Search results for: academic curriculum

Authors: Godaye Gobena Gomiole

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The purpose of this study is to determine how principals at Tarcha Town Primary Schools in Ethiopia perceive their instructional leadership responsibilities in curriculum execution. The research was guided by a phenomenological study design. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used to include twelve principals. The study's conclusions showed that principals fall short of their duties in overseeing instruction. Setting clear objectives for the school and coordinating the curriculum receive less attention from principals. Additionally, they focus less on keeping track of students' progress. It is, therefore, advised that principals take instructional leadership and management training.

Keywords: curriculum execution, instructional leadership, practice, primary school

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Authors: Raymon Maac, Michael Arthus Muega, Joyce Ann Calingasan, Elva Maureen Gorospe

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Critical pedagogy is known for its advocacy of humanistic and liberating education. Its far-reaching approach helps students to understand and analyze their own situations and the realities happening in their society. However, this pedagogy together with its promising features is not well-known in the Philippines. This paper determines the place of critical pedagogy in the new values education curriculum and analyzes its features in the K-12 Values Education curriculum and textbook. The study examines the position of critical pedagogy in the Philippine K-12 Values Education curriculum by closely studying and comparing their features; and scrutinizes the Grade 8 Values Education textbook specifically modules 4, 8, 10 and 13 which comprises 25% of the total 16 modules. The said modules are concerned with the role of the family in the preservation of social justice, which is one of the objectives of critical pedagogy. The findings in this research were based on the pieces of evidence gathered from the curriculum and textbook itself. Based on the evaluation done, the study found out that the ideas of critical pedagogy were the same with that of the objectives of K-12 Values Education Curriculum. Due to this, values education teachers can utilize critical pedagogy in their subject. In addition, the K-12 Values Education curriculum exhibits some of the features of critical pedagogy such as authentic student empowerment and critical thinking. Lastly, some features of critical pedagogy are also evident in some of the general parts and recommended activities in the K-12 Values Education textbook while other activities need to be fully developed by both teacher and students to reflect the genuine critical pedagogy.

Keywords: authentic student empowerment, critical pedagogy, critical thinking, liberating education

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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: B. Manyonga

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Across the world, higher education (HE) is expanding rapidly and issues of curriculum change have become more contentious and political than ever before. Although research informing curricula review in social sciences and particularly sociology has been conducted, much analysis has been devoted to teaching and transmitting disciplinary knowledge, student identity and epistemology, with little focus on curriculum conceptualisation and capability formation. This paper builds on and contributes to accumulating knowledge in the field of sociology curriculum design in the South African HE context. Drawing from the principles of Capabilities Approach (CA) of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, the paper argues that sociology curriculum conceptualisation may be enriched by capabilities identification for students. Thus, the sociological canon ought to be the vehicle through which student capabilities could be developed. The CA throws a fresh light on how curriculum ought to be designed to offer students real opportunities, expanding choices for individuals to be what they want to be and do. The paper uses a case of two South African universities to present analysis of qualitative data collected from undergraduate sociology lecturers. The major findings of the paper indicate that there is no clear philosophy guiding the conceptualisation of curriculum. The conceptualisation is based on lecturer expertise, carrying out research, response to topical and societal issues. Sociology lecturers highlighted that they do not consult students on what they want to do and to be as a result of studying for a sociology degree. Although lecturers recognise some human development capabilities such as critical thinking, multiple perspectives and problem solving as important for sociology students, there is little evidence to illustrate how these are being cultivated in students. Taken together, the results suggest that sociological canon is being regarded as the starting point for curriculum planning and construction.

Keywords: capabilities approach, graduate attributes, higher education, sociology curriculum

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Authors: Wen Xu

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The expansion of Confucius institutes and Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) education is often considered as cultural invasion and part of much bigger, if not ambitious, Chinese central government agenda among Western public opinion. The CFL knowledge and teaching practice inherent in textbooks are also harshly critiqued as failing to align with Western educational principles. This paper takes up these concerns and attempts to articulate that Confucius’s idea of ‘education without discrimination’ appears to have become synonymous with social justice touted in contemporary Australian education and policy discourses. To do so, it capitalises on Bernstein's conceptualization of classification and pedagogic rights to articulate CFL curriculum's potential of drawing in and drawing out curriculum boundaries to achieve educational justice. In this way, the potential useful knowledge of CFL constitutes a worthwhile tool to engage in a peripheral Western country’s education issues, as well as to include disenfranchised students in the multicultural Australian society. It opens spaces for critically theorising CFL curricular justice in Australian educational contexts, and makes an original contribution to scholarly argumentation that CFL curriculum has the potential of including socially and economically disenfranchised students in schooling.

