bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experiences of belonging: A comparative case study between China-domiciled and UK-domiciled students
Authors: Smith Susan , Watson Sarah
Published: July 2024

Different domiciled groups experience belonging differently within university contexts, with China-domiciled students studying in UK Business Schools often finding it more difficult to integrate into university culture than their European counterparts, partially contributing to the sector awarding gap between these groups studying Business and Management subjects. With recognition that the pandemic induced move to teaching online exacerbated challenges to belonging for all students, 17 Chinese and 16 UK finalist undergraduates were interviewed about their experiences of belonging before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and once face-to-face teaching had resumed. The research contributes to an increasingly nuanced understanding of the university habitus and its relationship to belonging as both contextual and temporal, revealing commonalities and differences in establishing a sense of belonging in heterogeneous student cohorts. The research extends the four domains of belonging; academic, social, surroundings and personal space to include the digital space, a previously unexplored dimension of student belonging that gained greater prevalence with the move to teaching online. The research uncovers the exclusionary effects of social media platform adoption and contextualises this inequality through ideas of digital habitus. Findings highlight the importance of the transition to Higher Education and the ongoing work required to foster a secure sense of belonging for all students, but particularly those who enter into university with a cultural background that is very different to the culture of the university.
Reflections on belonging and a law student pledge
Authors: Murray Karina , Tubridy Kate , Littrich John , Mundy Trish
Published: July 2024

In 2017, the School of Law at the University of Wollongong commenced an experimental initiative through the introduction of a Law Student Pledge. It was designed as a symbolic statement to students that from the day they begin their law studies they become a member of the legal professional community. In this way, it invited First Year Students to commit to core values, attitudes and practices seen as important to developing a positive professional identity. This article reports on learnings following the implementation of the Pledge over 3 iterations and reflects upon its impact on shaping students’ sense of belonging. As an empirical project, this research incorporates both the student voice as well as the academic perspective, via the methodology of reflective practice. The research will consider whether the Pledge provided an opportunity for students to engage in a community of shared identity or became a perceived ‘imposed’ requirement to belong.
Issues of belonging, pedagogy and learning in doctoral study at a distance
Authors: Mandalawi Sazan , Henderson Robyn , Huijser Henk , Kek Megan
Published: July 2024

In this paper we present a case study of doctoral study at a distance, and we explore issues of belonging, pedagogy and learning as part of that process. As a team of one doctoral researcher and three supervisors, we critically reflect on the place of belonging in the context of doctoral study by distance. In this case study, the importance of belonging was heightened due to a high-risk and highly volatile context in which the doctoral researcher lived, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We further explore the elements that developed a sense of belonging, aided by a range of digital technologies. Our findings suggest that the place of belonging in learning needs further examination in higher education contexts, especially when universities are keen to increase distance enrolments.
Building belonging in online WIL environments – lessons (re)learnt in the pandemic age: a collaborative enquiry
Authors: Mueller Beate , Andrew Martin , Connor Melissa
Published: July 2024

The theme of belonging in e-pedagogy gained currency in the 2000s when educational providers hastened to join the online teaching and learning boom and studies of building and maintaining a sense of community (SOC) proved central to this endeavour. Motivated by the pandemic-era necessity to convene teaching and learning online as part of a response to super-complexity as a defining feature of tertiary education in the 21st century, work-integrated learning (WIL) practitioners returned to this scholarship to consider, under pressure, modes of building SOC and belonging in online spaces. Underpinned by a broadly constructivist worldview and informed by the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, our COVID-age study considers what pedagogical strategies are viewed as affording learners this sense of belonging - or not. Using a collaborative enquiry to pool our perceptions and experiences from three WIL contexts, we ask how work-integrated learning (WIL) practitioners build belonging in online spaces and identify strategies learners perceive as valuable. Drawing on the authors’ small-scale studies of educator and learner experiences of online WIL (eWIL), our collaborative enquiry uses qualitative descriptive analysis to identify key themes in the voices of students. Advancing the scholarship, our study identifies three threads to the fabric of belonging: humanising online WIL; the importance of mentor presence; and fostering professional belonging. The study suggests that strategies impacting these three areas are at the heart of building belonging in online spaces, broadly envisaged as imagined professional communities of practice. Techniques viewed as successful are advanced as possibilities for enhancing pedagogy in online WIL communities.
We were all learning and doing our best: Investigating how Enabling educators promoted student belonging in a time of significant complexity and unpredictability
Authors: James Trixie , Bond Kerry , Kumar Brijesh , Tomlins Melissa , Toth Gabriela
Published: July 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted education provision worldwide. In Australia, the government took a proactive stance to reduce the impact of the pandemic, temporarily banning higher education students from attending university campuses. With a lockdown in place, educational institutions required a rapid shift in approaches to teaching and learning by both educators and students. Educators throughout Australia were asked to work from home and quickly transition their face-to-face (synchronous) classes into bichronous, fully online offerings. This paper reports on the experiences of 25 educators in an enabling course in a regional Australian university who were required to make this shift. These educators not only had to navigate this complex time personally, but they also had to work in their professional role with the additional responsibility of ensuring a particularly vulnerable cohort of non-traditional students felt a sense of belonging within this new educational space. Results showed that while the educators encountered a number of challenges in their transition, they also found ways to promote student belonging in the new teaching and learning environment. With a Pedagogy of Care being central to the educators’ practice, they developed strategies to create a sense of emotional engagement among students to help them feel genuinely cared for. Additionally, they were able to construct a ‘we mentality’ discourse to establish a sense of shared understanding with students around the situation they were in. This study shows that enabling educators are capable of responding creatively to a complex and unpredictable environment, finding ways to replicate their proven pedagogies of care in unfamiliar contexts and thus foster a crucial sense of belonging among enabling students. The implications of a discussion about ‘care’ and ‘belonging’ within the field of enabling education are critical at the intra-pandemic and post-pandemic times, when traditional teaching methodologies are in flux.
Examining students’ collaborative epistemic actions in a MOOC learning environment
Authors: Singh Ammar
Published: July 2024

