Search results for: tertiary institution students

Authors: J. Milton, C. Uzoigwe, O. Ayeko, B. Offorha, K. Anderson, R. G. Middleton

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Background: We used the UK National Hip Fracture database to determine the effect of institution hip fracture case volume on hip fracture healthcare outcomes in 2019. Using logistic regression for each healthcare outcome, we compared the best performing 50 units with the poorest performing 50 units in order to determine if the unit volume was associated with performance for each particular outcome. Method: We analysed 175 institutions treating a total of 67,673 patients over the course of a year. Results: The number of hip fractures seen per unit ranged between 86 and 952. Larger units tendered to perform health assessments more consistently and mobilise patients more expeditiously post-operatively. Patients treated at large institutions had shorter lengths of stay. With regard to most other outcomes, there was no association between unit case volume and performance, notably compliance with the Best Practice Tariff, time to surgery, proportion of eligible patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty, length of stay, delirium risk, and pressure sore risk assessments. Conclusion: There is no relationship between unit volume and the majority of health care outcomes. It would seem that larger institutions tend to perform better at parameters that are dependent upon personnel numbers. However, where the outcome is contingent, even partially, on physical infrastructure capacity, there was no difference between larger and smaller units.

Keywords: institution volume, mortality, neck of femur fractures, osteoporosis

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Authors: Khalid Alasim

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This study investigates the attitudes of faculty members at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University toward integrating students with disabilities. Additionally, this research examines the possible factors that might affect faculty members’ attitudes about the inclusion of students with disability; the factors include occupation, gender, college, the country in which the certificate was obtained, years of experience, previous experience in teaching students with disabilities, the presence of a family member with a disability, attending a program on teaching students with disabilities. The researcher used a survey to collect data and the study sample consisted of 102 faculty members at the university. The findings indicated an increase in the attitudes of faculty members at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University towards the inclusion of students with disabilities in the university, while there is no effect for all study independents variables on the attitudes of faculty members, and there is no interaction between the variables as well. The study concluded with the importance of training and preparing faculty members to teach and deal with students with disabilities at the university level.

Keywords: attitutes, inclusion, disability, faculty members

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Authors: Alejandra Yanez, Teresa Benavides, Zita Lopez

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Even before COVID-19, one of the most important challenges that Higher Education faces today is the need for innovative educational methodologies and flexibility. We could all agree that one of the objectives of Higher Education is to provide students with a variety of intellectual and practical skills that, at the same time, will help them develop competitive advantages such as adaptation and critical thinking. Among the strategic objectives of Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) has been to provide flexibility and satisfaction to students in the delivery modes of the academic offer. UDEM implemented a methodology that combines face to face with synchronous and asynchronous as delivery modes. UDEM goal, in this case, was to implement new technologies and different teaching methodologies that will improve the students learning experience. In this study, the experience of students during courses implemented in new delivery mode was compared with students in courses with traditional delivery modes. Students chose openly either way freely. After everything students around the world lived in 2020 and 2021, one can think that the face to face (traditional) delivery mode would be the one chosen by students. The results obtained in this study reveal that both delivery modes satisfy students and favor their learning process. We will show how the combination of delivery modes provides flexibility, so the proposal is that universities can include them in their academic offer as a response to the current student's learning interests and needs.

Keywords: flexibility, new delivery modes, student satisfaction, academic offer

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Authors: Vinay Gupta, Seema Malhotra

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Background: Patients who usually consume tobacco are unaware of its ill effects completely therefore it becomes necessary to educate and counselling them after obtaining their knowledge about tobacco. Aim: To measure prevalence of tobacco use among dental outpatients and to evaluation of tobacco user attending dental outpatients (OPD) prepared to quit. Methods: A cross-sectional survey, which was carried out on patients attending Outside Patient Department (OPD) of dental college of King Georges Medical University, Lucknow, India. All the patients who consumed tobacco attending the Dental College were asked to participate in the study. The questionnaire was written in English/ Hindi (local language). Participation in this study was voluntary and the questionnaire was anonymous and self-administered. The proposal of this survey had been approved by the ethical committee of institution. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants. Results: Prevalence of tobacco user attending the Dental OPD was 46.4%. Male tobacco user represented 85.9%. Smokeless tobacco (57%) user were more than smoking (1.4%) and 18.9% were using both smokeless and smoking tobacco. 40.7% start using tobacco since less than 5 years. 55.3% uses tobacco after get up in the morning. 87.1% tobacco user knows that it cause cancer. 54.8% respond that warning sign on packet/pouch effect on mind but due to addiction, it would not work out. 54.8% attempted for quitting but not successful. 90.0% willing to quit in future if facility provide. Conclusion: Higher prevalence of tobacco usage among study population and will to quit in future shows need of cessation clinic in every dental institution in India.

