Academic Disciplines Research Articles

A better use of the shoulders we stand on: meta-analyses in the history of education

PurposeThis article argues that the potential of the vast amount of research, published each year in the history of education, remains untapped. Given the rapidly growing number of academic publications in the field, there is a need for research that is based on articles, chapters and monographs already published. While analyses of existing research publications are widely used in other academic disciplines, such approaches remain under-utilized in the history of education.Design/methodology/approachThe argument of this article is supported in three steps. Firstly, we distinguish between different forms of research using existing data and research publications, in particular secondary analyses, systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses. Due to the heterogeneous nature of research publications in educational history, this article argues for the method of qualitative meta-analysis. Secondly, we discuss the risks and methodological pitfalls of research using existing research publications, outlining possible areas of application and discuss examples of meta-analyses in educational history. Finally, the article explores the implications of an increased use of meta-analyses, especially for the editors of scientific journals.FindingsThis article provides an introduction to the main features of meta-analysis as applied in history of education. By promoting qualitative meta-analyses as original research, we argue that journals could help ensure that the potential for vibrant and highly productive research in the history of education is fully realized.Originality/valueDespite that the use of published research is widely discussed in the behavioural and social sciences, there is a lack of reflection on how to use the knowledge produced in the history of education. By presenting qualitative meta-analysis, this article provides a starting point for such a discussion.

Faculty’s attitudes towards inclusive education for university students with special educational needs (SENs) in Singapore

ABSTRACT This study seeks to examine faculty’s attitudes towards inclusive education for university students with special educational needs (SENs). A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. A total of 147 faculty (79 male, 53.7%) from six publicly funded universities in Singapore completed the survey, which consists of the researcher-developed Faculty Attitude toward Inclusive Education for Students with Special Educational Needs (FAISEN) scale. Results showed that faculty generally had positive attitudes towards inclusive education for university students with SENs. Faculty’s attitudes did not differ on major demographic variables, except their academic disciplines (i.e., STEM vs. non-STEM). Faculty also expressed a high level of training needs, especially on how to provide inclusive education for students with more invisible disabilities or difficulties. Faculty’s attitudes on the behavioral domain significantly and positively predicted their overall training needs. Implications for inclusive higher education, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.

Unlocking potential: exploring the interplay between entrepreneurship and research competence across diverse academic disciplines

This study aims to identify and analyze the self-assessment of entrepreneurship sub-competences among students at Latvian higher education institutions. The research questions addressed include: What is the self-assessment of students’ entrepreneurship competence at different levels of education? How and to what extent does the self-assessment of students’ entrepreneurship competence vary across different thematic groups? How and to what extent does the self-assessment of students’ entrepreneurship competence differ between academic and professional programs? Do bachelor’s and Master’s students’ entrepreneurship competences improve during the study process? Additionally, the study explores the correlation between students’ self-assessment of their entrepreneurship competence and their research competence. Data were collected using an assessment tool for students’ transversal competences developed in the ESF project “Development and implementation of the education quality monitoring system”, which consists of an online survey data and were analyzed with SPSS Statistics v.21. The results show that students evaluated their entrepreneurship competence just above average. Bachelor-level students improved their entrepreneurship competences during their studies, but there were no statistically significant differences between Master’s students’ evaluations in their first and last study years. Network analysis indicates that the entrepreneurship sub-competence “Identification, mobilization, and efficient use of internal and external resources” is connected with most research competence dimensions, and improving this sub-competence will therefore have the most effect on influencing research competence.