Human intellectual development is grounded in dialogue and collaboration. This study examined how students' collaborative epistemic actions and activities evolve and expand in interactive online learning meetings and how digital technology affords coordinated epistemic actions, enhancing students' agency in learning in an institutional massive open online course (MOOC). As data, recordings of students' online video meetings were analyzed using interaction analysis and interpreted using the cultural-historical theory of learning. The findings revealed that students engaged in four epistemic actions and several epistemic activities: (a) co-orientation (epistemic positioning and planning rules of engagement), (b) presentation (sharing ideas explicitly), (c) assessment (questioning, clarifying, and feedback giving), and (d) reflection (concluding and outlining further actions). These collaborative epistemic actions evolved when the students presented, explained, claimed, and vetted their epistemic claims related to creating the examination assignment in the online collaborative learning meetings. Digital technology can effectively mediate students' coordinated epistemic activities. Online interactive sessions will establish the relational zone of belonging, and foster students' emotional, cognitive, or intellectual becoming, enhancing their agency in online learning.
Empathy in action: Developing a sense of belonging with the pedagogy of ‘real talk’
Authors: Keyser Wendy , Unus Wafa , Harvey Jonathan , Goodlett Sean , Day Danette , Tracy Kisha , Tyner Scott , Budd Eric
Published: July 2024

A collaborative group of interdisciplinary faculty-researchers at a regional comprehensive university in the United States implemented two pedagogical practices, real talks and alternative lessons (together called the pedagogy of real talk), and investigated students’ sense of belonging in classrooms using these practices. Real talks are planned interactions wherein faculty share human stories from their lives on a universal theme and invite students to share their own stories on that theme. Alternative lessons are faculty-designed learning experiences that build upon understandings of students’ worldviews and experiences. Survey data from over 30 student classes across two semesters in 2021 were compared with university-wide climate survey data to posit that sense of belonging in these classes was higher than that in the university as a whole. Case study data selected from a repository of faculty descriptions written between 2020 and 2021 further fleshed out examples of specific real talks and alternative lessons. The authors found these practices are particularly significant in their impact on typically underrepresented students, who often contend with feelings of exclusion in their pursuit of higher education.
A sense of belonging in Australian higher education: the significance of self-efficacy and the student-educator relationship
Authors: Larsen Ana , James Trixie
Published: July 2024

With recent massification policies and reforms, Australia’s widening participation agenda has been instrumental in increasing participation of marginalised students in higher education. This paper considers how a sense of belonging can be instilled in marginalised students, improving retention and success and ultimately widening participation in higher education. It is recognised that one of the most important contributors to student engagement is the educator. Unfortunately, in academia today, educators are increasingly time-poor for several reasons including the neo-liberal nature of higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic and an emergency move to remote teaching. This article applies Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy to highlight how, when nurtured effectively, the student-educator relationship can contribute to improving students’ self-efficacy and their sense of belonging. Self-efficacy has been shown to affect aspirations, behavioural choices, maintenance of effort and affective reactions (Bandura, 1997), all of which can contribute to, or inhibit, students’ academic success. Self-efficacy can be increased via four sources: mastery experiences, verbal persuasion, vicarious experiences, and emotional and physiological states (Bandura, 1997). Central to this discussion is the value of vicarious experiences as a conduit between the educator and student in developing a student’s self-efficacy. This article provides practical advice for educators so they may focus their efforts and build strong student relationships in the most effective manner.
The role of pedagogy and the curriculum in university students' sense of belonging
Authors: Cohen Eliel , Viola Julianne
Published: July 2024

