Student Alumni Research Articles

Exploration of quality dimensions that influence customer perceptions of service performance: insights from higher education

This paper sets out to explore the quality dimensions that influence customer perceptions of service performance among different customer segments in higher education. A survey was conducted by administering a questionnaire with 26 items measuring quality dimensions to 434 customers in a higher education setting that has implemented total quality management. The survey yielded a return of 364 usable questionnaires and the 83.9% response rate deemed to be relatively good for further analysis. This paper found significant similarities and differences in the quality dimensions that influence customer perceptions of service performance in higher education. In particular, current students and student alumni reported similar expectations of human and non-human elements of service delivery, whereas employers from the industry had greater expectations on core services. Interestingly, the levels of satisfaction among these three customer groups were generally below their expectations, which indicate new possibilities that may benefit from additional exploration and validation.

Kualitas Layanan dan Kepuasan Pelanggan: Studi Eksplorasi atas Atribut Kualitas Layanan pada Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Wijaya Kusuma Surabaya

<em>The purpose of this study was developing a service quality model in the business of higher education services at the Faculty of Economics, University of Wijaya Kusuma Surabaya, Indonesia which is grounded that can be used as the foundation of researchers in a service research and implementation for business practitioners of higher education services. This research used a qualitative research design with a critical incident technique model, which explored the answers of the student respon-dents and alumni service users to examine deeper the experience of understanding the most satisfying and the most unsatisfaction of institutions.</em>

Students Speak: The Impact of Personal Narrative Performance on Student Experience

ABSTRACTThe Moth is a nonprofit performing arts organization dedicated to true stories told live, and its education programs make space for students and educators to tell their stories. In this edited transcript of a panel discussion given by student alumni of Moth storytelling programs, participants discuss the impact of personal narrative performance on their lives and perspectives, as well as the challenges and surprises of doing personal narrative performance work.

The Implementation of "لتعارفوا" Concept in Speech Code Adaptation in Boarding Based University

Abstract In society, culture plays an important role to keep the identity of a region and particular group. Therefore, the good intercultural communication ability is needed. Basically, there is a communication within a culture and vice versa. Both of them cannot be separated. The students of University of Darussalam Gontor (UNIDA Gontor) have their own speech code. It was formed because the students used Arabic or English in their daily interaction. The language and speech code in UNIDA Gontor are not only used by PMDG’s student alumni, but also those used by the regular high school alumni which is called as Non-KMI students. These students usually do not speak Arabic before. There are not many differences between Speech code of UNIDA Gontor and PMDG’s, because the majority of students is PMDG’s student alumni. Finally, the speech code can be accepted by the Non-KMI students as the subject in this research by adaptation. The adaptation is aimed to build a relation and to interact with the surroundings easily. This research used a qualitative descriptive research. The result of the research revealed that there are 4 stages of cultural adaptation; honeymoon, frustration, readjustment, and resolution. Meanwhile, the subject went through the phase of assimilation, integration, and combined relation method as their speech code adaptation to build a relation and knowing each other لتعارفو as Allah command to the mankind in Al Hujurat verse 13. Keyword: Adaptation, Speech Code, لتعارفو

Bolstering graduates’ success through working as student ambassadors in university widening participation programs

ABSTRACTSince 2010, the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) has provided funding for Australian universities to ‘raise aspiration’ among under-represented groups. Underpinned by utilitarian discourses of human capital and individual capacitation, these resources have transformed the ways that universities seek to engage prospective students. This paper turns to an overlooked cohort that is integral to widening participation initiatives, but has rarely been the focus of research. These are the student ambassadors – university students who work within HEPPP programs. This paper reports findings from the alumni component of a mixed-method study which examines how widening participation programs, which are ostensibly directed at future university enrolments, might also help university students who work as student ambassadors to become successful professionals and citizens once they graduate from university. Alumni accounts of their experiences and self-reported impact of their ambassador work advocate a more holistic view of graduate success and how activities beyond mandatory coursework can contribute to success beyond university graduation. Evidence from student ambassador alumni suggests that these positive impacts are broad and long-lasting, contributing to students’ professional successes and personal lives.

