (OER) in the form of websites that will promote three key skills of quality learning and achievement: Academic English, Educational Research, and ICT Literacy, to graduate students in international programs of Thailand. The statistics from the Office of Higher Education showed that the number of foreign students who come to study in international higher education of Thailand has increased respectively by 25 percent per year, proving that the international education system and institutes of Thailand have been already recognized regionally and globally as meeting the standards. The output of the plan: the OER websites and their materials, and the outcome: students’ learning improvement due to lecturers’ readiness for open educational media, will ultimately lead the country to higher business capabilities for international education services in ASEAN Community in the future. The OER innovation is aimed at sharing quality knowledge to the world, with the adoption of Creative Commons Licenses that makes sharing be able to do freely (5Rs openness), without charge and leading to self and life-long learning. The research has brought the problems on the low usage of existing OER in the English language to develop the OER on three specific skills and try them out with the sample of 100 students randomly selected from the international graduate programs of top 10 Thai universities, according to QS Asia University Rankings 2014. The R&D process was used for product evaluation in 2 stages: the development stage and the usage study stage. The research tools were the questionnaires for content and OER experts, the questionnaires for the sample group and the open-ended interviews for the focus group discussions. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and SD. The findings revealed that the developed websites were fully qualified as OERs by the experts. The students’ opinions and satisfaction were at the highest levels for both the content and the technology used for presentation. The usage manual and self-assessment guide were finalized during the focus group discussions. The direct participation according to the concept of 5Rs Openness Activities through the provided tools of OER models like MERLOT and OER COMMONS, as well as the development of usage manual and self-assessment guide, were revealed as a key approach to further extend the output widely and sustainably to the network of users in various higher education institutions.

Keywords: open educational resources, international education services business, academic English, educational research, ICT literacy, international graduate program, OER

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Authors: Sitalakshmi Venkatraman, Fiona Wahr, Anthony de Souza-Daw, Samuel Kaspi

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There is a growing emphasis on generic skills in higher education to match the changing skill-set requirements of the labour market. However, researchers and policy makers have not arrived at a consensus on the generic skills that actually contribute towards workplace employability and performance that complement and/or underpin discipline-specific graduate attributes. In order to strengthen the qualifications framework, a range of ‘generic’ learning outcomes have been considered for students undergoing higher education programs and among them it is necessary to have the fundamental generic skills such as literacy and numeracy at a level appropriate to the qualification type. This warrants for curriculum design approaches to contextualise the form and scope of these fundamental generic skills for supporting both students’ learning engagement in the course, as well as the graduate attributes required for employability and to progress within their chosen profession. Little research is reported in integrating such generic skills into discipline-specific learning outcomes. This paper explores the literature of the generic skills required for graduates from the discipline of Information Technology (IT) in relation to an Australian higher education institution. The paper presents the rationale of a proposed Bachelor of IT curriculum designed to contextualize the learning of these generic skills within the students’ discipline studies.

Keywords: curriculum, employability, generic skills, graduate attributes, higher education, information technology

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Authors: Magdy Abdel-Aleem Abdel-Ati Mayouf, Islam Al Sayed Hussein Al Sayed

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Development of tourism and hospitality faculties' graduates is a key to the future health of hospitality and tourism sectors. Meanwhile information and communication technologies (ICTs) increasingly become the driving engine for productivity improvement and business opportunities in tourism and hospitality industry. Tourism and hospitality education and training must address these developments to enhance the ability of future managers to adopt a variety of ICT tools and strategies to increase their organization's efficiency and competitiveness. Therefore, this study aims to explore the types and effectiveness of ICT training offered by faculties of tourism and hotels in Egypt, and evaluating the importance of that training from the graduate's point of view. The study targets the graduates who graduated in the present ten years from three different faculties of tourism and hotels. Results argued the types, levels and effectiveness of ICT training offered in these faculties and the extent to which training programs were appreciated by graduates working in different fields, and finally, it recommended particular practices to enhance the training efficiency and raising the perceived benefits of it for workers in tourism and hospitality fields.

Keywords: training, IT, graduated, tourism and hospitality, education

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Authors: Christia C. Baltar

Abstract:

Everybody goes to primary education but not all proceed to secondary education because of poverty and it is evident in the Philippines. Moreover, the number goes down when they reach higher education. The researcher believes that higher education may improve the standard of living of the family looking at the economic benefits of it. Once one graduated from a particular degree, one may employ with higher wage than those who are non-degree holder. Every year the Philippines produce more than five hundred thousand graduates of higher education and it keeps on increasing every year. Thus, the competition in the employment is really high. It is then important to pursue higher education than settling to a high school graduate because a degree is what most of the employer is looking for. The Philippine government through the Department of Labor and Employment is offering job fairs to all cities as much as possible just to cater employment for those graduates away from urban areas like in Manila and even the privates sectors also proposing for job fairs. Researcher conducted a survey in her institution and she further used secondary information to strengthen the findings of her survey. Researcher used descriptive measures, chi-square test for independence, and the correlation coefficient to analyze the data in her survey. In the survey conducted results show that there was an increase on the income of the family of the graduates of higher education. The graduates believed that their standard of living improved because they were able to work in a better job. The data were analyzed and the results show that there was no significant relationship on sex, age and marital status of the graduates to their economic status but the degree program they enrolled in the tertiary education affects their economic status. The impact of earning higher education can be seen indirectly to the economic growth of the Philippines. Finally, researcher concludes that there is direct and indirect impact of the higher education to the economic status of the graduates.