Keywords: tobacco, knowledge, practice, counselling

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Authors: Eyasu Gemech, Kassa Michael, Mulugeta Atnafu

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A non-equivalent group's quasi-experiment research was conducted at Wolkite University to investigate MATLAB supported learning and students' conceptual understanding in learning Applied Mathematics II using four different comparative instructional approaches: MATLAB supported traditional lecture method, MATLAB supported collaborative method, only collaborative method, and only traditional lecture method. Four intact classes of mechanical engineering groups 1 and 2, garment engineering and textile engineering students were randomly selected out of eight departments. The first three departments were considered as treatment groups and the fourth one 'Textile engineering' was assigned as a comparison group. The departments had 30, 29, 35 and 32 students respectively. The results of the study show that there is a significant mean difference in students' conceptual understanding between groups of students learning through MATLAB supported collaborative method and the other learning approaches. Students who were learned through MATLAB technology-supported learning in combination with collaborative method were found to understand concepts of functions of two variables better than students learning through the other methods of learning. These, hence, are informative of the potential approaches universities would follow for a better students’ understanding of concepts.

Keywords: MATLAB supported collaborative method, MATLAB supported learning, collaborative method, conceptual understanding, functions of two variables

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Authors: Abolfazl Ghelichi, Ghasem Modarresi

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The problem with interpretation courses arises from the fact that Interpretation Courses at University levels are presented by most of the instructors based on listening activities and testing listening performance while interpretation strategies have been underrated. The data are gathered from30 students majoring in Translation Studies to fulfill the major aims of the study including. The study aimed at: 1) examining the significant relationship between specific interpretation strategies and interpretation performance of translation students in interpretation courses, 2) investigating the significant difference between males and females in their interpretation performance, and 3) exploring the interpretation strategies which are more effective for the translation students to improve their interpretation performance from students’ opinions. The results of the study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores for the two groups. The experimental group outperformed the control group in their interpretation performance and the effect size was large. However, there was no significant difference between male and female with respect to their cognition [t (28) =.79, p<.05]. As for the results obtained from the interviews with the students, the commonalities emerged from the students’ responses were analyzed and reported by the researchers.

Keywords: anticipation, interpretation performance, interpretation strategy, shadowing

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Authors: Raiya Kishwar Ashraf

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The National University, the largest public educational institution in Bangladesh, recently made it mandatory for all students to study a course in Bangladesh‘s history of the 1971 Liberation War. This introduction was accompanied by massive political, financial and academic movement that allocated resources towards achieving greater awareness of the country‘s spirit, goals of liberation and patriotism among the youth. This study argues that the infrastructure and political economy around the course heavily politicizes the education system and more specifically the teaching and learning the process. By conducting a qualitative study in three affiliated colleges under the National University, this study aimed to explore the extent to which politicization affected higher education curriculum, especially history education in Bangladesh. The findings revealed significant levels of politicization and structural constraints present in the process that restricts the teacher and student engagement with course materials. The results of this study are useful for curriculum designers and higher education teachers and staffs who wish to develop content and deliver education that promotes critical inquiry among students. The findings further shed light on the importance of identifying and addressing political influences in education curriculum and programme development.

Keywords: Bangladesh higher education, critical thinking, curriculum politicization, history curriculum, National University, teaching-learning method

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Authors: Anna Petr Safrankova, Karla Hrbackova

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The education of socially disadvantaged students is in the long term spotlight of many pedagogical researches in both Czech and foreign environment. These researches among others investigate this topic from the point of view of individual compensatory measure which tries to overcome or remove the social disadvantage. The focus of the study is to highlight the important role of teachers in the education of this specific group of students, among others in terms of their (teachers´) pre-graduate training. The aim of the study is to point out the importance of teachers´ self-efficacy. The study is based on the assumption that the teacher's self-efficacy may significantly affect the teacher's perception of a particular group of students and thereby affect the education of the students. The survey involved 245 teachers from the two regions in the Czech Republic. In the research were used TES questionnaire (with the dimensions personal teaching efficacy – PTE and general teaching efficacy – GTE) by Gibson and Dembo and the semantic differential (containing 12 scales with bipolar adjectives) which investigated the components of teachers' attitudes toward socially disadvantaged students. It was found that teachers’ self-efficacy significantly affects the teachers’ perception of the group of socially disadvantaged students. Based on this finding we believe that it is necessary to work with this concept (prepare teachers to educate this specific group of students) already during higher education and especially during the pre-graduate teachers training.