Understanding the Transfer of Writing Skills through the Writing Center: An Autoethnographic Account

This paper explores the role of the writing center in facilitating writing in interdisciplinary contexts and the transfer of writing skills across academic disciplines. Drawing on my autoethnographic account of a university writing center consultant (writing tutor) at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the psychological theories of learning transfer, I examine how the writing center functions as an academic space of a “contact zone” where writing skills are negotiated and transferred. A central question I address in this paper is: How does the writing center contribute to transferring writing skills across disciplines? This question revolves around the nature of interaction between consultants and student writers at the center involving the navigation through differences in disciplinary writing conventions, language, cultural backgrounds, academic mentoring, personal reading and writing experiences, and varying levels of exposure to academic writing practices. These encounters can result in transformative learning experiences for both tutors and student writers. I argue that the interdisciplinary nature of writing center consultations fosters the transfer of writing skills by creating opportunities for dialogue and negotiation between the consultants and the students of diverse disciplinary communities. Keywords: University Writing Center, writing conventions, contact zone, transfer of writing skills

谈判: Mega-games as Catalysts for Deep Experiential Learning in Higher Education

The study deepens into the transformative potential of mega-games as an innovative educational tool, offering profound and enriching learning experiences across diverse educational landscapes. Mega-games represent a fusion of various elements, including role-play, social interaction, simulations, rule-based systems, economic dynamics, political scenarios, and decision-making processes, all woven into an immersive narrative fabric. Through experiential learning, these games provide a unique platform for students to engage deeply with complex subject matter. This research centres on the application of mega-games within the context of sixth-semester students pursuing a degree in International Business at the Mexico State Campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey. Specifically, the study focuses on the simulation exercise titled 谈判 Tánpàn, which aims to immerse students in negotiation scenarios regarding the final price of a digital device manufactured in China. Drawing upon foundational principles outlined in Jesse Schell's book on game design, the exercise is meticulously designed to emulate real-world negotiation dynamics. The integration of game design principles, coupled with positive student feedback, underscores the efficacy of mega-games as potent educational instruments. Through rigorous analysis, the study unveils the profound impact of experiential learning on students' comprehension and application of negotiation techniques. By simulating authentic real-world scenarios, students are empowered to develop critical problem-solving acumen, hone their analytical thinking prowess, and refine their decision-making aptitude. Moreover, the immersive nature of mega-games fosters a dynamic learning environment that transcends traditional pedagogical approaches, fostering a holistic understanding of intricate subject matter. The success of the 谈判 Tánpàn simulation exercise serves as a testament to the potential of mega-games to revolutionize educational paradigms. It signals a burgeoning opportunity to expand the horizons of mega-games across various academic disciplines and participant cohorts. This study advocates for the widespread integration of mega-games as educational resources within Higher Education, championing their capacity to engender profound learning experiences and cultivate essential skills, heralding a new era of dynamic, immersive, and effective educational methodologies in diverse educational settings.

Ethnography in Revision: Black Ethnography and Notes From Kiese Laymon

Ethnography has been used to reinscribe boundaries of power within academic disciplines. This essay uses Kiese Laymon’s conception of revision to wreck the genre to move sociology beyond the circular process of documenting disparities and offering quick solutions, toward understanding ethnography as a process of frustrating knowledge. It offers two points of entry for revision into the ethnographic process. (a) The shift to reflexivity within ethnography should not stop at naming our positionality, commitments, and relations. Rather revision demands an interrogation of the type of person we are and to reckon with the type of person that our ethnographic witnessing requires us to grow toward. (b) Revision moves us to reexamine the underlying logics of how we make sense of the world, particularly the ways we have been disciplined into thinking and to demand more from our ethnographic desires than our field of study has made possible.

Analysis of Al-‘Arabiyyah Lil Hayah Books as Teaching Material from the Perspective of Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara’s Theory