An Experiential Learning Exercise in Food-Borne Illness Outbreak Investigations: Bridging Education and Experience

Conducting engaging experiential learning exercises is an exceptional strategy for teaching multidisciplinary teams of public health students. The objective of this article is to present an experiential student-driven exercise through a simulated food-borne outbreak. Through this process, students gain an understanding of the steps of an outbreak investigation, Incident Command Systems; identify and calculate appropriate measures of association; develop a questionnaire; and refine their communication techniques. This exercise is also unique in that it was codesigned by graduate teaching assistants who had previously taken the course. These targeted learning objectives created for students, and by students, allow for the development of peer-based training and also serve as a learning experience for student alumni. The authors provide all the needed teaching materials to provide an easy-to-follow guide for others to conduct similar exercises with their students.

Expanding Toolkits for Heritage Perpetuation

From 2010 to 2013, the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the University of Arizona, with funding from the National Science Foundation, hosted the Western Apache Ethnography and Geographic Information Science Research Experience for Undergraduates. Designed to foster practical skills and scholarly capacities for future resource managers and anthropologists, this field school introduced Apache and non-native undergraduate students to ethnographic field research and GIS tools. Building upon the extensive arrays of geographical, cultural, and historical data that are available for Western Apache territory, field school students engaged in community-based participatory research with Western Apache elders and tribal natural and heritage resource personnel to contribute to the Western Apache tribes' efforts to document their cultural histories, traditional ecological knowledge, local understanding of geography, and issues of historic and contemporary resource management. This essay reviews the program and traces how student alumni have incorporated skills and perspectives gained into their subsequent academic and professional work.

Developing PGSD Students Character through Experience Learning Theory

PGSD student is a prospective educator for the next generation. In PGSD student's hands, children of the nation is guided and nurtured being person who is smart and and have good character as the goal of education in Indonesia. So, PGSD student have to be equipped the educator competencies such as pedagogic competence, personal competence, social competence, and professional competence. But in fact, the provision which is covered by four competencies has not possessed in the whole PGSD student self completely. From the result of tracer study in PGSD student alumni which was done by PGSD department on 2011, it shows that the pedagogic competency of PGSD alumni had been innovative and creative; but the personal, social and professional competence had not achieved the standarized yet. It seems from the alumnus behavior, such as a lack of communication skills alumnus fellow colleagues, had an unstable personality (or immature), selfish and less authoritative, less polite in clothes, smoking in any place, and others. Indeed, this requires the existence of learning strategy in PGSD department to impress the candidate of elementary school teachers, who are competent and have character. One of learning strategies to make competent teacher which have the character is the intervention techniques experience learning theory (ELT) by David Kolb model (1984). David Kolb intervention strategy consists of four stages: concrete experience (real), reflection, conceptualization, and application. With the utilization of ELT which is as one part in this study, it is expected that PGSD students can apply their knowledge in the real field, as well as get a firsthand experience of being a teacher from the beginning of the semester.

Connecting Student Employment, Involvement, and Alumni Affinity

Previous research indicates that student employment serves as a means of campus involvement. Additional literature indicates that campus involvement promotes alumni affinity. This study proposes that the missing link between student employment as involvement and alumni affinity lies in the students' perceptions of involvement. Therefore, this study explored whether student employees view their employment as an involvement opportunity and the factors that influence those perceptions. Understanding the factors that contribute to perceptions of involvement allows campus recreation professionals to structure employment experiences that are recognized by students as involvement, thereby promoting long-term affinity for the institution. The findings indicate that students perceive their employment as involvement, though to varying degrees. The factors contributing to those perceptions include a) time spent in the work environment, b) alignment with personal interests, c) relationships with coworkers, d) relationships with supervisors, e) affiliation to program area, and f) interaction with the campus community.