Keywords: teachers, socially disadvantaged students, semantic differential, teachers self-efficacy

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Authors: Aida Abd El-Razek, Alyaa Salman Madian, Gamila Gaber Ayoub

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Background: Electronic fetal monitoring is an obstetric technology that helps to record any changes in fetal heart rate and uterine activity. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of educational programs on the performance of internship nursing students regarding electronic fetal monitoring in obstetrics and gynecology departments. Design: A quasi-experimental research design (pre- and post-test) was used. Sample: A convenient sample of all internship nursing students (180 internship nursing students) from the Faculty of Nursing at Menoufia University during the academic year 2022-2023). The instruments of this study were a structured, self-administered interview questionnaire consisting of two parts: the socio-demographic characteristics of the study participants and an assessment of internship nursing students’ knowledge regarding electronic fetal monitoring (pre- and post-test). Observational checklist to assess internship nursing students’ performance regarding EFM. Results: There were highly statistically significant differences between the internship nurses' students’ knowledge and performance on the pretest and posttest. Conclusion: An educational program on electronic fetal monitoring carries a vital value for enhancing internship nursing students’ knowledge and performance, which ultimately leads to improved maternal and fetal outcomes. Recommendation: Regular educational programs and workshops about electronic fetal monitoring should be encouraged for all maternity nurses and internship nursing students.

Keywords: educational program, internship nursing students, performance, efficacy

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Authors: Gabriel Odeh Ankeli

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The study determined how mentoring enhanced strategy can increase self-efficacy of secondary school students in physics in education zone C of Benue State, Nigeria. The study was guided by two research questions while two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The design of the study was the quasi-experimental, non-randomized, pre-test and post-test control groups. The population of the study consisted of 4,064 SS two physics students in the 94 schools in Education Zone C. The sample comprised 406 SS two physics students drawn from 10 schools using multi-stage sampling technique. The research instrument adapted and used for data collection was Students Self-Efficacy Scale (SSES). The research instrument was subjected to a reliability analysis using Cronbachs Alpha which yielded a reliability co-efficient of 0.84. Data collected were analyzed using discriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while inferential statistics of Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that students who were exposed to mentoring exhibited lower self-efficacy levels (F 1,405 = 2.751, P = 0.09˃0.05) than those students who were not exposed to mentoring. There was significant difference between male and female students’ self-efficacy level (F 1,211 = 5.496, P = 0.02˂0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that longer duration of mentoring period should be encouraged when using the mentoring strategy for better enhancement of Self-efficacy of students.

Keywords: physics, self-efficacy, mentoring enhanced strategy, students

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Authors: Yea-Mei Leou, Shiu-Hsung Huang, T. C. Shen, Chin-Ya Fang

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The purposes of this study were to explore how to establish a professional learning community for English teachers at a junior high school, and to explore how teachers and students think about the guided reading program. The participants were three experienced English teachers and their ESL seventh-grade students from three classes in a junior high school. Leveled picture books and worksheets were used in the program. Questionnaires and interviews were used for gathering information. The findings were as follows: First, most students enjoyed this guided reading program. Second, the teachers thought the guided reading program was helpful to students’ learning and the discussions in the professional learning community refreshed their ideas, but the preparation for the teaching was time-consuming. Suggestions based on the findings were provided.

Keywords: ESL students, guided reading, leveled books, professional learning community

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Authors: Zhidong Zhang, Yingchen Yang

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In this study, a diagnostic assessment model for Mastery Engineering Learning was established based on a group of undergraduate students who studied in an engineering course. A diagnostic assessment model can examine both students' learning process and report achievement results. One very unique characteristic is that the diagnostic assessment model can recognize the errors and anything blocking students in their learning processes. The feedback is provided to help students to know how to solve the learning problems with alternative strategies and help the instructor to find alternative pedagogical strategies in the instructional designs. Dynamics is a core course in which is a common course being shared by several engineering programs. This course is a very challenging for engineering students to solve the problems. Thus knowledge acquisition and problem-solving skills are crucial for student success. Therefore, developing an effective and valid assessment model for student learning are of great importance. Diagnostic assessment is such a model which can provide effective feedback for both students and instructor in the mastery of engineering learning.

Keywords: diagnostic assessment, mastery learning, engineering, bayesian network model, learning processes

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Authors: Asia Majeed

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The learning of mathematics in science, engineering and social science programs can be enhanced through practical problem-solving techniques. The instructors can design their lessons with some strategies to improve students’ educational needs and accomplishments in mathematics classrooms. The use of technology in class problem solving and application sessions can enhance deep understanding of mathematics among students. As mathematician, we believe in subject specific and content-driven teaching methods. Through technology the relationship between the physical problems and the mathematical models can be analyzed. This paper is about selective use of technology in mathematics classrooms and helpful to others mathematics instructors who wishes to improve their traditional teaching techniques to improve students’ attitude in learning mathematics. These techniques corpus can be used in teaching large mathematics classes in science, technology, engineering, and social science.