The special issue aims to explore the possibility of pedagogy and curriculum design for promoting ‘belonging’. Relevant to this aim is the question which we address in this proposed paper: To what extent, and in what ways, do students understand their learning experiences (i.e. of pedagogic and curricular practices) to be relevant factors in contributing to their sense of belonging? This paper draws from a study into students’ sense of belonging that has so far run for two years, in Winter-Spring of 2019-20 and 2020-21. Building on existing research that has systematically sought to understand the dimensions and factors shaping students’ sense of belonging in higher education, our mixed-methods study combines three methods of collecting data from students: a Sense of Belonging Scale, an open-ended questionnaire item, and in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data captures the views and experiences of ~500 students at one research-intensive university in the UK. Our findings have implications for teachers and institutional policy by revealing how particular pedagogic and curricular practices can both enable and undermine students’ sense of belonging, as well as the limits of pedagogy/curricula in influencing belonging. We also explore how these factors interact with students’ biographical characteristics, with some students facing particular challenges with regards to ‘belonging’. We conclude that pedagogy and the curriculum have their main influence not directly, but rather by contributing to a broader ‘academic sphere’, within which students do or do not develop a sense of belonging.
From belonging to being: Engaging with ‘contexts of difference’
Authors: Graham Cameron
Published: July 2024

This paper seeks to unveil the situated struggle that students experience in comprehending the often tacit rules that govern academic practices in order to engage fully with their academic studies and develop a sense of belonging. I present a critique of the prevailing conception of student belonging, which I suggest does not effectively consider the diversity of contemporary university cohorts due to favouring social groups traditionally dominating the student body. Non-traditional students, especially those from contexts distant from Western higher education, can often struggle with developing confidence and conversance with critical thinking – a central practice of academia – which negatively impacts their experiences of belonging. My research with master’s students in three Scottish universities shows that dialogic active pedagogy can be a means for establishing belonging while also supporting some students' development and demonstration of critical being across multiple domains and to transformatory levels. Such empowering participatory pedagogy, captured in the finding of ‘contexts of difference', can potentially provide the means for students to adapt and establish belonging within the culture, context and subject of their learning while also enabling the development of criticality, to the highest levels, amongst some students.
Allies as guides in the borderlands: The development of an online Ally Program to foster belonging for LGBTIQ+ students and staff at a regional university
Authors: Mann Gemma
Published: July 2024

As minorities, people of diverse sexual orientations and genders often feel that they do not belong within higher education. To combat this, connection is important, but that can be difficult in the uncertain, predominantly online world of universities. The Ally Program is a university-wide, extra-curricular online training program aimed at creating connection for LGBTIQ+ students and staff. This paper presents a critically reflective autoethnographic study of my 12 years of experience in developing the Ally Program through the writing and analysis of four creative narratives. These narratives centre on the epiphanies I had as a trainer that led to significant refinements of the training. Using borderlands discourse as my theoretical framework, I demonstrate how my own sense of belonging developed and how that enabled me to create a safe space for participants in the program to feel a sense of belonging and share this with the wider university community. I further explain the teaching model I have created, drawing on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development as a pedagogical framework to promote meaningful, engaged learning in the borderlands. I show how these frameworks intertwine to enable participants to embrace uncertainty, allowing for learning to evolve over time and space, and ultimately fostering a sense of belonging for all LGBTIQ+ students and staff. This model of teaching for belonging is useful across many different learning environments to embrace diversity and encourage belonging.
Peer review in academic publishing: Challenges in achieving the gold standard
Authors: Gonzalez Prue , Wilson Gail , Purvis Alison
Published: July 2024