Keywords: curriculum justice, Chinese as a Foreign Language curriculum, Bernstein, equity

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Authors: Anjum Afrooze

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The curriculum at General Sciences department in Prince Sultan University includes ‘Physical science’ for Computer Science, Information Technology and Business courses. Students are apathetic towards Physical Science and question, as to, ‘How this course is related to their majors?’ English is not a native language for the students and also for many instructors. More than sixty percent of the students come from institutions where English is not the medium of instruction, which makes student learning and academic achievement challenging. After observing the less enthusiastic student cohort for two consecutive semesters, the instructor was keen to find effective strategies to enhance learning and further encourage deep learning by engaging students in different tasks to empower them with necessary skills and motivate them. This study is participatory action research, in which instructor designs effective tasks to engage students in their learning. The study is conducted through two semesters with a total of 200 students. The effectiveness of this approach is studied using questionnaire at the end of each semester and teacher observation. Major outcomes of this study were overall improvement in students attitude towards science learning, enhancement of multiple skills like note taking, problem solving, language proficiency and also fortifying confidence. This process transformed instructor into engaging and reflecting practitioner. Also, these strategies were implemented by other instructors teaching the course and proved effective in opening a path to changes in related areas of the course curriculum. However, refinement in the strategies could be done based on student evaluation and instructors observation.

Keywords: group activity, language proficiency, reasoning skills, science learning

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Authors: Ashleigh Hillier, Jody Goldstein, Lauren Tornatore, Emily Byrne

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As individuals with disabilities attend higher education in greater numbers, universities are seeking ways to support the retention and success of these students, beyond the academically based accommodations. Although mentoring programs for this population are being implemented more frequently, there is a lack of empirically validated outcomes which could promote program replication. The research objective of this exploratory study was to examine outcomes for students with disabilities participating in a peer-to-peer mentoring program. Mentees (students with disabilities) met with their mentor (trained upperclassman) once a week for an hour for one semester (14-weeks). Mentors followed a curriculum structured by monthly and weekly goals to guide the sessions. Curriculum topics included socializing on campus, peer pressure, time management, communicating with peers and professors, classroom etiquette, study skills, and seeking help and campus resources. Data was collected over a period of seven semesters resulting in seven separate cohorts (n=46). The impact of the program was measured using quantitative self-report measures as well as qualitative content analysis of focus groups. Academic outcomes (retention, credits earned, and GPA) were compared between those in the mentoring program and a matched group of students registered with Disability Services who did not receive mentoring. In addition, a one-year follow up was conducted to examine the longer term impact of participation. Findings indicated that mentoring had the most impact in knowing how things work at the university, knowing how and where to find opportunities to meet people on campus, and knowing how to access supports. Mentors also provided a supportive relationship to the mentees and helped with social skills. There were no significant differences in academic outcomes between those who were mentored and those in the comparison group. Most mentees reported continuing to benefit from the program one year on, providing support for the retention of knowledge gained and maintenance of positive outcomes over time. In conclusion, while a range of positive outcomes were evidenced, the model was limited in its impact more broadly, particularly with regards to academic success and impacting more complex challenges.

Keywords: mentor, outcomes, students with disabilities, university

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Authors: Eddiebal P. Layco

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The purpose of this study is to describe students' virtual classroom relationships in terms of their relationship to their peers and teachers; academic resilience; and performance. Further, the researcher wants to examine if these virtual classroom relations predict students' resilience and performance in their academics. The data were collected from 720 junior and senior high school or grade 7 to 12 students in selected state universities and colleges (SUCs) in Region III offering online or virtual classes during S.Y. 2020-2021. Results revealed that virtual classroom relationships such as teacher-student and peer relationships predict academic resilience and performance. This implies that students' academic relations with their teachers and peers have something to do with their ability to bounce back and beat the odds amidst challenges they faced in the online or virtual learning environment. These virtual relationships significantly influence also their academic performance. Adequate teacher support and positive peer relations may lead to enhanced academic resilience, which may also promote a meaningful and fulfilled life academically. Result suggests that teachers should develop their students' academic resiliency and maintain good relationships in the classroom since these results in academic success.

