Search results for: higher education teachers

Authors: Fan Yang

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With the development of social economy and the popularization of quality education, the Chinese government invests more and more funding in education. Campus constructions are experiencing a great development phase. Under the trend of sustainable development, modern green campus design needs to meet new requirements of contemporary, informational and diversified education means and adapt to future education development. Educators, designers and other participants of campus design are facing new challenges. By studying and analyzing the universal unsatisfied current situations and sustainable development requirements of Chinese campuses, this paper summarizes the strategies and intentions of the whole-life-cycle campus design. In addition, a Chinese high school in Zhejiang province is added to illustrate the design cycle in an actual case. It is aimed to make all participants of campus design, especially the designers, to realize the importance of whole-life-cycle campus design and cooperate better. Sustainable campus design is expected to come true in deed instead of becoming a slogan in this way.

Keywords: campus design, green school, sustainable development, whole-life-cycle design

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Authors: Asim Qayyum, David Smith

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The use of information tools is a common activity for students of any educational stage when they encounter online learning activities. Finding the relevant information for particular learning tasks is the topic of this paper as it investigates the use of information tools for a group of student participants. The paper describes and discusses the results with particular implications for use in higher education, and the findings suggest that improvement in assessment design and subsequent student learning may be achieved by structuring the purposefulness of information tools usage and online reading behaviors of university students.

Keywords: information tools, assessment, online learning, student assessment experience

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Authors: Gülcan Taşkıran, Ayla Bayık Temel

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Background: Florence Nightingale, the modern founder of the nursing, is most famous for her role as a nurse. But not so much known about her contributions as a mathematician and statistician. Aim: In this conceptual article it is aimed to examine Florence Nightingale's statistics education, how she used her passion for statistics and applied statistical data in nursing care and her scientific contributions to statistical science. Design: Literature review method was used in the study. The databases of Istanbul University Library Search Engine, Turkish Medical Directory, Thesis Scanning Center of Higher Education Council, PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCO Host, Web of Science were scanned to reach the studies. The keywords 'statistics' and 'Florence Nightingale' have been used in Turkish and English while being screened. As a result of the screening, totally 41 studies were examined from the national and international literature. Results: Florence Nightingale has interested in mathematics and statistics at her early ages and has received various training in these subjects. Lessons learned by Nightingale in a cultured family environment, her talent in mathematics and numbers, and her religious beliefs played a crucial role in the direction of the statistics. She was influenced by Quetelet's ideas in the formation of the statistical philosophy and received support from William Farr in her statistical studies. During the Crimean War, she applied statistical knowledge to nursing care, developed many statistical methods and graphics, so that she made revolutionary reforms in the health field. Conclusions: Nightingale's interest in statistics, her broad vision, the statistical ideas fused with religious beliefs, the innovative graphics she has developed and the extraordinary statistical projects that she carried out has been influential on the basis of her professional achievements. Florence Nightingale has also become a model for women in statistics. Today, using and teaching of statistics and research in nursing care practices and education programs continues with the light she gave.

Keywords: Crimean war, Florence Nightingale, nursing, statistics

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Authors: Adebayo A. Abimbola, Anifowose O. Joseph, Olanrewaju S. Taiwo

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Green building (GB) practices have the potential to save energy, save money, and improve the quality of human habitat. They can also contribute to water conservation, more efficient use of raw materials, and ecosystem health around the globe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) singled out the building sector as having the most cost-effective opportunities for reducing carbon emissions—in fact, many building-related opportunities are cost-neutral, or even cost-positive, to the building owner. These benefits have made green building practices the fastest-growing trend in the building industry, but they still represent only a fraction of new construction, and the enormous stock of existing buildings has barely been touched at all. To effectively deliver the kind of (GB) that can become a force for positive change at global, regional and local scales, all workforce sectors need new skills that are both technical and interpersonal in nature. A prominent bottleneck is seen to be education and training. This paper investigates the major gaps in current GB education and training offerings in Nigeria. A questionnaire survey was developed to capture the perception of construction professionals and academics in relevant professions regarding the significance of the identified gaps as it affects GB education and training. Based on Likert scale ranking, research result shows that perception of training in specific technical fields and financial benefits and evaluation are identified as the top gaps in GB training and education offerings. The paper concludes with suggestions and actions that can enhance capabilities of the GB workforce in Nigeria.

Keywords: education and training, gaps, green building, workforce

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Authors: Wang Yanli, Cheng Yun, Yang Jiarui

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Due to the separation of teachers and students, online teaching during the COVID-19 epidemic was faced with many problems, such as low enthusiasm of students, distraction, low learning atmosphere, and insufficient interaction between teachers and students. The essay designed the elaborate online learning activities of the course 'Research Methods of Educational Science' based on the APT model from three aspects of multiple assessment methods, a variety of teaching methods, and online learning environment and technology. Student's online learning experience was examined from the perception of online course, the perception of the online learning environment, and satisfaction after the course’s implementation. The research results showed that students have a positive overall evaluation of online courses, a high degree of engagement in learning, positive acceptance of online learning, and high satisfaction with it, but students hold a relatively neutral attitude toward online learning. And some dimensions in online learning experience were found to have positive influence on students' satisfaction with online learning. We suggest making the good design of online courses, selecting proper learning platforms, and conducting blended learning to improve students’ learning experience. This study has both theoretical and practical significance for the design, implementation, effect feedback, and sustainable development of online teaching in the post-epidemic era.