This editorial describes some of the current and emerging challenges in peer review for the academic publishing system. Peer review is a fundamental element of academic research and publishing, with a firm reliance on the global scholarly community to perform gatekeeping and filtering processes in pursuing high-quality and high-value scholarly publications: the “gold standard” in academic publishing. We begin with examples of several contemporary challenges the peer review system poses, including impartiality and bias, academic reward structures, fake peer reviews, and reviewer fatigue. To further understand these challenges, we then provide a brief history of the evolution of the peer review system, focusing on the traditional forms of pre-publication peer review so familiar to the communication of scholarly work. Against this backdrop, we consider the benefits of peer review that span the continuum of the academic community – from authors to reviewers to journals and research communities. But many traditional forms of peer review are being challenged by new and innovative processes, systems and platforms. Finally, we look at how others have re-envisioned the peer review process during this phase of rapid evolution in journal publishing, with a strong call for quality and integrity in writing peer reviews. We conclude by suggesting ways forward for embedding sustainability, equity, and respect within the peer review process as an active force for advancing scholarship.
The ecology of peer review: Person-centred, strength-based, and self-determination perspectives
Authors: Allen Kelly-Ann , Reardon Jonathan , Walsh Lucas , Waters Lea , Wehmeyer Michael
Published: July 2024

The peer-review system, commonly considered critical for research integrity and rigour, has been criticised for being slow, exclusionary and exploitive. Concerns include the high profits of academic publishers as well as the growing number of insecurely employed academic staff who report high levels of stress and burnout. The consequence has been a decline in willing reviewers, publication delays, and potential damage to the career trajectories of early career researchers and PhD candidates at institutions that rely on metrics of academic impact as measures of academic performance. Rather than overhaul the system and undermine current benefits, this critical review adopts an ecological lens to posit an approach that is humanistic, transparent, and above all things, kind. This approach frames an applied perspective on how to improve peer-review moving forward.
Making the transition from on-campus to online learning: Pre-service teachers' experiences of online learning as a result of COVID-19
Authors: Muir Tracey , Livy Sharyn , Murphy Carol , Trimble Allison
Published: July 2024

Online learning is rapidly becoming the preferred study option for many higher education students, due to its accessibility, convenience and flexible teaching arrangements. For other students who have access to a university campus, their preferred option is to attend on-campus classes, where advantages include synchronous interaction with peers, lecturers and access to practical experiences, materials, and resources. The impact of COVID-19 resulted in interruptions to social, economic, cultural, and educational life, with social distancing measures and health and well-being concerns leading to widespread restrictions in numerous different contexts. Universities throughout Australia restricted access to campuses and shifted their teaching of classes to purely online delivery. This shift posed many challenges for students and staff as ways of teaching and learning were reconceptualised. This paper examines the experiences of two different cohorts of pre-service teachers from two different universities who were studying full-time on-campus at the time when the restrictions were applied and reports the impact the shift to online had on cognitive, social and teaching presence within a model of community of inquiry. The findings indicate that despite the challenges involved with the rapid transition to online delivery, participants were able to identify the presence of core elements of the model, and how these factors impacted upon their engagement with the course.
Student satisfaction with online academic skills session during the pandemic
Authors: Mansfield Sheryl , King Samantha , Rice Paul
Published: July 2024

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the University of Northampton changed its usual mode of delivery from face-to-face to online. This may have involved less adjustment than in other institutions as, pre-pandemic, the university already made use of active blended learning using its virtual learning environment. To capture the student voice concerning satisfaction with this change of mode, professional service teams surveyed students attending embedded academic skills and information literacy workshops. The number of students completing the survey was 385 and overall, students were satisfied with online learning. Nearly two-thirds of respondents listed specific advantages and challenges of online learning. The most frequently mentioned advantage was convenience: being at home; the greater ease of combining study with work or home life; and reduced traveling saving both time and money. Other advantages were the improved quality and functionality of the online sessions, and positive motivational/affective factors. The most common challenge was issues with technology. Other challenges were negative motivational/affective factors, with students reporting lack of concentration and that the sessions were impersonal. A significant challenge was a perceived lack of communication between both students and lecturers, and students and their peers. Age was found to be a salient factor with students over the age of 30 markedly more positive about online learning than their younger peers. Concerns for practitioners in moving to online learning would be around ensuring students have access to the appropriate technology and finding ways to improve communication online. However, with appropriate planning, future provision may benefit from the advantages that online learning affords.
Evaluation of emergency remote teaching during covid-19 lockdown in a Spanish university
Authors: Calderon Kevin , Blanco Carmen , Gutierrez Iñigo , Serrano Nicolas , Santos Javier , Sanchez Gorka
Published: July 2024

