Read all confirmed presentation abstracts for the conference.
Please note that all abstracts are printed as submitted. Any errors, typographical or otherwise, are the authors’.
Pre-Service Teachers’ View on the Caring Teaching Practices in the Relational Approach to the Moral Foundation of Teaching
Marilyn Obod, Our Lady of Fatima University, PhilippinesClarita Tanghal, Our Lady of Fatima University, Philippines
This is a descriptive research which determined the view of pre-service teachers on the caring practices in the relational approach to the moral foundation of teaching. Using purposive sampling, sixty pre-service teachers were selected to answer the Caring Teaching Scale which include four dimensions such as Nurturing Students' Character, Didactic Bias, Awareness and Respectful Didactics. Findings showed that they strongly agree on Nurturing Students’ Character and Awareness, agree on Didactic Bias but neutral on Respectful Didactics. It implies that they strongly agreed that teachers should nurture the students’ character as a human being and help them develop their character as well as their academic properties, agreed that teachers should provide equal opportunities for all students to be engaged in learning activities regardless of their academic status and personal capabilities but either agreed or disagreed in the notion that in bringing about learning, teachers should respect students and avoid violating their dignity as human beings. Furthermore, it found out that male and female pre-service teachers of different ages from the Bachelor of Elementary Education and Secondary Education programs have similar views on the four dimensions of caring teaching.
Learner Autonomy as a Valuable Asset of Students for the Future of Higher Education
Ljiljana Markovic, University of Belgrade, SerbiaBiljana Djoric Francuski, University of Belgrade, Serbia
The principles of Learner Autonomy have become ever more important with the fast-changing technological environment in the real world in which our students of today shall find themselves as employees tomorrow. They might soon be in a position to attune their performance with capacities and ‘skills’ of the robots as their coworkers, so they will have to acquire the flexibility and the potential of combining the superior human intelligence with the fast development of information technology. They will also have to know how to use incredible advantages of the human emotional and social intelligence within the leadership positions where they might even find artificial intelligence to be their competition in the decades to come. The Learner Autonomy principle facilitates a profound and in-depth understanding of issues and thereby ensures the capacity to learn new things, to summon results of critical thinking at crucial phases of intelligent, well-balanced and emotionally and socially adequate decision-making. Our students will not only be competing against new technologies, they will also be competing internationally and globally in whatever they choose to do since the e-commerce advancement has unified the world markets for any goods or services at a hitherto almost unimaginable and unprecedented scale. This paper aims to demonstrate in which ways the principles of Learner Autonomy will prove to be a valuable asset of higher education students in their future.
The Clash of Humanism and Neoliberalism: A Research on Practices and Ideologies in Croatian Universities
Ruzica Jurcevic, University of Zagreb, CroatiaThe prevailing economic ideologies that entered the European higher education in the last few decades disrupted the long tradition of so-called 'humanistic' ideals and values. This resulted in changing shifts from 'learning per-se' to 'learning for the labor market', which challenged everyone involved in education at the universities. While many universities welcomed the neoliberal paradigm in teaching and learning, a growing number of literature started questioning whether the superiority of this paradigm led to irreversible reduction of humanistic values such as freedom, autonomy, emancipation, etc. In an attempt to explore the relationship between humanistic and neoliberal approaches to the university and to understand the attitudes of the main actors of higher education regarding the goals and mission of a modern university, a study among students was conducted in 2018. This paper presents the results of this study which involved 735 students from 12 universities from Zagreb (Croatia), from different fields of study. The results show that more than 90% of students agreed that developing a human being must be university’s primary goal. However, when ranking the university missions, the students from technical fields put “preparing a person for the labor market” as the most important mission, while students from social fields gave priority to “developing a free and independent human”. Both groups favored gaining specific knowledges and skills over general ones. Both groups were uncertain about the role of university in Europe’s growth, which is an interesting point of discussion, considering the high priority Europe gives to higher education.
Conflict: Nightmare or Opportunity in Higher Education Leadership and Administration
Marcel Lebrun, Plymouth State University, United StatesConflict is paramount to leadership administration and innovation. Unfortunately, too many leaders struggle with conflict and its implications for change and creativity. This workshop will explore the roots of conflict, resolving conflict through negotiation, mediation, understanding one's styles, and the impact of power on decision making and innovation.
Throughout the workshop exploring resistance as a construct will be supplemented by reviewing Thomas & Kilman's conflict response styles and French & Raven's 6 Bases of Social Power.
This workshop is for anyone who has struggled with conflict in the work place, as a leader, as a team member or as an employee. The focus will be predominately on new and evolving leaders who are looking to enhance their skill set in conflict resolution and more effective administration of their program or department or organization.
Repurposing Higher Education: Are Transnational Universities in Local Contexts Preparing Students for a Globalised Society?
Paola Eiras, University of Surrey, United KingdomFormal higher education (HE) has had its traditional purpose increasingly transformed in recent years by a range of factors, and perhaps nowhere faster than in transnational education (TNE) in China, where some students attend English speaking universities in a Chinese context. This paper explores Chinese students’ identity constructions in a TNE context in China (Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University) through their transnational experiences. It draws on two rounds of analysis of 31 semi-structured arts-based interviews with Chinese undergraduate students, applying both Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Under an IPA lens, the phenomenon of identity showed that their learning experience was impacted by socialisation processes in the TNE institution, suggesting a relational identity construction whereby social roles and relationships to others were constitutive of individuals’ identities. The transition from a Chinese educational system to a westernised university appears to have significantly affected the construction of students’ personal and HE learner identities, through their perceived sense of belonging in a TNE institution. Under a CDA lens, students’ discursive identities showed that their negotiated identities were permeated by intersecting and conflicting discourses, practices and positions, while trying to balance a sense of being both the same and different from others, thereby raising the issue of whether TNE universities are adequately preparing and mentoring students to thrive in the uncertain futures of a globalised society. This study shows the complexities of identity construction in TNE contexts and potential implications for educational policies and practices.
Gen Z Deconstruction of Social Justice Based 21st Century Literature
Ma Rosalie Abeto Zerrudo, University of San Agustin, PhilippinesFrances Marie Montano, University of San Agustin, Philippines
As part of academic service learning, Gen Z are exposed to real life situations and social justice based projects beyond classroom instruction. Academic discussion and skills enhancement considers the importance of substance in the content of literature. The personal reflections of students as their commentary to a particular social issue is subjected to content analysis to understand their emotional concerns based on the patterns and themes identified. The creative process brings out the personal and social commentary of students as a venue for discussion, reflection and to develop higher social consciousness. This research involves student’s participation using written text and reflection. The
researcher uses textual and visual narrative as class output. The interactive chat group consolidates a class dialogue with pictures and comments. The research in general identifies the patterns and themes of personal reflections and social commentary by students. The research looks at the benefits and advantages of integrating creative arts expression in the classroom instruction. A collaborative creative interventions among the academic peers and community strengthens a social-justice based education.
Developing Possible Strategies for Academic Achievement Improvement of Tourism Management Students in the University through Organization Development Intervention [ODI]
Olukemi Fagbolu, Kwara State University, Malete, NigeriaA wide gap exists between labor requirement and academic grades of graduates in Nigeria. As a result, this empirical study focused on developing possible strategies for academic achievement improvement of hospitality and tourism management (HTM) students in the nation. The study employed mixed methodology and semi structured questionnaires to collect data for the study in a participatory action research and survey feedback through three phases of Organization Development Intervention (ODI). The pre and post quantitative data are presented using tables, bar and pie charts and analyzed using PSPP statistical analysis free software tool comprising simple percentages, means (M), standard deviations (SD), linear Regression and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). It presents, codes, and analyzes qualitative data using thematic analysis on Microsoft Excel spread sheet. It was found that output, that is; students’ academic achievement depended on the quality of teaching environment, input, process and feedback. Thus, in a strategic development meeting, possible academic achievement improvement strategies were developed for the students’ academic achievement improvement. The study, therefore, recommended implementation of the strategies developed for academic achievement improvement of the students. Thus, this paper contributes towards closing the existing gap between labor requirement and academic grades of the graduates.
Professional Growth Through Professional Employment Program
Annaliza Viernes, Jose Rizal University, PhilippinesIn the second semester of school year 2012-2013, JRU pioneered a special training program for graduating students in partnership with LiveIt, a subsidiary of the Ayala Group of Companies. An initial group of 81 highly-motivated graduating students from the College of Business Administration were chosen as the first group for the Professional Employment Program (PEP). They met four half days a week in a specially constructed classroom and were taught by a highly trained faculty from LiveIt. They completed the following courses: Business Communications, Service Culture, Systems Thinking, and Fundamentals I & II which are Sales and Technical Support. They were also trained on Application & Interview Readiness for jobs.
This paper aimed to study the professional growth of Jose Rizal University (JRU) graduating students through the Professional Employment Program (PEP).
The results showed that all respondents had positive experiences with PEP, and used words like: the program was worth the effort, effective, nice, great, very good, perfect, interesting, challenging, helped them a lot, extra ordinary and phenomenal, and the best program that they ever had.
Although they admitted that the program was difficult and that they failed many times, in the end they realized that they benefitted a lot from it through the help of their excellent, dedicated, and supportive mentors who brought out the best in them.
Rethinking Tertiary Online Learning Unit Design: Proactive Planning for Students with Disability
Traci-Ann Garrad, University of New England, AustraliaSince the advent of Inclusive Education in Australia, there has been a concerted push for the differentiation of pedagogical teaching approaches by educators. Such approaches have been shown to meet a diverse range of learner needs in today's classrooms. While progress is evident at the primary and secondary levels of education, significant barriers to the implementation of effective differentiation persist in tertiary education settings. A lack of differentiation has led to students with disability at the tertiary level experiencing unintended barriers including inaccessibility to curriculum elements due to limited representations of learning materials and restrictive assessment modalities. These barriers have resulted in disproportionate attrition rates for students with a range of disability. Utilising the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in an online pre-service teacher training unit, multiple means of representation of the learning content and multiple means of engagement were explicitly incorporated in the online unit design. This approach aimed to provide explicit modelling of UDL in practice for pre-service educators, as well as proactively supporting the engagement of students with disability. The UDL approach resulted in lower rates of student attrition overall and higher-grade attainment. This presentation will provide an in-depth look at the unit design, supporting tools utilised in the creation of the online content, the impact on student learning and a discussion of how such an approach can work as a useful template for broader application in tertiary online study.