Keywords: attitude in learning mathematics, mathematics, non-mathematics undergraduate students, technology

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Authors: Abraham Undu, Stephen Akuma

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Websites are becoming a major component of an organization’s success in our ever globalizing competitive world. The website symbolizes an organization, interacting or projecting an organization’s principles, culture, values, vision, and perspectives. It is an interface connecting organizations and their clients. The university, as an academic institution, makes use of a website to communicate and offer computing services to its stakeholders (students, staff, host community, university management etc). Unfortunately, website designers often give more consideration to the technology, organizational structure and business objectives of the university than to the usability of the site. Website designers end up designing university websites which do not meet the needs of the primary users. This empirical study investigated the Benue State University website from the point view of students. This research was realized by using a standardized website usability questionnaire based on the five factors of usability defined by WAMMI (Website Analysis and Measurement Inventory): attractiveness, controllability, efficiency, learnability and helpfulness. The result of the investigation showed that the university website (https://portal.bsum.edu.ng/) has neutral usability level because of the usability issues associated with the website. The research recommended feasible solutions to improve the usability of the website from the users’ perspective and also provided a modified usability model that will be used for better evaluation of the Benue State University website.

Keywords: Benue State University, modified usability model, usability, usability factors

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Authors: Dingiswayo Likhona, Arko-Cobbah Emmanuel, Carolina Pohl, Nthabiseng Z. Mokoena, Jolly Musoke

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A distinct strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), referred to as hypervirulent (hvKp), is associated with invasive infections such as an invasive pyogenic liver abscess in young and healthy individuals. In South Africa, limited information is known about the prevalence and virulence of this hvKp strain. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of hvKp and virulence-associated factors in K. pneumoniae isolates from one of the largest Tertiary hospitals in a South African province. A total of 74 K. pneumoniae isolates were received from Pelonomi National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS), Bloemfontein. Virulence-associated genes (rmpA, capsule serotype K1/K2, iroB, and irp2) were screened, and the virulence of hvKp vs. classical Klebsiella pneumoniae (cKp) was investigated using Caenorhabditis elegans nematode model. The iutA (aerobactin transporter) gene was used as a primary biomarker of hvKp. An average of 12% (9/74) of cases were defined as hvKp. Moreover, hvKp was found to be significantly more virulent in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans relative to cKp. The virulence-associated genes (rmpA, iroB, hmv phenotype, and capsule K1/K2) were significantly (p< 0.05) associated with hvKp. Findings from this study confirm the presence of hvKp in one large Tertiary hospital in South Africa. However, the low prevalence and mild to moderate clinical presentation suggest a marginal threat to public health. Further studies in different settings are required to establish the true potential impact of hvKp in developing countries.

Keywords: hypervirulent klebsiella pneumoniae, virulence, caenorhabditis elegans, aerobactin (iutA)

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Authors: Ma. Cecilia D. Licuan

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The pandemic situation continues to affect the lives of many people, including children with disabilities and their families, globally, especially in developing countries like the Philippines. The operations of health programs, industries, and economic sectors, as well as academic training institutions, are still challenged in terms of operations and delivery of services. The academic community of the Physical Therapy program is not spared by this circumstance. The restriction posted by the quarantine policies nearly terminated the onsite delivery of training programs for the senior internship level, which challenged the academic institutions to implement flexible learning programs to ensure the continuity of the instructional and learning processes with full consideration of safety and compliance to health protocols. This study aimed to develop a benchmark model that can be used by tertiary-level health institutions in the implementation of the Pediatric Senior Clinical Internship Training Program using Telerehabilitation. It is a descriptive-qualitative paper that utilized documentary analysis and focused on explaining the design, development, and implementation processes used by De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute – College of Rehabilitation Sciences (DLSMHSI-CRS) Physical Therapy Department in its Pediatric Cluster Senior Clinical Internship Training Program covering the pandemic years spanning from the academic year 2020- 2021 to present anchored on needs analysis based on documentary reviews. Results of the study yielded the determination of the Pediatric Telerehabilitation Model; declaration of developed training program outcomes and thrusts and content; explanation of the process integral to the training program’s pedagogy in implementation; and the evaluation procedures conducted for the program. Since the study did not involve human participants, ethical considerations on the use of documents for review were done upon the endorsement of the management of the DLSMHSI-CRS to conduct the study. This paper presents the big picture of how a tertiary-level health sciences institution in the Philippines embraced the senior clinical internship challenges through the operations of its telerehabilitation program. It specifically presents the design, development and implementation processes used by De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute – College of Rehabilitation Sciences Physical Therapy Department in its Pediatric Cluster Senior Clinical Internship Training Program, which can serve as a benchmark model for other institutions as they continue to serve their stakeholders amidst the pandemic.