Keywords: APT model, online learning, online learning activities, learning experience

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Authors: M. Testa, L. Peotta, S. Giusiano, B. Lazzolino, U. Manera, A. Canosa, M. Grassano, F. Palumbo, A. Bombaci, S. Cabras, F. Di Pede, L. Solero, E. Matteoni, C. Moglia, A. Calvo, A. Chio

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease of adulthood, which primarily affects the central nervous system and is characterized by progressive bilateral degeneration of motor neurons. The degeneration processes in ALS extend far beyond the neurons of the motor system, and affects cognition, behaviour and language. To outline the prevalence of language deficits in an ALS cohort and explore their profile along with demographic and neuropsychological data. A full neuropsychological battery and language assessment was administered to 56 ALS patients. Neuropsychological assessment included tests of executive functioning, verbal fluency, social cognition and memory. Language was assessed using tests for verbal comprehension, production and pragmatics. Patients were cognitively classified following the Revised Consensus Criteria and divided in three groups showing different levels of language deficits: group 1 - no language deficit; group 2 - one language deficit; group 3 - two or more language deficits. Chi-square for independence and non-parametric measures to compare groups were applied. Nearly half of ALS-CN patients (48%) reported one language test under the clinical cut-off, and only 13% of patents classified as ALS-CI showed no language deficits, while the rest 87% of ALS-CI reported two or more language deficits. ALS-BI and ALS-CBI cases all reported two or more language deficits. Deficits in production and in comprehension appeared more frequent in ALS-CI patients (p=0.011, p=0.003 respectively), with a higher percentage of comprehension deficits (83%). Nearly all ALS-CI reported at least one deficit in pragmatic abilities (96%) and all ALS-BI and ALS-CBI patients showed pragmatic deficits. Males showed higher percentage of pragmatic deficits (97%, p=0.007). No significant differences in language deficits have been found between bulbar and spinal onset. Months from onset and level of impairment at testing (ALS-FRS total score) were not significantly different between levels and type of language impairment. Age and education were significantly higher for cases showing no deficits in comprehension and pragmatics and in the group showing no language deficits. Comparing performances at neuropsychological tests among the three levels of language deficits, no significant differences in neuropsychological performances were found between group 1 and 2; compared to group 1, group 3 appeared to decay specifically on executive testing, verbal/visuospatial learning, and social cognition. Compared to group 2, group 3 showed worse performances specifically in tests of working memory and attention. Language deficits have found to be spread in our sample, encompassing verbal comprehension, production and pragmatics. Our study reveals that also cognitive intact patients (ALS-CN) showed at least one language deficit in 48% of cases. Pragmatic domain is the most compromised (84% of the total sample), present in nearly all ALS-CI (96%), likely due to the influence of executive impairment. Lower age and higher education seem to preserve comprehension, pragmatics and presence of language deficits. Finally, executive functions, verbal/visuospatial learning and social cognition differentiate the group with no language deficits from the group with a clinical language impairment (group 3), while attention and working memory differentiate the group with one language deficit from the clinical impaired group.

Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, language assessment, neuropsychological assessment, language deficit

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Authors: Maria Rodriguez-Gazquez, Sara Chaparro-Hernandez, Jose Rafael Gonzalez-Lopez

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Introduction: Nurses are models in healthy behaviors for their patients. This is why it is important for these professionals to not only have a good knowledge of healthy behaviors but also practice. Today’s nursing students will be tomorrow’s professionals and to fulfill their role in caring they not only need knowledge, they also must maintain behaviors which enable them to improve and protect both the health of others and their own. This is why the university is a unique environment of opportunities to foster the maximum potential of health. To care for others we first have to take care of ourselves. It is important for these behaviors in Nursing students to be evaluated during the years of their university education in order to design timely interventions which improve the health behaviors of the future professionals. Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the lifestyles of first year nursing students of two Universities. Methodology: Cross-sectional study. In 2014, 140 first year Nursing students of two Universities Seville –US- (Spain -Europe, n=37) and Antioquia –UA- (Colombia -South America, n=93) self-reported the FANTASTIC Lifestyle checklist. Results: Findings reveal that (I) UA students doubled the percentage of dangerous or bad lifestyles with respect to the US students, (II) the lifestyles are not appropriate in 1 of 3 of nursing students in both Universities, (II) there are statistically significant differences for family support items (higher in US), positive thinkers (higher in UA), the use of safety belts and alcohol consumption before driving (higher in US). Discussion: The nursing students are mostly young people who are at a stage in which some of the most important behaviors for adult life can still be molded. It is necessary to develop educational interventions in their Nursing curricula to strengthen healthy behaviours during training. Nursing Schools not only have the duty to train professionals, but to also be agents that foster the health, welfare and quality of those who study and work there. It must encourage knowledge and skills oriented to healthy lifestyles.