Test Item Response Types as Factor in Score Validity and Reliability in Mathematics Among Southwest Universities Undergraduates in Nigeria
Oluwakemi Aladenusi, Federal College of Education (Technical), NigeriaScores generated from test instruments should measure what it is purported to measure and consistently too. When scores failed to achieve these two, they are meaningless and cannot be used for accurate decision making. Investigating and providing evidences of score validity and reliability are the main objective of this study. Thus, this study examined test item response types as factor in score validity and reliability in mathematics among southwest universities undergraduates in Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted. Simple random and systematic sampling techniques were used to select 400 participants. Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) developed and refined by the researcher was the instrument used for data collection. Two hypotheses were tested in the study. Scores generated were factor analysed and interpreted. Results indicated that validity and reliability scores of Mathematics test multiple choice item type administered by the use of computer is significantly higher than the validity and reliability scores of Mathematics test true or false item type administered by the use of computer. It was recommended that multiple choice item should still be encouraged as a mode of test administration for Mathematics achievement test.
Effectiveness of Frequency of Testing on Anxiety and Achievement in Mathematics Among Secondary School Students in Ogun State, Nigeria
Olaotan Kuku, Federal College of Education (Technical), NigeriaAchievement Testing is the general means of finding out how much the students have learnt, but it could lead to test anxiety, which may affect students’ achievement. Thus, this study examined the effectiveness of frequency of testing on test anxiety and academic achievement in mathematics among secondary school students in Ogun State, Nigeria. Four research hypotheses were postulated to direct the study. Quasi experimental pre-test/post-test control group research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised all Senior Secondary II Students in Ogun State. The sample for the study comprised 157 (76 male and 81 female) Senior Secondary II students selected using multistage sampling process. The study used five Schools as experimental groups and each of these schools was tested at varying test frequencies. The Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) and Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) were the instruments used for collecting data for the study. The data generated were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that there were significant differences in the mean scores of students experiencing test Anxiety and Achievement in Mathematics as a result of exposing students to varying test frequencies. In addition, the study revealed that gender was not a significant factor when planning to moderate students’ Mathematics Anxiety and improving Achievement in Mathematics. A periodic testing of every two weeks was recommended for students experiencing poor achievement in Mathematics. Also, weekly testing was recommended for students experiencing test anxiety.
Global, Regional and Local Challenges in Human Rights Education: A Case Study of Teaching Gender Studies in Malaysia
Ting-Fai Yu, Monash University Malaysia, MalaysiaWhile gender studies as a multidisciplinary field of inquiry has been progressively institutionalised in global university settings over the past decades, little scholarly work has considered the challenges in teaching topics on gender, sexuality, feminist politics, masculinity, human rights and intersectional analysis in Asia and/or for Asian audiences. Amid the global populist backlash against gender studies (e.g. the Hungarian government banning the gender studies master’s program at Central European University), it is increasingly pressing that we develop better understandings of the cultural constraints and institutional struggles in teaching gender studies outside Anglo-American contexts.
Drawing on the cultural studies of human rights education and academic activism (Erni 2018; Morris and Hjort 2012; Offord 2013), this paper seeks to initiate conservations by discussing the states and challenges of gender studies education and program implementation in Asian contexts. Through reflecting on my experience as a lecturer in gender studies in Malaysia, this paper moreover generates critical relevance towards developing praxes of human rights education in other multicultural and/or religious Asian societies.
Improving the Reading Comprehension of Bachelor of Public Administration Students Through the Use of Scaffolding Strategies
Gloria Capanang, Pangasinan State University Bayambang Campus, PhilippinesWith reading as the foundation of all academic learning it becomes imperative that the reading ability of the learners be assessed as the onset. In support of the government and of the university’s program on literacy, teachers have developed innovations and/or interventions aimed at improving the reading comprehension of learners. It is in this vein that the study was conducted. It looked into the influence of scaffolding strategies in improving the reading comprehension of Bachelor of Public Administration students in Pangasinan State University during school year 2018-2019. Employing a quasi-experimental design, mean scores of the learners in the pretest and post-test were computed to determine if there was a significant difference in their performance vis-a-vis reading comprehension before and after their exposure to the intervention -the utilization of scaffolding strategies. Results show that of the 36 total number of students in the experimental group 35 or 97.2% proved to be outstanding and only 1 or 2% was found satisfactory. The noteworthy performance of the students in the test affirmed the good there was to scaffolding strategies. It is hereby recommended that a parallel study using scaffolding strategies be conducted to see if it will yield similar results.
Re-imagining the University: Taking Stock of Strategic Changes
Bob Fox, University of New South Wales, AustraliaMark King, University of New South Wales, Australia
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) community spent 18 months developing, discussing and refining a new strategic plan, identified as UNSW2025. A key component of the plan focussed on boosting the quality of research as well as the quality of education provision. The University had already a tradition of research excellence and is one of eight (Go8) leading research-intensive universities in Australia. The intent of the ten-year strategic plan was to position the University as a leader, as both a research- and as an education-intensive university by 2025. An essential component in implementing the strategic plan was to source additional funding as well as reallocate existing funding channelled into specific research and education initiatives and to reorganise the University’s support provision to ensure increased efficiency and effectiveness. This paper focusses on the educational components of the plan, outlining what the University set out to do in 2015 in implementing ‘educational excellence’ and what major educational projects the University has supported. Towards of end of 2019 will act as the half-way mark for implementing the UNSW2025 plan. It is therefore a good time to stop and take stock of what has happened, what has worked and what are the major challenges the University currently faces as well as what the second five years of the plan is projected to produce.
Learner-led Approach in Education (LED)
Joel Weinberg, Meiji University, JapanThis paper discusses a different approach to teaching: the learner-led approach in education (LED). While there are many interpretations of LED, this paper focuses on students selecting their own research topic, constructing a lesson plan and homework assignment based on that topic, and then leading their classmates in a mini-lecture/presentation about their research. The reasoning for this approach is that students will be more interested in a topic and will learn more about it when they are given the freedom to choose it themselves. Additionally, when they are required to teach what they have learned to their classmates, they will be more thorough in their research and put more thought into the lessons. This will benefit both the student who is leading the lesson, and the other classmates who will be motivated to do their best when their turn to lead the class arrives. There are a few challenges to this approach, particularly the fact that it diverges from students’ and teachers’ previous experience with classroom dynamics. The unambiguously positive results of this approach, however, point to the benefits of trying something different to promote better learning outcomes.
Confronting the Challenges Facing Japanese Higher Education in 2020 and Beyond
David Brooks, Kitasato University, JapanMikio Brooks, Asia University, Japan
Some major and unsettling changes in Japanese society are currently ongoing and are having a large impact on many aspects of how the higher education system operates, evolves, and on its global interrelationships. This paper begins by describing the current nature of change in Japan's society and economy and the ways these changes are impacting higher education in that country. The upheaval in the higher education sector in Japan seen in the last several years actually appears as a dire challenge to its continued viability. Yet, an alternative view is to envision this era of change as an opportunity for renewal of the Japanese higher education system as it exists today. The primary purpose of this paper is to offer some concrete proposals for how the national government, university governance, and individual university educators can assist their institutions in surviving, and even thriving, in this seemingly disruptive era in tertiary education in Japan. Plausible and practical steps are offered as recommendations in seven major areas for facing these challenges: 1) revitalize the mission of the Japanese university, 2) sustain the financial livelihood, 3) adopt global standards for degree-granting universities, 4) promote quality assurance through accreditation and improved assessments, 5) initiate leadership development, 6) structure IT policy and promote its integration, 7) begin internationalization. As such, the paper is meant to be a scholarly approach to answering the question of how Japanese higher education institutions can find strategic and practical ways to benefit by overcoming the challenges they now face.
Applying Blended Thinking Intelligence for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Raymond Tsoi, MFR-training & Consultancy, SingaporeBlended Thinking Intelligence focuses on blending cognitive, social and corporate processes in thinking to effectively develop skillful innovation and entrepreneurship. This encompassing approach anchored in a research evidence-based hybrid learning model accentuates a range of crucial skills and dynamic processes blended to skillfully provide leadership for innovation and entrepreneurship. The model is advanced from the science of inquiry and experiential learning. Inevitably the norm is training of skills and processes as standalone and usually more inclined towards being academic in nature as in education. This may be inadequate, insufficient connectedness and relevance especially if there is a purposeful direction to pursue interrelation of innovation and entrepreneurship. A team-based exemplar is used to showcase the practical workings of Blended Thinking Intelligence on how to blend the cognitive (applying thinking graphic organizer for critical / creative thinking), the social (infusing collaborative learning related to distributed actions theory of leadership) and the corporate (engaging business decision making strategies and techniques) to develop and provide leadership for skillful innovation and entrepreneurship be it a process, product or business model.
Purpose Driven Repurposed Education: Learning From Personas
Ray O'Brien, Otago Polytechnic, New ZealandSamuel Mann, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
In repurposing education there needs to be a different way of thinking about our learners and how we can create future fit learning experiences. Learning design and tertiary education systems are still predominantly focused on the provision of education services and products rather than transformational experiences. The existing literature speaks clearly to the need for constructive alignment. It does not adequately deal with the complexity and responsiveness needed to design for the future of work, which is driven by exponential change and increasingly purpose-driven learners. In this presentation, we describe the use of purpose-driven personas and human centred design in the development and implementation of a new degree. We present an evaluation of the use of personas to design learning experiences, based on learner’s experiences in the first two years of implementation. Our findings will inform the design of future-focused, learner determined educational experiences.
The Development of the Islamic Culture Course at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman – An Attempt to Incorporate Students’ Specializations
Anke Bouzenita, Sultan Qaboos University, OmanMohsin Al-Salimi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Saleh Al-Busaidi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Given the bifurcation of higher education in the contemporary Islamic world, with a divide between the scientific and technical specializations on one, and Islamic sciences on the other, the researchers saw a need to contribute to bridging the gap between both. A development of the Islamic Culture Course at SQU so as to consider and incorporate the students’ different specializations may be an important step at reshaping tertiary education.