Keywords: virtual classroom relationships, teacher-pupil relationship, peer-relationship, academic resilience, academic performance

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Authors: Melissa Houston

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Political pressures, financial restraints, and recent legislation has led to administrators’ at academic institutions to rely upon online education as a viable means for delivering education to students anytime and anywhere. Administrators at academic institutions have utilized online education as a way to ensure that academic continuity takes place while campuses are physically closed or are recovering from damages during and after disaster. There is a gap in the research as to how to best train faculty for academic continuity during and after disasters occur. The lack of available research regarding how faculty members at academic institutions prepared themselves prior to a disaster served as a major rationale for this study. The problem that was addressed in this phenomenological study was to identify the training needed by faculty to provide academic continuity during and after times of disaster. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to provide further knowledge and understanding of the training needed by faculty to provide academic continuity after a disaster. Data collection from this study will help human resource professionals as well as administrators of academic institutions to better prepare faculty to provide academic continuity in the future. Participants were recruited on LinkedIn and were qualified as having been faculty who taught traditional courses during or after a disaster. Faculty members were asked a series of open-ended questions to gain understanding of their experiences of how they acquired training for themselves for academic continuity during and after a disaster. The findings from this study showed that faculty members identified assistance needed including professional development in the form of training and support, communication, and technological resources in order to provide academic continuity. The first conclusion from this study was that academic institutions need to support their students, staff and faculty with disaster training and the resources needed to provide academic continuity during and after disasters. The second conclusion from this study is that while disasters and other academic institution incidents are occurring more frequently, limited funding and the push for online education has created limited resources for academic institutions. The need to create partnerships and consortiums with other academic institutions and communities is crucial for the success and sustainability of academic institutions. Through these partnerships and consortiums academic institutions can share resources, knowledge, and training.

Keywords: training, faculty, disaster, academic continuity

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Authors: Hannah Wamaitha Irungu

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Educational reforms have been made from time to time since independence in Kenya. Kenya previously had a curriculum system coined as 8.4.4, where learners go through 8 years of primary, 4 years of secondary, and 4 years of tertiary or college education. The 8.4.4 system was very theoretical, examinational oriented, lacked career guidance, lacked I.C.T. infrastructure and had the pressure for exam grading results to move to the next level. Kenya is now implementing a Competency Based Curriculum (C.B.C) system of education. C.B.C, on the other hand, is learner based. It focuses mainly on the ability of the learners, their strengths/likings, not what they are systematically trained to pass exams only for progression. The academic pressure will be eased, which gives a chance to all learners to pursue their fields of strength and not only those endowed academically/theoretically. With C.B.C., each learner’s progress is nurtured and monitored over a period of 14 years that are divided into four major levels (2-6-3-3): 1. Pre-primary education [pp1 and pp2]-2 years; 2. Lower-primary [grades 1 - 6]-6 years; 3. Junior-secondary [grades 7 - 9]-3 years; 4. Senior secondary [grades 10 - 12]-3 years. In this paper, we look at these aspects with regards to C.B.C.: What necessitates it, its key strengths/benefits and application in a developing country; Implementation, what has worked and what is not working with the approach taken by Kenya education stakeholders during this process; Stakeholders, who should be involved/own the process; Conclusion, lessons learned, current status and recommendations going forward.

Keywords: benefits, challenges, competency, curricula, Kenya, successes

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Authors: Jelena Zivkovic, Haidar Mohammed, Elaf Saeed

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Student affairs services play a critical role in contributing to the wholistic development and success of students as they progress through their academic careers. The study encompasses a multifaceted examination of student affairs service offerings amongst 10 private and 3 public Baghdad universities. Student affairs administrators (13) were surveyed along with over 300 students to determine university-sponsored services and student satisfaction and awareness. The student affairs service research findings varied significantly between private and public institutions and those that followed a national and international curriculum. Universities need to persist to adapt to changing demographics and technological advancements to enhance students' personal and academic successes, and student affairs services are key to preparing graduates to thrive in a diverse global world.

Keywords: student affairs, student success, higher education, Iraq, universities, Baghdad

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Authors: Angela Obose Oriazowanlan

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Despite the introduction of Entrepreneurship education into the Nigerian University curriculum to prepare graduates for self-employment roles in order to abate employment challenges, their unemployment rate still soars high. The study, therefore, examined the relevance of the curriculum contents and its delivery mechanism to equip graduates with appropriate entrepreneurial skills prior to graduation. Four research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The survey research design was adopted for the study. An infinite population of graduates of a period of five years with 200 sample representatives using the simple random sampling technique was adopted. A 45-item structured questionnaire was used for data gathering. The gathered data thereof was anlysed using the descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, while the formulated hypotheses were tested with Z-score at 0.5 level of significance. The findings revealed, among others, that graduates acquisition of appropriate entrepreneurial skills for self-employment generation is low due to curriculum deficiencies, insufficient time allotment, and the delivery mechanism. It was recommended, among others, that the curriculum should be reviewed to improve its relevancy and that sufficient time should be allotted to enable adequate teaching and learning process.