Teaching materials are crucial in the learning process, especially in Arabic language acquisition. "Al-'Arabiyyah Lil Hayah" serves as a reference guide for new students enrolled in the Special Program for Arabic Language Development (PKPBA) at UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, providing a structured approach to enhance Arabic language skills across various academic disciplines. This study analyzes the book through the lens of the theory of different levels of teaching materials proposed by Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara. Utilizing a literature study with a qualitative approach, data were collected through documentation techniques and analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana model, which includes data condensation, presentation, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that the four volumes of "Al-'Arabiyyah Lil Hayah" largely align with the recommendations of Tomlinson and Masuhara at basic, intermediate, and high levels. However, certain gaps remain, notably the absence of a comprehensive comprehension approach in Volume 1 and a deficiency in extensive reading and listening activities in Volumes 2 and 3. Additionally, Volume 4 lacks real-world professional language use materials, such as newspapers and research reports, which are essential for high-level learners. These shortcomings highlight a disconnect between the theoretical framework and the practical needs of students. Consequently, this research underscores the need for future studies to conduct a more thorough analysis of the suitability of the content, learning activities, and instructional approaches utilized in "Al-'Arabiyyah Lil Hayah," ensuring they effectively address the specific needs and characteristics of students at UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang.

The background and experience of neuroscience teachers in Australian universities: A cross-sectional survey.

Neuroscience is an academic discipline taught within a broad range of university degrees and programs. The expertise and experience of neuroscience teaching staff contribute to the student's learning experience and knowledge acquisition. We undertook a survey to characterize the neuroscience teaching workforce and practices in Australian universities, and to investigate access to and deficiencies in neuroscience teaching resources and training. Two hundred neuroscience teaching staff completed our anonymous online survey. The responses indicated that neuroscience is primarily being delivered by highly qualified (86% with doctoral degrees, 27% with formal qualifications in tertiary teaching), research-active (45% were recently primary supervisors of research students) teaching academics with secure employment (77% in full-time continuing positions). There were more females (61.5%) than males (38.5%) in the sample and most respondents taught neuroscience to students enrolled in a range of degrees/programs. Most survey respondents could access an anatomy laboratory for teaching (87%) but access to specialised online resources, such as augmented reality presentations, customised game-based learning approaches, and/or online brain atlases, was limited. Most survey respondents reported they would benefit from increased access to neuroscience teaching resources and/or peer-tested teaching materials (80%), an informal network of Australian neuroscience teaching peers (64%), and/or training workshops on neuroscience teaching (59%). Approximately half of survey respondents supported the creation of national guidelines for neuroscience teaching curricula. The survey results identify specific gaps in teacher training and resources and inform the development of strategies to support tertiary teachers of neuroscience and student learning.

Enhancing peer review efficiency: A mixed‐methods analysis of artificial intelligence‐assisted reviewer selection across academic disciplines

AbstractThis mixed‐methods study evaluates the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI)‐assisted reviewer selection in academic publishing across diverse disciplines. Twenty journal editors assessed AI‐generated reviewer recommendations for a manuscript. The AI system achieved a 42% overlap with editors' selections and demonstrated a significant improvement in time efficiency, reducing selection time by 73%. Editors found that 37% of AI‐suggested reviewers who were not part of their initial selection were indeed suitable. The system's performance varied across disciplines, with higher accuracy in STEM fields (Cohen's d = 0.68). Qualitative feedback revealed an appreciation for the AI's ability to identify lesser‐known experts but concerns about its grasp of interdisciplinary work. Ethical considerations, including potential algorithmic bias and privacy issues, were highlighted. The study concludes that while AI shows promise in enhancing reviewer selection efficiency and broadening the reviewer pool, it requires human oversight to address limitations in understanding nuanced disciplinary contexts. Future research should focus on larger‐scale longitudinal studies and developing ethical frameworks for AI integration in peer‐review processes.

Authentic interdisciplinary online courses for alternative pathways into computer science

The field of computer science (CS) is facing a crucial challenge in broadening participation and embracing diversity, especially among underrepresented gender groups. The presented interdisciplinary educational program is an efficient response to this challenge, designed to catalyze diversity in CS through engagement with complex, interest-driven problems. This paper outlines the program’s structure, elucidates the pedagogical underpinnings, and reflects on the emergent challenges and opportunities. We delve into how the fusion of CS with other academic disciplines can allure a more varied demographic, emphasizing the engagement of female high school students — a demographic pivotally positioned yet significantly untapped in CS. Through a systematic survey analysis, we measure the program’s efficacy in increasing interest in CS and in cultivating an appreciation for its application in addressing real-world, cross-disciplinary challenges. Our findings affirm the program’s success in bridging the engagement gap by leveraging students’ intrinsic interests, thus charting alternative pathways into the CS field. These insights underscore the critical role of interdisciplinary approaches, establishing a new standard for transformative CS educational methods.