The Islamic Culture course (ISLM 1010) at SQU is a university requirement offered to students of different specializations in their first or second year of undergraduate studies. Its main purpose is to expose the students to Islamic thought and culture and its basic injunctions in the contemporary setting. A research project run in 2018/2019 assessed the students’ general perception of the course with regard to their own specializations.
Under consideration of the theoretical background of life-long learning, the researchers come up with a number of suggestions so as to enhance the sustainable learning effect of this course.
A Study Toward Improving Japanese College Students’ English Writing Skills and Confidence: Japanese College Students’ Familiarity With English SNS
Kaoru Mita, Jissen Women's Junior College, JapanThis study is a part of the project to improve Japanese students’ L2 writing ability and confidence through activities in a mandatory general English class at a junior college in Japan. All the first-year 226 students were divided into seven levels of classes. Each class was taught by both native and non-native English teachers both in the spring and fall semester. Teachers worked in pairs and taught the same class on different days of a week. For the spring semester, six activities were given in non-native teacher’s class: 1) use of a smart phone dictation app, 2) ten-keyword reading, 3) making an English-like sentence structure from typical Japanese-like sentence structure, 4) use of a vocabulary building app, 5) practice of logical way of thinking, 6) access to the international school networking site iEARN. Five activities were given in native teacher’s class: 1) reading aloud the materials used in the previous non-native teacher’s class, 2) dictation of them, 3) the CLOZE test, 4) pronunciation practice, 5) access to the iEARN site and post comments. A questionnaire was administered about the students’ familiarity with English SNS, and about their favorite activities in class. Over 75% of the top and second top classes replied that they checked English SNS sites already in their high school days, and more than 42% of them had experiences of posting English comments. The most popular activities in non-native teacher’s class was “ten-keyword reading”, and the one in native teacher’s class was the reading aloud activity.
The Impact of Genre-Based Mentoring Method on Research Article Drafts by Indonesian Lecturers in Social Sciences and Humanities
Safnil Arsyad, Bengkulu University, IndonesiaIndonesian scholars in social sciences and humanities are far behind scholars in sciences and engineering in international journal publication and their unfamiliarity with English rhetorical style has been blamed as the main cause. The purpose of this study is to improve the rhetorical quality of research article drafts written by Indonesian university lecturers in social sciences and humanities. Using genre-based method, a group of 20 lecturers were mentored to improve the rhetorical quality of their research article abstracts, introductions, methods and discussions and their drafts were evaluated following the frameworks suggested by Swales (1990 and 2004), Swales et al., (2009), Peacock (2011) and Lim (2006). The results show that the rhetorical quality of the lecturer’s article drafts satisfactorily improved in terms of the rhetorical moves and steps, the way they justify their research project and the number of references they use in their drafts. This implies that genre-based mentoring is effective enough to improve the ability of lecturers in writing research articles to be published in reputable international journals.
Enlighten Learning with Environmental Experience: A Case Study on 360-Degree Panoramic Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Adoption in Vocational Education
Sin Yee Lau, Vocational Training Council, Hong Kong360-degree Panoramic Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Technology amaze us with 360-degree view and multi-sensory stimulation. With the advancement in the Wearable Technology development, VR/AR technologies are widely adopted in various fields such as entertainment and transportation. At the meantime, education sector also embraces these fast-growing technologies and aims to take learners to an indifferent learning journey with specially designed, immersive environments. It enhanced Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) with the possibility and flexibility in offering a wide spectrum of experience and knowledge to learners under safe and controlled environments. Various immersive environments were designed as specified learning context for trade subjects of Tourism Studies, Disciplinary Force, Construction and Applied Science. This study aimed at investigating 360-degree Panoramic VR and AR Technologies’ impacts on improving Construction students’ learning efficiency, in term of their cognitive performance, safety awareness and learning motivation. A 1:5 ratio construction site model and a 15-storey virtual construction site were built and vividly presented with AR and 360 Panoramic VR technologies respectively. Positive results and feedback were well-recorded with 4 notable implications: (1) offered an authentic and diverse learning environment for professional development;(2) provided more flexibility and variety for the design of teaching and learning activities;(3) importance of balance arrangement in VR/AR facilitation and traditional teaching and (4) correct students’ passive learning attitude to active knowledge acquisition and embrace the bloom of Technology-enhanced Learning.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Knowledge Production and Higher Education in South Korea
Jisun Jung, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongPrevious studies have examined past knowledge production achievements in South Korea and the factors of successful knowledge production including economic and educational backgrounds. However, few researchers have considered Korea’s future agenda in terms of knowledge production and higher education. Recent discourse about the fourth industrial revolution has revealed several issues in Korea, suggesting the need for fundamental changes in the industrial structure and higher education systems, which can prepare Korea for potential periods of technological unemployment caused by automation. For example, labour expenses in Korea are predicted to be rapidly reduced if many jobs are replaced by machines, and the structure of the current manufacturing industry will not exist within the next 10 years. Based on a document analysis, this study addresses the following research question: What are the current challenges of the Korean knowledge production system in the context of the fourth industrial revolution? Korea has several strengths in knowledge production and higher education, such as a skilled workforce with high levels of education, extensive R&D spending by public and private sectors and world-leading companies with the capacity to undertake large research projects. However, the system also has weaknesses, such as a heavy concentration of R&D fund in large firms, the higher education sector’s lack of contribution to knowledge production, a lack of university-industry collaboration, a lack of an open network culture for innovation and regional discrepancies between universities. The system will have to upgrade the roles of its government, industry and universities in knowledge creation and skill formation.
Re-examining the Purpose of Private Higher Education in East Asia from the Institutional Logics Perspective
Ha T. Ngo, The University of New South Wales, AustraliaThis research aims to re-examine the purpose of private higher education (PHE) in three East Asian (EA) countries, namely Vietnam, China and Korea, using the concept of institutional logics as the theoretical basis. The research findings reveal that firstly, contemporary HE in these countries is strongly influenced by two main ideologies, namely Confucianism and Neoliberalism. These two ideologies are the major materials to construct logics that justify the functions and existence of HE in EA. Secondly, Neoliberalism, as the external ideology that has been widely adopted in contemporary HE in EA, categorises higher education institutions (HEIs) into public and private institutions, implying that public universities contribute to the public good while private HEIs only generate private benefits. Meanwhile, Confucianism, as the internal ideology on which HE of this region is deeply rooted, acknowledges both the public and private nature of HE. The empirical data collected from the three countries has also confirmed this argument, providing significant examples to illustrate the publicness and privateness of the two sectors. Based on this findings, I argue that the general, taken-for-granted categorization of public and private HEIs as suggested by Neoliberalism is unable to capture the complexity and ambiguity of the nature of HE in this region and may result in inappropriate policies. This study therefore, is theoretically and empirically significant in forming sound foundations to reconsider, restructure, and redesign the purpose of HE generally and of PHE in particular to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of HE in EA.
Online Teaching: An Unpredicted Silver Lining
Na'ama Sheffi, Sapir College, IsraelA-synchronic online teaching accords with the unique geographic location of Sapir Academic College. The college was founded in 1995 as part of the higher education revolution in Israel, aiming to add public colleges to the existing seven universities. Consequently, accessibility to higher education for the economic and geographic periphery would increase dramatically and new students, many of whom are first generation higher education students, would enter the Israeli academy. Also, the location of Sapir College near the Israeli-Gaza 1949 ceasefire border enforces un-planned semester breaks due to local armed eruptions. Such circumstances make online courses particularly valuable for the maintenance of continuity of academic studies in the college. It also helps students, frequently older than their western peers and often from disadvantaged backgrounds, maneuver between work, young family life and army reserve service. In this paper I shall argue that the necessity only emphasizes the classic advantages of online teaching: the accurate preparation of courses; the engagement of students in their studies; and an effective means of introducing liberal arts to social sciences students. My claim will be demonstrated through three models of a-synchronic online history courses: enrichment BA courses for large cross-campus classes; elective BA course for a small group of third-year communication students; and a mandatory MA course for film students.
Using Analytics to Uncover Early Determinants of Academic Performance for Adult Learners
Sylvia Chong, Singapore University of Social Sciences, SingaporeYew Haur Lee, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
By and large, the arrival of the digital age have accelerated the development of analytics to guide data-informed efforts in teaching and learning. This has also transformed the way how higher education institutions look to optimize student success. In this study, through the use of data mining techniques, the UNIVERSITY* gained a better understanding of variables that influenced the adult learners first year academic performance. In particular, the results from the CHAID (or Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector) model highlighted the importance of previous academic performance and behavioural variables such as credit units taken and withdrawn in predicting learners at risk. The findings resonated with the opinion that an adult learner may find it challenging to juggle the demands of higher education, work-life, and family-life concurrently, at the onset. Henceforth, this group of struggling adult learners may benefit from a better management of course loading, as early as possible.
Teaching in an International Setting: Perceptions of Excellent Teachers Between HK and US Community College Students
Ted Poon, Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hong KongJoseph Lau, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Hong Kong
Extensive research studies have looked at the characteristics of excellent teachers under the belief that teacher quality is a main contributor to excellent teaching. In this study, the characteristics of an excellent teacher from the viewpoint of students are investigated. Specifically, from the perspective of community college students, what constitute as the salient attributes and behaviours of an excellent community college teacher? In answering this question, a mixed-method research design is adopted. The quantitative technique (survey) was used in the first phase of this study. A questionnaire which was similar to the Teacher Behaviors Checklist (TBC) developed by the Auburn team (Buskist et. al. 2002) was adopted to identify the noticeable attributes and behaviours of “excellent teachers” as perceived by the community college students. 468 students (74.8% return rate) from a basic business management course of a community college in Hong Kong were surveyed with the TBC questionnaire. The results obtained were compared against a similar study based on US community college students (Schaeffer et. al. 2003). The findings of both studies are generally consistent; the only significant difference is on the strand of Respectful, denoting differences in culture and national backgrounds of the two student groups. The finding of this study sheds light on pedagogy in classroom settings consist of students from the international communities.