Shared Governance and Punctuated Equilibrium in Higher Education: The Case for Student Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation

No longer can higher education institutions rely on passive approaches to recruiting students, retaining those students through graduation, and reaping the benefits of alumni support. Each institution must aggressively engage in marketing and customer relationship management techniques to maintain an adequate student body and sufficient alumni support. The ever quickening pace of societal and technological change creates intense competitive pressure for quality students, which in turn requires unprecedented attention to the business of recruiting and retention. These and other challenges have led to the “punctuated equilibrium” in higher education. For higher education institutions to survive and thrive during this paradigm shift, they must practice and embrace the principles of shared governance.

What impact does anatomy education have on clinical practice?

There is continuing debate regarding doctors' knowledge of anatomy as an appropriate preparation for professional practice. This exploratory case study examined alumni's experiences of learning anatomy. The aim was to inform curriculum development and to gain a better understanding of how anatomy knowledge is applied in practice. A total of 140 medical student alumni from the University of Southampton participated in this study (49% males, 51% females). Participants completed a Likert scale questionnaire with free comment sections. Descriptive results found that: using cadaveric material was an effective way of learning anatomy; assessment was a major motivator; and around half of students forgot a lot of anatomy but that knowledge came back easily. Statistical analysis revealed associations between certain positive and negative factors in learning. Links were also seen with current job role, revealing that those who responded to positive factors were involved in careers which involved a great deal of anatomy and vice versa. To facilitate learning, anatomy should be taught throughout the curriculum and use human cadavers. Relating knowledge to practice requires transformation of knowledge and is best facilitated by the learning being situated in clinical contexts.

Das Student Alumni Mentorship Program "SAMP"

Das Student Alumni Mentorship Program "SAMP"

Healthy Doctors, Healthy Communities

Promoting health and eliminating disease are goals of Healthy People 2010, a national initiative for all communities. Physician-directed interventions that advance these principles are most effective when directed by clinicians who regularly participate in such healthy behaviors themselves. This pilot study describes an 8-week intervention, "Well-being for You and Your Patients," for first-year medical students to experience health behavior change. In the 2-hour sessions, students set goals for changing health behavior in 6 dimensions of wellness; report their progress; and enjoy a 30-minute change-of-pace wellness activity. The authors recommend adapting the course for medical student alumni to facilitate health behavior change with small groups of adults, school-age children, teens, and elders in churches, schools, community health centers, and other community-based organizations. Through continuing medical education and Grand Rounds, residents and physicians in practice could also be trained to implement specific behavioral change strategies.

Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Women's Education in Colonial India: A Study of the Bethune School, Calcutta

This study focuses on the Bethune School, Calcutta (founded 1849) to examine the interplay between philanthropy, women's education, and nationalist politics in colonial India. First, it analyzes the institution as a venture in collaborative philanthropy in which the role of the local Indian community was crucial and continuous. Secondly, this essay argues how within the historical context of nineteenth-century colonial India, such an institution played a significant role in extending women's horizons beyond the domestic. The institutional culture encouraged student associations and alumni networking, generating new patterns for women's voluntarism and political activism. Finally, situating this within the context of Indian nationalism, this article comments on the life-choices (if some Bethune alumnae who later became social workers and activists. The work of these women facilitates a better understanding of the interplay between colonialism, women's voluntarism, and nationalist politics in India.The question is no longer doubtful, it is not now that we are to say, ‘Shall we succeed?’ We have succeeded: and the banner which we plant this day, with the blessing of God, shall never go backwards, until its supremacy is felt and thankfully acknowledged in every part of the land (John Drinkwater Bethune's speech, 7 May 1849, quoted in Nag, 1950: 109).

Current Practices in the Evaluation of Teaching in Horticulture

Universities offering horticulture curriculum were surveyed for procedures for evaluation of teaching. They were asked to indicate which of the following were used to evaluate instructors: student surverys, peer reviews, administrator reviews, alumni surveys, and others. They were also asked the criteria which were used in these evaluations; i.e., instructor was well-prepared, class presentations were clear and well-organized etc. Many programs used student surveys as the prime means of evaluations of instructors. Some used peer evaluation as well and a few used alumni surveys. Several indicated that they were currently reviewing their process of instructor evaluation.