Keywords: evaluation of entrepreneurship education (EE) curriculum, self-employment generation, graduates of tertiary institutions, Edo state, Nigeria

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Authors: Pairah Bte Satariman

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This study is carried out to evaluate Malay Language Curriculum for secondary schools in Singapore. The evaluation focuses on the implementation of Spoken Interaction Skill which was recommended by the Curriculum Review Committee in 2010. The study found that the students face difficulty in communicating interactively with others in their daily activities. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the results (products) on the implementation of this skill since 2011. The research used a qualitative method which includes oral test and interview with students and teachers teaching the subject. Preliminary findings show that generally, the students are not able to communicate interactively and fluently in the oral test unless they are given enough prompts. The teachers feel that the implementation of the skill is timely as students are more keen to use English in their daily communication even in Malay Language Classes. Teachers also mentioned the challenges in the implementation such as insufficient curriculum time and teaching materials.

Keywords: evaluation, Malay language curriculum, spoken interaction skills, communication, implementation

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Authors: Eun-Young Yoon

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The purpose of this research is to examine how unification with North Korea is being taught in South Korea classrooms. To analysis of the curriculum and textbooks about unification in South Korean classroom, this study uses nationalism and multiculturalism as major theoretical frameworks. Major findings show that curriculum and textbooks should describe unification with North Korea more detailed and complicated. And the balancing between ‘global citizenship’ and ‘national identity’ is needed.

Keywords: global citizenship, multiculturalism, nationalism, unification education

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Authors: Reem Alsager, James Milton

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Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) believed to be essential for students pursuing higher education and helps differentiate English for Academic Purposes (EAP) from General English as a course of study, and it is thought to be important for comprehending English academic texts. It has been described that AWL is an infrequent, discrete set of vocabulary items unreachable from general language. On the other hand, it has been known for a period of time that general vocabulary knowledge is a good predictor of academic achievement. This study, however, is an attempt to measure and compare the contribution of academic knowledge and general vocabulary knowledge to learners’ GPA and examine what knowledge is a better predictor of academic achievement and investigate whether AWL as a specialised list of infrequent words relates to the frequency effect. The participants were comprised of 44 international postgraduate students in Swansea University, all from the School of Management, following the taught MSc (Master of Science). The study employed the Academic Vocabulary Size Test (AVST) and the XK_Lex vocabulary size test. The findings indicate that AWL is a list based on word frequency rather than a discrete and unique word list and that the AWL performs the same function as general vocabulary, with tests of each found to measure largely the same quality of knowledge. The findings also suggest that the contribution that AWL knowledge provides for academic success is not sufficient and that general vocabulary knowledge is better in predicting academic achievement. Furthermore, the contribution that academic knowledge added above the contribution of general vocabulary knowledge when combined is really small and noteworthy. This study’s results are in line with the argument and suggest that it is the development of general vocabulary size is an essential quality for academic success and acquiring the words of the AWL will form part of this process. The AWL by itself does not provide sufficient coverage, and is probably not specialised enough, for knowledge of this list to influence this general process. It can be concluded that AWL as an academic word list epitomizes only a fraction of words that are actually needed for academic success in English and that knowledge of academic vocabulary combined with general vocabulary knowledge above the most frequent 3000 words is what matters most to ultimate academic success.

Keywords: academic achievement, academic vocabulary, general vocabulary, vocabulary size

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Authors: Shih-Tsung Chen, Yenchin Hsiao

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Evergreen Lily is a newly-built school after Morakot Typhoon took place. The school is located on Majia farm, which is surrounded by mountains. The fund in the construction of the school is solely sponsored by Chang Yung-Fa Foundation. There are 483 permanent houses near the school belonging to three tribes, Dashe, Majia, and Haocha. Due to the most ancient heritages of Paiwan and Rukai in these three tribes, the school is full of cultural atmosphere. From modern and traditional perspectives, Evergreen Lily strives to establish and develop a long-lasting educational model to meet the expectation of the tribes, parents, and the public. This study is a case study of how to develop indigenous education in newly established schools after the Morakot Hurricane disaster to meet the concept of environmental education. The systematic curriculum construction of education and cultural integration and the systematic practice of curriculum practice will be discussed, and the concept and practice of tribal education curriculum and sustainable environmental education will be understood. This study found that this school integrates the spirit of natural philosophy, democratic education, ethnic and experimental education, and constructs a knowledge system that includes three levels of spiritual culture, institutional culture, and material culture, as well as six dimensions of life philosophy, natural ecology, organizational system, tribal literature and history, song and dance, and technical and artistic methods. Adhering to the concept of harmonious education and the sustainable common good, the development of school-based tribal academic courses accounts for about one-third of the total number of teaching sessions, and there are different cultural themes in grades one to six, and there are clear teaching modules to effectively enhance students' potential inspiration. The complete curriculum implementation model can be described as a model for the development of indigenous schools to sustainable environmental education.

