Elective Course Research Articles

Make your future job matter: A career calling intervention for college students

AbstractIn recent years, career development scholars and practitioners are increasingly interested in the concept of career calling. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying the process of its discernment remain obscure, and intervention research is scarce. In this study, we implemented a quasi‐experimental pretest–posttest design with intervention (n = 42) and control group (n = 66) to test a 9‐week elective course designed to help college students find their callings. The course included an investigation of strengths, values, and interests, followed by their integration into personal mission and finding occupations that allowed to implement that mission in real life (potential callings). The study was conducted in a major Russian university located in Moscow. Be the end of the course, the participants had a stronger sense of calling, perceived more meaning, and felt more authentic. The results of this study can be used by university career services, as well as private counselors.

Clustering-based Recommendations for Enhancing Students’ Academic Performance by Recognizing Prevalent Assessment Method using Exploratory Data Analysis

Objectives: To analyse students’ academic performance based on assessment methods and determine the most prevalent one through which students can be categorised for recommending optimal student-centered pedagogies that enhance students’ performance. Methods: Exploratory Data Analysis identifies the implications of the assessment methods based on the marks obtained by students in Continuous Assessments (CA) and the Cumulative Test (CT). Continuous Assessment (CA) and Cumulative Test (CT) marks of three subjects that come under foundation science, elective, and skill-based course of 100 undergraduate students are collected from a reputed Arts and Science Institution using stratified sampling technique, analyzed, and the recommendations are made based on the statistical observations and cluster analysis. Clustering recognises learning patterns of the students’ on the learners’ data. The Elbow method determines the number of clusters where the Silhouette score identifies the best suitable clustering technique for the dataset. K-Means Clustering categorises students based on their performance, that helps to give recommendations to improve. Findings: Based on Univariate and Bivariate analysis on the dataset, this work identifies Continuous Assessment (CA) as a prevalent evaluation strategy that motivates students to get engaged throughout rather than just before the exam. Based on the Silhouette Score (above .5), K-Means clustering is chosen to discover hidden patterns in the assessment marks depending on the three clusters determined by the Elbow method. It helps to identify the underperformers (46%) and suggest personalised recommendations for improving student’s academic performance as per clusters. Novelty: This work integrates Statistical Analysis and Clustering Analysis as per the optimal clusters determined by the Elbow method for identifying patterns hidden in assessment marks based on the prevalent assessment types. As a result, it enables more personalised recommendations for recognising the predominant assessment method and boosting academic achievement. Keywords: Continuous Assessment, Cumulative Test, Statistical Analysis, Exploratory Data Analysis, Univariate, Bivariate, Cluster Analysis, Elbow Method, K­Means Clustering

South Korean University Lecturers’ Opinions About Initial Teacher Education in Gifted Education

Despite the importance of initial teacher training, no primary education courses in South Korean universities provide a compulsory course in gifted education and elective courses are limited. Individual in-depth interviews with seven lecturers of gifted education courses were conducted to elicit their opinions about initial teacher education in gifted education. The lecturer interviewees suggested that there should be more of an emphasis on gifted education in initial teacher education programs. They also emphasized the importance of practical teaching experience with gifted students. The expansion of initial teacher education in gifted education in South Korea has the potential to improve preservice teachers’ understanding gifted students, ultimately improving the outcomes of this population.

The association between course selection and academic performance: exploring psychological interpretations

ABSTRACT Course selection is an important issue for university students. This study investigates the relationship between course selection and overall academic performance among university students. Using anonymous transcripts from 1681 undergraduates across ten majors, we examined the association between elective course load or choices and academic performance while controlling for the influence of grade leniency. Results showed that students with higher academic performance tended to schedule more courses at the early stage of university, even when the average workload was already high. Additionally, students with different levels of academic performance showed differences in their elective course choices, with course choices positively associated with academic performance being rated as having a higher potential to satisfy extrinsic motivation but a lower potential to satisfy intrinsic motivation. We discussed the possibility of interpreting the association between course selection and academic performance from a psychological perspective.

