Search results for: Tehran’s academic university libraries

Authors: Tamara Zappaterra

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The Learning Difficulties have an evolutionary nature. The international research has focused its analysis on the characteristics of Learning Difficulties in childhood, but we are still far from a thorough understanding of the nature of such disorders in adolescence and adulthood. Such issues become even more urgent in the university context. Spelling, meaning, and appropriate use of the specific vocabulary of the various disciplines represent an additional challenge for the dyslexic student. This paper explores the characteristics of Learning Difficulties in adulthood and the impact with the university teaching. It presents the results of an interdisciplinary project (educational, medical and engineering area) at University of Florence. The purpose of project is to design of a protocol for usability of teaching and individual study at university level. The project, after a first reconnaissance of user needs that have been reached with the participation of the very same protagonists, is at the stage of guidelines drafting for inclusion and education, to be used by teachers, students and administrative staff. The methodologies used are a questionnaire built on purpose and a series of focus groups with users. For collecting data during the focus groups it was decided to use a method typical of the Quality Function Deployment, a tool originally used for quality management, whose versatility makes it easy to use in a number of different context. The paper presents furthermore the findings of the project, the most significant elements of the guidelines for teaching, i.e. the section for teachers, whose aim is to implement a Learning Difficulties-friendly teaching, even at the university level, in compliance with italian Law 170/2010. The Guidelines for the didactic and inclusion of Learning Difficulties students of the University of Florence are articulated around a global and systemic plan of action, meant to accompany and protect the students during their study career, even before enrolling at the University, with different declination: the logistical, relational, educational, and didactic levels have been considered. These guidelines in Italy received the endorsement of the CNUDD. It is a systemic intervention plan for Learning Difficulties students, which roused and keeps rousing the interest of all the university system, with a radical consideration on academic teaching. Since while we try to provide the best Learning Difficulties-friendly didactic in compliance with the rules, no one can be exempted from a wider consideration on the nature and the quality of university teaching offered to all students.

Keywords: didactic tools, learning difficulties, special and inclusive education, university teaching

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Authors: Osman Zorbaz, Selen Demirtas-Zorbaz, Ozlem Ulas

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The factors that cause adolescents to drop out school were several. One of the frameworks about school dropout focuses on the contextual factors around the adolescents whereas the other one focuses on individual factors. It can be said that both factors are important equally. In this study, both adolescent’s individual factors (anti-social behaviors, academic success) and contextual factors (parent academic involvement, parent academic support, number of siblings, living with parent) were examined in the term of school dropout. The study sample consisted of 346 high school students in the public schools in Ankara who continued their education in 2015-2016 academic year. One hundred eighty-five the students (53.5%) were girls and 161 (46.5%) were boys. In addition to this 118 of them were in ninth grade, 122 of them in tenth grade and 106 of them were in eleventh grade. Multiple regression and one-way ANOVA statistical methods were used. First, it was examined if the data meet the assumptions and conditions that are required for regression analysis. After controlling the assumptions, regression analysis was conducted. Parent academic involvement, parent academic support, number of siblings, anti-social behaviors, academic success variables were taken into the regression model and it was seen that parent academic involvement (t=-3.023, p < .01), anti-social behaviors (t=7.038, p < .001), and academic success (t=-3.718, p < .001) predicted school dropout whereas parent academic support (t=-1.403, p > .05) and number of siblings (t=-1.908, p > .05) didn’t. The model explained 30% of the variance (R=.557, R2=.300, F5,345=30.626, p < .001). In addition to this the variance, results showed there was no significant difference on high school students school dropout levels according to living with parents or not (F2;345=1.183, p > .05). Results discussed in the light of the literature and suggestion were made. As a result, academic involvement, academic success and anti-social behaviors will be considered as an important factors for preventing school drop-out.

Keywords: adolescents, anti-social behavior, parent academic involvement, parent academic support, school dropout

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Authors: P. Daniels, T. Adonis, P. September-Brown, R. Comalie

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The community engagement unit at the University of the Western Cape was tasked with establishing a community engagement database. The database would store information of all community engagement projects related to the university. The wealth of knowledge obtained from the various disciplines would be used to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration within the university, as well as facilitating community university partnership opportunities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore electronic data collection through the development of a database. Two types of electronic data collection platforms were used, namely online questionnaire and email. The semi structured questionnaire was used to collect data related to community engagement projects from different faculties and departments at the university. There are many benefits for using an electronic data collection platform, such as reduction of costs and time, ease in reaching large numbers of potential respondents, and the possibility of providing anonymity to participants. Despite all the advantages of using the electronic platform, there were as many challenges, as depicted in our findings. The findings suggest that certain barriers existed by using an electronic platform for data collection, even though it was in an academic environment, where knowledge and resources were in abundance. One of the challenges experienced in this process was the lack of dissemination of information via email to staff within faculties. The actual online software used for the questionnaire had its own limitations, such as only being able to access the questionnaire from the same electronic device. In a few cases, academics only completed the questionnaire after a telephonic prompt or face to face meeting about "Is higher education in South Africa ready to embrace electronic platform in data collection?"