Keywords: environmental education, indigenous education, sustainable development, school-based curriculum

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Authors: Narissa Lewis, Susan Geertshuis

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The global and national employability agenda is changing the higher education landscape as academic staff are faced with the responsibility of developing employability capabilities and attributes in addition to delivering discipline specific content and skills. They realise that the shift towards teaching sustainable capabilities means a shift in the way they teach. But what that shift should be or how they should bring it about is unclear. As part of a national funded project, representatives from several New Zealand (NZ) higher education institutions and the NZ Association of Graduate Employers partnered to discover, trial and disseminate means of embedding employability in the curriculum. Findings from four focus groups (n=~75) and individual interviews (n=20) with staff from several NZ higher education institutions identified factors that enable or hinder embedded employability development within their respective institutions. Participants believed that higher education institutions have a key role in developing graduates for successful lives and careers however this requires a significant shift in culture within their respective institutions. Participants cited three main barriers: lack of strategic direction, support and guidance; lack of understanding and awareness of employability; and lack of resourcing and staff capability. Without adequate understanding and awareness of employability, participants believed it is difficult to understand what employability is let alone how it can be embedded in the curriculum. This presentation will describe some of the impacts that the employability agenda has on staff as they try to move from traditional to contemporary forms of teaching to develop employability attributes of students. Changes at the institutional level are required to support contemporary forms of teaching, however this is often beyond the sphere of influence at the teaching staff level. The study identified that small changes to teaching practices were necessary and a simple model to facilitate change from traditional to contemporary forms of teaching was developed. The model provides a framework to identify small but impactful teaching practices and exemplar teaching practices were identified. These practices were evaluated for transferability into other contexts to encourage small but impactful changes to embed employability in the curriculum.

Keywords: curriculum design, change management, employability, teaching exemplars

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Authors: Oyesoji Aremu, Taiwo Williams

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This study examined some factors (academic self-efficacy, locus of control, motivation and gender) that could predict academic dishonesty among serially frustrated students in Ogun State, South West, Nigeria. Serial academically frustrated students are students who are unable to attain and meet academic expectations set by themselves or significant others. A sample of 250 undergraduate students selected from two faculties from a University in Ogun State,South West Nigeria took part in the study. Multiple regression analysis was employed to determine the joint and relative contributions of the independent variables to the prediction of the dependent variable. T-test was used to test the hypothesis determining the gender difference between the independent variables (academic self-efficacy, locus of control and motivation) and academic dishonesty of serial academically frustrated male and female students. The results of the study showed all the independent variables jointly contributed to predicting academic dishonesty, while only academic self-efficacy and motivation had relative contributions to the dependent measure. There was no significant difference in the academic self-efficacy and motivation among males and females on academic dishonesty of the serial academically frustrated students but locus of control showed a significant difference between male and female students on academic dishonesty. Implications for counseling of the findings are discussed in the study.

Keywords: academic dishonesty, serially frustrated students, academic self-efficacy, locus of control

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Authors: Nooraisah Katmon, Hartini Jaafar, Hazianti Abdul Halim, Jessnor Elmy Mat Jizat

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Our study empirically examines the effect of student activities on Facebook and religion on academic performance. We extend prior research in this area in a number of ways. First, given the paucity of the research in this area particularly from the Asian context, we provide the evidence from developing country like Malaysia. Second, our sample drawn from Sultan Idris Education University in Malaysia, where graduates from these universities are unique since they are expected to be able to work in both education and industry environment, and presumed to play significant roles in shaping the development of future student’s intellectual at the Malaysian secondary school and Malaysian economy in general. Third, we control for religiosity aspect when examining the association between Facebook and academic performance, something that has been predominantly neglected by the prior studies. Fourth, unlike prior studies that circulating around the Christian sphere in measuring religiosity, we provide evidence from the Islamic perspective where the act of worships and practices are much more comprehensive rather than the Christian counterparts. Fifth, we examine whether Facebook activities and religiosity are complementary or substitutive each other in improving student’s academic performance. Our sample comprise of 60 undergraduates. Our result exhibit that students with high number of friends on facebook and frequent engagement on facebook activities, such as sharing links, send message, posting photo, tagging video as well as spending long hours on facebook generally are associated with lower academic performance. Our results also reported that student’s engagement in religious activities promotes better academic performance. When we examine the potential interaction effect between facebook and religiosity, our result revealed that religiosity is effective in reducing student’s interest on facebook, hence lead to better academic achievement. In other words, religious student will be less interested in joining activities on facebook and make them more perform than their counterparts. Our findings from this study should be able to assist the university management in shaping university policies and curriculum to regulate and manage student’s activities in order to enhance overall student’s quality. Moreover, the findings from this study are also of use to the policy maker such as Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commissions to regulate the policy on the student’s access and activities on facebook.

