ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Social Capital of Non-Traditional Students at a German University. Do Traditional and Non-Traditional Students Access Different Social Resources?
Author: Brändle, Tobias
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Social Capital,Nontraditional Students,College Students,Academic Achievement,Comparative Analysis,Educational Background,Multivariate Analysis,Socioeconomic Background,Vocational Education,Age Differences,Gender Differences,Regression (Statistics)

Social capital is of particular value for the acquisition of education. Not only does it prevent scholars from dropping out but it improves the educational achievement. The paper focuses on access to social resources by traditional and non-traditional students at a German university and asks if there are group differences considering this important precondition of academic achievement. We assess students' access to social capital with an abbreviated and adjusted version of van der Gaag and Snijders' (2005) Resource Generator. We compare the access to social capital among traditional and non-traditional students and take a closer look at the effects of social origin on the availability and structure of social capital. Non-traditional students are a group of students which did not attain a general qualification for university entrance, but instead were accepted for university studies by completing an entrance examination. Before commencing tertiary studies, they often completed an apprenticeship and worked for some years. Because of their different educational careers and living conditions, we expect that non-traditional and traditional students access social capital in different parts of their social networks. Our results indicate that the different educational backgrounds of students impact their access to social capital. However multivariate analyses illustrate that most differences in social capital access can be put down to diverging group compositions. Core determinants of the social capital access are socio-economic background and vocational education: Students from higher socio-economic backgrounds and those who completed vocational education have access to more social capital than their fellow students.
Achieving Faculty Buy-In: Motivation Performance in Learning Outcome Assessment
Author: Sujitparapitaya, Sutee
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Motivation,Attribution Theory,Program Evaluation,Teacher Participation,Student Evaluation,Academic Achievement,Achievement Rating,Task Analysis,Goal Orientation,Teacher Surveys,Teacher Competencies,Barriers,Value Judgment,Relevance (Education),Self Efficacy,Skill Development,Change Strategies,College Faculty,Factor Analysis

Despite the great value of student learning outcome assessment (SLOA), faculty have not fully embraced the assessment movement, and many remain locked in debates on its merits. To gain faculty buy-in and explain why many faculty were motivated to engage in outcome assessment, the modified CANE (Commitment And Necessary Effort) model was used to examine key indices of motivated behavior. Both task assessment and personal values were found to be the primary motivational components of faculty commitment. When the commitment difficulties occur, these indices must accurately be identified and modified during the front end analysis to create and reinforce faculty values.
An Educational Community to Promote High School Students' Retention and Academic Success
Author: Dubé, France
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: High School Students,Academic Persistence,School Holding Power,Success,Academic Achievement,Disadvantaged,School Community Programs,School Community Relationship,Family School Relationship,Partnerships in Education,Outreach Programs,Semi Structured Interviews,Parent Attitudes,Parent Participation,Expectation,Interaction,Elementary Schools,Questionnaires,Teacher Attitudes,Interpersonal Communication,Family Programs,Attitude Change,Foreign Countries,Group Dynamics,Case Studies

The purpose of this research was to mobilize the educational community of a disadvantaged Montreal high school so as to implement practices more adapted to its environmental reality by developing an approach to support the building of collaborative bridges connecting school, family, and community. During the discussion, the perceptions of high school parents (n = 109), primary school parents (n = 381) and neighborhood families (n = 14) concerning the participating school will be presented. Subsequently, the school staff (n = 79) tries to identify the elements that, according to them, contribute to a good home-school cooperation. Finally, we analyze the findings to highlight some of the key elements of the relationship family-school-community and stress the need to work together in order to promote high school students' retention and academic success.
Strategies Towards Effective Management of Higher Education for Building a Culture of Peace in Nigeria
Author: Asiyai, Romina Ifeoma
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Higher Education,College Faculty,College Students,Influences,Universities,Questionnaires,Measures (Individuals),Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,College Administration,Educational Finance,Financial Support,Educational Environment,Daily Living Skills,Productivity,College Curriculum,Peace,Statistical Analysis