Keywords: community engagement, database, data collection, electronic platform, electronic tools, knowledge sharing, university

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Authors: Abubakar Abdulkareem, Nasir Haruna Soba

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing at a rapid pace, revolutionizing several industries, including education. This talk looks at how useful AI can be for academic writing, with an emphasis on how it can help researchers be more accurate, productive, and creative. The academic world now relies heavily on AI technologies like grammar checkers, plagiarism detectors, and content generators to help with the writing, editing, and formatting of scholarly papers. This study explores the particular uses of AI in academic writing and assesses how useful and helpful these applications may be for both students and scholars. By means of an extensive examination of extant literature and a sequence of empirical case studies, we scrutinize the merits and demerits of artificial intelligence tools utilized in academic writing. Important discoveries indicate that although AI greatly increases productivity and lowers human error, there are still issues that need to be resolved, including reliance, ethical concerns, and the potential loss of critical thinking abilities. The talk ends with suggestions for incorporating AI tools into academic settings so that they enhance rather than take the place of the intellectual rigor that characterizes scholarly work. This study adds to the continuing conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education by supporting a methodical strategy that uses technology to enhance human abilities in academic writing.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, academic writing, ai tools, productivity, ethics, higher education

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Authors: Ricardo Merlo

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Attitude is a hypothetical construct that can be significantly measured to know the favorable or unfavorable predisposition that students have towards the teaching of sciences such as Physics. Although the state-of-the-art attitude test used in Physics teaching indicated different design and validation models in different groups of students, the analysis of the weight given to each dimension that supported the attitude was scarcely evaluated. Then, in this work, a methodology of attitude questionnaire construction process was proposed that allowed the teacher to design and validate the measurement instrument for different subjects of Physics at the university level developed in the classroom according to the weight considered to the affective, knowledge, and behavioural dimensions. Finally, questionnaire models were tested for the case of incoming university students, achieving significant results in the improvement of Physics teaching.

Keywords: attitude, physics teaching, motivation, academic performance

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Authors: S. J. Yune, S. Y. Lee, S. J. Im, B. S. Kam, S. Y. Baek

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This study explored whether academic emotion, major satisfaction, and learning flow are associated with academic achievement in medical school. We know that emotion and affective factors are important factors in students' learning and performance. Emotion has taken the stage in much of contemporary educational psychology literature, no longer relegated to secondary status behind traditionally studied cognitive constructs. Medical school students (n=164) completed academic emotion, major satisfaction, and learning flow online survey. Academic performance was operationalized as students' average grade on two semester exams. For data analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, hierarchical multiple regression analyses and ANOVA were conducted. The results largely confirmed the hypothesized relations among academic emotion, major satisfaction, learning flow and academic achievement. Positive academic emotion had a correlation with academic achievement (β=.191). Positive emotion had 8.5% explanatory power for academic achievement. Especially, sense of accomplishment had a significant impact on learning performance (β=.265). On the other hand, negative emotion, major satisfaction, and learning flow did not affect academic performance. Also, there were differences in sense of great (F=5.446, p=.001) and interest (F=2.78, p=.043) among positive emotion, boredom (F=3.55, p=.016), anger (F=4.346, p=.006), and petulance (F=3.779, p=.012) among negative emotion by grade. This study suggested that medical students' positive emotion was an important contributor to their academic achievement. At the same time, it is important to consider that some negative emotions can act to increase one’s motivation. Of particular importance is the notion that instructors can and should create learning environment that foster positive emotion for students. In doing so, instructors improve their chances of positively impacting students’ achievement emotions, as well as their subsequent motivation, learning, and performance. This result had an implication for medical educators striving to understand the personal emotional factors that influence learning and performance in medical training.

Keywords: academic achievement, learning emotion, learning flow, major satisfaction

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Authors: Khader A. Almhdawi, Saddam F. Kanaan