Course Construction and Practice of Embedded Computing for New Engineering Education

Facing the reform and development of the New Engineering Education, the paper combines the Embedded Computing course construction and practice. The course of Embedded Computing is an elective course for postgraduates majoring in Computer Science in Harbin University of technology. Under the guidance of the education direction for Emerging Engineering Education, it must be strengthened the construction and practice of the course. This paper combines the traditional teaching mode with the online teaching mode, the theoretical content driven by problems with DIY practice, and adopts a diversified evaluation system. Through the curriculum reforms, the students' learning enthusiasm has been actively mobilized, and the teaching quality has been significantly improved. This paper can provide reference for reform of talent training in our teaching courses.

Developing the experimental skills of pre-service physics teachers

In this paper we present the focus, objectives, content and implementation of the elective course Selected Demonstration Experiments designed for physics teaching students. We map students’ personal experiences with the implementation of physics experiments in lower secondary school and high school, as well as their knowledge of the possibilities of demonstrating physical phenomena through experiments with simple tools. The continuing lack of experimentally oriented activities in physics education naturally has a negative impact on the experimental skills of physics teaching students. In this context, the prospective teacher should be able to carry out a wide range of physical experiments, demonstrations, experiments and measurements, interpret them appropriately and involve them in active perception. The lack of experimental equipment in schools for individual (or small group) student work can be at least partially overcome by the use of commonly available simple tools (plastic containers, stationery household tools, toys). Their availability is a strong motivation for individual observations, investigations and measurements at home. In the school laboratory, the teacher can easily provide such tools for frontal experiments, parallel work by groups of students or project work following observations at home. We consider and present a model of blended learning in an educational laboratory environment. In this paper we present selected ideas for physics observations and experiments with simple tools in the form of engaging video demonstrations. We have included the creation of our own educational video demonstration as a student semester project in the course presented. We present the success of achieving our learning objectives through student assessment.

The Penetration of Central Plains Culture in College English Teaching

Language and culture are inseparable. The inseparable relationship between language and culture makes culture and language teaching inextricably linked. The Central Plains culture represents Chinese culture to a certain extent. Hence, it is of significance to integrate college English teaching and the culture of the Central Plains. Based on the analysis of the current situation and causes of the penetration of Central Plains culture in college English teaching, this paper explores the principles and methods of penetrating Chinese culture into college English teaching. In college English teaching, it is necessary to adhere to the principles of moderation, balance and communication in integrating the basic knowledge of central plains culture. The methods are as follows: formulating scientific training program and reforming the existing teaching material system, improving the teachers’ traditional cultural quality and enhancing their multicultural awareness, perfecting the content of cultural penetration and optimizing the teaching method, setting up a variety of elective courses concerning central plains culture and enriching the second classroom activities, creating a good learning environment to enhance the students’ interest in learning central plains culture.

Study of the effectiveness of teaching cultural geography in a school’s geography course

The experience of countries with developed education and the work of scientists who have conducted research in this area indicate that cultural geography is the most important factor in the formation of the worldview of students. However, an analysis of the state of teaching cultural geography in secondary schools in Kazakhstan has shown that it is insufficiently studied. The cultural geography components of geography are included in school geography textbooks, although they are not specifically taught as an independent subject or course. Therefore, an elective course on Cultural Geography was developed to fill this gap, and its effectiveness was studied through experimental research. The general secondary education school in Almaty City was chosen as the base of the experiment. The experiment, in which a total of 50 students voluntarily participated, was conducted from September 2021 to the end of May 2022. In order to determine the educational levels of students after the course, three stages of monitoring were conducted and 15 tasks of different levels were given. The experiment's findings demonstrated the significance of the elective "Cultural Geography" course in helping students develop their subject competencies and the value of implementing it in regular secondary schools.