Keywords: cross-sectional studies, life style, nursing students, questionnaires

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Authors: Jodie Lee, Lorena Chan, Esther Tong

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Hong Kong students face a unique learning environment. Starting from the 2010/2011 school year, The Education Bureau (EDB) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region implemented the fine-tuned Medium of Instruction (MOI) arrangements for secondary schools. Since then, secondary schools in Hong Kong have been given the flexibility to decide the most appropriate MOI arrangements for their schools and under the new academic structure for senior secondary education, particularly on the compulsory part of the mathematics curriculum. In 2019, Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), over 40% of school day candidates attempted the Mathematics Compulsory Part examination in the Chinese version while the rest took the English version. Moreover, only 14.38% of candidates sat for one of the extended Mathematics modules. This results in a serious of intricate issues to students’ learning in post-secondary education programmes. It is worth to note that when students further pursue to an higher education in Hong Kong or even oversea, they may facing substantial difficulties in transiting learning from learning mathematics in their mother tongue in Chinese-medium instruction (CMI) secondary schools to an English-medium learning environment. Some students understood the mathematics concepts were found to fail to fulfill the course requirements at college or university due to their learning experience in secondary study at CMI. They are particularly weak in comprehending the mathematics questions when they are doing their assessment or attempting the test/examination. A government funded project was conducted with the aims of providing integrated learning context and language support to students with a lower level of numeracy and/or with CMI learning experience. By introducing this “integrated concept + language mapping approach”, students can cope with the learning challenges in the compulsory English-medium mathematics and statistics subjects in their tertiary education. Ultimately, in the hope that students can enhance their mathematical ability, analytical skills, and numerical sense for their lifelong learning. The “Concept + Language Mapping “(CLM) approach was adopted and tried out in the bridging courses for students with a lower level of numeracy and/or with CMI learning experiences. At the beginning of each class, a pre-test was conducted, and class time was then devoted to introducing the concepts by CLM approach. For each concept, the key thematic items and their different semantic relations are presented using graphics and animations via the CLM approach. At the end of each class, a post-test was conducted. Quantitative data analysis was performed to study the effect on students’ learning via the CLM approach. Stakeholders' feedbacks were collected to estimate the effectiveness of the CLM approach in facilitating both content and language learning. The results based on both students’ and lecturers’ feedback indicated positive outcomes on adopting the CLM approach to enhance the mathematical ability and analytical skills of CMI students.

Keywords: mathematics, Concept+Language Mapping, level of numeracy, medium of instruction

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Authors: Maria Consuelo Doble

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For decades, basic public education in the Philippines has been beleaguered by a governance scenario of multi-layered decision-making and the lack of collaboration between sectors in addressing issues on poor access to schools, high dropout rates, low survival rates, and poor student performance. These chronic problems persisted despite multiple efforts making it appear that the education system is incapable of reforming itself. In the mountainous rural towns of La Trinidad and Tuba, in the province of Benguet in Northern Philippines, collaborative education governance was catalyzed by the intervention of Synergeia Foundation, a coalition made up of individuals, institutions and organizations that aim to improve the quality of education in the Philippines. Its major thrust is to empower the major stakeholders at the community level to make education work by building the capacities of School Governing Councils (SGCs). Although mandated by the Department of Education in 2006, the SGCs in Philippine public elementary schools remained dysfunctional. After one year of capacity-building by Synergeia Foundation, some SGCs are already exhibiting active community-based multi-sectoral collaboration, while there are many that are not. With the myriad of factors hindering collaboration, Synergeia Foundation is now confronted with the pressing question: What are the factors that promote collaborative governance in the SGCs so that they can address the education-related issues that they are facing? Using Emerson’s (2011) framework on collaborative governance, this study analyzes the application of collaborative governance by highly-functioning SGCs in the public elementary schools of Tuba and La Trinidad. Findings of this action research indicate how the dynamics of collaboration composed of three interactive and iterative components – principled engagement, shared motivation and capacity for joint action – have resulted in meaningful short-term impact such as stakeholder engagement and decreased a number of dropouts. The change in the behavior of stakeholders is indicative of adaptation to a more collaborative approach in governing education in Benguet highland settings such as Tuba and La Trinidad.

Keywords: basic public education, Benguet highlands, collaborative governance, School Governing Council

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Authors: Ujjwala Bhand, Mridula Goel

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Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) prepared by World Economic Forum has become a benchmark in studying the competitiveness of countries and for understanding the factors that enable competitiveness. Innovation is a key pillar in competitiveness and has the unique property of enabling exponential economic growth. This paper attempts to analyze how the pillars comprising the Global Competitiveness Index affect innovation and whether GDP growth can directly affect innovation outcomes for a country. The key objective of the study is to identify areas on which governments of developing countries can focus policies and programs to improve their country’s innovativeness. We have compiled a panel data set for top innovating countries and large emerging economies called BRICS from 2007-08 to 2014-15 in order to find the significant factors that affect innovation. The results of the regression analysis suggest that government should make policies to improve labor market efficiency, establish sophisticated business networks, provide basic health and primary education to its people and strengthen the quality of higher education and training services in the economy. The achievements of smaller economies on innovation suggest that concerted efforts by governments can counter any size related disadvantage, and in fact can provide greater flexibility and speed in encouraging innovation.

Keywords: innovation, global competitiveness index, BRICS, economic growth

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Authors: Leila Goosen, Dalize van Heerden

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The performance outcomes of first year Computer Science and Information Technology students across the world are of great concern, whether they are being taught in a face-to-face environment or via distance education. In the face-to-face environment, it is, however, somewhat easier to teach and support students than it is in a distance education environment. The face-to-face academic can more easily gauge the level of understanding and participation of students and implement interventions to address issues, which may arise. With the inroads that Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 technologies are making, the world of online teaching and learning are rapidly expanding, bringing about technologies, which allows for similar interactions between online academics and their students as available to their face-to-face counter parts. At the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Learning Management System (LMS) is called myUNISA and it is deployed on a SAKAI platform. In this paper, we will take a look at some of the myUNISA technologies implemented in the teaching of a first year programming course, how they are implemented and, in some cases, we will indicate how this affects the performance outcomes of students.