Reflections on Writing to Learn: Students’ and Teachers’ Voices in a Gender Studies Course
Kelvin Chu, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongJoseph Cho, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Jose Lai, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Katheleen Choi, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
One dominant model of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is Writing to Learn (WTL). Under this framework, writing is not only a communicative medium but also a mode of learning. By connecting the process of writing to the process of learning subject content, students engage in a discovery that enhances their overall comprehension of disciplinary knowledge. This study tracks the implementation of a collaborative project between the English Language Teaching Unit and the Gender Studies programme at a university in Hong Kong. In a semester-long course focusing on feminist theories, English language instructors offered three writing workshops within regular content subject lecture hours. The materials covered in these workshops were aligned with formative and summative writing prompts in the course, and sought to improve students’ understanding of the different approaches to communicating disciplinary concepts. This presentation will first describe the implementation model and then discuss students’ feedback on the writing workshops, which highlighted the benefits of WTL in their experience and provided a caveat on the importance of task design. Further, the presentation will reflect on the collaboration between language and content subject teachers, putting forward recommendations for future iterations of the project. The implications for the WTL model will be addressed as well.
Replacing Traditional Classroom Teaching With Blended Learning: Is It Effective in Improving Vocabulary?
Ruwini Dharmawardene, University of Colombo, Sri LankaAs learners enrolling in Business English Diploma course in the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka find it challenging to improve English business vocabulary, we explored whether different delivery modes influenced this outcome achievement. Three tutors taught the same content to three groups of students using face-to-face, online and blended modes over 3 months in the University of Colombo. With the face to face mode continuing as a control group (n=15), the blended (n=15) and online (n=15) groups received six online modules and four quizzes on vocabulary. While the online group received all lessons and quizzes online, the blended group received 70% of the materials online with six face to face lessons to cover up the balance 30% of the course. The control group too received the same vocabulary learning lesson materials and practiced these only in their face to face classes. While the three groups showed the performance as Blended mean score=43.07, Online mean score= 39.27, Face to face mean score =45.00 at the pre-test having sixty fill in the blank questions in dialogue completion, a similar course-end test showed the blended group to have scored significantly increased marks (mean score=51.20, t=-7.176, p=.000), compared to the others (Online mean score= 47.60, t= -5.593, p=.000, Face to face mean score =50.67, t= -5.330, p=000) at the significance level p < .005. This study, with further confirmatory evidence, can have implications for teaching Business English vocabulary in the context of teaching English as a second language in higher education.
Preparing Critically Conscious School Leaders of STEM
Evangeline Aguilera, University of Texas San Antonio, United StatesTimothy Yuen, University of Texas San Antonio , United States
Juan M. Niño, University of Texas San Antonio, United States
This research investigates how principal preparation programs in higher education settings help develop a critical consciousness within future principals in STEM. This nationally recognized cohort-based program takes a transformative approach to preparing school leaders through an explicit focus on social justice, intensive critical reflection, autoethnography, equity audit and community project. All activities are designed to engage students in identifying and examining the core beliefs and values that guide their educational philosophies and practices. Participants teach in communities where there is a high need to increase Latinx participation in STEM career fields. We were interested in studying how the strategies used to prepare of school leaders as transformative, reflective practitioners informed their perspective on how to lead STEM education. Qualitative research methods are used to assess the possible effects of transformative learning strategies on aspiring school leaders’ attitudes toward STEM. Participants were asked to discuss their perspective on what makes up the knowledge base that school administrators need to lead STEM and who has a voice in this discussion. Findings indicate that students believe that school leaders need to advocate for equity in STEM. This means ensuring access for all students, advocating for adequate quality resources, supporting strong instructional practices, and building community partnerships as key components. They stated that every teacher needed to be equipped with the resources necessary to ensure access to and progress in STEM. Findings suggest that participation in transformative learning processes may increase students' awareness and action as advocates for equity in STEM.
State, Universities and Society: Intertwined Roles and Relations in Modern Confucian Taiwan
Warangkana Lin, I-Shou University, TaiwanHigher education in Taiwan possesses a unique feature where the system has been built on western experiences in a seemingly modern democratic society with highly preserved traditional values. In these recent years, an impressive rise of higher education institutions in East Asia has drawn much attention from world scholars to understand the generative mechanisms of their success. The fundamental trait among East Asian Confucian societies is the role of the state that has long been salient in the higher education governance. Reporting a significant part of the findings from a research project funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan, this study examines roles and relationships of three actors – the state, universities and society. Despite the changing context of society that determines to embrace democracy, the role of the government remains strong in invigorating premier universities in Taiwan in their quest for world-class status. However, public opinion generated from civic society has increasingly become influential and often affects the government policies. These intertwined roles and coexisting power relations among the three have dialectically shaped Taiwan’s higher education landscape. Applying a critical realist framework, the study interrogates university-government relationship in Taiwan with a particular focus on how Taiwan’s premier universities work with the government and how the government maintains its support and influence through the system of checks and balances. In a larger extent, the study explores the reality concerning how society’s expectation has altered Taiwan’s political culture resulting in the shift of power relationship in higher education system. Adopting a case study research method, data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with academics and administrators at two premier universities and with policy makers who have been associated with higher education. Through an in-depth analysis of empirical phenomena and their underlying mechanisms, the study sheds light on some key opportunities and issues at systemic level for future direction of Taiwan’s higher education after a successful process of its development in the past years.
A Research on the Methodology of Establishing Cross-national University Partnerships – A Case Study
Ping Huang, Deakin University, AustraliaOpportunities created by globalisation have enabled universities to establish international partnerships with each other for several decades. Some practical challenges and difficulties arise during the process of establishing these partnerships. Therefore, the research objectives are: to investigate why universities establish partnerships with each other, to explore the methodology of universities establishing cross-national partnerships, to promote an understanding of establishing cross-national partnerships in practical and theoretical dimensions, and how the development of theories of collaboration and partnerships can inform the practice of educational administrators and policy makers. This research has selected two-pairs of university partnerships from both Australia and China. It has employed unstructured interviews to investigate why and how Australian and Chinese universities establish partnerships through interviewing twenty-five participants including university administrators, deans, coordinators, lecturers of students programs and researchers. It will utilise the concepts of Neoliberalism, Ranking and New Knowledge, and the theories of Stier’s Ideologies Framework together with Harre’s Positioning Theories to interrogate interview data to explore the methodologies that universities use when establishing partnerships. Firstly, it will explain why the globalisation of higher education pushes universities to establish transnational partnerships,as well as the understanding of the mission of higher education and some particular reasons for choosing each other. Secondly, it will analyse the process and strategies of setting up and maintaining partnerships. Then, it will cite evidence and argue some of the challenges and difficulties that occurred during the establishment and operation of these partnerships. Finally, some recommendations for establishing cross-national partnerships will be made.
Addressing the Uncertain Future: Self-Assessment Rubrics in University Education
Misa Otsuka, Jissen Women's Junior College, JapanKaoru Mita, Jissen Women's Junior College, Japan
Teruhiko Matsushima, Jissen Women's University, Japan
Mika Shirao, Jissen Women's University, Japan
Today’s rapidly changing world foments unprecedented anxiety about uncertainty, and we lack any specific remedy to solve this. Under such difficult conditions, universities, undoubtedly, play an important role. We faculty members are responsible for encouraging each student to develop his or her full potential. This is already reflected in three policies including the Diploma Policy or Degree Awarding Policy (DP) in each university. Our university, Jissen Women’s University joins the others in encouraging this trend. In DP, two attitudes related to depth of humanity and three abilities demonstrating independence are established, and each subject is tied to at least two of these five. The applicable attitudes and abilities appear in the course guide and syllabus of each subject; however, it is not certain that all students fully understand this program. Our present study investigates how the trial use of self-assessment rubrics can convey the importance of DP for each subject. This can help elucidate the degree of achievement in students’ studies and encourage them to self-reflect. In this presentation, we will show the results of our attempt to apply the DP in the general-purpose rubrics used across various departments in our university. The findings will shed light on the ideal role of universities and faculty members and what we can realistically do now.
Quality Audit: Facilitating Curriculum Alignment, Enrichment, and Enhancement
Maria Dolores Paculanang, Negros Oriental State University, PhilippinesCesar Estrope, Negros Oriental State University, Philippines
Negros Oriental State University has innovated a curriculum enrichment/enhancement that emphasizes both competencies and outcomes in the standards of its programs as reflected in the syllabuses. In its commitment to elevate students’ desirable performance as to the identified outcomes, the university formulated a Competency/Outcome-Based Education (COBE) framework encompassing competencies with specific learning outcomes in the College of Teacher Education. The Curriculum Quality Audit (CQA) strategy facilitates the construction of audit matrices that examine the alignment of course outcomes, content, assessment (OCA) and feedback to achieve course learning outcomes. Since the O-C-A constructive alignment is the focal point in the basic and differentiated curriculum maps, its mapping results are used to revisit the curriculum and as a basis for curriculum enrichment/enhancement.
Dictionaries and Reference Actions in Uncertain Futures
Misa Otsuka, Jissen Women's Junior College, JapanThe rapid speed of communication due to technological advancements in today’s world has deeply affected society. Linguistic behavior is not an exception and we can see the typical example in reference behaviors or consulting dictionaries. When we Japanese mainly wrote by hands, paper dictionaries were often used to be consulted to check the form of Chinese characters.
According to the results of the presenter’s survey, the function of character conversion in flip phones (an early type of mobile phone) replaced this role of dictionaries in the late 1990s, instead, dictionaries retrieved their own function to consult references for meanings. However, as soon as this phenomenon was recognized, smartphones appeared on the market and strongly influenced society. Moreover, lesser the face-to-face communication among individuals, the fewer times individuals ask others about the meaning of an unknown word. Presently, APP students do not consult a dictionary; instead, they input the phrase “what is …?” into a search engine. Their subsequent search is a hash-tag search of social networking service. No one could have forecasted this phenomenon 30 years ago.
This presentation reviews how the activity of consulting dictionaries has changed from 2002 to 2018 Furthermore, it investigates the significance of the existence of dictionaries and discusses whether paper dictionaries can persist across the centuries. The findings help predict how linguistic behavior in the context of smartphones could change communication in the next decade.
