Christian Institutions Of Higher Education Research Articles

Supporting Healthy Affect and Coping After Perceived Failure in College Students in Christian Higher Education

Perceived failure in academic performance can lead to differing outcomes for students. Depending on the coping strategies that they choose, students may improve or worsen their performance. This study examined the relationship between affective components and coping strategies in college students’ responses to perceived academic failure and their subsequent academic performance. Data was collected from 122 undergraduate students in 200-level micro and macroeconomics classes at a four-year Christian university in Texas. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to measure positive and negative affect in response to their first exam grade and the Brief COPE Inventory to determine the strategies that participants used to cope with their perceptions of failure on their exam. The results showed that maladaptive coping strategies mediated the relationship between post-test negative affect and subsequent improvement in standardized test scores. This article serves as a call to Christian institutions of higher education to consider how to best support students in developing effective coping strategies when faced with failure.

Challenges and Prospects of Fund Generation in Christian Higher Education Administration

The paper discusses the significance of funding in the administration of Christian Higher Education (CHE) institutions, including universities and seminaries. It highlights the challenges faced by these institutions due to their reliance on private funding sources, as they do not receive government support. The challenges include a decrease in the quality and standard of education, changes in the perception of education, disruptions to institutional goals, and issues related to responsibility and control. However, the paper also explores the prospects of fund generation for CHE institutions, emphasizing the need for proactive approaches to address financial challenges. These prospects include achieving institutional goals, effective administration, improving the quality of personnel and infrastructure, and global relevance. The paper recommends that CHE institutions should explore alternative funding sources such as alumni support, endowments, donations, and research grants. It also suggests diversifying financing and engaging in institutional investments and business ventures without losing focus on institutional mission and vision. The paper emphasizes the importance of fostering good working relationships with all stakeholders, both within and outside the institution. In conclusion, the paper underscores the critical role of funding in CHE institutions and provides recommendations for addressing funding challenges and harnessing funding prospects to enhance the quality of Christian higher education.

The Curious Absence of the Satan and Spiritual Warfare in Christian Higher Education

This article examines to what extent any engagement with the themes of the Satan, demonic evil, and spiritual warfare appear in the scholarship and teaching within Christian higher education institutions. A review of the course descriptions from 104 of the 115 governing members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities was conducted to answer this question, along with a review of recent literature in the field of higher education. The results of both reviews suggest that faith integration efforts in scholarship and teaching largely ignore the Adversary and ways to combat his influence. Secondly, this article makes the case that Christian higher education could better accomplish its mission if the Enemy and spiritual warfare were taken seriously. Finally, I argue that a failure to take the Satan seriously is a failure of holistic faith integration and ignores an opportunity to provide guidance to those who believe in supernatural evil.

Christian Higher Education for Vocational Living

Despite the increased interest and research into the concept of vocation or calling, students are still prone to a reductionist understanding of vocation as primarily their job or career (Kleinhans, 2016; Moser & Fankhauser, 2018; Setran, 2011). Christian higher education institutions have a unique opportunity to help students navigate these potential pitfalls and think more deeply about both their vocation and their occupation. This article highlights shortcomings that result from overly identifying one’s vocation with one’s work and advocates for a mindset of vocational living, which is rooted in a more holistic perspective that recognizes vocation’s broader connection to foundational Christian concepts such as humanity’s creation in the image of God and the call to salvation in and discipleship to Christ (Pfeiffer, 2014; Shatzer, 2019; Waalkes, 2015). This article challenges leaders to ask probing questions and seek opportunities to align the organizational life and practices of the university with this concept of vocational living. Finally, this article also seeks to encourage further research into conceptual perceptions of vocation, as well as into institutional practices that equip students to respond to their calling throughout their lives.

Asian American faculty's racialised experiences in Christian higher education

ABSTRACT Given the lack of studies on the racialised experience of Asian American faculty in Christian higher education, the current study investigated Asian American Christian faculty’s experiences of stereotypes and discrimination and their responses to those experiences. Using the Consensual Qualitative Research method, we analysed nine interviews with Asian American Christian faculty. Major themes that emerged were the experience of stereotypes and discrimination at the interpersonal level, perpetuation of stereotypes and discriminatory practices at the institutional or systemic level, responses to stereotypes and discrimination, coping with stereotypes and discrimination, and the impact of Asian identity, stereotypes, and discrimination. Implications for future research and Christian higher education institutions are discussed.