The lockdown caused by the pandemic resulted in the closure of schools and universities. Professors had to adapt their subjects to be taught remotely to continue their classes, and students had to cope with various personal situations such as isolation, and returning to their countries. Ensuring that the quality of teaching was maintained would usually have required months of planning and design. In contrast, these changes had to be made in a few days, which is why this situation could be considered as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). The objective of this article is to evaluate the teaching of our faculty during this period using the CIPP model (Context, Input, Procedure and Product), which is especially focused on educational projects among others. The university was able to maintain teaching during this period despite the difficulties of the transition. In addition, evaluation surveys show that the satisfaction of professors and students was also maintained. This was possible thanks to the order and clarity transmitted from university authorities and the commitment of the professors, despite their increased workload. This knowledge is important to ensure a better response by universities in future emergencies.
Student perceptions of humour in teaching politics and international relations: a focus group study
Authors: Martin Alexander
Published: July 2024

Politics and International Relations (Pol & IR) lecturers can capitalise on the established relationship between comedy and political analysis by using humour techniques to enhance the student learning experience and to develop students’ critical analysis skills. Using collected data from focus groups with 21 British and International undergraduate students from four UK universities, this small-scale empirical study advances a methodology that enables participants to engage in collective meaning-making without being restricted by a closed-ended question survey. This research highlights student perceptions that humour attempts can make concepts memorable, improve student-lecturer rapport, and increase student engagement and motivation when lecturers consistently adopt a friendly persona and use humour to supplement high-quality lecture content. Mild self-deprecation by lecturers improves the student-lecturer relationship. Lecturer "banter" with students is risky, but might be acceptable if the lecturer’s persona is consistently humorous and sufficient student trust is developed. Participants considered that analogies and pop culture references are beneficial explanatory tools, especially for complex Pol & IR concepts or theories. Memes were considered to be most effective when used as a summarising or concluding point, thus corroborating the "educate before subvert" principle.
Scaffolding genre-based writing in the subjects: Lecturers’ learning processes in a design-based research project
Authors: Kuiper Cindy , Smit Jantien
Published: July 2024

To promote student writing development, integrated approaches such as genre-based writing instruction (GBWI) are advocated in tertiary education. However, most subject lecturers are not used to centralise writing in their subjects as they focus on content teaching. Capitalising on teacher learning within GBWI is therefore necessary. Design-based research can offer a fruitful learning environment for such innovative type of content and language integrated instruction. In a multiple case study (n=2) in Dutch higher professional education, we aimed to explore what subject lecturers can learn in a design-based research project in terms of scaffolding students’ writing. Qualitative data on teacher learning were collected through logs and interviews before, during and after three GBWI interventions. These data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using transcription software. Results showed the subject lecturers reported multifaceted learning outcomes, particularly concerning changed knowledge and beliefs. Some of these were directly related to GBWI (e.g., metalanguage, deconstruction, text features) whereas others were related to scaffolding language in subject learning more generally, and to the lecturers’ teaching roles. Both lecturers also reported learning outcomes in terms of changed practices, but to a lesser extent. This may be related to the challenging character of enacting GBWI in the subjects. On a more general level, this study has yielded valuable insights into what factors are at stake when subject lecturers learn to enact GBWI. Further, it has shown the potential of a design-based research learning environment which we view as part of a causal field instigating subject lecturers’ professional development.
Student experiences of facilitated asynchronous online discussion boards: Lessons learned and implications for teaching practice
Authors: James Allison , Douglas Tracy , Earwaker Louise , Mather Carey
Published: July 2024

As an alliance of academics undertaking blended delivery, we have experienced the challenge of tailoring teaching strategies to different learning styles. Our teaching has evolved, moving from traditional didactic delivery to the utilisation of online technology to accommodate both academic and student expectations. The pressure to teach within constrained resources and issues presented from the COVID-19 pandemic has provided opportunities to optimise educational technology. We identified a gap in genuinely engaged online discussions, observing that pedagogic value was often obscure. This cross-sectional study investigated the opinions and experiences of undergraduate students in four health science online units where asynchronous discussion boards were linked to summative assessment. By assessing discussion posts, students may be motivated to participate further, with student engagement influenced through educator involvement, the discussion purpose and group interactivity. Whilst some students were critical of the value of asynchronous discussion boards, others positively viewed discussions as a platform for peer engagement and information sharing. Discussion boards can provide active learning experiences particularly for online students; however, effective educator involvement and online supportive teaching strategies and practices are crucial to pedagogical success. Based on the key findings from this study we propose implications for practice in a higher education context.
An enduring college classroom annoyance: The wandering student phenomenon
Authors: Gaski John
Published: July 2024