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Background: Allied health (AH) students, including rehabilitation sciences students, are subjected to significant levels of physical and mental stressors, which could affect their education. This study aimed to study physical and mental of Health-related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) levels along with their predictors among students of nine AH majors. Methods: Students filled validated anonymous surveys covering demographics and life style, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS- 42). SF-12 Mental (MCS) and Physical (PCS) summary scores were compared between academic majors and gender. Multiple linear regression models were conducted to examine potential predictors of PCS and MCS scores. Results: 838 students (77.4% females) participated in this study. Participants’ PCS mean score was 45.64±7.93 and found statistically different between the nine academic majors (P < 0.001). Additionally, participants’’ MCS mean score was 39.45±10.86 and significantly greater in males (P < 0.001). Significant PCS scores predictors included hip and upper back musculoskeletal pain, anxiety score, diet self-evaluation, and GPA. Finally, MCS scores were statistically associated with neck musculoskeletal pain, stress score, depression score, number of weekly clinical training hours, gender, university year, GPA, sleep quality self-evaluation, and diet self-evaluation. Conclusion: Clinical educators of AH need to account for students’ low levels of HR-QoL and their academic-related, health-related, and lifestyle-related associated factors. More studies are recommended to investigate the progression of HR-QoL throughout university years and to create effective interventions to improve HR-QoL among healthcare students.

Keywords: medical education, quality of life, stress, anxiety, depression

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Authors: Jerome D. Donovan

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The pandemic has resulted in a dramatic re-consideration of the reliance on international student fees to support university models in Australia. A key resulting initiative for the Australian Federal Government has been shifting the way universities consider their research model, emphasising the importance of commercialising research. This study specifically examines this shift from the perspective of a university spin-off, examining how university support structures and incubation models have assisted in the translation of fundamental research into a high-growth university spin-off. A focused case study approach is adopted in this study, using an auto-ethnographic research method to document the experiences and insights drawn from being a co-founder in a university spin-off in a time where research commercialisation has emerged as a central focus in Australian universities.

Keywords: research commercialisation, spin-offs, university incubation, entrepreneurship

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Authors: Amanda Burrell, Tonia Gary, David Wright, Kumara Ward

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This paper explores the concept of academic identity as it relates to the lecture, in particular, the digitized lecture delivered to a camera, in the absence of a student audience. Many academics have the performance aspect of the role thrust upon them with little or no training. For the purpose of this study, we look at the performance of the academic identity and examine tailored film presence coaching for its contributions toward academic identity, specifically in relation to feelings of self-confidence and diminishment of discomfort or stage fright. The case is articulated through the lens of scholar-practitioners, using expert facilitated participatory action research. It demonstrates in our sample of experienced academics, all reported some feelings of uncertainty about presenting lectures to camera prior to coaching. We share how power poses and reframing fear, produced improvements in the ease and competency of all participants. We share exactly how this insight could be adapted for self-coaching by any academic when called to present to a camera and consider the relationship between this and academic identity.

Keywords: academic identity, digitized lecture, embodied learning, performance coaching

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Authors: Luedech Girdwichai, Witthaya Mekhum, Namthip Kleebbuaban

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This research is aimed at studying work efficiency of the supporting staff at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University by different categories. Supporting staff of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University consists of government officers, permanent employees, permanent university staff, temporary university staff, and staff of the temporary university employees and government employees, totaling 242. The tools used in this research were questionnaires and data were analyzed by using computer software packages. Statistics includes frequency distribution, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results showed that the work efficiency of the supporting staff at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is high in all areas: flexibility in operation, ability to work with others, productivity and work efficiency, human relations with colleagues and commanders, understanding of the work, and communication with others, the university, colleagues, and commanders.

Keywords: satisfaction, work efficiency, supporting staff, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

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Authors: Ala Rakhshandeh, Zahra Ashkar, Solmaz Dehghani Dolatabadi, Hossein Bayat

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The present study has been conducted to investigate the role of family emotional climate and emotional expression style in the academic well-being of students with military parents. Children, including 280 female students of Shahriar police officers, were selected by random sampling method, and they have been investigated through Alfred B. Hillburn's family emotional climate questionnaire (1964), King and Ammon's emotional expression questionnaire (1990), and Pitrinen, Sweeney, and Falto's academic well-being questionnaire (2014). The data were analyzed using statistical methods of correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression under the SPSS23 program. The results reveal that the variables of family emotional climate and emotional expression can explain 36.4% of the variance in academic well-being. This finding reveals that with an increase of standard deviation on the scores of family emotional climate and emotional expression, 0.513 and 0.155 standard deviations are added to the scores of academic well-being, respectively. The emotional climate of the family has a superior distinctive role in predicting the educational well-being of female students. Thus, the emotional climate of the family and the style of emotional expression play a meaningful role in the academic well-being of students with the military parent.