Reframing How Grading Affects and Shapes Students’ Self-Worth in Christian Higher Education

Academic achievement has too often been a metric by which students define their self-worth. For some students, this focus manifests itself through perfectionism, attaining high grades, and overvaluing extrinsic learning rewards. Students who consider their self-worth to be contingent upon their academic performance often suffer from withdrawal, stress, depression, and anxiety. The external and internal pressures placed upon students regarding academic achievement can be devastating. Recent criticisms of grading, its efficacy, and inconsistencies might lead postsecondary educators to reconsider how they assess and communicate competency to their students. Christian institutions of higher education in particular have unique opportunities to speak to students’ perceptions of their identity in ways that reframe the impacts and effects of grading on personal well-being and sense of self-worth. This article serves as a call to action for Christian universities to instill a more robust understanding of Christian identity and the imago Dei concerning how and where students find their self-worth—in whom they find their worth, rather than in what.

Tumult in Higher Education: An Open Systems Perspective of Faculty Reactions to Organizational Change at Christian Universities

Christian higher education has been experiencing frequent transformational organizational change (e.g., downsizing, elimination of departments, technological innovations, addition of majors, etc.). These changes are significantly impacting faculty members. In other contexts, researchers have asserted that organizational change correlates with interpersonal conflict for employees and that such conflict is associated with counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). If these associations are occurring for faculty members in Christian higher education, the result of CWBs as well as the consequences of conflict could result in lowered faculty engagement levels, turnover intentions, and other typical negative behaviors reflective of these variables in other contexts. Because faculty members in Christian higher education institutions are a vital link to student learning and faith integration within the curriculum, it is important for leaders to understand how change efforts might have unintended consequences that ultimately could undermine change efforts and impact the student experience. We utilized a multivariate analysis of theoretically identified variables related to CWBs, while examining faculty alignment with university values. A cross-sectional survey design assessed faculty (N = 267) perceptions of organizational change, interpersonal conflict, CWBs, and organizational identification at five Christian universities. The results indicated that organizational change was significantly correlated with interpersonal conflict and conflict was significantly correlated with CWBs. Organizational identification revealed an intervening effect on conflict and CWBs. A model applying open systems theory suggested that leaders in Christian higher education must consider the systemic effects of organizational change as they implement change initiatives.

Caring for Foster Youth in Christian Higher Education: Called from Among the Reeds

Using the riverside account surrounding the events of Moses’ birth in Exodus 2:1–10 as a structural guide, the article explores whether Christian higher education institutions ought to adopt administrative policies, programs, and practices that extend specific support to students from foster care aspiring to earn a postsecondary degree that are enrolling or already enrolled at such institutions. Drawing from compelling scholarship and Scripture, I argue that, yes, administrative structures established at Christian higher education institutions ought to demonstrate intentional care toward students from foster care participating in the academy and support their desires to develop academically, professionally, personally, and spiritually for two significant reasons. First, the distinct Kingdom-centric aim of Christian higher education compels colleges and universities to administratively respond in ways that support students from foster care unavailable at pluralistic institutions. Second, as “imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1), Christians—and, by extension, the cultures, systems, and approaches they have created to live life, such as institutions of higher learning—should reflect God's character, as revealed in Scripture, as One who cares for vulnerable children, such as those in foster care. Although some Christian higher education institutions already provide such administrative support to students from foster care in ways that are typically unavailable at pluralistic institutions. In response, I offer suggestions for practice and further research with the hope of encouraging institutional leaders to consider how Christian higher education administrative structures may further advance the Kingdom by supporting students from foster care.