Keywords: economic benefits, economic status, graduate, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: Prema Basargekar

Abstract:

Facilitating the subject ‘Entrepreneurship Education’ in higher education, such as management studies, can be exhilarating as well as challenging. It is a multi-disciplinary and ever-evolving subject. Capturing entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in a holistic manner is a daunting task as it requires covering various dimensions such as new ideas generation, entrepreneurial traits, business opportunities scanning, the role of policymakers, value creation, etc., to name a few. Implicit entrepreneurship theory and effectuation are two different theories that focus on engaging the participants to create content by using their own experiences, perceptions, and belief systems. It helps in understanding the phenomenon holistically. The assumption here is that all of us are part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and effective learning can come through active engagement and peer learning by all the participants together. The present study is an attempt to use these theories in the class assignment given to the students at the beginning of the course to build the course content and understand entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in a better way through peer learning. The assignment was given to three batches of MBA post-graduate students doing the program in one of the private business schools in India. The subject of ‘Entrepreneurship Management’ is facilitated in the third trimester of the first year. At the beginning of the course, the students were given the assignment to submit a brief write-up/ collage/picture/poem or in any other format about “What entrepreneurship means to you?” They were asked to give their candid opinions about entrepreneurship as a phenomenon as they perceive it. Nearly 156 students doing post-graduate MBA submitted the assignment. These assignments were further used to find answers to two research questions. – 1) Are students able to use divergent and innovative forms to express their opinions, such as poetry, illustrations, videos, etc.? 2) What are various dimensions of entrepreneurship which are emerging to understand the phenomenon in a better way? The study uses the Brawn and Clark framework of reflective thematic analysis for qualitative analysis. The study finds that students responded to this assignment enthusiastically and expressed their thoughts in multiple ways, such as poetry, illustration, personal narrative, videos, etc. The content analysis revealed that there could be seven dimensions to looking at entrepreneurship as a phenomenon. They are 1) entrepreneurial traits, 2) entrepreneurship as a journey, 3) value creation by entrepreneurs in terms of economic and social value, 4) entrepreneurial role models, 5) new business ideas and innovations, 6) personal entrepreneurial experiences and aspirations, and 7) entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study concludes that an implicit approach to facilitate entrepreneurship education helps in understanding it as a live phenomenon. It also encourages students to apply divergent and convergent thinking. It also helps in triggering new business ideas or stimulating the entrepreneurial aspirations of the students. The significance of the study lies in the application of implicit theories in the classroom to make higher education more engaging and effective.

Keywords: co-creation of content, divergent thinking, entrepreneurship education, implicit theory

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Authors: Oghenerume V. Edah, Damilola T. Aladejana

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Entrepreneurship Education is the process of developing and acquiring entrepreneur skills on how to identify a new business and launching the business with the realization of yielding profit optimally. It’s the process of knowing how to take risk and handle challenges that accompanies a new business without the mindset of closing it when it fails. It includes steps to take when a business is recognized, combined with acquiring resources (e.g. finances, labor, land) in the face of risk and launching the new business. Additionally, Entrepreneurship is defined as the ability and willingness to set a business in the event of making profit. It is the act of starting up a business to solve big problems or present a new life-changing solution in the society to generate profit. It’s a process where a business opportunity is identified; planned, acquired and needful steps are taken to launch a business. This involves taking up financial risk, acquiring natural resources, combined with land, capital and building up a team of people who would individually contribute or add value in order to make the new business a success. Moreover, Education is the learning of new skills or value. It’s the acquiring of knowledge and capability of doing new things. It is been able to differentiate what you know and what you don’t know yet. In this modern world, the emergence of entrepreneurship education has been magnificent. An average of 60 percent humans wants to start a business or become an entrepreneur without knowing the steps on how to startup. Moreover, many of them are good starters and they end up failing when the business is not managed well. The introduction of Entrepreneur Education in our world today would change the face of business phenomenally. It would involve the acquisition of entrepreneur skills, knowledge and attitude towards initiating a business venture. The impact of Entrepreneurship Education in our world today would increase the chances of business success because it would generate better entrepreneurs. The skills, values, concept and processes acquired through learning have changed the face of business to a positive direction globally and the impact can be felt. Entrepreneurship can be taught and also can be learnt. Like any skills it can be known.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, education, business, entrepreneur, skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 146