Anyone teaching at the U.S. university level for two decades or more may recall when a dramatic change in student classroom behavior first became manifest. A tendency to regard attendance at a given class session as flexible, volitional, variable, and without concern for disruptive side-effects—with respect to each class segment—arose rather suddenly within the last 20 years, and continues. Specifically, for students to casually leave the room during class has become commonplace. Diagnosis of possible cause(s) and motivation for such arbitrary or rude wandering is attempted here, along with tentative prescriptive response. Investigative methods are primarily analytic and exploratory, including hundreds of interviews, augmented by formal survey. The basic finding is that faculty respondents do find the referenced behavior a serious problem. This work-product is apparently the first research to target the designated behavioral change.
Building and sustaining undergraduate English internship programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Smith Allegra , Canzonetta Jordan , Fedewa Kate , Birdsall Kate
Published: July 2024

Experiential learning opportunities (Kolb, 1984; Simons et al., 2012), such as internships, provide valuable real-world learning experiences for undergraduate students. Internships are especially important for students majoring or specialising in writing, who can gain valuable workplace experience and build portfolio pieces from working for a company or organisation. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting social distancing measures forced internship experiences to shift to remote and hybrid opportunities. In this article, four faculty from three universities in the United States detail the ways that they pivoted their undergraduate writing internship programs to adapt to public health requirements and changing student needs between 2020–2022. We provide information on creating remote and hybrid internship opportunities and courses, building internship program infrastructure, integrating technology and project management tools into student internship experiences, securing funding for otherwise unpaid internships, and supporting students during their internship programmes. The article concludes with future directions in writing student internships and other pre-professional experiences, as well as additional resources for internship coordinators.
Exploring Faculty Mindsets in Equity-Oriented Assessment
Authors: Elkhoury Eliana , Ali Ameera , Sutherland-Harris Robin
Published: July 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant move to remote learning in 2020-2021 paved the way for deeper conversations about assessment practices in higher education. Over the last two years, there have been an increasing number of discussions about alternative assessments and about equity in assessment. This study examined the impact of a course (entitled “Equity in Assessment”) delivered by the authors on the participants’ understandings of equity and assessment. We used semi-structured interviews to collect data from the participants. Data collected from six interviews were systematically and thematically analysed in line with Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six stages of conducting thematic analyses. The data analysis resulted in three main emergent themes: flexibility, academic rigour, and wellness. The implications of the findings of this project are important for educational developers, institutional leadership, and researchers.
Socio-emotional support in Higher Education: Evidence from First Year Learning Communities
Authors: Van der Zijden Jet , Wubbels Theo
Published: July 2024

First-year learning communities (FLCs) are known to improve student integration during the first year at university. The FLC classroom social climate and its potential role in contributing to this positive effect of FLCs have not been studied. The current study wants to elucidate students’ perceptions of the social climate within the Utrecht Undergraduate Pharmacy FLCs by exploring students’ perceptions and perceived value of peer and student-teacher interactions within these FLCs, relate these perceptions to the dimensions of the classroom social climate and clarify which factors help or hinder a positive perceived value. Fourteen first-year students from the cohort 2020-2021 (n=208) participated in semi-structured individual interviews in the first, second, and fourth period of the first year. At year’s end, first year students completed an online questionnaire on the quality of peer and student-teacher interactions. Our results show that FLC interactions are positively valued when students experience academic support from peers and teacher, socio-emotional support from peers and teacher, and active participation in class activities which corresponds to the classroom social climate dimensions student cohesiveness, student involvement and personalisation. Students’ perceived value of interactions was influenced by a variety of factors of which online classes hampered all valued classroom social climate dimensions. Socio-emotional support from peers and teacher was not only one of the most valued classroom climate elements, it also indirectly promoted academic support and active participation. This highlights the importance of socio-emotional support in the classroom, which should receive an increased amount of attention in higher education.
ملتان کی تاریخی، تہذیبی و ثقافتی عکاسی: سرائیکی ناول "بیڑی وچ دریا''
Authors: Dr Rubina Shehnaz  , Dr Ayaz Ahmad Rind  , Mahar Mushtaq Ahmad
Published: July 2024