Improving Health Informatics Competencies: A Scoping Review of the Components of Health Informatics Academic Programs

Various terms describe Information and Communications Technology (ICT) use in healthcare, including Health Informatics (HI). HI use in healthcare is expected to positively impact healthcare through healthcare cost reduction and improve healthcare accessibility and decision-making. However, the effective application and use of technology in healthcare requires appropriate HI competencies. This research explored what constitutes health informatics education programs to improve health professionals’ competencies. This review was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Twenty articles made the final inclusion from a total of 577. The articles were extracted from seven databases, namely, Academic Search Complete, Elsevier (SCOPUS), Science Direct, SAGE, MEDLINE, ERIC, and Springer. The research found HI education-related content in various healthcare education programs, including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and dietetics. There were instances where HI was applied in interprofessional education, with other allied health professions such as psychology, radiology, and HI programs. Furthermore, profession-specific content such as nursing and medical informatics was identified. The content in computer literacy and Electronic Health Records seems applicable across multiple disciplines. However, HI curricula found for healthcare professions were insufficient for a distinguishable benchmark for HI education in academic disciplines of the healthcare professions.

Impact of Disciplinary Variations on Second Language Mental Lexicon

This study investigates how academic disciplines impact second language (L2) lexical competencies. Prior L2 research has often overlooked the broader effects of disciplinary backgrounds on lexical development. To address this gap, this study utilized lexical decision, memory, and semantic fluency tasks to examine lexicon recognition, memory, and storage processes among L2 Chinese learners from various academic fields. The study participants comprised 16 students from the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) disciplines and 11 from the Science and Engineering (S&E) disciplines, all having passed HSK level 4. The tasks were conducted using E-Prime 2.0. The findings revealed distinct cognitive strategies and thinking patterns among the participants from different disciplines . These strategies and patterns affected lexical task performance in terms of accuracy and response times. Although lexical memory exhibited no significant variation among the groups, discipline-specific tendencies were observed in the formation of semantic networks. Learners from S&E disciplines preferred mastering field-relevant Chinese terminology, whereas HSS learners tended to acquire words outside their specific disciplines. This observation highlights how learners’ disciplinary backgrounds influence their vocabulary acquisition and the organization of semantic networks in L2.

Escape Rooms for Education: A Meta-analysis

This meta-analysis aims to investigate the effectiveness of educational escape rooms in improving learning outcomes and fostering positive attitudes. Specifically, it seeks to examine their impact on the acquisition of content knowledge and the development of attitudes. Additionally, the study conduct a moderator analysis to explore how variables such as subject matter, types of escape rooms, and participants' age may influence these effects. After systematically screening the literature, 22 studies were deemed eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The findings demonstrated a high effect size in knowledge gains and moderate effect size in attitude change, with 0.86 and 0.63, respectively. Interestingly, the moderator analysis did not uncover any statistically significant distinctions in effect sizes based on the three aforementioned moderators. In conclusion, this study affirms the effectiveness of educational escape rooms across a variety of academic disciplines and offers valuable insights for educators and practitioners interested in employing escape rooms as a means of educational innovation.