Keywords: emotional climate, family, emotional expression style, academic well-being

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Authors: Szymon Szemik, Małgorzata Kowalska

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Objective: Medical students experience numerous demands during the education process, determining their quality of life (QoL) and health status. POLLEK (POLski LEKarz, eng. Polish Physician) study aims to identify and evaluate the quality of life, mental health status, and ever-recognized chronic diseases by simultaneously assessing their determinants in Polish medical students during long-term observation. Material and Methods: The POLLEK is the follow-up cohort study conducted among medical students at the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice. Students were followed during two observation periods: in their first year of studies, the academic year 2021/2022 (T1), and in their second year, the academic year 2022/2023 (T2). Results: The total number of participants in the first year of observation (T1) was 427 while in the second year (T2) was 335. Obtained results confirmed that the QoL score significantly decreased in their second year of studies mainly in the somatic and psychological domains. Moreover, we observed a significant increase in self-declared scoring of somatic symptoms year by year (from M=4.75 at T1 to M=8.06 at T2, p<0.001) in the GHQ-28 questionnaire survey. The determinants of QoL domains common to T1 and T2 remained self-declared health status, frequency of physical activity, and current financial situation. In the first year of evaluation, 56 students (13.10%) were overweight or obese, and 52 (15.8%) in the second. Regardless of the academic year, the increased risk of being overweight or obese was significantly associated with dissatisfaction with personal health, financial deficiencies, and a diet abundant in meat consumption. Conclusions: The QoL in medical students and selected determinants of their health status deteriorated during the observation period. Our findings suggest that medical schools should actively promote the activity needed to achieve a balance between schoolwork and the personal life of medical students from the beginning of university study.

Keywords: quality of life, mental health, medical students, follow-up study

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Authors: Borja Bordel, Ramón Alcarria, Marina Pérez

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In March 2020, in Spain, a sanitary and unexpected crisis caused by COVID-19 was declared. All of a sudden, all degrees, classes and evaluation tests and projects had to be transformed into online activities. However, the chaotic situation generated by a complex operation like that, executed without any well-established procedure, led to very different experiences and, finally, results. In this paper, we are describing three experiences in two different Universities in Madrid. On the one hand, the Technical University of Madrid, a public university with little experience in online education. On the other hand, Alfonso X el Sabio University, a private university with more than five years of experience in online teaching. All analyzed subjects were related to computer engineering. Professors and students answered a survey and personal interviews were also carried out. Besides, the professors’ workload and the students’ academic results were also compared. From the comparative analysis of all these experiences, we are extracting the most successful strategies, methodologies, and activities. The recommendations in this paper will be useful for courses during the next months when the sanitary situation is still affecting an educational organization. While, at the same time, they will be considered as input for the upcoming digitalization process of higher education.

Keywords: educational experience, online education, higher education digitalization, COVID, Spain

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Authors: Mostafa Fanaei, Shahram R. Sistani, Athare Nazri-Panjaki

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Introduction: Critical thinking skills are increasingly recognized as vital for academic success, particularly in higher education. This study examines the influence of critical thinking on learning achievement among undergraduate and master's students enrolled in foreign language programs. By investigating this correlation, educators can gain valuable insights into optimizing teaching methodologies and enhancing academic outcomes. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 150 students from the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, recruited via random sampling. Participants completed the Critical Thinking Questionnaire (CThQ), assessing dimensions such as analysis, evaluation, creation, remembering, understanding, and application. Academic performance was measured using the students' GPA (0-20). Results: The participants' mean age was 21.46 ± 5.2 years, with 62.15% being female. The mean scores for critical thinking subscales were as follows: Analyzing (13.2 ± 3.5), Evaluating (12.8 ± 3.4), Creating (18.6 ± 4.8), Remembering (9.4 ± 2.1), Understanding (12.9 ± 3.3), and Applying (12.5 ± 3.2). The overall critical thinking score was 79.4 ± 18.1, and the average GPA was 15.7 ± 2.4. Significant positive correlations were found between GPA and several critical thinking subscales: Analyzing (r = 0.45, p = 0.013), Creating (r = 0.52, p < 0.001), Remembering (r = 0.29, p = 0.021), Understanding (r = 0.41, p = 0.002), and the overall CThQ score (r = 0.54, p = 0.043). Conclusion: The study demonstrates a significant positive relationship between critical thinking skills and learning achievement in foreign language programs. Enhancing critical thinking skills through educational interventions could potentially improve academic performance. Further research is recommended to explore the underlying mechanisms and long-term impacts of critical thinking on academic success.

Keywords: critical thinking, learning achievement, higher education, foreign language programs, student success

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Authors: Shahin Shabani, Pouya Pourmadadi

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Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been used for the construction of various tunnels for mining projects for the purpose of access, conveyance of ore and waste, drainage, exploration, water supply and water diversion. Several mining projects have seen the successful and economic beneficial use of TBMs, and there is an increasing awareness of the benefits of TBMs for mining projects. Key technical considerations for the use of TBMs for the construction of tunnels for mining projects include geological issues (rock type, rock alteration, rock strength, rock abrasivity, durability, ground water inflows), depth of cover and the potential for overstressing/rockbursts, site access and terrain, portal locations, TBM constraints, minimum tunnel size, tunnel support requirements, contractor and labor experience, and project schedule demands. This study focuses on tunnelling mining, with the goal to develop methods and tools to be used to gain understanding of these processes, and to analyze metro of Tehran. The Metro Line 7 of Tehran is one of the Longest (26 Km) and deepest (27m) of projects that’s under implementation. Because of major differences like passing under all geotechnical layers of the town and encountering part of it with underground water table and also using mechanized excavation system, is one of special metro projects.