한국과 중국의 국가 수준 고등학교 수학영재 교육과정의 비교·분석

Objectives The purpose of this study is to find implications for Korean mathematics education by examining how gifted mathematics education is operated in Korea and China through a comparison and analysis of the basic direc-tions of gifted mathematics education in high schools in both countries. Methods We analyzed the contents and composition methods for mathematically gifted students in the education curriculum and textbooks in Korea’s 2022 and 2015 curricula and China’s 2017 revised mathematics and curricu-lum contents and textbooks. Results Korea adheres to standardized processes and contents in each area of algebra, analysis, geometry, proba-bility and statistics, and mathematical history and definitional areas, while China sometimes develops integrated processes that are not restricted to areas by focusing on specific topics. In the geometry area, Korea’s 2015 curric-ulum lacked content for mathematics gifted students compared to China, but this was sufficiently overcome in the advanced geometry newly established in the 2022 curriculum, and the parts that were lacking compared to China, such as mathematical history and definitional areas, were also expanded in mathematics and culture, AI mathe-matics, and other areas of the 2022 curriculum. Conclusions Both countries have advanced courses and textbooks being used in mathematics gifted education, but Korea is divided into general courses and elective courses and specialized courses used in special purpose high schools such as science high schools according to the content composition elements and difficulty, while China is only divided into required courses and elective courses. However, while Korea’s specialized course textbooks are a single book, China allows publishers to create level-based textbooks based on composition elements and difficulty, resulting in diverse content and levels.

교육과정 운영 실태 분석을 통한 학습자 중심의 고교학점제 정책 효과성 진단

Objectives This study aimed to diagnose the policy effects of the high school credit system by verifying whether ‘students’ choice of subjects' is practically guaranteed through research on the high school credit system and analysis of the curriculum organization and operation of research and leading schools.
 Methods To this end, the contents of the high school credit system operation cases of research and leading schools designated by the Ministry of Education, as well as reports, plans, and research data of the Ministry of Education and related research institutes were analyzed. Among them, the number of school-designated courses and elective courses by year were compared and analyzed, focusing on the curriculum completion unit organ-ization table of schools that have continuously operated high school credit system research and leading schools for more than 3 years.
 Results Through the research on the high school credit system and the analysis of the curriculum organization and operation of research and leading schools, it was confirmed that ‘students’ choice of subjects' in the organization of the high school curriculum has been expanded. This means that the school operates a variety of curricula.
 Conclusions Through this study, it was confirmed that the high school credit system has expanded students' choice of subjects, and through this, various educational courses are operated. Therefore, in order to establish a high school credit system that guarantees students' right to choose subjects, it is necessary to provide policy sup-port to enhance teachers' competencies for the operation of the high school credit system.

Implementation of Virtual Interactive Cases for Pharmacy Education: A Single-Center Experience.

Patient case simulation software are described in pharmacy education literature as useful tools to improve skills in patient assessment (including medication history-taking and physical assessment), clinical reasoning and communication, and are typically well-received by students and instructors. The virtual interactive case (VIC) system is a web-based software developed to deliver deliberate practice opportunities in simulated patient encounters across a spectrum of clinical topics. This article describes the implementation and utilization of VIC in the undergraduate curriculum at one Canadian pharmacy school. Methods: At our facility, the use of VIC was integrated across the training spectrum in the curriculum, including core and elective didactic courses and practice labs, experiential learning, interprofessional education, and continuing education. Its use was evaluated through student and instructor surveys and qualitative student interviews). VIC is easy to navigate and created a positive and realistic learning environment. Students identified that it enhanced their ability to identify relevant patient information, accurately simulated hospital pharmacy practice and thereby helped them to prepare for their upcoming experiential courses. The use of VIC has expanded beyond its original intended purpose for individual student practice to become a valuable addition to pharmacy undergraduate education. Future plans include ongoing development of cases and exploration of further uses of VIC within the didactic curriculum, for remediation in experiential courses, and for pharmacist continuing education.