Complex Dynamics, Asian Higher Education, and Global University Rankings
Riyad Shahjahan, Michigan State University, United States (Chair)William Lo, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Ryan Allen, Chapman University, United States
Anatoly Oleksiyenko, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Amid debates about global university rankings (GURs), there has been growing attention to the institutional impact and policy utility of GURs in Asian HE, alongside the growing mediatisation of ‘Asia’ rising in GURs. This panel of four papers addresses and nuances this above debate by presenting conceptual and empirical accounts of contemporary national and regional case studies of GURs impact on Asian HE institutions, academics, policymakers, alongside probing rankers role in constructing a social imaginary of Asian HE. The first paper examines Taiwanese case, illuminating the recent national policy changes with respect to global university rankings and its higher education development. The second paper builds on the first, by highlighting the plight of Chinese ‘striving’ HEIs. Based on interviews with 48 academics and administrators from Chinese universities, it explores the striving behaviors of Chinese universities in response to global competition with international rankings. Based on critical discourse analysis of scholarly/policy texts and interviews with Chinese, Russian, Kazakhstani and Mongolian experts, the third paper illuminates Eurasian academics affective responses when encouraged by China to compete in the western-dominated university rankings. The final paper adds a cultural studies perspective to debate, illuminating the ways in which Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) websites’s visual imagery constructs a social imaginary of Asian HE, reproducing particular imagined communities and imagined selves, in an era of platform capitalism.
Presentation 1
Are Global University Rankings Still Important? Perspectives from Taiwan
The prevalence of global university rankings in Taiwan was largely attributed to the aspirational goal of building world-class universities. However, a new initiative known as the Higher Education Sprout Project emphasises the importance of the link between universities and local communities. This new policy initiative illustrates a shift from an outward-oriented strategy that is featured by an eagerness to transplant norms and standards from the West for achieving the world-class status to a relatively inward-oriented approach that highlights university social responsibility. Owing to their close alignment with the outward-oriented strategy adopted for higher education, global university rankings were influential in Taiwan. However, the recent shift toward a relatively inward-oriented approach may imply that the close alignment no longer exits. Based on this observation, this paper discusses the possible impact of the policy change on the relevance of global university rankings to the higher education development in Taiwan.
Presentation 2
Adding an International Lens to the University Striving Model: Influences of Global and Local University Rankings on the Chinese Higher Education Hierarchy
Institutions that are most attuned to university rankings are known as “strivers.” These striving universities chase prestige by altering policies to match league table indicators, while also benchmarking against elite universities within the domestic hierarchy. However, this model has mostly been posited through studies in the United States and it has not been considered in non-Western contexts. Through interviews with 48 academics and administrators from Chinese universities, I explore striving behaviors in China and expand the US-centric model to include global competition with international rankings. I find that striving universities in China have placed considerable emphasis on international rankings, but distinctions from the central government have still dominated competition within the domestic hierarchy. Isomorphic pressures brought from rankings must be balanced between the local and global. These new considerations offer a global outlook on the domestic university striving model.
Presentation 3
In China’s Shadow on the Westward Road? Global University Rankings and Eurasian Academic Anxieties
The post-Soviet Eurasians can easily relate to China’s transformation strategies, given the similarities in their shared discourse and practice championed by the Soviet university model. However, they are also cognizant of the dilemmas that accompany global academic competition, with its demanding standards and international audits. Drawing on insights from scholarly publications, policy reports, expert interviews in research universities in China and Russia, and expert communities in Kazakhstan and Mongolia, this paper employs critical discourse analysis to examine how the reinterpretation and reengagement of the Soviet political, economic, and educational legacies contributes to mitigating anxieties in the Eurasian higher education when it is trying to catch up with the Chinese progress in global university rankings. The paper argues that China has significant impact in the like-minded intellectual space (especially in Russia), when political forces seek to redefine the global hierarchy of knowledge development for defiance of Western hegemony.
Presentation 4
Unpacking the Social Imaginary of ‘Asian’ Higher Education: Visual Campus Gaze and Global University Rankings (GURs) Websites
Amid debates about global university rankings (GURs), very few have closely examined how GURs’ media outlets construct meanings of higher education (HE) in their visual representations. Furthermore, there has been increasing mediatization of Asia's universities rise in prominence in GURs relative to established Western counterparts. To address these trends and gaps, it critically examines 135 publicly available visual media (photographs) in the Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) websites to uncover the rankers’ ‘Asian visual gaze’ to extend our understandings of GURs and the significance of Asian universities within global discourse. Drawing on Arjun Appadurai’s ‘imaginary,’ Stuart Hall’s heuristics of representation, and attending to photographic techniques, it posits that THE and QS GUR imagery constructs a ‘social imaginary’ of Asian HE simultaneously as a: 1) technological frontier, 2) site of educational prestige, and 3) environmental and cultural paradise.
Internationalization Strategies for China’s Higher Vocational Education in a Socialist Market Economy
Qian Huang, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongJisun Jung, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
To cope with the globalized world, higher education institutions in China have adopted different internationalization strategies. However, among many studies about internationalization of higher education, there is little on higher vocational education (HVE). The research aims to examine the internationalization strategies of China’s HVE in a socialist market economy. Literature on policy borrowing and its application on vocational education were reviewed. Documents at the national, provincial, institutional and industry level were collected in this research including education yearbooks, annual reports on HVE, regulations and policies at national and provincial level, official webpages and documents at school level. Also, selective higher vocational institutes from different areas of mainland China were covered in the document analysis. Moreover, the websites of partner multinational companies were reviewed to find related policies and news. The preliminary results showed that China’s higher vocational institutes have been borrowing vocational education policies from different countries and adapting the policies to its own situation, for instance, borrowing policies from German dual-system model, Australian TAFE model and UK modern apprenticeship model. Meanwhile, HVE institutes have industry-school partnership with multinational companies covering student internship, industry field trips, curriculum design, work transit training. This study is valuable to bring historical approaches to show how China’s HVE has developed in a globalized world, and how HVE has interacted with Chinese industry and its socialist market economy.
Influence of Social Media in Undergraduates Writing: Where are they heading?
Namal Wickramasekera, University of Colombo, Sri LankaEnglish is a living language and it is changing every day. Words originating from social media have an effect on the popular usage of the English language especially in the new generation of students. The problem arises when the undergraduate are using some of the words in their academic writing. If the undergraduate are linguistically underprivileged in the English language they are not able to differentiate formal language from informal language. This study was carried out as a classroom-based action research with qualitative and quantities data. Thirty, first-year low proficient in English undergraduate who are following lectures in English medium were taken as the sample. They were given five writing tasks and a questioner was also administrated to obtain their background with the semi-structured interviews. The study found out a lot of Facebook language was used in their writings. Those who lack English proficiency was affected the most. The uses of acronyms substituting the whole sentences, the words add, like, block used in giving an entirely new meaning but very inappropriately in their writing. Technology has made a transition into undergraduates’ writing especially the Facebook however we have to teach them the correct usage.
Internationalisation Under the Spotlight: University Teaching Collaboration
Bregham Dalgliesh, University of Tokyo, JapanIn 2012, the University of Tokyo (UT) launched the English-mediated PEAK undergraduate degree. One of its remits is to provide high-quality courses that are innovative in both content and delivery. To this end, in 2014 collaboration was established with the Swedish higher education foundation, STINT. Each year PEAK hosts a visiting STINT Swedish professor and in 2015 Dan Öberg (Swedish Defence University) took up the position. Through a common research interest and teaching philosophy, Öberg and myself (Bregham Dalgliesh [UT]) launched a spin-off project to deepen internationalisation by teaching a single course taught across both institutions. This paper is an account of the process of implementing this venture in respect of the neoliberal university organisation. In spite of the mantra of universities to internationalise, actually doing so is far from (what one might expect to be) easy. Numerous hurdles have to be negotiated, such as spatio-temporal logistics (incompatible semester schedules and course modes), institutional constraints (recognition of credits and different evaluation criteria), teaching and service duties of faculty (collaboration is in addition to normal duties) and the suitability of students (different levels of students and departmental specialisations). The paper concludes with a reflection upon what it means to internationalise, for both faculty and students but also for the university as an organisation that is caught up in a neoliberal organisational logic that decouples the possibility to control the conditions that enable internationalisation – typically under the control of university administrators – from the actual implementation of it by faculty.
Rethinking the Design of Internship Practicum: What Education is Meant for
Yeuk Nam Ng, Lingnan University, Hong KongInternship is gaining its popularity among students and employers. However, this precarious job is loosely monitored and subjected to the university's orientation and implementation. The research is a student-led project funded by Hong Kong Sociological Association in 2019. Choosing a practicum programme introduced in some of the UGC institutions, and by the voices of students, partner organisations and academic staff, there is a call to rethink having internship as part of the curriculum, or as part of the graduation requirement in relation to social class and the philosophy of education. In terms of the curriculum design, qualitative data shows less privileged students are in vulnerable positions but willing to exploit themselves in paving the way for graduate employment. Granting credits ensue the class-oriented models on the use of time, especially when underprivileged have limited resources to endow themselves for better future, but getting trapped in impasse of managing their budget by participating in routinisd part-time work. It is therefore suggested to have alternative part-time positions that meet both ends from students' perspective. Assessment tools are needed to be reviewed, especially when scholars' professional fail to produce material that truly and wholly reflect students' learning outcome nor getting the voices of employers heard. Further recommendations are made based on stakeholders' opinion and has been adopted. Otherwise speaking, a bottom-up approach contributes and fine-tunes the practicum/curriculum that takes parties' interests and concerns into account.
Give Me a Place to Make-sense, and I Shall Move the World? – Field Study Abroad on Corporate Social Responsiblity
Yuen wah Li, Baruch Consulting, Hong KongWhat kinds of teaching and learning strategy used in the subject of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that are deemed effective, in terms of changing students’ attitude and value towards what business is about and for? This presentation aims to show the evaluation result of adopting field study trip abroad as an active learning approach in raising business students’ appreciation and support of CSR intent, strategy and practices in organizations. The target students were studying full-time for an one-year Master programme in business management in Hong Kong, who chose field study trip abroad as an elective course. The trip was held for 5 consecutive days in South Korea where social entrepreneurship initiatives are soaring, comprising company visits that were famous for their dedication to CSR or social entrepreneurship (SE), forums / seminars, and etc., as co-organized with a local social enterprise. Students were required to attend pre-trip activities, complete individual and group assignments, and choose a visit company as the group’s study case before the trip, and submit a case study report for the chosen company within a month after the trip. Students were invited to participate in an online survey before and after the trip, where their perceptions about the primary responsibilities of a company, and how a “well-run” company should be defined (adapted from Aspen Institute, 2008), and their ranking of business responsibilities (adapted from Haski-Leventhal, 2013), were gauged, along with personal characteristics. Reflective papers submitted by individual students after the trip will also be reviewed as qualitative inputs.