This study was aimed at investigating strategies for effective management of higher education for building a culture of peace in Nigeria. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the investigation. The study is a survey research which adopted the ex-post-facto design. The respondents comprised of one thousand four hundred and eighty (1480) made up of academic staff, senior staff and students. The sample was selected using simple random sampling technique form twelve public universities in southern Nigeria. Data collected from questionnaire, the only instrument used for the study, were analyzed using descriptive statistics for the research questions and analysis of variance to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed that curricula related, life skills related, institutional climate related and funding related were strategies for effective management of education for building a culture of peace in Nigeria. The study recommends that administrators of Nigerian universities should adopt a peace education curriculum in all course offerings in universities for building a culture of peace in Nigeria and improving academic productivity within the system.
Regional Higher Education Reform Initiatives in Africa: A Comparative Analysis with the Bologna Process
Author: Woldegiorgis, Emnet Tadesse
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Change,International Cooperation,Educational Policy,Student Mobility,Comparative Education,Policy Analysis,Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Educational Quality,Quality Assurance,Accreditation (Institutions),Educational Cooperation,Qualitative Research

Europe's Bologna Process has been identified as a pioneering approach in regional cooperation with respect to the area of higher education. To address the challenges of African higher education, policymakers are recommending regional cooperation that uses the Bologna Process as a model. Based on these recommendations, the African Union Commission (AUC) in 2007 developed a strategic document on higher education harmonization. As higher education reforms are context-specific, the question arises as to how the policy of harmonization of higher education systems in Africa can be implemented in a way that fosters greater regional integration, taking into consideration the context of African higher education systems. This research, which is based mainly on a review of European and African official documents, focuses on the reform issues proposed by the AUC in the harmonization process and compares them with those of the Bologna Process.
Summative and Formative Assessment in Medicine: The Experience of an Anaesthesia Trainee
Author: O'Shaughnessy, Sinead M.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Medicine,Trainees,Medical Education,Summative Evaluation,Formative Evaluation,Competence,Peer Evaluation,Standards,Drug Use,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Simulation,Evaluation Methods

The practice of medicine is becoming increasingly onerous for doctors, with growing demands coming from both patients and peers. Therefore, we need to equip doctors of the future with the appropriate skills to negotiate a very complex environment. Assessment should be central to this goal with a renewed focus on a more rounded examination process. Rather than a compete reliance on summative assessment, an increased focus should be placed on formative assessment, which has been historically neglected in medicine. In addition, it is important for educators to realise that a mutimodal approach is required to establish competence in a valid fashion and that each assessment modality should be used for both summative and formative assessment where possible. This will not only serve to address the external pressures placed on the teacher to streamline students but it will facilitate student learning as they become active participants in assessment. Other areas of development in medical education going forward include peer assessment, which may be the answer to increasing cohort sizes. We also need to address the issue of maintaining adequate standards of assessment. Furthermore, we need to conduct further research to ensure that our assessment methods are an adequate predictor of future performance otherwise we as educational leaders will be failing both our students and the wider community.
The Courage to Lead: Cases in American Higher Education
Author: Travis, Jon E.
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,College Administration,Leadership Effectiveness,Leadership Qualities,Ethics,Administrator Behavior,Administrator Characteristics

Courage is a rare quality among today's political leaders, many of whom even struggle with the ability to understand leadership as well. Leadership and courage are also critically important characteristics of college and university administrators. Yet, one may wonder if courage is nonexistent among leaders in higher education. Furthermore, the skills of good leadership seem to be lacking among administrators who rule as if they were convinced of some divine right. At a time when public colleges and universities are being threatened as never before by forces committed to their destruction, administrators desperately need to find the courage to lead. This article highlights selected case examples of leaders who have demonstrated courage over self-interest.
Managing Curriculum Change from the Middle: How Academic Middle Managers Enact Their Role in Higher Education
Author: Rudhumbu, Norman
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle Management,Educational Change,Curriculum Development,Administrator Role,Higher Education,Expectation,Role Conflict,Role Perception,Leadership Role,Classification

