ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Communication Skills and Its Impact on the Marketability of UKM Graduates
Author: Wahab, Ahmad Wazir Aiman Bin Mohd Abd
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Communication Skills,Employment Opportunities,Employment Potential,Basic Skills,Graduation Requirements,Interviews,College Freshmen,College Seniors,College Faculty,Employer Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Critical Thinking,Problem Solving,Teamwork,Leadership,Information Management,Lifelong Learning,College Outcomes Assessment,Entrepreneurship,Interpersonal Competence,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research

Organizations have always placed emphasis on the public's voices as an effort to continue enhancing their service towards society. University's performance and its relevance in a nation is highly dependent on the marketability of its students. The ability to widely distribute their students and to heighten their mobility in society and in the work field importantly reflects the overall performance of the University. The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia placed eight compulsory soft skills courses every student has to pass before they can graduate. This was done to ensure that all of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's students are exposed with all dimensions of soft skills throughout their studies as they play a crucial role in enhancing students' marketability. Perceptions from 35 final year students, 2 lecturers, 3 Private Sector representative and 20 first year students towards the beneficial roles of these skills were conducted via interview. It's agreeable that communication skills are the most favorable to determine the marketability of UKM students. Low command of both Bahasa Melayu and English are one of the contributing factors to this. UKM graduates are seen to be less sensitive towards recent issues around the world thus they're not confident to participate in a group discussion. This article will reveal problems and strategic ways to encounter challenges, by enriching UKM students with different learning experiences of good communication skills and its impact towards their marketability after they graduate.
A Didactic Activity for Introducing Design and Optimization of Experiments Assisted by Revised Bloom's Taxonomy
Author: Amorim, Gabriela
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Action Research,Foreign Countries,Educational Objectives,Behavioral Objectives,Visual Aids,Computer Software,Design,Engineering,Industry,Planning,Experiments,Problem Solving,Responses,Statistical Analysis,Classification,Science Experiments,Higher Education

The methodology used in this study was action-research and the considered activity is been applied successfully for at least five years to undergraduate and to master classes for Industrial Engineering students in Brazil. It showed a significant result in both cases, providing the basis for the deepening in the subject in further lessons. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to present this didactic activity that uses a statistical software to introduce the subject Design of Experiments (DoE) starting from a simple process of everyday life. Despite DoE in Brazil being emphasized in Industrial Engineering, this issue is extremely relevant in all areas of research where there is experimentation. The activity's idea was to make students able to interact and understand the concepts of planning and optimizing experiments in a natural and intuitive way by following seven steps proposed in the literature: 1. Recognition and statement of the problem, 2. Choice of factors, levels, and ranges, 3. Selection of the response variable, 4. Choice of experimental design, 5. Conduction of experiment, 6. Statistical data analysis, and 7. Conclusions and recommendations. In order to confirm and strengthen the learning process, some exercises are then offered to students. To ensure the effectiveness, the exercises were designed based on the new version of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, also called Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. These proposed exercises discuss the content at all levels of the cognitive domain.
The Impact of Online or F2F Lecture Choice on Student Achievement and Engagement in a Large Lecture-Based Science Course: Closing the Gap
Author: Murphy, Cheryl A.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Lecture Method,Learner Engagement,Science Instruction,Physics,Video Technology,College Science,College Students,Science Achievement

Blended learning options vary and universities are exploring an assortment of instructional combinations, some involving video lectures as a replacement for face-to-face (f2f) lectures. This methodological study investigates the impact of the provision of lecture choice (online or f2f) on overall student achievement and course engagement. This research uses a within-group design to obtain baseline data on a single set of physics students (n = 168), and investigates the impact of providing a lecture viewing choice (online, f2f) mid-semester on student achievement (tests, homework, and standardized conceptual evaluation scores), and course engagement (student lecture viewing, homework submissions, bonus project submissions, and note taking behaviors). The study reveals that the type of lecture does not serve to significantly impact overall student achievement or engagement. However, although recorded and f2f lectures demonstrate an overall educationally equivalent impact, students who elect a high level of recorded lecture use were significantly lower performing and less engaged before the option to watch recorded lectures was introduced and largely continued to be so after the option was introduced, but there was evidence of a reduction in achievement and engagement differences after the option is introduced. Therefore, results of this study suggest weaker performing students self-select higher levels of recorded lecture use, and the use of these video lectures may assist this specific group of students in closing the gap between themselves and students who were initially higher performing and more engaged.
Multi-Institutional Partnerships for Higher Education in Africa: A Case Study of Assumptions of International Academic Collaboration
Author: Semali, Ladislaus M.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Partnerships in Education,Cooperation,Neoliberalism,Global Approach,Brain Drain,Case Studies,Interviews,Observation,Expertise,Cultural Influences,Social Influences,Qualitative Research