Bridging Technological Uncertainties: Fostering Globalized Higher Education
Maria Theresa Pelones, Mindanao State University - General Santos City, PhilippinesAida Docena, Mindanao State University - General Santos City, Philippines
Quality education plays a pivotal role for teachers in pursuit for technological advancement to become competent, resilient, productive and globalized individuals in this volatile, uncertain, fast changing, and ambiguous world of education. The digital divide is getting wider and failure to meet the demand would mean deepening the gap between learners, students and its learning environment.
In General Santos City, Philippines the study dwell on how the tertiary schools both private and state university are taking the challenge in providing adequate technological equipment and globalized competent teachers ready to embrace the 21st century schools.
The study revealed that the ratio of school and computer laboratory is 1:4, with an average of 110 computer units per laboratory and with 10 regular laptops intended for teachers use in ICT classroom integration. The laboratories have adequate technological equipment and facilities which are necessary for the full functioning of the computer operations & programs. In terms of connectivity, tertiary schools has an average of 100 units connected to the internet with a speed ranging from 30mbps-100mbps only and were connected using Fiber optic. Teachers in the tertiary were also found to be moderately competent in basic computer literacy and ICT integration in the classroom while they are highly competent in information literacy. It is evident that most of the tertiary schools doesn’t have specific continuing programs or short courses for teachers instead capability building needs to be requested or organized by the group or department who would like to undergo the training.
Facilitating Student Learning to Go Beyond Knowledge and Skills: A Case on Teaching Business Research by Action-Learning Project Approach
Yuen Wah Li, Baruch Consulting, Hong KongSignificant learning concerns with not the least acquisition and application of knowledge and skills, but also knowing oneself and others, developing one’s caring, as well as learning how to learn (Fink, 2003). Project-based learning in general, and action-learning project approach in particular, are promising to bring about student learning that goes beyond cognitive development (DeFillippi & Milter, 2009; Raelin, 2009; Revans, 1998). The presentation is about a pilot case in a local university in Hong Kong where action-learning project approach was adopted to teaching business research for graduate students as a 3-credit mandatory course. Students, each in a group of 5-7, were engaged in a real-company research project throughout the semester from problem definition to presentation of the final report, along with conventional classroom learning. Apart from academic performance as measured by quizzes and project reports, students’ learning outcomes were assessed (quantitatively) in terms of their attitudes toward research in general, research self-efficacy, attitude toward business statistics, information literacy self-efficacy, and etc., with an aid of pre- and post-class surveys. Students’ reflective papers were also reviewed with the attempt to draw qualitative themes on their takeaways as well as unmet expectations from the course. It was found that, though students did not feel easier about doing research as a result of the course, they were more confident in dealing with research and information. Besides, effective teamwork was found grown out of the project process, as well as providing the context for student learning.
Inclusive Education in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria: How Far, How Well
Samuel Adeniyi, University of Lagos, NigeriaThe provision of Education for All citizens in a country is a sin qua non for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal. However, the facilities required in the provision of such education vary particularly among citizens with disabilities. As a result, this study assessed the supporting facilities for undergraduates with disabilities in tertiary institutions in Lagos State. The population of the study comprised all undergraduates with disabilities in public tertiary institutions in Lagos State. Ex-post facto research design was used. Six tertiary institutions which include Federal and State Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education were selected using simple random sampling technique. A total sample size of thirty-one (31) undergraduates with disability was selected. Focus Group Discussion, Observation/Photo Documentation and Facilities Assessment Checklist were used to gather data. Three research questions were answer in the study. Data gathered were analysed using descriptive analysis tools. The findings showed that efforts made providing supporting facilities to undergraduates with disability is still below expectation. Also, there is paucity of faculties in our tertiary institutions. From the findings, it was recommended that supporting facilities such ramp, lifts, radio, audio, and visual aids and interpreters should be made adequate and available in our tertiary institutions. Conscious and deliberate effort should be made to employ personnels to handle undergraduates with different forms of disability in our institutions since the enrolment tilted towards limited types of disabilities. Value re-orientation should be carried out via our media on the need to educate and employ persons with disability.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Engagement and Awareness in VPET in Hong Kong
Fiona Luk, Vocational Training Council, Hong KongRechell Lam, Vocational Training Council, Hong Kong
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is widely promoted and used in USA, Canada, UK and Australia since 1990s. SoTL encourages teachers to plan and evaluate the relationship between learning and teaching when practicing their teaching pedagogy. Through the process, research capability of teachers will be enhanced. As in the Report of the Task Force on Promotion of Vocational Education in 2015, it has recommended that enhancing the research capability of Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) institutions is one of the strategies to strengthen the promotion of VPET. To assist the growth of research capability, SoTL can be one of the approaches to be considered. This study aims to explore the engagement and awareness of using SoTL in VPET in Hong Kong. A questionnaire was designed based on the structure of CASTL survey from the Carnegie Foundation. Teaching staff in Vocational Training Council, who attended the research and teaching skills training workshops during March to June 2019, were invited to fill in the questionnaire. 69 completed questionnaires were collected and analysed. The findings provided the initial review on VPET teachers’ awareness and engagement in SoTL in Hong Kong. It could be used as reference for the policy establishment that supports the VPET research capability development in the future.
Institutional Strategy and Knowledge Sharing in Higher Education
Hidehiro Nakajima, Nagoya University, JapanThis study aims to describe the process of implementing institutional strategies for quality improvement of teaching and research in colleges and universities as a consequence of knowledge sharing and collective understandings of the strategies among the member of staff and faculty. We examine what kind of interpretation and learning can promote actions towards the achievement of goals shown in the strategic plan. To this purpose, this study endeavors to describe the knowledge transfer process, focusing on how each department in the institution interprets the strategy and how they exchanged them with other departments. Qualitative surveys are performed at two Japanese institutions which are renowned for successful institutions with presidential leadership in the journal for university executives. The results indicate that organizational learning capabilities determine the level of collective understandings. The results imply that shared vocabularies or “learning” in Carlile (2004) play an essential role to interpret the goals and to create shared meanings among the member. Carlile’s model of organizational knowledge flows consist of three conditions as the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic boundary. The theoretical implication of this study suggests that semantic boundary is crucial for knowledge transfer at the collegial organization such as higher education institutions. Therefore, the implication for managers and executives is that focusing on learning and translating knowledge will contribute to engaging faculty and staff to the institutional strategic plan.
Peer Feedback, Does It Really Work?
Gonca Subasi, Anadolu University, TurkeyThe main purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of training for peer feedback on the development of writing skills of the students and also to explore their opinions about this training. For this purpose, an empirical study was conducted with 32 first year students who were enrolled in the ELT Department of Faculty of Education at Anadolu University. The participants were trained in providing constructive peer feedback and asked to write a total of 3 different types of essays. Firstly, they were asked to write an essay. Then, they were required to provide written comments on each other’s writings and revise their essays after having given written feedback. The first and revised drafts were collected and scored holistically by two scorers through the ESL Composition Profile. The written comments on the first drafts were also collected and analyzed by the same scorers via the “Coding Scheme for Students’ Written Comments” and the “Rating Scale for Students’ Written Comments”. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview was carried out with some students to reveal their opinions about peer feedback and the training procedure. The results of the study revealed that the students produced better writing quality in the revised drafts compared to the first drafts. The findings also indicated that training students for peer feedback led to significantly more and significantly better-quality feedback. Finally, the interview results yielded that the students developed a positive attitude towards peer feedback and they were aware of the potential benefits of it.
Precarious Cosmopolitans in Taiwan’s Higher Education: A Study of Creative and Multicultural Programs
Yu-Hsuan Lee, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, TaiwanMy research is to examine Taiwan’s programs for the emergence of new human resources. It shows a sense of precarious cosmopolitanisms manifested in schools and labor markets. From the early 2000s, Taiwan’s governments followed a program of creative industries and facilitated it to universities and colleges who aspired to use it in revitalizing traditional curriculums and faculties in humanity and social science. Creative human resources were used as catalyst to the new economy and the growth of urban entrepreneurialism. Likewise, with a growing tension between Taiwan and China, there was another episode arriving around 2016 when the New Southbound Policy was launched to reorient Taiwan’s source of human resources, industries and market to emerging multicultural entities in South and Southeast Asia. I am puzzled what are at stake for Taiwan’s higher education producing these human resources as (precarious) labors. I found creative industries program around mid-2010s did not resolve the shortage of students but came up with structural problems like the precarious labor market and shutdown of schools and departments. As for another imperfect cosmopolitan policy – the New Southbound Policy, a work-study system did not step outside conventional exploitations, prejudices and discrimination. Thus, a moral obligation to the emergence of both creative and multicultural talents cosmopolitans in schools is in question. These cosmopolitans were actually plural and particular, but they were bonded together to fuel a long standing precarious problem of higher education.
Universities and their Engagements with Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Initiatives: An Environmental Scan
Manasvini Narayana, eConcordia/KnowledgeOne Inc., CanadaWynnpaul Varela, eConcordia/KnowledgeOne Inc., Canada
Jihan Rabah, eConcordia/KnowledgeOne Inc., Canada
The ongoing rise of digitally immersive technologies is hard to ignore. According to a recent study by the Global Virtual Reality Association, by 2020 the augmented and virtual reality (AR-VR) sector will create an estimated 225,000 to 480,000 jobs in Europe alone. Come 2025, the global economic impact of immersive technologies is expected to reach USD 80 billion. And in the probable race for dominance, AR’s fusion of virtual reality and real life is likely to triumph over VR’s alternate digital reality model, with the former on track to generate revenues of 90 billion USD by 2022, in contrast to VR’s projected 15 billion. Unsurprisingly, the rapid evolution of AR-VR in higher education raises important questions about how best to establish intelligent AR, VR, and simulations programs that truly enhance learning outcomes. To better understand the current adoption of immersive technologies, this environmental scan provides an overview of how institutions of higher education are presently engaging with digitally immersive technologies—both academically and administratively. This scan also emphasizes industry and university collaborations where they occur. For the purposes of this report, however, the environmental scan takes the primary perspective of the universities and does not include a scan of industry players or their perspective of AR-VR in higher education.