Keywords: computer science, Distance Education Technologies, Learning Management System, face-to-face environment

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Authors: Eleftheria Atta, Yianna Vovides, Marios Katsioloudes

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In the fusion of neoliberalism and globalization, Higher Education (HE) is becoming increasingly complex. The changing patterns of the economy worldwide caused the development of high value-added economy HE has been viewed as a social investment, significant for the development of knowledge-based societies and economies. In order to contribute to economic competitiveness universities are required to produce local and employable workers in order to fit into the neoliberal economic environment. The emergence of neoliberal performativity, which measures outcomes, is a key aspect in a neoliberal era. It facilitates the redesign of institutions making organizations and individuals to think about themselves in relation to their performance. Performativity and performance management systems lead academics to become more effective, professionally advance, improve and become better than others and therefore act competitively. Besides the aforementioned complexities, universities also encounter the challenge of maintaining a set of values to guide an institution’s actions and which have always been highly respected in developing a HE institution. The formulation of a clear set of values also determines the institutional culture which will be maintained. It is evident that values create a significant framework for the workplace and may determine positive institutional results. Universities are required to engage in activities for capacity building which will improve their students’ competence as well as offer opportunities to administrative and academic staff to professionally develop in light of neoliberal performativity. Additionally, the University is now considered as an innovation ecosystem playing a significant role in providing education, research and innovation to help create solutions to meet social, environmental and economic challenges. Thus, Universities become central in orchestrating multi-actor innovation networks. This presentation will discuss the establishment of an institutional unit entitled ‘Human Development Unit’ (HDU) in a European start-up university. The activities of the HDU are envisioned as drivers for innovation that would enable the university as a whole to maintain its position in a fast-changing world and be ready to face adaptive challenges. In addition, the HDU provides its students, staff, and faculty with opportunities to advance their academic and professional development through engagement in programs that align with institutional values. It also serves as a connector with the broader community. The presentation will highlight the functions of three centers which the unit will coordinate namely, the Student Development Center (SDC), the Faculty & Staff Development Center (FSDC) and the Continuing Education Center (CEC). The presentation aligns with the aim of the conference as it welcomes presentations to discuss innovations and challenges encountered in HE. Particularly, this presentation seeks to discuss the establishment of an innovative unit at a start-up university which will contribute to creating an institutional culture shaped by the value of academic excellence for students as well as for staff, shaping and defining the functions and activities of the unit. The establishment of the proposed unit is crucial in a start-up university both to differentiate from other competitors but also to sustain its presence given the pressures in a neoliberal HE context.

Keywords: academic excellence, globalization, human development unit, neoliberalism

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Authors: Ibrahim Alhumaidan

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As King Saud University believes in the critical role played by technology and its effectiveness in achieving quality, speed of achievement, facilitating follow-up and enhancing responsibility undertaking; the university is keen on activating its e-services for the purpose of attaining the primary requirements of achievement and perfection. The web portal of the student's academic system comes as one of the most important practices in technological and e-transaction aspects. It enables students to carry out their processes–registration, addition, evaluation, viewing their results, and scholastic accomplishments, etc.– through the relevant web portal. The aim of this study is to recognize Education College students' attitude -as one of King's University Colleges- regarding the usage of the academic system web portal, its effectiveness in saving time and effort, and, efficiency in enhancing student's planning skills. The study society is all students of college of education in King Saud University and the sample has been chosen randomly from them. The study tool is a questionnaire designed to learn about students' views about using the web portal; as the researcher used the surveying methodology to achieve the aim of the study.

Keywords: web portal, academic system, education faculty, students, planning skills

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Authors: Kotomi Yamashita, Hiromi Kawasaki, Satoko Yamasaki, Susumu Fukita, Risako Sakai

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Lifestyle-related diseases develop from the long-term accumulation of health consequences from a poor lifestyle. Thus, schoolchildren, who have not accumulated long-term lifestyle habits, are believed to be at a lower risk for lifestyle-related diseases. However, schoolchildren rarely receive blood tests unless they are under treatment for a serious disease; without such data on their blood, the impacts of their young lifestyle could not be known. Blood data from physical measurements can help in the implementation of more effective health education. Therefore, we examined the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and blood sugar/serum lipid (BS/SL) levels. From 2014 to 2016, we measured the blood data of fourth-grade students living in a city in Japan. The present study reported on the results of 281 fourth-grade boys only (80.3% of total). We analyzed their BS/SL levels by comparing the blood data against the criteria of the National Center for Child Health and Development in Japan. Next, we examined the correlation between BMI and BS/SL levels. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25 was used for analysis. A total of 69 boys (24.6%) were within the normal range for BMI (18.5–24), whereas 193 (71.5%) and 8 boys (2.8%) had lower and higher BMI, respectively. Regarding BS levels, 280 boys were within the normal range (70–90 mg/dl); 1 boy reported a higher value. All the boys were within the normal range for glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) (4.6–6.2%). Regarding SL levels, 271 boys were within the normal range (125–230 mg/dl) for total cholesterol (TC), whereas 5 boys (1.8%) had lower and 5 boys (1.8%) had higher levels. A total of 243 boys (92.7%) were within the normal range (36-138mg/dL) for triglycerides (TG), whereas 19 boys (7.3%) had lower and 19 boys (7.3%) had higher levels. Regarding high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), 276 boys (98.2%) were within the normal range (40-mg/dl), whereas 5 boys (1.8%) reported lower values. All but one boy (280, 99.6%) were within the normal range (-170 mg/dl) for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C); the exception (0.4%) had a higher level. BMI and BS didn’t show a correlation. BMI and HbA1c were moderately positively correlated (r = 0.139, ｐ＝0.019). We also observed moderate positive correlations between BMI and TG (r = 0.328, p < 0.01), TC (r=0.239, p< 0.01), LDL-C (r = 0.324, p < 0.01), respectively. BMI and HDL-C were low correlated (r = -0.185, p = 0.002). Most of the boys were within the normal range for BS/SL levels. However, some boys exceeded the normal TG range. Fourth graders with a high TG may develop a lifestyle-related disease in the future. Given its relation to TG, food habits should be improved in this group. Our findings suggested a positive correlation between BMI and BS/SL levels. Fourth-grade schoolboys with a high BMI may be at high risk for developing lifestyle-related diseases. Lifestyle improvement may be recommended to lower the BS/SL levels in this group.