Assessment as Science and Story: A Roadmap for Christian Higher Education

Institutions of higher education face an increasing demand for evidence that they are providing the high-quality educational experience promised in promotional materials. Accrediting bodies require assessment for accountability to ensure continuous improvement. Faculty at Christian higher education institutions join their secular counterparts in questioning the value of time-consuming assessment activities, disconnected from meaningful teaching designed to fulfill distinctly Christian missions, often understood as “the integration of faith and learning.” In 2016, Paul Kaak, faith integration editor of Christian Higher Education, called for “explorers and cartographers” to devise more detailed maps of academic faith integration leading to learning in all disciplines that is carried out “in the light of faith” (p. 189). This essay answers that call for an integration roadmap as it relates to assessment, planting signposts grounded in Reformed epistemology and framing it as science and story. Three key principles shape the argument: (a) educational assessment constitutes a God-designed natural act of human knowing and valuing, though finite and distorted by sin; (b) human fallibility necessitates assessment processes that are characterized by transparency, enabling learners to use their gifts for God’s glory; and (c) assessment is most effective when enacted in a loving community of learners who recognize that performance does not determine worth in God’s eyes. Finally, the article concludes with practical guidelines to implement a Christian vision of assessment.

The Role of Biblical Theology in Teaching a Christian Worldview on Business

Christian business faculty have the opportunity to point their students to the source of all Truth, Jesus Christ. This paper demonstrates a need for Christian business faculty members to immerse themselves in the Word of God in order to better theologically understand the overarching story of the Gospel and how crucial biblical themes (which help formulate a Christian worldview) directly impact business curriculum, intentional teaching, and actual business students at Christian institutions of higher education.

An Exploratory Study of Stalking on Christian Campuses: Does that Happen Here?

Despite an increase in the research on stalking, much is still unknown about the incidence of stalking in higher-education campus populations. Specifically, most studies report prevalence (defined as lifetime or longer-term occurrences) rather than incidence (defined as recent occurrences, often within the past year, or since being in college), or fail to distinguish between them. Further, even though independent religious colleges and universities represent a substantial portion of postsecondary institutions, particularly within the North American context, little research exists on how the religious characteristics of an institution might influence stalking. This study contributes to the literature by providing improved estimates of the incidence of stalking—conceptualized as obsessive relational intrusion—based on a sample of students (N = 668) from eight independent Christian institutions of higher education in Canada. Incidence rates vary widely in the literature based on variations in sampling, definitions, and measurement. Compared to published incidence rates ranging from 4% to over 40%, this study found that 18% of all students and 23% of women students in Canadian Christian colleges reported experiencing one or more types of stalking behavior five times or more since age 18. An examination of factors related to stalking victimization revealed that only gender had an influence, affirming previous research that women are at greater risk for sexual violence than men. This study provides evidence that these Christian colleges are not immune to various forms of sexual violence and that college personnel must be vigilant in developing policies and programs to prevent and reduce stalking on their campuses.

Seeking a Whole-Person Approach to Education: Revisiting Nineteenth-Century Neo-Scholasticism

Education in the nineteenth century witnessed a revival of classical Scholasticism brought to use by many educational institutions within Europe and North America. These institutions felt a burgeoning tension among contemporary church teaching, enlightenment thinking, and the new philosophical thoughts emerging from Europe. Although Neo-Scholasticism sought to counter nineteenth-century secular philosophies, it ultimately failed as a system to teach the whole person within its educational structures. The purpose of this article is to explore the revival of Scholasticism in the nineteenth century, present an insight into the development of nineteenth-century thought from Christian leaders, and offer a critique of Neo-Scholasticism as an educational system in order to spur conversations within Christian higher-education institutions. Implications for practice include addressing educational issues to educate the whole person that involve the mental, physical, social, and spiritual attributes of the student.

Being Good Pharisees: The Joy of Inauthentic Community

What does it mean to be a community in right relation with each other? That question, as well as a partial answer found in Taylor University’s Life Together Covenant, still bear the marks of Wesleyan evangelical convictions. Exploring those convictions shines light for us on why this question and Taylor’s covenant matter for Taylor University and, in their own unique ways, all Christian institutions of higher education. Addressing that question then comes through three points. First, we must never forget that Christianity is a social religion. Second, Christianity is social because its mission is to be a people, a nation called out of every nation, who are not like the other nations, for the sake of the nations. Finally, integral to Christian mission is to become what we have been made through baptism. In the end, righteousness cannot stem from mere human efforts as we endeavor to live out this mission. In contrast, we must depend upon the Holy Spirit to empower us to be the intentional community God has set forth for us in Holy Scripture.