Towards Complementarity and Curricular Improvements of the Courses on Strategies for Personal Development, Freshmen Orientation Seminar, and Understanding the Self
Amor Mia Arandia, Jose Rizal University, PhilippinesReynold Padagas, Jose Rizal University, Philippines
Melfi Caranto, Jose Rizal University, Philippines
Teachers must be responsive enough to the learning needs of their students. To effect learning, the teachers need to adequately prepare themselves to deliver quality instruction with unquestionable amount of knowledge, skills, and values. Such preparation is challenging and it takes teachers to become more open-minded and admit that there really are rooms for further improvements in the way they teach their courses and determine student progress through various methods of assessments. In the Philippines, the introduction of additional two years in high school, popularly known as senior high school, created obvious tons of challenges in the tertiary curriculum. Understanding the Self (UTS C101), a new general education subject in college is believed to be overlapping in terms of content with Strategies for Personality Development (PD), a course in Senior High School (SHS), and Freshmen Orientation Seminar (FOS 101), a unique course taken by freshmen college students in Jose Rizal University (JRU). Since the courses are reputed to be related and presumed intertwined in terms of curricular contents, the researchers embarked into a comparative document analysis of the instructional designs or course syllabi of the three courses. Upon review, findings showed similarities and dissimilarities of lessons, teaching strategies, and student assessment methods. To effect positive change, a policy brief has been developed to address the gaps identified in the results. This is imperative to help improve pedagogy, outcomes-based education curriculum delivery, as well as the formative, summative, and authentic assessments of student learning in UTS C101, PD, and FOS 101.
Enhancing Generic Competency Development
Vanessa Liu, Singapore University of Social Sciences, SingaporeCalvin Cheng, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Joseph Lee, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Joseph So, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
The importance of international education has been recognized by various stakeholders, including employers, universities, and graduates. Also known as study abroad or student exchange, international education offers a number of perceived benefits in developing graduate competences and skills. Very little research, however, reported on the effect of international education on generic competency development. This study aims to address this gap in the literature. A case study was conducted with close to 400 participants of a study abroad program of a self-financed tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The participants were required to take part in study abroad programs held within and outside Asia respectively. The program curriculum includes lectures, company visits, service learning and other cultural experiential activities. Students were asked to complete a survey about whether they learned and improved their problem-solving skills and communication effectiveness after their study abroad experience. As supplementary analyses, a study abroad program director with more than 15 years of experience in conducting international education was interviewed on his perception on the impact of studying abroad on generic competency development. Our findings show that international education is salient to the development of generic competency. In particular, the choice of a foreign program location was found to lead to significantly greater improvement in communication skills. Engagement in service-learning enabled students to acquire significantly more extra-curricular knowledge. Implications were drawn to develop guidelines on the design of study abroad programs to enhance generic competency development.
How to Improve Nurses’ Capability for Electrocardiogram Interpretation in Higher Education Training?
Jonathan Ka-Ming Ho, The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong KongCaroline Hau-Yee Yau, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, Hong Kong
Chi-Yip Wong, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong
Jason Sung-Shan Tsui, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong
Background: Electrocardiogram is the first-line diagnostic test for evaluating chest pain which is a typical sign of cardiovascular disease. However, nurses lack capability of interpreting electrocardiogram although electrocardiogram interpretation is included in most curricula of higher education. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the capability of nurses for electrocardiogram interpretation and thus suggest how to improve their capability for electrocardiogram interpretation in higher education training. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A convenience sample of 96 nurses was obtained from two acute general hospitals in Hong Kong. The capability of nurses for electrocardiogram interpretation was determined by a self-developed questionnaire consisting of 10 questions about electrocardiogram interpretation (Content validity index: 0.98; Cronbach’s alpha: 0.72). Each question carried one point so that the maximum score was 10 points. The higher the score, the higher was the capability of nurses for electrocardiogram interpretation. Results: The mean score achieved by the participants was 7.7 ± 1.8. Over 90% of the participants were able to recognize asystole, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, atrial flutter, and normal sinus rhythm. A significant proportion of the participants could not recognize first-degree heart block (74.0%), second-degree heart block (52.1%), and third-degree heart block (39.6%). Conclusions: The capability of nurses for electrocardiogram interpretation was generally satisfactory. Nevertheless, the curricula of higher education should be strengthened to help nurses recognize different kinds of heart block that can be life threatening; hence early and appropriate treatment can be initiated for those patients.
Cross-Cultural Student Encounters in a Transnational University Collaboration: Struggles for Cultural and Academic Recognition
Alexander Støvelbæk, Roskilde University, DenmarkBetween 1995 and 2015, China established over 61 transnational university collaborations with primarily European and North American (He 2015). These institutions offer international higher education, sometimes as dual degrees, to both Chinese and foreign students in China, and contribute to the increasing reputation of Chinese higher education (Yang 2018). Accepting both Chinese and foreign students, many transnational universities in China are spaces for cultural encounters on a student level, shaping students’ study experiences and learning processes in complex and still unknown ways.
This presentation will present the findings from a three-week ethnographic field work at a Sino-Danish university in Beijing, focussing on how Master’s students from Denmark and China experience and cope with cross-cultural encounters in an intercultural learning environment. Applying Bourdieu’s socio-analytical framework, stressing the symbolic dimension of culture and social life, and with plenty of empirical examples, the presentation will show how the students draw on wider social and political struggles and a global cultural and academic hierarchy, dominated by an idea of Western superiority. However, the Western hegemony is contested and challenged by some Chinese students, struggling for the recognition of their academic competencies and cultural background. This contestation is partly legitimized by the rise in global recognition of the Chinese higher education system, and China’s increasing economic and political influence globally. As such, the presentation provides an empirically founded perspective on how globalization and internationalization impacts students learning processes in higher education.
Teachers’ Experimenting With an Innovative Practice in Their EFL Classes
Neslihan Aydemir, Anadolu University, TurkeyRoles of teachers and students alike have evolved into partnerships in the learning process. Changing roles means that teachers need more opportunities for continuing their education on the job. Meeting learner needs in the classroom means meeting teacher needs to be prepared for the classroom. Accepting the need to change, the researcher believes that teachers should be encouraged to try new things, and reflect on its consequences to bring these new things (innovations) into their own teaching practices. By learning and changing, teachers are investing in their programs and the benefits for both teachers and students are significant. For teachers, these include increased instructional effectiveness, high morale, and job satisfaction. For students, the benefits include student satisfaction and effective, enjoyable learning Gardner’s theory of a pluralistic idea of intelligences has been the initiative of this study. The researcher, believing that the pluralistic view of mind will contribute to teaching practices and learning environment in the School of Foreign Languages at Anadolu University, designed a study in which voluntary teachers experiment with the innovation-MI theory in their EFL reading classes. This study is conducted in the hope that its findings will lead teachers to have a wide range of teaching strategies by using MI theory in their classrooms which will end up with a more effective teaching/learning environment.
Becoming Entrepreneurial and Innovative: Repurposing the Debate in Indian Higher Education
Manasi Thapliyal Navani, Ambedkar University Delhi, IndiaA significant challenge that characterises the Indian higher education (HE) system is that of simultaneously addressing the issues of scale, cost and quality. HE in India is still considered the last refuge of the ‘license raj’, with severe political, administrative and regulatory interference in every aspect of the sector, from admission policies, governance, funding, salaries, and even curriculum. Unwieldy focus on narrowly specialised research institutions instead of multidisciplinary research universities has skewed the institutional landscape adversely. Within such a centralised and excessively controlling regulatory framework, diversity has become a casualty by design. Given India’s demographic profile, innovation is also not simply a matter of choice but imminent to reimagine the prototype, nature and purpose of HEIs. Amidst a transforming political economy and emergent global imperatives, alternative imaginations of the roles of HEIs are required; which is more likely in a policy environment that allows for institutional diversity to flourish and rewards innovation among institutions. This paper draws on the experience of a Delhi-based liberal arts university, to explore how it may be possible to navigate past the rigidities of bureaucratic control and engage with the idea of what an entrepreneurial university can look like in the Indian context. What could be its pre-requisites? What can engender change and innovation within the institutional design of a public-funded university? Within this framework, this paper would focus on the challenges and opportunities that inhere in public universities’ tryst with organisational and curricular innovation and the imagination of the entrepreneurial.
Fake News: Origins, Consequences for Students, Scholars and Teachers, and Recommended Solutions
Bernard Montoneri, National Chengchi University, TaiwanSir Tim Berners-Lee stated in 2017 that "misinformation, or fake news, which is surprising, shocking, or designed to appeal to our biases, can spread like wildfire." The inventor of the World Wide Web considers 'fake news' as one of the three most disturbing Internet trends. Children and students have not been sufficiently educated on these threats and lack media literacy. A 2018 UK survey shows for example that only 2% of schoolchildren in the UK are able to recognize fake news. The expression 'fake news' got selected by Collins Dictionaries as the ‘word’ of the year 2017. Collins also selected ‘echo chamber’ as one of the top expressions of 2017. In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries selected ‘post-truth’ as the word of the year 2016 because emotion and personal belief seem to have become more “influential in shaping public opinion” than objective facts and because “truth itself has become irrelevant”. Students and teachers need to improve their critical thinking skills and to take the habit to do fact-checking. Plagiarism and fake papers are at a record high and an increasing number of people mistrusts experts and challenge the notions of facts and Truth. This presentation aims at shedding light on the origins of the expression 'fake news', at evaluating its impact on higher education and the pursuit of truth and knowledge, at looking at its perception among students and academics, and at recommending some solutions on how to tackle this new threat to Higher Education and Academia.