Public and private universities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, and elsewhere in Africa, were experiencing all time high enrollments since the late 1990s. To address these demands, university administrators sought partnerships with universities of the global North to facilitate the necessary educational reform and curriculum transformation to meet the needs of the increased enrollments. In spite of these efforts, in the past 10 years the partnerships failed to meet expectations. A case approach was used to study reports, journals, interview notes, surveys, and qualitative data collected during 2007-2012 from one university selected purposely to shed light on partnerships and linkages with African universities. The authors examined the expectations, dynamics, and intricacies of academic partnerships and the reality of African academic institutions. The analysis revealed perplexing assumptions that undergird the expectations of collaboration between U.S. and African partners as well as cross-cultural dynamics that govern, sustain, and sometimes frustrate such engagements.
Faculty Use of Established and Emerging Technologies in Higher Education: A Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Perspective
Author: Lewis, Carmen C.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Technology Uses in Education,Computer Attitudes,Online Surveys,Business Administration Education,Teacher Surveys,Measures (Individuals),Expectation,Social Influences,Gender Differences,Intention,Predictor Variables,Habit Formation,Statistical Distributions,Factor Analysis

Our effectiveness as instructors lies ultimately in how well our students can understand and apply the concepts we teach. In response to the growing importance of accountability in the educational process and the abundance of social networking technology and communication tools available for possible classroom use, this paper will use The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to examine the adoption of established and emerging information technology in higher education classrooms. Hence, the goal of this paper is to test theoretical explanations from UTAUT in the context of higher education through the development of a set of hypotheses predicting the conditions under which classroom technology use is likely to emerge. Data collection occurred via an online survey. The instrument was sent to business faculty members teaching face-to-face classes at a southeastern university. Our findings suggest that in the context of instructors' use of technology for classroom purposes, the most important antecedents are performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and habit with more complex effects when gender is added as an interaction term. Results from this study will provide useful information on the frequency of use of technology, along with significant factors affecting its adoption in the classroom. Departmental leaders interested in the variations in individual faculty's level of inclination toward technological changes would find them particularly useful.
Coping with English as Language of Instruction in Higher Education in Rwanda
Author: Kagwesage, Anne Marie
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Language of Instruction,English,Coping,Multilingualism,Instructional Materials,English (Second Language),Group Discussion,Interviews,Economics Education,Educational Policy,Change Strategies,Learning Strategies,Task Analysis,Performance Based Assessment,Student Projects

The present study examines strategies that multilingual university students in Rwanda use in order to successfully deal with complex academic material offered through the medium of English, a foreign language. The reported strategies emerged from group work discussions and interviews with students in the faculty of Economics and Management at a University in Rwanda. The data were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that students have multiple coping strategies that enable them to complete academic tasks given through the medium of English. One of the prominent strategies and practices is the successful use of other languages at their disposal to mediate cognitively demanding academic tasks. Although other spoken languages are not officially recognised as media of instruction in higher education, they play a mediating role in content learning through responsible code switching and translanguaging.
Blended Learning at the Boundary: Designing a New Internship
Author: Heckman, Robert
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Internship Programs,Blended Learning,Education Work Relationship,Educational Principles,Instructional Design,Program Descriptions,Educational Opportunities,College Programs,Program Evaluation,Intervention,Teacher Role,Independent Study,Teaching Methods