Keywords: facebook, religiosity, academic performance, effect of student activities

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Authors: Hanane Sarnou, Sabri Koç

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In this paper, the interconnection between curriculum development for basic education and the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the classroom referring to the Licence, Master's and Doctorate (LMD) benefits under such link will be presented and analysed. This study seeks to achieve to what extent LMD, competency-based approach (CBA) and ICTs use are interrelated. Likewise, the data collected from the responses of our teachers and learners who are concerned with LMD impact on their learning and teaching through interviews will be discussed, analysed, and classified. This paper is divided into two sections. The first section is about the curriculum development for basic education and its relation with higher education under the LMD and its link with ICTs in the university while the second section is about the classification of learners’ and teachers’ positive/negative responses concerning their positive or negative attitudes towards the ICT integration. The focus will be on the positive aspects of students’ expectations, opinions and assumptions regarding the integration of ICTs into the classroom under LMD and CBA.

Keywords: LMD system, CBA approach, curriculum development, ICT

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Authors: David O. A. Ogunrinade

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The significance of education to the growth and development of man is imperative. The Nigerian education philosophy and national objectives are geared towards self-realization, social, cultural, and economic, just to mention a few. The acquisition of skills and abilities, both mental and physical, for individual to live and contribute to the development of society should be of major importance to a functional education curriculum. This study specifically set out to examine the momentous potentials of popular music as a veritable tool to be properly incorporated into the curriculum of music education in Nigeria. This will equip the learners to be self-reliant and contribute to the national economy. Interviews with exponents of Nigerian popular music and the stakeholders in the music industry, as well as audio-visual materials were employed to elicit information. Findings reveal that there are lots of potentials and dexterities in popular music that can enable Nigerian music graduates to contribute their own quota to the national development of the nation, as well as being useful to themselves. If the Nigerian society is not to be plagued by a breed of unemployable youths who could not raise the economic productivity of the country, it is deemed pertinent that the music curriculum as one of the vocational education needs to be reviewed to incorporate popular music, as well as to reflect more of the Nigerian cultural heritage.

Keywords: popular music, music curriculum, music in schools, popular music prospect

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Authors: M. Yakubu, M. B. Isah, S. Bako

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This paper presents the findings of a research which sought to investigate the readiness to integrate sustainable construction principles into curriculum design for built environment professional programs in the Nigerian Universities. Developing the knowledge and understanding that construction professionals acquire of sustainable construction practice leads to considerable improvement in the environmental performance of the construction sector. Integrating sustainable environmental issues within the built environment education curricula provide the basis of this research. An integration of sustainable development principles into the universities built environment professional programmes are carried out with a view of finding solutions to the key issues identified. The perspectives of academia have been assessed and findings tested for validity through the analysis of primary quantitative data that has been collected. The secondary data generated has shown that there are significant differences in the approach to curriculum design within the built environment professional programmes, and this reveals that there is no ‘best practice’ that is clearly identifiable. Sequel to the above, this research reveals that engaging all stakeholders would be a useful component of built environment curriculum development, and that the curriculum be negotiated with interested parties. These parties have been identified as academia, government, construction industry and built environment professionals.

Keywords: built environment, curriculum development, sustainable construction, sustainable development