Exploring Experiences and Challenges of Junior Female Academics (JFAs) in Japanese Universities
Yangson Kim, Hiroshima University, JapanMachi Sato, Hiroshima University, Japan
The purpose of this study is to explore experiences of female academics in Japan especially focus on the academics who are preparing to be faculty members or who are in the first stage of academic career in university. Japanese higher education has dramatically changed since the early 2000s and this was based on neoliberal policy for enhancing the competitiveness and effectiveness of higher education in a global society. Moreover, the application of a limited tenure system in Japanese higher education, where lifetime employment and guaranteed academic autonomy is valued, is directly related to the academic lives and activities of junior academics (Kano, 2015). In this situation, this study digs into experiences of Japanese junior female academics as one of minor groups of academia whom the national and institutional policies have been applied to involve but still have some limitations to take a part actively in. As a theoretical framework, the perspective of “professional growth” of faculty members from O’Meara, Terosky, and Neumann (2008) was applied to understand the junior academics in the socio-cultural contexts mainly based on the academic culture with intersectional influence of gender. For the study, seven female junior academics were interviewed with semi-structured questions. The study could provide implications to encourage participation of females in the diversity of academic society looking through the current status and challenges of female junior academics in Japan.
Japanese Higher Education in the Reiwa Era: Prospects for 2040
Shangbo Li, University of International Business and Economics, ChinaWhat are the prospects for Japanese higher education in the Reiwa era, which began on May 1, 2019? Some hints are given by two reports issued in 2018 by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (hereafter, MEXT).
First, on November 26, 2018, MEXT issued a policy report entitled “Grand Design for Higher Education toward 2040.” Against the background of sharp population decline and great changes in economic and social development, the report comprehensively examined the blueprint of higher education through 2040 from many angles, in order to enable higher education institutions to play their due role for Japanese society. According to the report, by 2040 higher education should be transformed into learner-centered education; Japan’s educational research system should be more diversified and more flexible; and the government should improve the quality assurance system for higher education at the university level.
Taken together, these two MEXT reports clearly describe the outline of Japanese higher education in the Reiwa era. This presentation (1) introduces the reports, (2) asks “what directional adjustments have taken place in Japanese higher education?,” and (2) sets out to explore the implication of these adjustments in order to clarify their impacts in Japanese society in the Reiwa era. Sources used include Japanese government documents, data related to Japanese higher education, and the results of previous research.
Eliminate Degrees! Exploring Radical Restructuring of Higher Education for Knowledge Societies
John Lowe, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, ChinaZhen Li, Xiamen University, China
Claims that HE has undergone radical change are contrasted with the observation that the basic structure of teaching and learning provision, in the form of three levels of degree-bearing courses, has changed little if at all over centuries. While critical energies have been vehemently directed at issues such as new structures of institutional governance, we continue with a programmes structure that is archaic - and has been further entrenched by the Bologna process - but which exhibits deep dysfunctionalities.
We question current HE programme structures in relation to contemporary social and individual needs and to affordances offered by developments that support provision of more flexible and relevant education. We suggest that personal, social and economic needs would be better served by abandoning fixed degree programmes and introducing more flexible linkages between universities and the social, cultural and economic demands and stakeholders they serve. We extend the notion of ‘unbundling’ of university programmes to question the need for ‘fixed-point’ qualifications, suggest examples of how this might be done, and argue these might ameliorate social pathologies in current HE.
We use China as a context to illustrate our more general points since China offers both common dysfunctional HE features, and some more locally specific concerns. Of the former we highlight qualification inflation and intense positional competition, and amongst the latter we identify a feature of contemporary Chinese society that concerns us as educators: the role of HE in an oppressive social structuring of narrow ‘life trajectories’ for Chinese youth, from childhood onwards.
The Need for Academic Writing Support for Undergraduates in an English Medium Tertiary Institution in Malaysia
Timothy Wong, Monash University Malaysia, MalaysiaRajani Chandra Mohan, Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia
The status of English as a global language seems to be reinforced as there is a growing trend of Asian students seeking tertiary education in English-medium institutions in Asia. These institutions tend to set English language entry requirements based on standardised tests of English such as IELTS and TOEFL. However, these tests seldom reflect a true picture of the students’ academic writing capabilities. Consequently, the demands of academic writing in English-medium institutions pose a challenge to a significant portion of undergraduate students. It falls upon the shoulders of the institution, then, to provide the necessary academic writing support for students who require guidance in this area. As this form of support is supplementary, it is necessary to determine the specific areas of academic writing that are problematic for students. This study reports the results of an (ongoing) online needs-analysis survey of undergraduate students in a private English-medium university in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to explore students' perceptions of their abilities in basic and academic writing skills in English and to identify areas in which they may require language support. The results reveal that at least 50% of the students would seek assistance in writing assignments. The data also showed that the most commonly identified deficiencies were summarising, finding support or evidence for arguments and writing about abstract concepts. This paper concludes by discussing the implementation of an appropriate academic writing support course that fulfils the requirements of a range of academic disciplines.
A Survey of the Problems, Wants, and Abilities of Writing Skill of Secretaries
Pasiree Kanhasuwan, Silpakorn University, ThailandEnglish language becomes an obvious key tool for success in international businesses. Secretaries play a crucial role to manage company administrative duties. Although they are exposed to the target language daily, writing problems in various types of documents still occur. Besides, the needs of English for their profession have scarcely been revealed. Specifically, only a few sources focus on English writing development for secretary. This study aims at investigating problems, wants, and abilities of the English writing skills of secretary using quantitative and qualitative methods. Questionnaires were distributed to thirty secretaries and ten managers to explore problems and wants in the field. Furthermore, in order to get in-depth information, the authentic written work-related documents were submitted by the secretaries to examine their English writing abilities in terms of grammar, content, word choices, and mechanics and style. The results showed that the problems were mainly found and perceived in minutes, emails, and reports, which interestingly corresponded to the managers’ wants for their secretary to improve. In addition, the secretaries indicated that they wanted to improve their writing skills in emails and reports. Lastly, the abilities in writing reports and memos were higher than in emails and minutes. In the end, the important implications of secretary’s writing skills will be presented in aspects of professional development for secretaries and course and content redesign for educators in order to serve the real needs for the better practice in the business as a whole.
An Experiment of Innovation Education in a Japanese University
Keiichiro Yoshinaga, Kanazawa University, JapanA knowledge-based society is urging universities to change education. There are three factors to consider for this change: student-centered learning, rapid change of specialization, and the power of group work. Although Asian students study hard and earn good scores in paper tests, their learning is often solitary and passive. This is a serious issue in a knowledge-based society where innovation requires inner motivation, a strong commitment, and cooperation. Seven professors worked together for experimental innovation courses at Kanazawa University in 2019 to develop an innovative mind. This presentation will discuss the two of the four courses, how students changed, and their implication for the higher education in the future.
In the first course, the students made a simple business proposal and learned how to develop their ideas through the interaction with other students. In the second course, the students made an effort to put their ideas into reality by making prototypes with cardboard and Styrofoam.
In this type of education, learning is different in three ways. First, students find their topics based on their curiosity and social needs. Second, they try to find their answers in groups with a series of exchanges. Third, they find knowledge and skills by themselves after fully understanding their necessities. Although this is a simple experiment, it is a beginning to transform learning at the university.
Active Learning in STEM Higher Education – An Approach in Introductory Physics and Its Evaluation
Jun Saito, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, JapanAs an approach to promoting active learning in STEM higher education, a reformation of an introductory physics course held in a Japanese university of agriculture and its outcomes found through analyzing quantitative learning data are presented. The class size of the course was about hundred, and the background of the students were diverse in that three forth of them was biology-oriented whereas one forth was physics-oriented. In order to take advantage of this diversity, each class of the course was provided in an active learning style that the students took part in exercise groups of mixed characteristics of the students. The groupworks were designed based on the so-called “jigsaw method”. The students were encouraged to prepare for the groupworks by taking an e-learning course including flipped-class videos on LMS before and after attending each class.
By conducting a simple learning analytics on data taken from the LMS log, we show that biology students tend to need more amount of learning time than physics students to catch up the course while that there is no correlation between simple amount of learning time and their grade. We then find that the amount of time remaining after the students’ completion of each e-learning session and before its deadline is, in contrast to the simple learning time, shows a moderate positive correlation with their grade. We conclude from this learning analytics that students’ attitudes appearing as a quantitative log data can be a good measure to evaluate the quality of students’ learning outcomes.
The Relationships Between Concept Mapping and Learning in Higher Education: Classic Grounded Theory Approach
Julia Sze Wing Wong, School of Nursing, Tung Wah College, Hong KongThe aim of this study was to explore the impact of concept mapping (CM) on Chinese student nurses studying medical and surgical nursing. This study was conducted by using mixed methods to collect data and eventually utilized the grounded theory approach to develop a substantive theory to illustrate the relationship between concept mapping and learning. The quantitative results showed that there was statistical improvement in overall marks between non-CM and CM groups (p=0.000) with a large effect (Cohen’s d=2.21). Thus, the first takers’ overall marks in the CM group was significantly better than those of the re-takers (p=0.016) but the magnitude of difference was small (Cohen’s d=0.344). Through the focus group interviews, the findings revealed the advantages of CM, its impact on group work, stimulation of students’ thinking, disadvantages of CM and approach for written examination preparation, and the effective way of using CM. Moreover, CM seemed to benefit the first takers only. To explore the detailed relationships between CM and the human learning process, Barney Glaser’s classic grounded theory approach was used. At the initial stage, two pathways were developed. One illustrated the relationship between CM and new takers’ learning and the other one illustrated the relationship between CM and the re-takers’ learning process. After combining these two pathways, an emerging theory was developed which included four categories, i.e. senses, building of knowledge, storage of information and consolidation of knowledge by re-organising information. Eventually, after constant comparison and further conceptualisation, a substantive theory with the properties of each category.
Engaging International Students With the Complexities of Social Interaction in Higher Education: A Research Report
M. Gregory Tweedie, University of Calgary, CanadaBy employing the theoretical framework of second language socialization (L2), the study investigates sociolinguistic awareness of EAP students as expressed in speech acts. Data from a discourse completion test (DCT), where students responded to socioculturally situated speech events, indicated that while grammatically correct in form, responses lacked features of typical speech acts for higher education contexts, such as apologies, excuses and expressions of regret. Follow-up semi-structured interviews indicated a relatively low access to social capital which would enable L2 socialization. Students expressed limited engagement with the host culture, thereby limiting language development important in academic success. Among the implications of the findings are the importance of integrated curriculum design which facilitates L2 socialization opportunities.