Literature shows that the role of academic middle managers (AMMs) has been a subject of contestation for a long time the world over owing to the fact that there has not been a clear cut articulation of what exactly this role constitutes or means. Such a situation according to literature has tended to affect the way the AMMs enact their role in their different departments and organisations. Traditionally, the role of the academic middle manager has been viewed as transmitters of top management views to the lower echelons of the organisation. This view has however greatly changed over the last couple of decades owing to the realization that academic middle managers play a critical role in both educational change and curriculum change and it is the later view that this paper seeks to explore and highlight. More specifically, this study examines the concept of role as understood by the academic middle managers (AMMs) and also as shaped by the different contexts in which the AMMs perform their curriculum change roles in higher education. Literature shows that the way the AMMs understand and hence enact their role in curriculum change is framed by the nature of the activity, role expectation, role conflict and the demands of the role sender among others. This study therefore examines how AMMs understand and eventually enact their role in the light of different competing demands and interests during curriculum change in higher education.
Pedagogy of the Dispersed: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the African Diaspora Phenomenon through the Human and Social Capital Lens
Author: Kivunja, Charles
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cost Effectiveness,Social Capital,Educational Philosophy,Foreign Countries,Migration Patterns,Agricultural Laborers,Slavery,Refugees,Skilled Workers,Unskilled Workers,Human Capital,History,Victims,Political Influences,Economic Factors

With its origin in Greek where &quot;diaspora&quot; as a noun means &quot;a dispersion&quot; or as a verb means to &quot;scatter about&quot;, the term is used in this paper to refer to the dispersion or scattering of Africans from their original African homeland and now live in countries other than their own. Indeed some Africans have dispersed from their own countries to other countries in Africa. For the purposes of this paper our analysis focuses on Africans who live outside Africa. This paper explores the African diaspora phenomenon starting from the commercial extraction of Africans as resources to serve as inputs into plantain development in North America and manual labourers in Europe, South America and the Caribbean, to the colonial exploitation of African peoples during the &quot;Scramble for Africa&quot;, to political exiles and economic refugees that ensued, following political independence and instabilities, and to expert skilled migrations of Africans abroad, including digital diaspora. Grounded in the educational philosophy of human and social capital theory, the paper presents a cost benefit analysis of the gains and losses that Africans and African countries have experienced as a result of the African diaspora phenomenon. The analysis leads to the philosophical conclusion that whereas the initial dispersion of Africans to overseas countries represented a significant cost to the human and social capital of Africa, African diaspora in the 21st century have potential to improve the human and social capital not only for themselves and their former homeland, but also in the host countries.
A Comparison of a Traditional Lecture-Based and Online Supplemental Video and Lecture-Based Approach in an Engineering Statics Class
Author: Halupa, Colleen M.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Quasiexperimental Design,Engineering Education,Undergraduate Students,Lecture Method,Online Courses,Electronic Learning,Video Technology,Educational Technology,Private Colleges,Comparative Analysis,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Supplementary Reading Materials,Assignments,Student Improvement,Grade Point Average

This quasi-experimental research study evaluated two intact undergraduate engineering statics classes at a private university in Texas. Students in the control group received traditional lecture, readings and homework assignments. Those in the experimental group also were given access to a complete set of online video lectures and videos demonstrating how each type of mathematical problem was solved through the learning management system. Overall, students in the experimental group perceived course material more positively than those in the control group and felt the additional material was useful. The experimental group had slightly improved cumulative test scores, but these differences were not statistically significant.
Discussion of the Effectiveness of the National Accreditation Process of Secondary Science Education Programs, A Pilot Study
Author: Bazler, Judith Ann
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Secondary School Science,Science Education,Accreditation (Institutions),National Standards,Pilot Projects,Expectation,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,Educational Practices,Qualitative Research,Action Research,Case Studies,Web 2.0 Technologies,Computer Mediated Communication,Telephone Surveys,Interviews,Program Attitudes

This paper reflects upon a discussion via wiki, face-to-face, and telephone concerning the processes involved in the national accreditation of teacher education programs in science. Specifically, five professors and administrators from public and private institutions, across the nation were involved in the discussion. Our collective reflections and a plan put forth to see if other people had the same expectations is discussed in this paper. The study created the basis for a new study to be developed concerning whether other professionals were thinking about the process similarly.
Exploring Management Strategies to Reduce Cheating in Written Examinations: Case Study of Midlands State University
Author: Taderera, Ever
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cheating,Tests,Case Studies,Gender Differences,Intellectual Disciplines,Age Differences,Performance Factors,Influences,Ethics,Student Attitudes,Student Characteristics,Change Strategies,Questionnaires,Teacher Attitudes,Discipline,College Students,Program Administration,Testing,Foreign Countries