Keywords: pediatric physical therapy, telerehabilitation, clinical internship, pandemic

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Authors: Tirtha Raj Dhakal, Brian Davidson, Bob Farquharson

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Institutional design is an important aspect in efficient water resource management. In Nepal, the water supply in both farmers’- and agency-managed irrigation systems has become sub-standard because of the weak institutional framework. This study characterizes both forms of the schemes and links existing institution and governance of the schemes with its performance with reference to cost recovery, maintenance of the schemes and water distribution throughout the schemes. For this, two types of surveys were conducted. A management survey of ten farmers’-managed and five agency-managed schemes of Chitwan valley and its periphery was done. Also, a farm survey comprising 25 farmers from each of head, middle and tail regions of both schemes; Narayani Lift Irrigation Project (agency-managed) and Khageri Irrigation System (farmers’-managed) of Chitwan Valley as a case study was conducted. The results showed that cost recovery of agency-managed schemes in 2015 was less than two percent whereas service fee collection rate in farmers’-managed schemes was nearly 2/3rd that triggered poor maintenance of the schemes and unequal distribution of water throughout the schemes. Also, the institution on practice is unable to create any incentives for farmers for economical use of water as well as willingness to pay for its use. This, thus, compels the need of refined institutional framework which has been suggested in this paper aiming to improve the cost recovery and better water distribution throughout the irrigation schemes.

Keywords: cost recovery, governance, institution, schemes' performance

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Authors: Linda Weinberg, Miriam Symon

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While few institutions of higher education in Israel offer international programs taught entirely in English, many Israeli students today can study at least one content course taught in English during their degree program. In particular, with the growth of international partnerships and opportunities for student mobility, English medium instruction is a growing phenomenon. There are however no official guidelines in Israel for how to develop and implement content courses in English and no training to help lecturers prepare for teaching their materials in a foreign language. Furthermore, the implications for the students and the nature of the courses themselves have not been sufficiently considered. In addition, the institution must have lecturers who are able to teach these courses effectively in English. An international project funded by the European Union addresses these issues and a set of guidelines which provide guidance for lecturers in adapting their courses for delivery in English have been developed. A train-the-trainer approach is adopted in order to cascade knowledge and experience in English medium instruction from experts to language teachers and on to content teachers thus maximizing the scope of professional development. To accompany training, a model English medium course has been created which serves the dual purpose of highlighting alternatives to the frontal lecture while integrating language learning objectives with content goals. This course can also be used as a standalone content course. The development of the guidelines and of the course utilized backwards, forwards and central design in an iterative process. The goals for combined language and content outcomes were identified first after which a suitable framework for achieving these goals was constructed. The assessment procedures evolved through collaboration between content and language specialists and subsequently were put into action during a piloting phase. Feedback from the piloting teachers and from the students highlight the need for clear channels of communication to encourage frank and honest discussion of expectations versus reality. While much of what goes on in the English medium classroom requires no better teaching skills than are required in any classroom, the understanding of students' abilities in achieving reasonable learning outcomes in a foreign language must be rationalized and accommodated within the course design. Concomitantly, preparatory language classes for students must be able to adapt to prepare students for specific language and cognitive skills and activities that courses conducted in English require. This paper presents findings from the implementation of a purpose-designed English medium instruction course arrived at through an iterative backwards, forwards and central design process utilizing feedback from students and lecturers alike leading to suggested guidelines for English medium instruction in higher education.

Keywords: English medium instruction, higher education, iterative design process, train-the-trainer

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Authors: Salwa Aftab, Sehrish Riaz

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The objective of this study was to check the impact of grade sensitivity on learning motivation and academic performance of students and to remove the degree of difference that exists among students regarding the cause of their learning motivation and also to gain knowledge about this matter since it has not been adequately researched. Data collection was primarily done through the academic sector of Pakistan and was depended upon the responses given by students solely. A sample size of 208 university students was selected. Both paper and online surveys were used to collect data from respondents. The results of the study revealed that grade sensitivity has a positive relationship with the learning motivation of students and their academic performance. These findings were carried out through systematic correlation and regression analysis.