Keywords: TBM, tunnel boring machines economic, metro, line 7

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Authors: Mukhtar Raban

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As part of Nelson Mandela University’s journey of repositioning its learning and teaching agenda, the university adopted and foregrounded a humanizing pedagogy-aligning with institutional goals of critically transforming the academic project. The university established the Humanizing Pedagogy Praxis and Research Niche (HPPRN) as a centralized hub for coordinating institutional work exploring and advancing humanizing pedagogies and tasked the unit with developing and enacting a model for humanizing pedagogy exploration. This investigation endeavored to report on the development and enactment of a model that sought to institutionalize a humanizing pedagogy at a South African university. Having followed a qualitative approach, the investigation presents the case study of Nelson Mandela University’s HPPRN and the model it subsequently established and enacted for the advancement towards a more common institutional understanding, interpretation and application of the humanizing pedagogy. The study adopted an interpretive lens for analysis, complementing the qualitative approach of the investigation. The primary challenge that confronted the HPPRN was the development of a ‘living model’ that had to complement existing institutional initiatives while accommodating a renewed spirit of critical reflection, innovation and research of continued and new humanizing pedagogical exploration and applications. The study found that the explicit consideration of tenets of humanizing and critical pedagogies in underpinning and framing the HPPRN Model contributed to the sense of ‘lived’ humanizing pedagogy experiences during enactment. The multi-leveled inclusion of critical reflection in the development and enactment stages was found to further the processes of praxis employed at the university, which is integral to the advancement of humanizing and critical pedagogies. The development and implementation of a model that seeks to institutionalize the humanizing pedagogy at a university rely not only on sound theoretical conceptualization but also on the ‘richness of becoming more human’ explicitly expressed and encountered in praxes and application.

Keywords: humanizing pedagogy, critical pedagogy, institutional implementation, praxis

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Authors: Rubijesmin Abdul Latif

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This paper focuses on evaluating what are quality components of university websites in Malaysia especially the private universities. It is believed that with websites that prioritize quality, the websites will serve its intended users satisfactory. From the compiled analysis of other studies, quality components were identified and tested among 30 randomly selected respondents. Four Malaysia private university websites were compared and the highlights were better understanding of what users want for a quality university website.

Keywords: website evaluation, criteria, quality, usability, user experience, university website

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Jafari, Zeinolabedin Amini Sabegh, Habibollah Azimian

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Background: Today variable and dynamic environment doubles importance of using suitable solutions for confronting these changes in th4e organizations. One of the best ways for coping with environmental changes is directing the organization towards agility. Current research aims at investigating status of organizational agility in Tehran municipality (22 districts). Research Methodology: This research is applied research in terms of purpose of study and it is survey in terms of collection of descriptive data. A sample (n = 377) was selected from Tehran Municipality (22 districts) employees using multistage sampling method (cluster and regular). Data were collected using organizational agility standard questionnaire, and they were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software as well as inferential statistics such as one-sample t-test and Friedman test and descriptive statistics such as mean and median. Findings: Research findings showed organizational agility status in the organizations under study is in relatively optimal status and competence has highest priority in terms of ranking and priority of organizational agility indexes. Conclusion: It is necessary that managers provide suitable conditions for promoting organizational agility status in the organizations under study by identifying factors affecting change in the organizational environments and using available potentials for better coping with changes and higher flexibility and speed.

Keywords: organizational, municipality, employer, agility

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Authors: Lorraine Ramos

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The question of heritage language learners in foreign language classrooms has been widely debated in second language education, especially with Spanish in a U.S. Instructors of Spanish as a foreign language have brought pedagogical focus to Spanish heritage language students in order to retain, develop and maintain their first language. This paper proposes a thorough examination of the use of conceptual metaphors within autobiographical linguistic narratives as a key indicator of the writing development of advanced Spanish-language students. By pairing genre theory from Systemic Functional Linguistics with metaphor theory, this paper will examine the metaphors used by 3rd and 4th year university Spanish students within the narrative genre from a corpus of 16, 091 words. The investigation has found that heritage language students use a variety of bicultural metaphors, transferred from both languages to conceptualize their linguistic development, in addition to using metaphor in specific narrative stages as a literary strategy. Since it has been found that the metaphors used were transcultural, the use of conceptual metaphors in heritage language learners can be further examined to help these students achieve their linguistic and academic goals in the Spanish by transferring from their knowledge in English. In conclusion, by closely examining the function of student discourse through their multicultural metaphoric competence, this study provides important insights on how to enable instructors to best further their students’ writing development in the target language.