Christian Higher Education in a Changing Context: Shifting From Pillars to Practices

ABSTRACTThe process of global modernization has reached a new phase. In many parts of the world, societies have become so complex that the logic that characterized first modernity no longer works. Simultaneously, societies are confronted by huge and complex side effects of modern rationality, such as climate change, migration influx, global inequality, and waning confidence in the nation-state. Consequently, we are entering an age of reflexive modernity. In our view, this new social configuration has important consequences for what Christian higher education can contribute to the education of new professionals. In this article, we will reflect on the way in which three collaborating Christian universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands are searching for answers on the challenges of our time. We propose, firstly, that they should give more attention to the relational formation of professionals than before. These professionals have to bridge the gap between professional and client, system and lifeworld, professionalism and personality, and professionalism and spirituality. Secondly, the professionals trained at Christian institutions of higher education should develop a strong professional ethos that allows them to act swiftly and efficiently in complex situations. In order to develop such an ethos, moral traditions are indispensable. Although the new social configuration does not seem to be very favorable for Christian higher education, on closer inspection it brings new opportunities.

A Call for Financial Training to Help Ministry Students Manage Personal Finances

The “debt as investment” approach to education has increased the school loan rates for undergraduate students. This article looks at the true cost of school debt and calls for Christian institutions of higher education to take an active role in providing financial training for ministry students. A financial management curriculum outline of three 90–minute sessions is provided to facilitate financial training for ministry students to make debt choices for an education that will both enable graduation and secure sufficient income within his or her vocation.

HOW EDUCATIONAL DATA MINING CAN PREDICT STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

INTRODUCTION:Duta Wacana Christian University is located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This is one of the Christian Higher Education Institutions in Indonesia. Currently, Duta Wacana Christian University inspects problems with student's learning motivation, especially in Information System Departments. Information Systems students have average GPA during 2012 to 2015 is 3.1 (out of 4) and the study period 5.37 years (while the normal study period is 4 years according to the curriculum). It means that motivation among Information System Students is average. Not only GPA, study period is also a problem faced by Information System Department Head. Average study period is 5.37. This number is higher than the targeted study period which is 4 years according to the curriculum of Information System Department.Bahji, Lefdaoui, & Alami (2013) inferred that there is a decrease found in students' motivation to participate learning activity in the classroom. There are some factors that influence these findings which are as follows· The development of Information Technology· The usage of Information Technology· The usage of internet as a learning media toolFrom the table 1, it is observed that around 20% students are failed during their study. For sure, it is a big problem for Information System Department, School of Information Technology. Based on those problems, this research is conducted to study the correlation between academic achievement (as measured by GPA like Najafabadi, Najafabadi, and Farid-Rohani (2013) research did) to predict the percentage of successful students during their study.Table 1 also supports what Siang and Santoso (2016) study in its paper. Information System Department Students feel demotivated towards their study. Demotivated students can be seen with the high study period and many students are out during their study. Siang and Santoso (2016) found that students have willingness to increase their GPA up to 9.2 out of 10. This willingness is not supported with the eagerness to do the assignments and prepare for the exams. It means that students show less efforts to achieve their ambition to increase its GPA.Academic Achievement was a research topic for Najafabadi, Najafabadi, and Farid -Rohani (2013) whose study was about academic achievement, measured by GPA, for Shahid Bahesti University in Iran, found that there are some factors influence the academic achievement, such as Teaching - Evaluation, Learner, Environment, Family, Curriculum, and Teaching Knowledge.Clearly, academic performance is a critical factor to be taken into account. Underachievement is associated with a high dropout rate (Martinez, Karanik, Giovannini, and Pinto, 2015). Educational Data Mining is one of the solution that can predict and anticipate the higher number of student's underachievement and drop out. Martinez, et. al. (2015) found out an alternative solution to characterize the students into some certain groups. Thus, the profiling becomes a strategy of significant value when an action is taken to improve the performance of students.Following the introduction, literature review in Educational Data Mining is conducted. The next part is research methodology, followed by analysis and discussion. The final part from this study will be conclusion and further research suggestions.LITERATURE REVIEW:ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS:Academic achievement is a measurement for students' academic performance. The measurement of students' academic performance is Grade Point Average (GPA). GPA can describe the students' performance during their study (Martinez et al., 2015). Bahji, et. al. (2013) showed that there are some factors that influence the learning process. Motivation and engagement are two factors that influence the process and its result. Learning can bring some changes in human knowledge and behavior, including social, psychology, and other kind of changes. …