Keywords: academic performance, correlation, grade sensitivity, learning motivation, regression

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Authors: Oloyede Akinniyi Ojo

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This study investigated the relationship between truancy and academic performance of Colleges of Education students in southwestern, Nigeria. It also examined the relationship between College Physical environment and truancy behavior among students. Furthermore, it examined the relationship between male and female students involvement in truancy behavior. Purposive sampling was used to select four colleges of education in south-western Nigeria and 120 students per college were selected from year 3 while stratified sampling was used to select schools and courses. A total of 480 students participated in the study. Three research instruments were used for this study namely: Lecturers Attendance Record, Students Statement of Result and ‘College Environment Questionnaires’ (CEQ). Four research questions guided the study. Data was analyzed using descriptive, Chi-square and T-Test. CEQ was validated by a team of experts in the field of educational evaluation. Test reliability was established at an r=0-74. The study concluded that truancy exist in colleges of education and that there was a significant relationship between truancy and academic performance of male and female truants, the study also revealed that physical environment has so much effect on the truancy behavior of the students, hence the study recommended that effort should be made to provide attractive college environment for effective learning.

Keywords: academic performance, colleges of education, students, truancy

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Authors: Sakapas Saengchai, Vilasinee Jintalikhitdee, Mathinee Khongsatid, Nattapol Pourprasert

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This paper studied the preparing education enter the ASEAN Community by the year 2015 the Ministry of Education has policy on ASEAN Charter, including the dissemination of information to create a good attitude about ASEAN, development of students' skills appropriately, development of educational standards to prepare for the liberalization of education in the region and Youth Development as a vital resource in advancing the ASEAN community. Preparing for the liberalization of education Commission on Higher Education (CHE) has prepared Thailand strategic to become ASEAN and support the free trade in higher education service; increasing graduate capability to reach international standards; strengthening higher educational institutions; and enhancing roles of educational institutions in the ASEAN community is main factor in set up long-term education frame 15 years, volume no. 2. As well as promoting Thailand as a center for education in the neighbor countries. As well as development data centers of higher education institutions in the region make the most of the short term plan is to supplement the curriculum in the ASEAN community. Moreover, provides a teaching of English and other languages used in the region, creating partnerships with the ASEAN countries to exchange academics staff and students, research, training, development of joint programs, and system tools in higher education.

Keywords: ASEAN community, education, institution, dissemination of information

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Authors: Steve Haberlin

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United States college students are experiencing record-high stress and anxiety rates, and due to technological advances, there are more distractions in the classroom. With these challenges comes the need to explore additional, non-traditional pedagogical strategies that can help students de-stress, become centered, and feel more deeply connected to content. In addition, embedding contemplative practices, such as mindfulness meditation, in the higher education classroom could assist faculty in presenting a more holistic education that encourages students to develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence, compassion, interconnectedness, and other “non-academic” qualities. Brief meditation may help students de-stress, focus, and connect. A facilitation guide could also help faculty implement classroom meditation practices; however, additional research is needed to determine how to best train faculty, what meditation techniques work best with students, and how to handle resistance. In this paper, a two-phase study is presented that involves a mindfulness meditation intervention with 180 undergraduate students at a private college in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through qualitative surveys and journaling and analyzed for themes. Findings included a majority of students reporting improved calm, reduced stress, and increased focus and ability to transition to classroom instruction.

Keywords: college students, higher education, mindfulness meditation, stress

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Authors: Bellarmine Ezumah, Michael Mawa

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Glocalization is often defined as the practice of conducting business according to both local and global considerations – this epitomizes the curriculum co-development collaboration between a journalism and mass communications professor from a university in the United States and the Uganda Martyrs University in Uganda where a brand new journalism and mass communications program was recently co-developed. This paper presents the experiences and research result of this initiative which was funded through the Institute of International Education (IIE) under the umbrella of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP). Vital international and national concerns were addressed. On a global level, scholars have questioned and criticized the general Western-module ingrained in journalism and mass communication curriculum and proposed a decolonization of journalism curricula. Another major criticism is the concept of western-based educators transplanting their curriculum verbatim to other regions of the world without paying greater attention to the local needs. To address these two global concerns, an extensive assessment of local needs was conducted prior to the conceptualization of the new program. The assessment of needs adopted a participatory action model and captured the knowledge and narratives of both internal and external stakeholders. This involved review of pertinent documents including the nation’s constitution, governmental briefs, and promulgations, interviews with governmental officials, media and journalism educators, media practitioners, students, and benchmarking the curriculum of other tertiary institutions in the nation. Information gathered through this process served as blueprint and frame of reference for all design decisions. In the area of local needs, four key factors were addressed. First, the realization that most media personnel in Uganda are both academically and professionally unqualified. Second, the practitioners with academic training were found lacking in experience. Third, the current curricula offered at several tertiary institutions are not comprehensive and lack local relevance. The project addressed these problems thus: first, the program was designed to cater to both traditional and non-traditional students offering opportunities for unqualified media practitioners to get their formal training through evening and weekender programs. Secondly, the challenge of inexperienced graduates was mitigated by designing the program to adopt the experiential learning approach which many refer to as the ‘Teaching Hospital Model’. This entails integrating practice to theory - similar to the way medical students engage in hands-on practice under the supervision of a mentor. The university drew a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with reputable media houses for students and faculty to use their studios for hands-on experience and for seasoned media practitioners to guest-teach some courses. With the convergence functions of media industry today, graduates should be trained to have adequate knowledge of other disciplines; therefore, the curriculum integrated cognate courses that would render graduates versatile. Ultimately, this research serves as a template for African colleges and universities to follow in their quest to glocalize their curricula. While the general concept of journalism may remain western, journalism curriculum developers in Africa through extensive assessment of needs, and focusing on those needs and other societal particularities, can adjust the western module to fit their local needs.