Keywords: blood sugar level, lifestyle-related diseases, school students, serum lipid level

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Authors: Yassir Semmar

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During the past two decades, the topic of multicultural competence has gained much attention in the psychology field, most notably in the clinical and counseling specializations. While higher education institutions have been placing a premium on sensitizing their faculty, staff, and student bodies to various diversity and multicultural issues, little emphasis has been directed towards mandating multicultural training for graduate learners in the educational psychology specialty. Given the increasingly diverse student population, it is imperative for educational psychologists to become multiculturally competent particularly in instructional and mentoring contexts. Strategies and conditions for attaining multicultural competence are discussed.

Keywords: multicultural competence, instruction, pedagogical practices, mentoring

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Authors: Shynn Lim, Ching Tan

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The paper presents the PASSION Programme designed by a government school in Singapore, guided by national goals as well as research-based pedagogies that aims to nurture students to become lifelong learners with the strength of character. The design and enactment of the integrated approach to develop in students good character, resilience and social-emotional well-being, future readiness, and active citizenship is guided by a set of principles that amalgamates Biesta’s domains of purposes of education and authentic learning. Data in terms of evidence of students’ learning and students’ feedback were collected, analysed, and suggests that the learning experience benefitted students by boosting their self-confidence, self-directed and collaborative learning skills, as well as empathy.

Keywords: lifelong learning, character and citizenship education, education and career guidance, 21CC, teaching and learning empathy

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Authors: Yolanda Ramirez, Angel Tejada, Agustin Baidez

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In the knowledge-based economy, intangible elements are considered essential in order to achieve competitive advantage in organizations. In this sense, the Balanced Scorecard is a very suitable tool to recognize value and manage intangibles because it translates an organization’s strategic objectives into a set of performance indicators from a financial, as well as customer perspective, internal process and learning and growth perspectives. The aim of this paper is to expose and justify the benefits that the Balanced Scorecard might have for identifying, measuring and managing intellectual capital at universities, by means of reviewing the most important Balanced Scorecard implementations at Spanish public universities.

Keywords: knowledge management, balanced scorecard, universities, Spain

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Authors: Catherine S. Fichten, Tali Heiman, Mary Jorgensen, Mai Nhu Nguyen, Rhonda Amsel, Dorit Olenik-Shemesh

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The study examined Canadian and Israeli students' perceptions related to their intention to graduate from their program of studies. Canada and Israel are dissimilar in many ways that affect education, including language and alphabet. In addition, the postsecondary education systems differ. For example, in some parts of Canada (e.g., in Quebec, Canada’s 2nd largest province), students matriculate after 11 years of high school; in Israel, this typically occurs after 12 years. In addition, Quebec students attend two compulsory years of junior college before enrolling in a three-year university Bachelor program; in Israel students enroll in a three-year Bachelor program directly after matriculation. In addition, Israeli students typically enroll in the army shortly after high school graduation; in Canada, this is not the case. What the two countries do have in common is concern about the success of postsecondary students with disabilities. The present study was based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB); the model suggests that behavior is influenced by Intention to carry it out. This, in turn, is predicted by the following correlated variables: Perceived Behavioral Control (i.e., ease or difficulty enacting the behavior - in this case graduation), Subjective Norms (i.e., perceived social/peer pressure from individuals important in the student’s life), and Attitude (i.e., positive or negative evaluation of graduation). A questionnaire was developed to test the TPB in previous Canadian studies and administered to 845 Canadian college students (755 nondisabled, 90 with LD/ADHD) who had completed at least one semester of studies) and to 660 Israeli university students enrolled in a Bachelor’s program (537 nondisabled, 123 with LD/ADHD). Because Israeli students were older than Canadian students we covaried age in SPSS-based ANOVA comparisons and included it in regression equations. Because females typically have better academic outcomes than males, gender was included in all analyses. ANOVA results indicate only a significant gender effect for Intention to graduate, with females having higher scores. Four stepwise regressions were conducted, with Intention to graduate as the predicted variable, and Gender and the three TPB predictors as independent variables (separate analyses for Israeli and Canadian samples with and without LD/ADHD). Results show that for samples with LD/ADHD, although Gender and Age were not significant predictors, the TPB predictors were, with all three TPB predictors being significant for the Canadian sample (i.e., Perceived Behavioral Control, Subjective Norms, Attitude, R2=.595), and two of the three (i.e., Perceived Behavioral Control, Subjective Norms) for the Israeli sample (R2=.528). For nondisabled students, the results for both countries show that all three TPB predictors were significant along with Gender: R2=.443 for Canada and R2=.332 for Israel; age was not significant. Our findings show that despite vast differences between our Canadian and Israeli samples, Intention to graduate was related to the three TPB predictors. This suggests that our TPB measure is valid for diverse samples and countries that it can be used as a quick, inexpensive way to predict graduation rates, and that strengthening the three predictor variables may result in higher graduation rates.