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Authors: Leijun Zhang

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Reading literacy has become a powerful tool for academic success and an essential goal of education. The ability to read is not only fundamental for pupils’ academic success but also a prerequisite for successful participation in today’s vastly expanding multi-literate textual environment. It is also important to recognize that, in many educational settings, students are expected to learn a foreign/second language for successful participation in the increasingly globalized world. Therefore, it is crucial to help learners become skilled foreign-language readers. Research indicates that students’ reading comprehension can be significantly improved through explicit instruction of multiple reading strategies. Despite the wealth of research on how to enhance learners’ reading comprehension achievement by identifying an enormous range of reading strategies and techniques for assisting students in comprehending specific texts, relatively scattered studies have centered on whether these reading comprehension strategies and techniques are used in classrooms, especially in Chinese academic settings. Given the central role of ‘the teacher’ in reading instruction, the study investigates the degree of importance that EFL teachers attach to reading comprehension strategies and their classroom employment of those strategies in secondary schools in China. It also explores the efficiency of reading strategy instruction on pupils’ reading comprehension performance. As a mix-method study, the analysis drew on data from a quantitative survey and interviews with seven teachers. The study revealed that the EFL teachers had positive attitudes toward the use of cognitive strategies despite their insufficient knowledge about and limited attention to the metacognitive strategies and supporting strategies. Regarding the selection of reading strategies for instruction, the mandated curriculum and high-stakes examinations, text features and demands, teaching preparation programs and their own EFL reading experiences were the major criteria in their responses, while few teachers took into account the learner needs in their choice of reading strategies. Although many teachers agreed upon the efficiency of reading strategy instruction in developing students’ reading comprehension competence, three challenges were identified in their implementation of the strategy instruction. The study provides some insights into reading strategy instruction in EFL contexts and proposes implications for curriculum innovation, teacher professional development, and reading instruction research.

Keywords: reading comprehension strategies, EFL reading instruction, language teacher cognition, teacher education

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Authors: Nadeem Hassan, Farooq Ahmad

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The quality of education has a direct impact on individual, family, society, economy in general and the mankind as a whole. Because of that thousands of research papers and articles are written on the quality of education, billions of dollars are spent and continuously being spent on research and enhancing the quality of education. Academic programs accredited agencies define the various criterion of quality of education; academic institutions obtain accreditation from these agencies to ensure degree programs offered at their institution are of international standards. This R&D aims to build a web based analytical tool (OptiBaha) that finds the gaps in AlBaha University education system by taking input from stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff and management. The input/online-data collected by this tool will be analyzed on core areas of education as proposed by accredited agencies, CAC of ABET and NCAAA of KSA, including student background, language, culture, motivation, curriculum, teaching methodology, assessment and evaluation, performance and progress, facilities, availability of teaching materials, faculty qualification, monitoring, policies and procedures, and more. Based on different analytical reports, gaps will be highlighted, and remedial actions will be proposed. If the tool is implemented and made available through a continuous process the quality of education at AlBaha University can be enhanced, it will also help in fulfilling criterion of accreditation agencies. The tool will be generic in nature and ultimately can be used by any academic institution.

Keywords: academic quality, accreditation agencies, higher education, policies and procedures

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Authors: George Clifford Yamson

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As institutions across the world become more focused on sustainability, academic libraries are considering ways to reduce their environmental impact. One strategy is the use of sustainable online services, which can reduce the need for physical materials and transportation. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of sustainable online services in reducing the environmental impact of academic libraries. Using a mixed-methods approach, the survey will be used to solicit information from library staff and users to gather data on their attitudes towards sustainable online services and their usage patterns. A comparative analysis will be conducted on the costs of traditional library services versus sustainable online services. The findings of this study will contribute to the growing body of literature on green academic libraries and provide insights into the potential of sustainable online services to reduce the environmental impact of academic libraries.

Keywords: sustainability, environmental sustainability, academic libraries, green printing, green copying, online services

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Authors: Wai Ha Leung

Abstract:

Mother tongue language (MTL) curriculum is core to school education in most countries/regions' school curriculum. Through mother tongue language learning, students are expected to enhance their understanding of the nation's culture and foster the sense of cultural and ethnic identity. However, MTL education in Hong Kong is complicated by the colonial history. This study examines Hong Kong Chinese language teachers' perceptions of MTL education, and the implication on MTL curriculum development. The questionnaire was administrated to 97 teachers, and interviews were carried out on 17 teachers. Usually, MTL is both the tool with which knowledge and skills are taught and learned and the vehicle for students to learn about the traditions of the countries' literature and culture. In Hong Kong, 95% of the population is of Chinese descent. Traditionally, education in China was a mixture of philosophy, history, politics and literacy. Chinese as an MTL subject in pre-colonial Hong Kong has always been assigned the mission of developing students' cultural identity in addition to the development of linguistic proficiency. During the colonial period, the Chinese Language curriculum shifted to be more language skills based with less emphasis on Chinese culture and moral education. After the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, although a new curriculum was implemented in 2002, teaching and learning in school as well as public examinations seem to be remaining language skills oriented instead of culturally based. This deviation from the trend of both Chinese traditional education and global mother tongue language education makes some Chinese language teachers feel confused. In addition, there is comment that in general Hong Kong students' Chinese language proficiency is becoming weaker and weaker in recent years. Thus, effectiveness of the skills oriented language curriculum has come under question. How a language teacher views the aims and objectives of the language subject he or she is teaching has a direct effect on the curriculum delivery and pedagogies used. It is, therefore, important to investigate what is the language teachers' perception of MTL education, and whether the current school curriculum can meet the teachers' expectation as well as achieve the aims of MTL education. Given this context, this study explored the views of Hong Kong Chinese language teachers on MTL education. The data indicate that teachers showed a strong resentment towards the current curriculum. Results may have implications on mother tongue language curriculum development.