Fostering Pragmatic Proficiency: The Influence of Explicit Instruction on Plurilingual EFL Learners’ Mastery of Hedging Devices in Canadian Academic Writing Context

Hedging academic claims is a crucial aspect of scholarly writing that presents challenges for many non-native English-speaking academic authors. Scholars, such as Hyland (2021), have emphasized the vital role of explicit instructional interventions in raising awareness about hedging devices among Plurilingual non-native English writers. This is particularly relevant considering the nuanced nature of certain hedging devices, characterized by polysemy and polypragmatics. This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of explicit instruction in enhancing the pragmatic competence of non-native English-speaking learners, with a specific focus on the acquisition and application of English modal auxiliaries as hedging mechanisms within an academic context. In this study, a group of 37 non-native English-speaking College students, representing various academic disciplines, were purposefully selected from Sommet College located in Greater Montreal area, and divided into two groups: a control group and an experimental group. The control group received conventional academic writing instruction, while the experimental group underwent explicit instruction on the use of modal auxiliaries for hedging in their academic writing. Both groups completed pretests and post-tests as part of the evaluation process. Analysis of the test scores and t-test results revealed a significant improvement in linguistic and pragmatic proficiency concerning the use of modal auxiliaries for hedging within the experimental group. Moreover, the findings demonstrated the superior performance of the experimental group in employing modal verbs for hedging purposes. The findings of this study have broader implications that reach beyond pedagogical practice, resonating with educational program administrators and curriculum developers. These results underscore the importance of including explicit instruction on hedging devices, particularly modal auxiliaries, to bolster the academic writing skills of non-native plurilingual English-speaking learners.

Nursing effectiveness reconsidered: Some fundamental reflections on the nature of nursing.

Despite being considered the proverbial backbone of our healthcare systems, nursing still seems to struggle to scientifically demonstrate its contribution to care experiences and patient outcomes. This leads to erosive tendencies that threaten the development of the profession and its progress as an academic discipline. With this paper, we want to contribute to the theoretical discourse concerning the nature of nursing and the research into its effectiveness. We begin by outlining a set of prevailing paradoxes and their consequences relating to nursing and nursing research: the issue of demonstrating its unique contribution despite a clear societal mandate; a discrepancy between subjectively experienced effectiveness and objectively ascertainable effectiveness; and a mismatch between theoretical premises of nursing and task-oriented cultures in practice environments. Using an example of a seemingly simple nursing intervention, we intend to demonstrate the qualities and complexities of nursing. We further illustrate this by drawing on several of our research projects using theory-based evaluation methodologies. From these illustrative examples, we distil two insights relating to nursing interventions that we consider fundamental: the nurse, as a person, is central to its unique effectiveness; and there is always an interplay between context, intervention and its intended effect. We summarise our considerations and argue the case for conceiving research designs in alignment with theoretical premises of nursing.

Strategic methods for emerging scholars: Identifying research gaps to enhance scholarly work

This paper explores various research gaps, and the processes used to identify them, discussing their implications for advancing scientific inquires. By offering a structured approach to recognize gaps. The paper aims to empower emerging scholars to articulate more decisive research questions while contributing meaningfully to the fields. Methods such as citation analysis, meta-analysis, and systematic reviews are utilized to pinpoint under-explored or unexplored areas for further investigation. This study sets a foundational stage for a clear discussion on how effectively identifying and addressing these gaps can significantly contribute to the advancement of various academic disciplines.

Variation in Academic Writing: A Corpus-Based Investigation on the Use of Syntactic Features by Advanced L2 Academic Writers

Background: Writing means communication through words whereas academic writing means making careful use of words to communicate ideas to a range of readers and audiences. Therefore, academic writing reflects specificities related to audience, context/discipline and purpose of the use. These specificities result in ample differences in terms of language use. Purpose: This study investigates disciplinary variation in the use of different syntactic (i.e., clausal, intermediate and phrasal) features in academic writing produced by the Pakistani advanced writers of English as an L2 specializing in different disciplines of arts and humanities, life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences. Method: For the said purpose, the corpus has been developed from dissertation texts produced by the Pakistani doctoral candidates from 16 academic disciplines of four disciplinary divisions. The analysis has been performed using AntConc Software after tagging with Multidimensional Analysis, and TagAnt Taggers. Results: The results reveal mixed findings. On the one hand, the results show variation in the use of syntactic features that is observed to be marked by the difference in the frequency of the different types of the said features across disciplines. On the other hand, the results show a similarity in the use of syntactic features that has been evidenced by the finding that the most and least frequently used features are identical across disciplines. Conclusion: These results suggest both heterogeneity and homogeneity in the use of syntactic features by the Pakistani advanced L2 academic writers. The results of this study have implications for educators, policy makers, and syllabus designers to ensure discipline-specific instruction, and incorporation of the discipline-specific syntactic features into the academic curricula for supporting academic writing development skills in the students particularly at the advanced level of education.