Expense Management Strategies Within Financially Successful Christian Universities

This study identified the business strategies and tactics employed by three financially successful Christian institutions of higher education to drive a positive net income. In addition, this study explored the linkages between operational decisions and the institutions' Christian mission. The three institutions in this study declared an uncompromising mission to educate students from a Christian worldview. The planning processes were consistently integrated into the routine structures and cycles, with the institutions' Christian identity being the lens through which planning was filtered. The investigated institutions also employed a business framework in their operations, intentionally living within their means by managing the effectiveness and efficiencies of the institution and by avoiding excessive debt. It was evident that strategic planning processes that included strong tactical planning and follow-through, combined with conservative fiscal management, were critical to the success of these private, not-for-profit Christian institutions. These institutions demonstrated that good fiscal business decisions, when made through the lens of the Christian mission or ethos, are evidence of good stewardship.

Cultural Confluence: Challenges for a Christian College Desiring to Work Cross-Culturally

Within the complexities of a multicultural society, it is both important and challenging for Christian institutions of higher education to understand the institutional culture, the impact of that culture on staff, students, and external stakeholders, and the cohesion of programmatic elements within the broader cultural picture. This article reports on one aspect of a New Zealand Christian institution's self-reflection on its attitudes and practices in relation to cultural diversity. The particular element used for this study was an immersion experience undertaken by teacher education students during the final year of their program. Using a phenomenological approach, two consecutive year groups of students, together with the teachers in centers and schools that hosted them, were interviewed either singly or as groups. Questions focused on hearing the experiences of participants as well as the insights and learning gleaned from the visits. The findings are reported and discussed using the principles of New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, as an analytical framework. The significance of connection, the attitudes that create a sense of engagement, and the realization that connection, while intangible to some degree, is nevertheless the result of intentional activity, are central to the findings. Although the data are specific to one institution, the findings are relevant to any Christian provider of higher education seeking to live out unity in diversity within the educational context.

Global Contexts for Learning: Exploring the Relationship Between Low-Context Online Learning and High-Context Learners

Current research on culture and distance education suggests that cultural variables influence student success online. When online courses are writing-based, they may provide easy information dissemination; however, the low-context medium may restrict the learning experience and class dynamic due to the lack of nonverbal communication. Students who come from a high-context culture may find low-context, online cultures to lack cues they would normally expect when meeting face-to-face. Judging that text-based online communication is low-context, this study explores the impact low-context communication makes in the learning environment of students from high-context cultures by investigating Hall's definitions of contexting and Hofstede's (1980) dimensions of culture in view of online learning. The article concludes by offering suggestions for how to better serve high-context cultures in low-context online courses in Christian institutions of higher education.

Challenges to Christian Higher Education at a Time of Increasing Emphasis on Research

In Australia, both Christian and non-Christian higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced a rapidly changing external environment that is becoming more performance-driven, particularly in relation to faculty research. Academics working in Australian Christian HEIs often feel pressure to keep pace with their counterparts in non-Christian HEIs. Without proactive steps by Christian HEIs and the faculty serving in that context, decreasing levels of government funding to support research may be targeted to non-Christian HEIs. The result of this pattern would potentially influence the ability of Christian HEIs to attract high-caliber staff and students. The focus of this article, a case study involving a large Australian Protestant Christian HEI, examines the process of moving from a teaching-led culture to one reflecting a strong nexus between teaching and research. The research methodology included observations made during site visits, reviews of relevant documents, individual semistructured interviews with eight faculty, and follow-up information obtained from the same participants. A thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006), identified the primary theme that emerged as that of the journey followed by the participants as the research and publication output of the institution was enhanced. The participants’ personal standing within their institution was also increased during this process. Four related subthemes described in the paper included struggles, advances, barriers/blocks, and supports/backers—as part of the individual and institutional journey. Implications of the findings for higher education professionals within and beyond the research site are presented.