This study was concerned about cheating in written examinations at Midlands State University (MSU). The study revealed that both male and female students cheat in written examination; business studies students cheat more than other faculties, and younger (lower class) students cheat more than (upper class) older students. Factors influencing cheating in written examinations tended to be divided into situational and personal factors. Personal factors included among others; students' ethical considerations, attitude towards cheating, social standing and program of study. Situational factors were identified mainly as religious beliefs, effects of standardised tests, desire for higher grades, peer pressure, risk and adventure seeking. The major cheating strategies were identified as the use of crib notes (CDs), writing on body parts and ordinary objects, impersonation, exchanging examination booklets, copying someone else's work and leaving notes in toilets. Management strategies to reduce cheating were divided into two categories. The major measures in place were identified as the use of instruction manuals in examinations, vigilant invigilators, and suspension of offenders and nullification of results. Areas of improvement identified were training of staff that handles examinations, motivation of staff who run examinations, use of Circuit Camera Television (CCTV) and reducing the invigilator-student ratio.
Entrepreneurship Education in Delta State Tertiary Institution as a Means of Achieving National Growth and Development
Author: Osakwe, Regina N.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Entrepreneurship,Postsecondary Education,Questionnaires,Data Analysis,Statistical Analysis,Economic Development,Educational Benefits,Integrated Curriculum

This study examined entrepreneurship education in Delta Sate tertiary institutions as a means of national growth and development. Two research questions were asked to guide the study. The population comprised all the 1,898 academic staff in eight tertiary institutions in the state. A sample of 800 lecturers was drawn through the multi stage and stratified random sampling techniques. The instrument used was the questionnaire. Data collected from the respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics of means and standard deviation. Results revealed that most of the respondents agreed that entrepreneurship education is beneficial to national development despite its challenges in tertiary institutions. In the light of the findings, recommendations were made.
Evaluation of the High School Virtual Program in a North Texas School District
Author: Cash, Paul E.
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Virtual Classrooms,Online Courses,School Districts,Educational Technology,Program Evaluation,Qualitative Research,Program Effectiveness,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Surveys,Focus Groups,High School Students,Secondary School Teachers,Technological Literacy,Mentors,Educational Improvement,Questionnaires,Interviews

In a North Texas school district, students taking online courses in a variety of subject areas were not successfully completing courses at the district's expected levels. The district pays for courses and student support while remaining financially responsible to the community and programmatically to students' online success. Students' unsuccessful completion of these online classes, both at the local district and at the state level, became the rationale for the current study's formal evaluation of the program. The qualitative project study evaluated the district's online program and allowed for opportunities for data collection and analysis for improvement recommendations. Guided by the constructivist theory, this study examined whether the current online instructional program was perceived as effective by students and faculty involved with online classes. Qualitative surveys and focus groups were employed to gather data on the overall design of the program. Students taking online classes and faculty working with these students participated in the survey and randomly selected participants were involved in the focus groups. The qualitative data were analyzed utilizing a software program with themes developed and interpreted for meaning. Data analysis determined both effective and ineffective practices of the program, including issues of local support related to technology and increased 1-on-1 support at the campus level as identified by students and the need for more resources and familiarity with the online course content as identified by mentor teachers. The findings from this research provided specific strategies for improving supports that promote success. This increased success for high school students will impact social change regarding how administrators, teachers, students, and parents view alternative educational opportunities for students in the future.
Are Teacher Course Evaluations Biased against Faculty That Teach Quantitative Methods Courses?
Author: Royal, Kenneth D.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Course Evaluation,College Faculty,Methods Courses,Statistical Analysis,Graduate Students,Item Response Theory,Item Analysis,Teacher Effectiveness,Summative Evaluation,Student Attitudes,Bias,Validity,Reliability,Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance

The present study investigated graduate students' responses to teacher/course evaluations (TCE) to determine if students' responses were inherently biased against faculty who teach quantitative methods courses. Item response theory (IRT) and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) techniques were utilized for data analysis. Results indicate students in non-methods courses preferred the structure of quantitative courses, but tend to be more critical of quantitative instructors. Authors encourage consumers of TCE results to investigate item-level results, as opposed to summative results, when making inferences about course and instructor quality.