Keywords: curriculum co-development, glocalization of journalism education, international journalism, needs assessment

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Authors: John Adeboye Oyeboade, Pius Olatunji Olaojo, Kuburay Folashade Yusuf, John Oluwaseye Adebayo

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Web-based Information Resources (WBIR) are increasingly becoming essential tools for students to accomplish academic tasks. Preliminary observation revealed that many polytechnic libraries in Southwestern Nigeria do not subscribe or renew subscriptions to WBIR academic databases, and students use free-based electronic resources. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate socioeconomic status and use of WBIR by public polytechnic students in Southwestern Nigeria. Six public polytechnics out of the 16 offerings of Higher National Diploma (HND) programs were selected by stratified random sampling to reflect federal and state polytechnics. A proportionate size sampling technique was used to select 1,463 HND students. The instruments used were Socioeconomic status (SeS) (α=0.81) and WBIR used for Academic Tasks (α=0.98) scales. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s product-moment correlation at a 0.05 level of significance. Students’ SeS ( =79.10) was moderate. Online reference sources ( =3.97), Web 2.0 ( =3.50), and social media ( =3.00) were regularly used WBIR. WBIR use ( =53.34) was moderate. The students used WBIR for project writing ( =3.46) and class assignments ( =3.42). The Students’ SeS (r=0.59) had significant relationships with WBIR use. Socioeconomic status directly influenced the use of WBIR for academic tasks. Management of polytechnics should provide WBIR subscriptions for students’ use in the polytechnic e-libraries.

Keywords: public polytechnic students, polytechnic libraries, socioeconomic status, Web-based information resources

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Authors: Raneem O. Salem, Najwa Al-Mously, Nihal Mohamed Nabil, Abdulmohsen H. Al-Zalabani, Abeer F. Al-Dhawi, Nasser Al-Hamdan

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Objective: There are various demographic and educational factors that affect the academic performance of undergraduate medical students. The objective of this study is to identify these factors and correlate them to the GPA of the students. Methods: A cross-sectional study design utilizing grade point averages (GPAs) of two cohorts of students in both levels of the pre-clinical phase. In addition, self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate the effect of these factors on students with poor and good cumulative GPA. Results: Among the various factors studied, gender, marital status, and the transportation used to reach the faculty significantly affected academic performance of students. Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater significantly differed than those with a GPA of less than 3.0 being higher in female students, in married students, and type of transportation used to reach the college. Factors including age, educational factors, and type of transportation used have shown to create a significant difference in GPA between male and females. Conclusion: Factors such as age, gender, marital status, learning resources, study time, and the transportation used have been shown to significantly affect medical student GPA as a whole batch as well as when they are tested for gender.

Keywords: academic performance, educational factors, learning resources, study time, gender, socio-demographic factors

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Authors: Kavita Goel, Donald Winchester

Abstract:

In a world of information overload and work complexities, academics often struggle to create an online instructional environment enabling efficient and effective student learning. Research has established that students’ learning styles are different, some learn faster when taught using audio and visual methods. Attributes like prior knowledge and mental effort affect their learning. ‘Cognitive load theory’, opines learners have limited processing capacity. Cognitive load depends on the learner’s prior knowledge, the complexity of content and tasks, and instructional environment. Hence, the proper allocation of cognitive resources is critical for students’ learning. Consequently, a lecturer needs to understand the limits and strengths of the human learning processes, various learning styles of students, and accommodate these requirements while designing online assessments. As acknowledged in the cognitive load theory literature, visual and auditory explanations of worked examples potentially lead to a reduction of cognitive load (effort) and increased facilitation of learning when compared to conventional sequential text problem solving. This will help learner to utilize both subcomponents of their working memory. Instructional design changes were introduced at the case site for the delivery of the postgraduate business subjects. To make effective use of auditory and visual modalities, video recorded lectures, and key concept webinars were delivered to students. Videos were prepared to free up student limited working memory from irrelevant mental effort as all elements in a visual screening can be viewed simultaneously, processed quickly, and facilitates greater psychological processing efficiency. Most case study students in the postgraduate programs are adults, working full-time at higher management levels, and studying part-time. Their learning style and needs are different from other tertiary students. The purpose of the audio and visual interventions was to lower the students cognitive load and provide an online environment supportive to their efficient learning. These changes were expected to impact the student’s learning experience, their academic performance and retention favourably. This paper posits that these changes to instruction design facilitates students to integrate new knowledge into their long-term memory. A mixed methods case study methodology was used in this investigation. Primary data were collected from interviews and survey(s) of students and academics. Secondary data were collected from the organisation’s databases and reports. Some evidence was found that the academic performance of students does improve when new instructional design changes are introduced although not statistically significant. However, the overall grade distribution of student’s academic performance has changed and skewed higher which shows deeper understanding of the content. It was identified from feedback received from students that recorded webinars served as better learning aids than material with text alone, especially with more complex content. The recorded webinars on the subject content and assessments provides flexibility to students to access this material any time from repositories, many times, and this enhances students learning style. Visual and audio information enters student’s working memory more effectively. Also as each assessment included the application of the concepts, conceptual knowledge interacted with the pre-existing schema in the long-term memory and lowered student’s cognitive load.

Keywords: cognitive load theory, learning style, instructional environment, working memory

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Authors: Ratanavadee Takerngsukvatana

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The purposes of this research were to study reading behavior of undergraduate students at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. A stratified random sample of 380 participants was collected. A Likert five-scale questionnaire was developed to collect data and to obtain students’ opinions regarding their reading behavior. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents read mainly for academic purpose. They preferred to read magazines. The majority of respondents read an average of 3-7 pages a day. The places to read were home and library. Buying with their own money and borrowing from the library were two main sources of books. The suggested activity to promote is planning the curriculum to suit students’ reading behavior.

Keywords: reading, reading behavior, undergraduate students, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Shilpagauri Prasad Ganpule

Abstract:

The teaching of drama is considered as the most significant and noteworthy area in an ESL classroom. Diverse innovative techniques can be used to make the teaching of drama worthwhile and interesting. The paper presents the different innovative techniques that can be used while teaching Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House [2007]. The innovative techniques facilitate students’ understanding and comprehension of the text. The use of the innovative techniques makes them explore the dramatic text and uncover a multihued arena of meanings hidden in it. They arouse the students’ interest and assist them overcome the difficulties created by the second language. The diverse innovative techniques appeal to the imagination of the students and increase their participation in the classroom. They help the students in the appreciation of the dramatic text and make the teaching learning situation a fruitful experience for both the teacher and students. The students successfully overcome the problem of L2 comprehension and grasp the theme, story line and plot-structure of the play effectively. The innovative techniques encourage a strong sense of participation on the part of the students and persuade them to learn through active participation. In brief, the innovative techniques promote the students to perform various tasks and expedite their learning process. Thus the present paper makes an attempt to present varied innovative techniques that can be used while teaching drama. It strives to demonstrate how the use of innovative techniques improve and enhance the students’ understanding and appreciation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House [2007].

Keywords: ESL classroom, innovative techniques, students’ participation, teaching of drama

Procedia PDF Downloads 624

Authors: Nandu C. Nair, Kamal Bijlani

Abstract:

This paper proposes a concept-based assessment to track the performance of the students. The idea behind this approach is to map the exam questions with the concepts learned in the course. So at the end of the course, each student will know how well he learned each concept. This system will give a self assessment for the students as well as instructor. By analyzing the score of all students, instructor can decide some concepts need to be teaching again or not. The system’s efficiency is proved using three courses from M-tech program in E-Learning technologies and results show that the concept-wise assessment improved the score in final exam of majority students on various courses.

Keywords: assessment, concept, examination, question, score

Procedia PDF Downloads 467

Authors: Razzaghifard P., Arya F., Chen S. Chien-I, Abdi B., Razzaghifard V., Arya A. H., Nazary A., Hosseinpour H., Ghabelnezam K.

Abstract:

E-learning, also known as online learning, has indicated increased growth in recent years. One of the critical factors in the successful application of e-learning in higher education is students’ perceptions towards it. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of engineering students about e-learning in the UK. For the purpose of the present study, 145 second-year engineering students were randomly selected from the total population of 1280 participants. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire containing 16 items. The data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of participants have negative perceptions of e-learning. Most of the students had trouble interacting effectively during online classes. Furthermore, the majority of participants had negative experiences with the learning platform they used during e-learning. Suggestions were made on what could be done to improve the students’ perceptions of e-learning.

Keywords: e-learning, higher, education, engineering education, online learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 119