Saraiki Novel''بیڑی وچ دریا''(River in a Boat) which has come out to highlight the history, Civilization and Culture of Multan. This Novel is authored by Dr. Aslam Ansari, it is a journey of both body and Soul. The title of the novel also indicates that the tree is a metaphor for the heart and the river is the emotions, feelings and thoughts, contained in it. Characterization, Scenes, Dialogues, Emotions and details in the novel are of high quality. The author's grip on the plot seems very strong. His artistic and intellectual qualities are Saraiki. Dr. Aslam Ansari's novel "River in a Boat" has made a conscious effort to preserve the centuries-long history of Multan. So, he has to risk his life. Sanwal has to Travel to Delhi and Ajmer to fulfill his promise to rescue Heer Dikhan Vasu from the mire of sin. Sher Khan, a representative of the class, forcibly picks her up and marries her. But the same Sher Khan is killed by his nephews; references to the play are an important part of the novel. Sanwal is deeply saddened when sarang is killed in a battle with the British. There is a time that even after finding love the grief of the death of his friend Sarang due to the British occupation, the pain of injustice forces Sanwal to throws himself in to the river. The plot of the "River in the Boat" is fast and beautifully decorated. The language of the novel is convoluted and confused. The Style is charming and reminiscent of the general tone of ancient Times. The Scenes of urban life are good, while the rural scenes have a sense of thirst. In the first part of the novel, an attempt has been made two draw a map of 150 years old Multan.Sarang's innocence is proved due to Sanwal testimony during the moul Raj brutal treatment of the residents of Multan in 1888 has been made clear. Later, the account of British captured Multan.
Employee Engagement and Financial Performance among SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria
Authors: Akinwale Akeem A. , Ogunyomi Paul O.
Published: August 2024

This article examines the influence of employee engagement on financial performance of SMEs in Lagos State, Nigeria, using a survey research design with a random selection of 450 respondents from a population of 4,535 small and medium enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were collected through a systematic review of the literature and a structured questionnaire. The data obtained from the questionnaire was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed a significant positive relationship between employee engagement and financial performance of SMEs (r = 0.35; p e” 0.01). Employee engagement positively correlated with the financial performance criteria such as profitability, financial strength, operating efficiency, performance stability, level of indebtedness, and ability of the enterprises to raise capital. The findings suggest that employee engagement should be strengthened to enhance the financial performance of SMEs. SMEs can enhance employee engagement through the use of improved employee- management relations, regular training, teamwork, and increase in capacity utilisation rates.
Assessment of Democracy and Moral Development
Authors: Adefarasin Victor O.
Published: August 2024

This paper argues that democracy has an intrinsic value that has given it a wide acceptance all over the world. Democracy has been conceived as a fundamental creed in order to effectively oppose and overthrow the established order of the Monarchical and Aristocratic rule. But these values are no longer in place due to moral laxity in the society today. The paper discusses meaning and definitions of democracy, fundamental principles of democracy, meaning and definitions of development, theories of development, dimensions of development and features of development. This paper posits further that in today’s society, morality is a necessary factor in the actualization of intrinsic values of democracy. The good of democracy may not be fully actualized where the citizens are not morally developed. It is on this basis, that the citizens should adhere strictly to democratic rules, ethos and principles and these can only be achieved when citizens are morally developed.
Internship, Employability and Organisational Commitment in the Hospitality Industry in Bauchi Metropolis, Bauchi State, Nigeria
Authors: Adelaiye Mary B. O.
Published: August 2024

This study investigates the relationship between internship and employability in the hospitality industry in Bauchi State. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey in its investigation of the variables. Primary source of data was generated through self- administered questionnaire. The population of the study consist of 81 respondents made up of management staff, human resource managers, internship supervisors as well as interns themselves drawn from two purposefully selected hotels (Larema Hotels & Suites and Command Guest House) in Bauchi metropolis. The sample size of 72 was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table. After data cleaning, only data of 67 respondents were finally used for data analysis. Data generated were analysed and presented using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The hypotheses were tested using the Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Statistics. The findings revealed a positive but weak relationship between internship and employability in the hospitality industry in Bauchi metropolis, Bauchi State. The study recommended that organization should truly see internship as a recruitment process and commit resources to it which enable them to initiate requests for interns in desired areas of interests. This will lead to greater commitment from hosting organizations. The task of looking for internship placement should not be entirely left to the students.
ROLE OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC STABILITY AND PHYSIO-CHEMICAL ATTRIBUTES IN THE SELECTION OF IMPROVED COTTON GENOTYPES IN ACTUAL FIELD CONDITIONS
Authors: JAVED I , ASHRAF S , PARVEEN N , JAMIL M , GHAFFAR W , SARDAR A , QAMAR MJ , FAROOQ MR , SALEEM S , HABIB F , AKRAM M , JAVEED Z , KHALID M , LATIF MI , RAUF A , HUSSAIN F , ALI B , HASSAN W , MANZOOR N , YOUSAF MI , HUSSAIN S
Published: July 2024