Keywords: academic writing development, heritage language learners, language attitudes and ideologies, metaphor

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Authors: Baohua Yu

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Despite widely reported 'Mainland-Hong Kong conflicts', recent years have witnessed progressive growth in the numbers of Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong’s universities. This research investigated Mainland Chinese students’ intercultural communication in relation to cross-cultural adaptation in a major university in Hong Kong. The features of intercultural communication examined in this study were competence in the second language (L2) communication and L2 Willingness to Communicate (WTC), while the features of cross-cultural adaptation examined were socio-cultural, psychological and academic adaptation. Based on a questionnaire, structural equation modelling was conducted among a sample of 196 Mainland Chinese students. Results showed that the competence in L2 communication played a significant role in L2 WTC, which had an influential effect on academic adaptation, which was itself identified as a mediator between the psychological adaptation and socio-cultural adaptation. Implications for curriculum design for courses and instructional practice on international students are discussed.

Keywords: L2 willingness to communicate, competence in L2 communication, psychological adaptation, socio-cultural adaptation, academic adaptation, structural equation modelling

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Authors: Hélène Knoerr

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This paper examines the impact of teaching in one’s second language on a faculty's sense of self-efficacy. With the increasing internationalization of universities, teaching in a foreign language, mainly in English, has been extensively studied. However, only a few studies have focused on teaching in one’s second language. In Canada, international faculty members have reported adverse effects on their academic careers due to unrealistic linguistic expectations. The aim of our study was to investigate the perceived impacts of teaching in one’s second language on professors in a bilingual university in Canada. It seeks to explore how faculty perceive their ability to teach effectively in their L2 and what personal and professional impacts they feel as a result of teaching in their second language. The study found that teaching in one's second language has a significant impact on faculty's sense of self-efficacy, including anxiety, frustration, and a sense of inadequacy. However, it was also noted that some instructors felt that teaching in their second language had a positive impact on their teaching practices and personal growth. This study highlights the importance of understanding the impact of teaching in one's second language on faculty's sense of self-efficacy in a bilingual university context. It also indicates the need to provide support programs.

Keywords: teacher sense of efficacy, bilingual education, teaching in one’s L2, narrative inquiry

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Authors: Christina Van Wingerden

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This paper focuses on a sense of belonging, isolation, and the use of a learning management system as a “third space” for connection and community. Given student use of learning management systems (LMS) for courses on campuses, moderate to high use of social media and hand-held devices, the author explores the possibilities of LMS as a third space. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated student experiences of isolation, and research indicates that students who experience a sense of belonging have a greater likelihood for academic retention and success. The impacts on students of an LMS designed for student employee orientation and training were examined through a mixed methods approach, including a survey, individual interviews, and focus groups. The sample involved 250-450 undergraduate student employees at a US northwestern university. The goal of the study was to find out the efficiency and effectiveness of the orientation information for a wide range of student employees from multiple student affairs departments. And unexpected finding emerged within the study in 2015 and was noted again as a finding in the 2017 study. Students reported feeling like they individually connected to the department, and further to the university because of the LMS orientation. They stated they could see themselves as part of the university community and like they belonged. The orientation, through the LMS, was designed for and occurred online (asynchronous), prior to students traveling and beginning university life for the academic year. The students indicated connection and belonging resulting from some of the design features. With the onset of COVID-19 and prolonged sheltering in place in North America, as well as other parts of the world, students have been precluded from physically gathering to educate and learn. COVID-19 essentially paused face-to-face education in 2020. Media, governments, and higher education outlets have been reporting on widespread college student stress, isolation, loneliness, and sadness. In this context, the author conducted a current mixed methods study (online survey, online interviews) of students in advanced degree programs, like Ph.D. and Ed.D. specifically investigating isolation and sense of belonging. As a part of the study a prototype of a Canvas site was experienced by student interviewees for their reaction of this Canvas site prototype as a “third” space. Some preliminary findings of this study are presented. Doctoral students in the study affirmed the potential of LMS as a third space for community and social academic connection.