This paper explores how blended learning can enhance learning at the boundary between academia and industry, and make possible the design of a new kind of internship. Boundary theory proposes that socio-cultural discontinuities between different environments create opportunities for learning. Blended learning pedagogy makes it possible to make the boundary between the classroom and the work place more salient and continuous. We present principles for designing internships that leverage blended learning to exploit boundaries, and describe an internship program based on these principles. Finally, we reflect on what we have learned through two years experience offering the program to students and employers.
Faculty Retention in Higher Education
Author: Soomro, Tariq Rahim
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,College Faculty,Teacher Persistence,Personnel Policy,Personnel Management,Teaching (Occupation),Teacher Researchers,Community Services,Teacher Evaluation,Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance,Likert Scales,Questionnaires,Evaluation Criteria,Teacher Effectiveness,Productivity,Tenure

Criteria for retaining or firing a highly qualified faculty in higher education in many cases are vague and unclear. This situation is neither a comfortable, nor a healthy, both for the faculty and the administration. Stakeholders have enough reason to blame each other in the absence of transparent mechanism. This paper proposes a transparent point system for both faculty and higher education administration based on three most important categories--Teaching (T), Research (R), and community Service (S). This proposed transparent point system will present solution to resolve confusion among stakeholders. Faculty based on this transparent proposed point system may perform well and administration based on this proposed point system may decide to retain the faculty.
Teachers' and Parental Attribution for School Performance of Ethnic Majority and Minority Children
Author: Wissink, Inge B.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Parent Attitudes,Minority Group Children,Ethnic Groups,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Interpersonal Communication,Interaction,Parent Teacher Cooperation,Academic Ability,Academic Achievement,Student Characteristics,Attribution Theory,Foreign Countries,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Students,Personality Traits

This study examines whether teachers' and parental attributions for children's school performance differ depending on the ethnic background of the child. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, real-life attributions within 54 teacher-parent conversations (15 ethnic majority; 39 minority) were examined. The results indicated that, compared with majority children, teachers attributed school performance of minority children more often to effort (also after controlling for the child's level of school performance). At the same time, the analyses showed that these differences in attributional behavior co-occur with differences in the teacher-parents' interaction and should be understood through including the conversational setting in which these attributions were made. The results are discussed in light of what the particular mismatches and lack of congruence in explaining school success between parents and teachers mean for the school performance of minority children.
Teacher Reflection in Literacy Education--Borrowing from Bakhtin
Author: Lee, Soyong
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Inservice Teacher Education,Reflection,Reflective Teaching,Graduate Study,Methods Courses,Literacy Education,Theory Practice Relationship,Culturally Relevant Education,Reading Aloud to Others,Role Playing

In this article, we introduce Bakhtin's (1981) idea of revoicing and situate our data drawn from a graduate literacy methods course for in-service teachers in the United States in this framework. This study is exploratory in nature. We use data from a single literacy methods class to explore and shed light on the &quot;how-to&quot; of teacher reflection using a Bakhtinian framework. As teacher educators, we believe that introducing new frameworks and perspectives that enable professionals to dismantle the binary of theory and practice by putting reflection into action is of high priority for the field. We discuss in detail an activity in a literacy methods class that requires the in-service teachers to put the idea of culturally relevant teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1994) into action by dramatizing a read-aloud in a childhood classroom, and to observe and analyze what happens when an idea from a class reading (culturally relevant teaching) takes a dimensional spin into practice (a dramatized classroom scenarios). In doing so, the in-service teachers were challenged to reinterpret and revoice the concept of &quot;culturally relevant teaching&quot; to meet the realities of their own classrooms and their own pedagogical tales (Dyson, 2002). The main purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on teacher reflection by shifting the focus from theorizing about teacher reflection to the enactment of teacher reflection.
Reflective Education as a Means of Changing Teacher Trainers' Attitudes towards Universal Values in the Education System of the Developing Society
Author: Essawi, Mohammad
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Developing Nations,Teacher Educator Education,Teacher Educators,Teacher Attitudes,Attitude Change,Values Education,Values,Majority Attitudes,Minority Groups,Global Approach,Reflection,Workshops,Attitude Measures,Intervention,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research,Statistical Significance