Keywords: Chinese language education, curriculum development, mother tongue language education, teachers' perception

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Authors: Abha Gupta, Seema Maira, Smita Sinha

Abstract:

This paper explores using breathing techniques to boost the academic performance of students and describes how teachers can foster the technique in their classrooms. The innovative study examines the differential impact of therapeutic breathing exercises, called pranayama, on students’ academic performance. The paper introduces approaches to therapeutic breathing exercises as an alternative to improve school performance, as well as the self-regulatory behavior, which is known to correlate with academic performance. The study was conducted in a school-wide pranayama program with positive outcomes. The intervention consisted of two breathing exercises, (1) deep breathing, and (2) alternate nostril breathing. It is a quantitative study spanning over a year with about 100 third graders was conducted using daily breathing exercises to investigate the impact of pranayama on academic performance. Significant cumulative gain-scores were found for students who practiced the approach.

Keywords: academic performance, pranayama, therapeutic breathing, yoga

Procedia PDF Downloads 461

Authors: Kanyakorn Sujarittnetikarn, Surangkana Pipatchokchaiyo

Abstract:

The objective of this research was to study the pro-active public relations of according to the characteristic of Faculty of Management Science, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The sample group for this research report was students from 4 year curriculum and continued / extended curriculum, made a random distribution proportion as follows: a group of 400 students who are working while studying and a group of non – working students. The tools used in this research were questionnaires, asking about the acknowledgement of public relations information of Faculty of Management Science in the academic year 2007. The result found that friends were the most influential in choosing the education institute. The differences of method to receive information of non-working student and working student were the entertainment magazine which was interested mostly by working students and they preferred to search the information on the website after 24:00 O’clock. However, the non-working students preferred 21:00-24:00 O’clock the most.

Keywords: development guidelines systems, faculty of management science, public relation planning, proactive public relations

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Sara Fine-Meltzer

Abstract:

An obvious, but ill-addressed hindrance to reading comprehension in academic English is poor vocabulary. Unfortunately, dealing with the problem is usually delayed until university entrance. It is the contention of this paper that the chore should be confronted much earlier and by using a very old-fashioned method. This presentation is accompanied by vocabulary lists for advanced level university students with explanations concerning the content and justification for the 500-word lists: how they change over time in accordance with evolving styles of academic writing. There are also sample quizzes and methods to ensure that the words are “absorbed” over time. There is a discussion of other vocabulary acquisition methods and conclusions drawn from the drawbacks of such methods. The paper concludes with the rationale for beginning the study of “academic” vocabulary earlier than is generally acceptable.

Keywords: academic vocabulary, old-fashioned methods, quizzes, vocabulary lists

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Charles Deodat Otami

Abstract:

This paper documents an ongoing investigation which seeks to explore the consequences of repeated science curriculum reforms at basic level of education in Ghana. Drawing upon data collected through document analysis, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations linked with a study of teaching practices in Junior High Schools of educational districts that are well served with teachers and yet, produce poor students’ achievements in science in the national Basic Education Certificate Examinations. The results emanating from the investigation highlight that the repeated science curriculum reforms at the basic level of education have led to the displacement of scientific knowledge in junior high schools in Ghana, a very critical level of education where the foundation for further science education to the highest level is laid. Furthermore, the results indicate that the enactment of centralised curriculum reforms in Ghana has produced some unpleasant repercussions. For instance, how the teachers interpret and implement the curriculum is directly related to their own values and practices as well as students feedback. This is contrary to the perception that external impetus received from donor agencies holds the key to strengthening reforms made. Thus, it is argued that without the right of localised management, curriculum reforms themselves are inadequate to ensure the realisation of the desired effects. This paper, therefore, draws the attention of stakeholders to the fact that the enactment of School Science Curriculum reform goes beyond just simple implementation to more complex dynamics which may change the original reform intents.

Keywords: basic education, basic education certificate examinations, curriculum reforms, junior high school, educational districts, teaching practices

Procedia PDF Downloads 235