Keywords: COVID-19, isolation, learning management system, sense of belonging

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Authors: Samantha J. Hall, Luke Taylor, Kenneth I. Cumming, Jakki Bardsley, Scott S. P. Wildman

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Medway School of Pharmacy – a joint collaboration between the University of Kent and the University of Greenwich – is a large school of pharmacy in the United Kingdom. The school primarily delivers the accredited Master or Pharmacy (MPharm) degree programme. Reportedly, some students may feel isolated from the larger student body that extends across four separate campuses, where a diverse range of academic subjects is delivered. In addition, student engagement has been noted as being limited in some areas, as evidenced in some cases by poor attendance at some lectures. In January 2015, the University of Kent launched a new initiative dedicated to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI). As part of this project, Medway School of Pharmacy employed ‘Student Success Project Officers’ in order to analyse past and present school data. As a result, initiatives have been implemented to i) negate disparities in attainment and ii) increase engagement, particularly for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students which make up for more than 80% of the pharmacy student cohort. Social media platforms are prevalent, with global statistics suggesting that they are most commonly used by females between the ages of 16-34. Student focus groups held throughout the academic year brought to light the school’s need to use social media much more actively. Prior to the EDI initiative, social media usage for Medway School of Pharmacy was scarce. Platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, The Student Room and University Blogs were either introduced or rejuvenated. This action was taken with the primary aim of increasing student engagement. By using a number of varied social media platforms, the university is able to capture a large range of students by appealing to different interests. Social media is being used to disseminate important information, promote equality and diversity, recognise and celebrate student success and also to allow students to explore the student life outside of Medway School of Pharmacy. Early data suggests an increase in lecture attendance, as well as greater evidence of student engagement highlighted by recent focus group discussions. In addition, students have communicated that active social media accounts were imperative when choosing universities for 2015/16. It allows students to understand more about the University and community prior to beginning their studies. By having a lively presence on social media, the university can use a multi-faceted approach to succeed in early engagement, as well as fostering the long term engagement of continuing students.

Keywords: engagement, social media, pharmacy, community

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Authors: Chek K. Loi

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The present study has two objectives. Firstly, it investigates the rhetorical strategies employed in the body paragraphs of ESL (English as a Second Language) undergraduate students’ English academic essays. Peacock’s (2002) model of the discussion section was used as the starting points in this study to investigate the rhetorical moves employed in the data. Secondly, it investigates the writing problems as perceived by these ESL students through an interview. Interview responses serve as accompanying data to the move analysis. Apart from this, students’ English academic writing problems are diagnosed. The findings have pedagogical implications in an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) classroom.

Keywords: academic essays, move analysis, pedagogical implication, rhetorical strategies

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Authors: Maryam Khalili, Fateme Ghanei

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As one of the most significant phenomena of industrialized societies, tourism plays a key role in encouraging regional developments and enhancing higher standards of living for local communities in particular. Traveling is a formative experience endowed with lessons on various aspects of life. It allows us learning how to enhance the social position as well as the social relationships. However, people forget the need to travel and gain first-hand experiences as they have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of stress created by the disorders and routines of the urban dwelling style. In this paper, various spaces of such experiences were explored through a virtual tour with two underlying aims: 1) encouraging, informing, and educating the community in terms of tourism development, and 2) introducing a temporary release from the routines. This study enjoyed a practical-qualitative research methodology, and the required data were collected through observation and using a multiple-response questionnaire. The participants (19-48 years old) included 41 citizens of both genders (63.4% male and 36.6% female) from two regions in Tehran, selected by cluster-probability sampling. The results led to development of a spatial design for a virtual tour experience in Tehran where different areas are explored to both raise people’s awareness and educate them on their cultural heritage.

Keywords: ecotourism, education, gamification, social interaction, urban design, virtual tour

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Authors: Nyamsuren Baljinnyam, Narmandakh Khaltar, Otgonbaatar Olzkhuu

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Undergraduate students study English I (elective) and II (compulsory) courses which are included in the General foundation courses in the Teacher Education Curriculum Framework at the Mongolian National University of Education. Teachers at the English Department have designed and developed 2 levels (from pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate) English coursebooks since 2016 and published the second editions of each in 2018 and 2019. Developing coursebooks based on the students’ needs, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction with these instructional materials are essential phenomena in the delivery service of teaching English at the tertiary level. Thus, this study aims at findings from students’ views on English coursebooks which are studied mostly in the first and second semesters of the undergraduate academic program. The purpose of this research project was to determine the overall pedagogical value and suitability of the book to students’ needs and 21st-century teacher education concepts. We have designed a coursebook evaluation checklist with 28 questionnaires, including Morris’s English as a foreign language coursebook evaluation checklist (2017). The study is a 2 phased descriptive survey study that covered 572 and 519 undergraduate students who studied in the spring term of the 2021-2022 academic year and the fall term of the 2022-2023 academic year at 7 branch schools of Mongolian National University of Education (MNUE). Data analysis consists of student responses to each item. Coursebook evaluation data is classified into 3 main categories as “general attributes”, “learning content” and “task evaluation”. Some results of the study indicate the following findings: 97 percent of the total survey participants (in total 1091) have given positive responses to the coursebooks that these are fully aimed at acquiring the students’ language learning skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking; 78 percent responded that the coursebooks were different from the English Textbooks that they learned in secondary schools; and 91 percent answered that the English coursebooks could give motivation to the students to achieve their self-study.