A Bibliometric Analysis on the Topic of Social Policy

Social policy relates to a variety of social phenomena. Over recent decades, it has attracted the interest of scholars from a variety of academic disciplines as well as that of national and international organizations. This study applied the bibliometric approach to identify and analyse articles present in the Web of Science database, published in the English language, containing the term social policy in the title, abstract, or author keywords. Bibliometric networks and analyses were conducted using bibliometrix and VOSviewer software. The results show that the publication trend of articles on social policy varied over time and in association with social phenomena; for instance, an increase in publications occurred in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. COVID-19, environmental issues, migration, and austerity were the main social policy topics being addressed in more recent investigations. This paper advances our knowledge about the research trends on the topic of social policy. This analysis included all articles published until the end of 2023 and can thus be considered to be up to date at the time of publication. It highlights the latest topics social policy has become interested in and the range of research disciplines it is associated with.

Career guidance for high school students: social design resources

The article discusses various approaches to the definition of career guidance work, the generalization of which allows it to be defined as a system of preparing students for a free and independent choice of profession. It is noted that the result of the lack of targeted and systematic career guidance work with students is the admission to universities of students with low motivation to study in the chosen field of study. As the leading task of career guidance work, it is determined to conduct psychological, pedagogical, informational, practical and activity support for students in the formation of their own position in professional self-determination. Such work will be able to increase the effectiveness of professional self-determination, make it more adequate to the characteristics of the individual, with the use of resources both in class and extracurricular activities. The use of information and communication technologies in the study of academic disciplines, students can receive information about various types of professional activities, social, economic and psychological components of professions. During extracurricular time, career guidance of students can be carried out in the course of social and cultural activities, which allows students to be included in cognitive, performing, creative, and communicative activities. The technology of social design, which is understood as the result of creative socially significant activity to overcome social problems, has special opportunities in the professional orientation of students. The use of this technology makes it possible to create conditions for students to independently comprehend their future, the manifestation of social activity and a subjective life position. As part of the study, a regional competition of social advertising «We are in the world» was developed and implemented, the purpose of which was to attract the attention of students to the actual social problems of society. The competition was attended by students of grades 8–11 of secondary schools of the city, region, and the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Educational Leadership Scale for Faculty Members: Insights From the Network Analysis Perspective

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Educational Leadership Scale for Faculty Members (ELSF) in Arabic. The scale was rigorously tested using both traditional methods—exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)—as well as advanced network techniques, including exploratory graph analysis (EGA) and centrality measures. The study sample consisted of 350 faculty members (56% male, 44% female) from various universities, with a mean age of 42.3 years (SD = 7.8). Participants represented a range of academic disciplines, and all were involved in educational leadership roles within their respective institutions. EFA revealed a five‐factor structure that explained 68.4% of the total variance. CFA further confirmed the model's adequacy, with fit indices showing a good model fit (CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.06). The ELSF, comprising 22 items across these five dimensions, demonstrated strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.89. Additionally, EGA supported the factor structure identified by traditional methods, reinforcing the stability and consistency of the scale. Centrality measures highlighted Item 18 as the most influential, with betweenness, closeness and strength centrality scores of 0.45, 0.78 and 0.62, respectively, within the ‘Research‐Ethical Leadership’ subscale. These findings affirm the ELSF's credibility as a robust tool for assessing educational leadership among faculty members. The scale's strong psychometric properties suggest it is well‐suited for application in diverse academic settings, including potential use across Arabic‐speaking countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman and Kuwait.