The proposed intervention program's aim was to change teacher trainers' attitudes towards universal values. The program takes into account the unique cultural context of the developing society. The goal of the program was to reduce the gap between declared teacher trainers' attitudes and their actual attitudes towards universal values in the education system of the Arab minority in Israel. The program was made up of training workshops. Reflective methods based on the theory of cognitive dissonance adapted to the social and cultural reality of developing societies, along with research tools employed to measure the teacher trainers' attitudes, were developed and used. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the workshops was realized. The results of the analysis point to a reduction in the discrepancy between the teacher trainers' declared attitudes and their actual attitudes towards universal values.
Design of an Online Curriculum Promoting Transformative Learning in Post Professional Doctoral Students
Author: Provident, Ingrid
Date: 2015-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Curriculum Design,Transformative Learning,Doctoral Programs,Occupational Therapy,Qualitative Research,Clinical Experience,Learning Activities,Active Learning,Assignments,Education Work Relationship,Models,Guidelines,Program Implementation,Program Descriptions,Educational Attitudes

Written reflections of 113 occupational therapy clinical doctoral students who graduated from an online program between 2007 and 2013 were analyzed for themes which reflected transformative learning and characteristics of curricular design which promoted transformative learning. Qualitative analyses of written reflections were performed. Several themes emerged which are presented using the framework of Person/Learner, Environment/Learning Context, and Occupation/Engagement in Learning Activities. Strategies such as active learning; assignments that directly apply to students' work settings; implementation of a cohort model; and use of reflection, dialog, and project implementation appear to be effective in facilitating transformative learning in an online clinical doctoral program.
The Elephant in the Hall: Motivating the Study of Student Motivation and Self-Regulation in Studies of Academic Achievement and Persistence in Higher Education
Author: Kennedy, Gary J.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,College Students,Academic Ability,Student Motivation,Self Control,Misconceptions,Student Characteristics,Time Management,Group Membership,Interpersonal Relationship,Academic Achievement,Self Efficacy

This essay proposes that much of what constitutes the quality of an institution of higher education is the quality of the students attending the institution. This quality, however, is conceptualized to extend beyond that of academic ability. Specifically, three propositions are considered. First, it is proposed that a core construct of student quality is defined in terms of student motivation and self-regulation generally, information that many institutions do not routinely collect. Second, without information on students' motivational profiles, admissions formulas and statistical models of program evaluations are misspecified at best and run the risk of producing biased parameter estimates. In these situations, the bias is often positive and can lead educational leaders into believing that the commonly collected ability measures are more predictive of college performance and that institutional programs are more effective than they really are. This problem may not be mitigated by including demographic or socioeconomic variables. Third, institutional and program accomplishments are supervenient on student characteristics such that differences between or among institutions or programs within institutions cannot exist without differences in the characteristics of the students attending the institutions or participating in the programs. If these propositions are true, then not only are the admissions formulas and program evaluation models that exclude motivational and self-regulatory influences misspecified, but a deeper issue arises that questions the exogenous nature of institutional and program effects and thus the credibility of institutional and program accomplishments.
Do Japanese Undergraduates Think They Will Be in an International Environment?
Author: Morita, Liang
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Student Attitudes,Student Educational Objectives,Questionnaires,Intercultural Programs,Cross Cultural Training,Global Approach,Global Education,Student Surveys,Occupational Aspiration,Vocational Interests,Overseas Employment,World Views,Student Characteristics

Based on a data of 217 responses to questionnaires and conducted at a top Japanese national university, this paper examines the objective of preparing students to function in an international and intercultural context in the internationalisation of universities. Many educators have proceeded to internationalise the curriculum based on this objective but few have stopped to ask students if they really think they will be in an international environment. This question is particularly pertinent in Japan given its &quot;sakoku&quot; (&quot;closed country&quot;) history and the recent description by the government of young people as being inward-looking. The author found that although some young people are influenced by &quot;sakoku&quot; thinking, many are outward-looking and positive about globalisation. There is however a tendency to perceive globalisation as an abstract concept and not engage with it. Students in engineering and science are more likely to perceive themselves working in an international environment compared to literature and law students.