Keywords: coursebook evaluation, improving English, student satisfaction and dissatisfaction with coursebooks, language learning materials, language tasks, students’ needs

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Authors: G. S. Androulakis, G. Deli, M. Kaisari, N. Mihos

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Teaching practices at the university level have changed and developed during the last decade. Implementation of inverted classroom method in secondary education consists of a well-formed basis for academic teachers. On the other hand, distance learning is a well-known field in education research and widespread as a method of teaching. Nonetheless, the new pandemic found many Universities all over the world unprepared, which made adaptations to new methods of teaching a necessity. In this paper, we analyze a model of an inverted university classroom in a distance learning context. Thus, the main purpose of our research is to investigate students’ difficulties as they transit to a new style of teaching and explore their learning development during a semester totally different from others. Our teaching experiment took place at the Business Administration department of the University of Patras, in the context of two courses: Calculus, a course aimed at first-year students, and Statistics, a course aimed at second-year students. Second-year students had the opportunity to attend courses in the university classroom. First-year students started their semester with distance learning. Using a comparative study of these two groups, we explored significant differences in students’ learning procedures. Focused group interviews, written tests, analyses of students’ dialogues were used in a mixed quantity and quality research. Our analysis reveals students’ skills, capabilities but also a difficulty in following, non-traditional style of teaching. The inverted classroom model, according to our findings, offers benefits in the educational procedure, even in a distance learning environment.

Keywords: distance learning, higher education, inverted classroom, mathematics teaching

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Authors: Yaw Akoto

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The social construction of disability in a Ghanaian society has created a restriction on the development of the academic potentials of persons with disabilities. Ghanaian societal perceptions position persons with disabilities as needy, evil, feeble and 'abnormal' that a person with disability cannot contribute anything meaningful to their own development, society, and the nation as well. Almost all Ghanaian cultures believe the Gods visit evil people with disability as such they erect barriers that limit them to select and enroll in education. The few people with disabilities who gain admission to schools drop out due to these barriers erected by the society and institutions. However, there are very few of these students who are able to pursue their education at the higher education level despite these challenges. This qualitative study explores the motivation of students with disabilities to select and enroll in a Ghanaian university. The study used semi-structured interview to solicit information from students with disabilities in a Ghanaian university. Although the quality of students with disabilities experience was affected by culture, discrimination, marginalisation, and lack of support, the prospect of using themselves as role models, employment opportunities and family impingement were among others that pushed them to embark on their educational journey. The findings of this study have implications for societal and institutional levels for restructuring and refining societal perception and institutional policies on disabilities.

Keywords: beliefs, Ghanaian university, social construction, students with disabilities

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Authors: Amanda Abbott-Jones

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Adult students with dyslexia in higher education can receive support for their cognitive needs but may also experience negative emotion such as anxiety due to their dyslexia in connection with their studies. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that adult dyslexic learners have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers. A quantitative approach was used to measure differences in academic and social anxiety between 102 students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia compared to 72 students with no history of learning difficulties. Academic and social anxiety was measured in a questionnaire based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings showed that dyslexic students showed statistically significant higher levels of academic, but not social anxiety in comparison to the non-dyslexic sample. Dyslexic students in higher education show academic anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without dyslexia. The implications of this for the dyslexia practitioner is that delivery of strategies to deal with anxiety should be seen equally as important, if not more so, than interventions to deal with cognitive difficulties.

Keywords: Academic, Anxiety, Dyslexia, Quantitative

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Authors: Akbar Ali

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The aim of this study is to explore the academic performance of adolescents who are living with their single parents. Living with single parents is challenging experience especially when children are in adolescence phase. The core aim of study was to investigate how family environment, social status and parental support affect adolescents’ academic performance. This study is carried out in Punjab, Pakistan on adolescents who are experiencing the single family environment either my divorce or natural parental marital transition. Qualitative methodology was employed to evaluate the different aspects of aspects of academic performance. A sample of 40 students in-between age 14 to 18 years was selected from different institutions coming from different socio cultural backgrounds and having different family situations comprising different types of single family structure. Data was collected through semi structured interviews to explore the academics performance and family dynamics. Findings of the study indicated that adolescents living with single parents show poor academic performance due to lack of interest, absentees, poor social and economic support, less parental involvement. Students were showing less or no interest in extracurricular activities and less social interaction with fellows. Parental economic status , Parenting style, parental involvement and academic support are the key factors which directly academic outcomes. Research experience was challenging because students were reluctant to share family issues. Proper academic and counselling centre should be established to provide emotional and academic counselling for such students. Longitudinal research should be carried out to trace the academic outcomes and social adjustments.

Keywords: academic counselling, marital transitions, parenting style, parental involvement

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