The current experimental study was conducted at Cotton Research Station, Bahawalpur during the cotton growing in 2022. The study was designed to evaluate the elite cotton genotypes based on their photosynthetic sustainability and other physiochemical attributes which could help in framing a selection criterion for the development of improved carton genotypes. The results revealed that highly significant variations were present among the elite cotton genotypes for studied morpho-physiological, photosynthetic and biochemical traits i.e., CLCV incidence percentage, number of bolls, sympodia per plant, boll weight, net photosynthetic rate, total chlorophyll contents, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, sugar contents, total phenolic contents, ascorbic acid and seed cotton yield, which could be used in devising selection criteria for this election of parental material to be used in the hybridization program. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient analysis unveiled the strong correlation of seed cotton yield with transpiration rate, sugar contents, stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, ginning out turn and sympodia per plant whereas a strong negative correlation was found for total phenolic contents. These results were also verified through the mean bar graphs and biplot graphs which show that these traits have the highest influence on seed cotton yield under the optimal condition.
SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF DUAL ANTIPLATELET THERAPY IN PAKISTANI PATIENTS UNDERGOING PCI: A MULTICENTER STUDY
Authors: HUSSAIN I , KHAN S , KHAN FR , ASLAM K
Published: July 2024

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is widely used to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), particularly in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), which includes aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor such as clopidogrel, ticagrelor, or prasugrel, is the standard post-PCI treatment to prevent thrombotic complications. Despite the benefits of DAPT, its safety and efficacy in the Pakistani population, which has a high prevalence of CAD, are not well-documented. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of DAPT in Pakistani patients undergoing PCI by measuring the incidence of stent thrombosis, bleeding complications, and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) over a 12-month follow-up period. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted from January 2022 to December 2023 across three centers: Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, Mardan Medical Complex, and Hayatabad Medical Complex. The study included 300 adult patients scheduled for PCI. Participants received DAPT, consisting of aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor, before PCI and continued for at least 12 months post-procedure. Primary outcomes were the incidence of stent thrombosis, bleeding complications, and MACE. Secondary outcomes included improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), exercise tolerance, and angina symptoms. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The mean age of participants was 60 ± 10 years, with 65% male. The overall incidence of stent thrombosis was 3%, bleeding complications occurred 8%, and MACE was observed in 15% of patients. LVEF improved from 42% ± 8% pre-procedure to 50% ± 7% post-procedure (p < 0.001). The six-minute walk test distance increased from 320 ± 55 meters pre-procedure to 370 ± 50 meters post-procedure (p < 0.01). The frequency of angina episodes decreased from 4.2 ± 1.5 to 1.7 ± 0.9 per week (p < 0.001). Conclusion: DAPT significantly improves clinical outcomes in Pakistani patients undergoing PCI, enhancing LVEF and exercise tolerance and reducing angina episodes. However, the risk of bleeding complications necessitates careful patient management. These findings support the continued use of DAPT in this population, emphasizing the need for individualized treatment plans and continuous monitoring.
4-6 Yaş Kur’an Kursu Öğrencilerinin Harfler Köyü Çizgi Filmiyle Elif-Ba Harfleri Öğretimine Yönelik Bir Eylem Araştırması
Authors: Çelik Rahime , Yıldız Ayşe
Published: July 2024

Günümüzde teknolojik gelişmelerin her alanda kullanımının yaygınlaşmasıyla eğitimde görsel materyallerin önemi oldukça belirgin hale gelmiştir. Bu sebeple gelişen öğretim teknolojilerinin din eğitimi alanında da kullanılması önem arz etmektedir. Öğretim teknolojileri arasında etkili olan araçlardan biri de çizgi filmdir. Bu çalışmanın problem cümlesini “Harfler Köyü” çizgi filmi ile Elif-Ba harfleri öğretimine ilişkin öğrenci görüşleri nelerdir?” sorusu oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma nitel desenle planlanıp yürütülmüş olup, verilerin analizinde içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu, Elazığ Polatlar Camisine bağlı 4-6 yaş Kur’an Kursuna devam eden 12 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışma grubu amaçlı örneklem türlerinden ölçüt örneklem ile seçilmiştir. Çalışma grubu seçilirken kursun fiziksel yapısı, öğrenci sayısı ve kursun ulaşılabilir olması ölçüt olarak belirlenmiştir. Öğrencilerin çizgi filmde yer alan kavramları öğrenme düzeylerini test etmek amacıyla bir görüşme formu hazırlanmıştır. Yapılan görüşmeler sonucu elde edilen veriler, NVİVO 8 programı ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmada, Harfler Köyü çizgi filminin 4-6 yaş Kur’an Kurslarında kullanılabilecek bir materyal olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.