Keywords: disability, higher education, students, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Liu Yi Hui, Chun-Liang Lai, Jhang Yu Cih, He You Jing, Chiu Fan-Yun, Lin Yu Fang

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For universities offering long-term care education, the inclusion of adulting learning and practices in professional courses as appropriate based on holistic design and evaluation could improve talent empowerment by leveraging social capital. Moreover, it could make the courses and materials used in long-term care education responsive to real-life needs. A mixed research method was used in the research design. A quantitative study was also conducted using a questionnaire survey, and the data were analyzed by SPSS 22.0 Chinese version. The qualitative data included students’ learning files (learning reflection notes, course reports, and experience records).

Keywords: adult learning, community empowerment, social capital, mixed research

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Authors: Barbara A. Fogarty-Perry

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This paper draws on one to one interviews with parents of children with high and complex needs conducted in 2019. Those interviewed were asked questions around various areas of well-being, and these were transcribed and then thematically analysed. Results were plotted to identify strategies that enhance resilience in parents of children with physical disabilities. The parents were asked to highlight challenges in the support systems they utilized, and all of those interviewed identified difficulties in the New Zealand education system. Legally in New Zealand, children have the right to attend their local primary school, but for 100% of those interviewed, this was an issue. This paper will discuss the way these parents navigated the New Zealand education system in order to defend this right for their children. The New Zealand education system is having to become more inclusive through parental actions despite precarious times of counter-movement by the New Zealand government.

Keywords: autoethnography, human rights, inclusion, parents voice in disability

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Authors: Poonam Mishra, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Sanjeev Swami

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Purpose: The Purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship of percieved organizational politics with three levels of antecedents (i.e., organizational level, work environment level and individual level)and its consequents simultaneously. The study addresses antecedents and consequents of percieved political behavior in the higher education sector of India with specific reference to a central university. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: A conceptual framework and hypotheses were first developed on the basis of review of previous studies on organizational politics. A questionnaire was then developed carrying 66 items related to 8-constructs and demographic characteristics of respondents. Jundegemental sampling was used to select respondents. Primary data is collected through structured questionnaire from 45 faculty members of a central university. The sample constitutes Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors from various departments of the University. To test hypotheses data was analyzed statistically using partial least square-structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: Results indicated a strong support for OP’s relationship with three of the four proposed antecedents that are, workforce diversity, relationship conflict and need for power with relationship conflict having the strongest impact. No significant relationship was found between role conflict and perception of organizational politics. The three consequences that is, intention to turnover, job anxiety, and organizational commitment are significantly impacted by perception of organizational politics. Practical Implications– This study will be helpful in motivating future research for improving the quality of higher education in India by reducing the level of antecedents that adds to the level of perception of organizational politics, ultimately resulting in unfavorable outcomes. Originality/value: Although a large number of studies on atecedents and consequents of percieved organizational politics have been reported, little attention has been paid to test all the separate but interdependent relationships simultaneously; in this paper organizational politics will be simultaneously treated as a dependent variable and same will be treated as independent variable in subsequent relationships.

Keywords: organizational politics, workforce diversity, relationship conflict, role conflict, need for power, intention to turnover, job anxiety, organizational commitment

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Authors: Giovanna Bimonte, Luigi Senatore, Francesco Saverio Tortoriello, Ilaria Veronesi

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The education process considers capabilities not only to be seen as a means to a certain end but rather as an effective purpose. Sen's capability approach challenges human capital theory, which sees education as an ordinary investment undertaken by individuals. A complex reality requires complex thinking capable of interpreting the dynamics of society's changes to be able to make decisions that can be rational for private, ethical and social contexts. Education is not something removed from the cultural and social context; it exists and is structured within it. In Italy, the "Mathematical High School Project" is a didactic research project is based on additional laboratory courses in extracurricular hours where mathematics intends to bring itself in a dialectical relationship with other disciplines as a cultural bridge between the two cultures, the humanistic and the scientific ones, with interdisciplinary educational modules on themes of strong impact in younger life. This interdisciplinary mathematics presents topics related to the most advanced technologies and contemporary socio-economic frameworks to demonstrate how mathematics is not only a key to reading but also a key to resolving complex problems. The recent developments in mathematics provide the potential for profound and highly beneficial changes in mathematics education at all levels, such as in socio-economic decisions. The research project is built to investigate whether repeated interactions can successfully promote cooperation among students as rational choice and if the skill, the context and the school background can influence the strategies choice and the rationality. A Laboratory on Game Theory as mathematical theory was conducted in the 4th year of the Mathematical High Schools and in an ordinary scientific high school of the Scientific degree program. Students played two simultaneous games of repeated Prisoner's Dilemma with an indefinite horizon, with two different competitors in each round; even though the competitors in each round will remain the same for the duration of the game. The results highlight that most of the students in the two classes used the two games with an immunization strategy against the risk of losing: in one of the games, they started by playing Cooperate, and in the other by the strategy of Compete. In the literature, theoretical models and experiments show that in the case of repeated interactions with the same adversary, the optimal cooperation strategy can be achieved by tit-for-tat mechanisms. In higher education, individual capacities cannot be examined independently, as conceptual framework presupposes a social construction of individuals interacting and competing, making individual and collective choices. The paper will outline all the results of the experimentation and the future development of the research.

Keywords: game theory, interdisciplinarity, mathematics education, mathematical high school

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Authors: Cem Bulut, Zeynep B. Kocoglu

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Flipped classroom (FC) method has gained popularity, specifically in higher education, in recent years with the idea that it is possible to use the time spent in classrooms more effectively by simply flipping the passive lecturing parts with the homework exercises. Accordingly, the present study aims to investigate whether using FC method is more effective than the non-flipped method in teaching grammar to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. An experimental research was conducted with the participants of two intact classes having A2 level English courses (N=39 in total) in a vocational school in Kocaeli, Turkey. Results from the post-test indicated that the flipped group achieved higher scores than the non-flipped group did. Additionally, independent samples t-test analysis in SPSS revealed that the difference between two groups was statistically significant. On the other hand, even if the factors that lie beneath this improvement are likely to be attributed to the teaching method, which is also supported by the answers given to the FC perception survey and interview, participants in both groups developed statistically significant positive attitudes towards learning grammar regardless of the method used. In that sense, this result was considered to be related to the level of the course, which was quite low in English level. In sum, the present study provides additional findings to the literature for FC methodology from a different perspective.

Keywords: flipped classroom, learning management system, English as a foreign language

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Authors: Olufemi Sunday Onabajo

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Radio according to communication scholars is a veritable instrument of mass education. However, its full potentials in boosting higher education have not been realized because of the commercial nature of radio stations in Nigeria. The licensing of campus radio for disseminating information on university curricular is aimed at reinforcing information shared during face to face teaching. This study anchored on Agenda Setting and Technology determinism theories seeks to find out the extent to which university students in Lead City University and University of Ibadan, Nigeria have keyed-in to the philosophy of their campus radio – Lead City FM and Diamond FM in making information dissemination in their domiciled universities less cumbersome. The study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods though the use of depth interview for ten (10) academic staff and five (5) radio personnel of both radio stations; and a questionnaire addressed to 200 students of both institutions using the systematic random sampling technique. The data collected was analyzed using simple percentage and chi-square one tail test, and it was discovered that students of both universities and their radio personnel are yet to realize the potentials of campus radio as a resource alternative to effective learning, and recommends the coming together of all stakeholders to articulate the way forward.

Keywords: disseminating information, effective learning, resource alternative, utilizing radio

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Authors: Hanae Ait Hattani, Nohaila Ait Hattani

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Globalization, with the rapid technological progress, is affecting every life aspect. The 21st century higher education faces a major challenge in preparing well-rounded and competent graduates to compete in the global marketplace. Worldwide, educational policies work to develop the quality of instruction at all educational levels by focusing on promoting students’ qualifications and skills, considering both academic activities and non-academic attributes. In fact, extracurricular activities (ECAs) complement the academic curriculum and enhance the student experience by improving their interpersonal skills and attitudes. This study comes to examine the potential of extracurricular activities as a vital tool for soft skills’ development. Using empirical research, the study aims to measure and evaluate the extent to which university students’ engagement in extracurricular activities contribute in positively changing their learning experience, fostering their soft skills and fostering their behaviors and attitudes. Findings emanating from a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews add a number of contributions to the literature. They support the assumption suggesting that ECAs can be considered a valuable way to acquire, develop, and demonstrate softs skills that students today need to evidence in a variety of contexts, such as communication skills, team work, leadership, problem-solving, to name but a few.

Keywords: extracurricular activities (ECAs), soft skills, education, university, attitude

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Authors: Paul Dankers, Juliet Stoltenkamp, Carolynne Kies

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In May 2005, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) established an eLearning Division (ED) that, over the past 18 years, accelerated into the institutionalization of an efficient eLearning Centre. The initial objective of the ED was to incessantly align itself with emerging technologies caused by digital transformation, which progressively impacted Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) globally. In this paper, we present how the UWC eLearning Division (ED) first evolved into the eLearning Development and Support Unit (EDUS), currently called the ‘Centre for Innovative Education and Communication Technologies (CIECT). CIECT was strategically separated from the Department of Information and Communication Services (ICS) in 2009 and repositioned as an independent structure at UWC. Using a comparative research method, we highlight the transformative eLearning landscape at UWC by doing a detailed account of the shift in practices. Our research method will determine the initial vision and outcomes of institutionalizing an eLearning division. The study aims to compare across space or time the eLearning division’s rate of growth. By comparing the progressive growth of the UWCs eLearning division over the years, we will be able to document the successes and achievements of the eLearning division precisely. This study’s outcomes will act as a reference for novel research subjects on formalising eLearning. More research that delves into the effectiveness of having an eLearning division at HEIs in support of students’ teaching and learning is needed.

Keywords: eLearning, institutionalization, teaching and learning, transformation

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Authors: Karen Butler

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Johnson C. Smith University, one of the nation’s oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities, has a strong history of service learning and community service. We first integrated service learning and peer education into health education courses in the spring of 2000. Students enrolled in the classes served as peer educators for the semester. Since then, the program has evolved and expanded but remains an integral part of several courses. The purpose of this session is to describe our program in terms of development, successes, and obstacles, and feedback received. A detailed description of the service learning component in HED 235: Drugs and Drug Education and HED 337: Environmental Health will be provided. These classes are required of our Community Health majors but are also popular electives for students in other disciplines. Three sources of student feedback were used to evaluate and continually modify the component: the SIR II course evaluation, service learning reflection papers, and focus group interviews. Student feedback has been largely positive. When criticism was given, it was thoughtful and constructive – given in the spirit of making it better for the next group. Students consistently agreed that the service learning program increased their awareness of pertinent health issues; that both the service providers and service recipients benefited from the project; and that the goals/issues targeted by the service learning component fit the objectives of the course. Also, evidence of curriculum and learning enhancement was found in the reflection papers and focus group sessions. Service learning sets up a win-win situation. It provides a way to respond to campus and community health needs while enhancing the curriculum, as students learn more by doing things that benefit the health and wellness of others. Service learning is suitable for any health education course and any target audience would welcome the effort.

Keywords: black colleges, community health, health education, service learning

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Authors: Munaza Mubeen

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The colonial Urdu literature has played a significant role in uplifting the overall status of the Indians. Taking example of the Bhopal State, the contribution of the Royal ladies holds no match in the contemporary age. Similarly, the efforts of the Begamat-e-Bhopal in the field of education had been acknowledged across the Sub-continent. It had been noticed that with the downfall of the Mughal Empire at the hands of the British Raj, the local culture in the Indian sub-continent in general and in Bhopal State in proper got deteriorated. This led to uncertainty, chaos and an anti-British sentiment which created hatred against them in the entire sub-continent. Likely, in Bhopal State, the role of women in field of education also vanished. However, this change was felt by the ladies in the Royal Household where they struggled for restoration of the status quo with their personal efforts. The prominent contributors from the Royal household included Qudseya Begum, Nawab Sikander Begum, Nawab Shah Jahan Begum and Nawab Sultan Johan-they are known as Begamat-i-Bhopal. They established schools, colleges and universities to impart formal and non-formal education respectively. Their systematic approach and continued efforts constituted a dynamic aspect of women’ empowerment. Focused on the female education, however, one of the by-products of their efforts was an introduction of socio-cultural and politico-religious awareness among the middle class womenfolk. Unfortunately, the role of these Bagamat-i-Bhopal has been left untouched or ignored by the academic scholars. This study critically analyzed the role of Beghamat-i-Bhopal regarding female education in Hindustan in general and in Bhopal in particular. Similarly, the contribution of the contemporary writers in development of female education in Bhopal has also been discussed in this paper. This paper is based on the 'historico-textual' approach following structural reason which has established a justifiable argument. The researcher, therefore, has taken into consideration all the chronological nuances in order to accord greater visibility to the contents. The data has been described, analyzed and interpreted inclusively and in generalized manner.

Keywords: colonialism, Begamaat e Bhopal, female education, State of Bhopal

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Authors: Twarakavi Venkata Suresh Kumar, Sailaja Kumar, B. Eswara Reddy

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In a world of tremendous technical developments, effective and efficient higher education has always been a major challenge. The rising number of educational institutions have made it mandatory for healthy competitions among the institutions. To evaluate the qualitative competence of these educations institutions in engineering and technology and related disciplines, an efficient assessment technique in internal and external quality has to be followed. To achieve this, the curriculum is to be developed into courses, and each course has to be presented in the form teaching lesson plan consisting of topics and session outcome known as Course Outcomes (COs), that easily map into different Programme Outcomes (POs). The major objective of these methodologies is to provide quality technical education to its students. Detailed clear weightage in CO-PO mapping helps in proper measurable COs and to devise the POs attainment is an important issue. This ensures in assisting the achievement of the POs with proper weightage to POs, and also improves the successive curriculum development. In this paper, we presented a methodology for mapping CO and PO considering the key elements supported by each PO. This approach is useful in evaluating the attainment of POs which is based on the attainment of COs using the existing data from students' marks taken from various test items. Such direct assessment tools are used to measure the degree to which each student has achieved each course learning outcome by the completion of the course. Hence, these results are also useful in measuring the PO attainment for improving the programme vision and mission.

Keywords: attainment, course outcomes, programme outcomes, educational institutions

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Authors: Juliana da Silva Cardoso, Cláudia Correia, Rita Gomes, Carolina Fraga, Inês Cascais, Sara Monteiro, Beatriz Teixeira, Sandra Ribeiro, Carolina Andrade, Cláudia Oliveira, Diana Gonzaga, Catarina Prior, Inês Vaz Matos

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The average daily screen time (ST) has been increasing in children, even at young ages. This seems to be associated with a higher incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, and as the time of exposure increases, the greater is the functional impact. This study aims to compare the daily ST of toddlers and preschoolers previously and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was applied by telephone to parents/caregivers of children between 1 and 5 years old, followed up at 4 primary care units belonging to the Group of Primary Health Care Centers of Western Porto, Portugal. 520 children were included: 52.9% male, mean age 39.4 ± 13.9 months. The mean age of first exposure to screens was 13.9 ± 8.0 months, and most of the children were exposed to more than one screen daily. Considering the WHO recommendations, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 385 (74.0%) and 408 (78.5%) children had excessive ST during the week and the weekend, respectively; during the lockdown, these values increased to 495 (95.2%) and 482 (92.7%). Maternal education and both the child's median age and the median age of first exposure to screens had a statistically significant association with excessive ST, with OR 0.2 (p = 0.03, CI 95% 0.07-0.86), OR 1.1 (p = 0.01, 95% CI 1.05-1.14) and OR 0.9 (p = 0.05, 95% CI 0. 87-0.98), respectively. Most children in this sample had a higher than recommended ST, which increased with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results are worrisome and point to the need for urgent intervention.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, preschoolers, screen time, toddlers

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