Reframing perceptions: A phenomenological inquiry into students’ written reflections on learning about mindfulness

Introduction
 Mindfulness practices offer approaches to reflection that have been argued to contribute to positive outcomes for students in the health professions. Despite calls for more phenomenological investigations in the field, few studies examine the lived experience of learning about mindfulness in professional schools. Objective
 The objective of this study was to inquire into first-hand written accounts of students’ experiences of learning about mindfulness. Methods
 This study reports on occupational therapy health professions students’ phenomenological reflections written during and following a 5 week, 15 hour, mindfulness elective course offered at a Canadian University. The study adopts a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology and is informed by theoretical frameworks of embodiment and practice theories. An indepth thematic analysis of twenty-one students' written reflections on the experience of integrating mindfulness practices into their lives was undertaken. Results
 Predominant themes identified in students’ written reflections include: reframing perceptions, ‘being’ while ‘doing’, witnessing the struggle, and compassion for self and others. Conclusions
 This research contributes richly textured accounts that advance understandings about the affordances of mindfulness education in the lives of future health care practitioners. The results also hold implications for educational design in higher education professional school contexts, considerations of mindfulness practices in future professional practitioners’ everyday and workplace occupations, and identification of promising avenues for future research. This study is funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Development of a Transition to Residency Course Using a Design Thinking Framework.

Transition to residency (TTR) courses help alleviate medical students' concerns about preparing for residency; however, existing TTR courses are often limited to teaching clinical or procedural skills without addressing the nonclinical skills necessary for transitioning to practice. This report describes the use of design thinking (DT) to develop a learner-centered TTR course at the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University. DT consists of 5 steps: discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation, and evolution. The first 3 steps were used for needs assessments and course design. During the discovery step, empathetic, semistructured interviews of interns, program directors, and graduating medical students were conducted to identify concerns about starting residency. During the interpretation step, thematic analysis of interviews was performed to identify areas of concerning attitudes and deficient skills and to inform content. In the ideation step, a 2-week curriculum was designed, including didactic lectures, small group discussions and workshops, simulation, and procedure labs, to address the defined content areas. During the fourth step, implementation, a 2-week pilot elective course of the designed curriculum was conducted in spring 2021 with 6 students. Participant feedback from 2 students collected 6 months into internship found the procedures and simulated clinical skills cases high yield, appropriate, relevant to intern practice, and valuable. The course size in spring 2022 increased to 19 students, and the curriculum was refined based on the feedback of the previous pilot course (from 2 students and 4 faculty members) and from a precourse student survey (5 students). The last step of DT, evolution, included determining larger-scale feasibility while maintaining learner-centeredness and conducting a programmatic evaluation. The iterative, adaptable approach of DT is suitable for TTR design and is generalizable. Other institutions can adapt the DT approach to develop their own institutional TTR programs.

The Use of Podcasts in Enhancing Discriminative Listening Skills of Turkish Learners Abroad: A1 Level

In order to demonstrate the effect of using podcasts on the development of A1 level students’ oral reading, reading comprehension, pronunciation skills, and related discriminative listening skills of Turkish learners abroad, an 8-week podcast-supported listening practice was conducted with a group of 12 participants learning Turkish as an elective course at a university in Central Europe with the aim of improving discriminative listening skills. In this single-group quantitative design research, pretest and post-test were conducted, and the data sources were the Turkish Language Teaching as a Foreign Language A1 Level Discriminative Listening Skill Test and the discriminative listening worksheets were used in the skill development application process. As a result of the research, it was determined that the use of podcasts is effective in improving the discriminative listening skills of those learning Turkish as a foreign language at the A1 level abroad.

Digital competencies in medical studies: results of an interdisciplinary course

Digital medicine has become increasingly important, especially with the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine. The COVID19 pandemic has accelerated this trend and emphasized the need for digital competencies in healthcare. However, digital competencies have been insufficiently taught in medical school to date. The introduction of an elective course in digital competencies in medicine fills acurricular gap at the Medical Faculty of the University of Freiburg. The elective course was developed by an interdisciplinary working group and includes seven modules on topics such as e‑health, telemedicine, AI, hospital information systems, and data literacy. Each module consists of apreparatory self-study unit, atheoretical part, and apractical part. An evaluation was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the elective. Six students participated in the elective course in the summer semester of 2022. The evaluation shows that the goals of the course were achieved. The participants were able to acquire theoretical knowledge and deepen it through practical exercises. The interdisciplinary design of the course promotes exchange between students and teachers and creates synergies. The modular format of the course also allows for current topics, such as generative AI, to be addressed. In order to promote digital competencies among all students of human medicine, it is necessary to integrate the topics into the mandatory curriculum.

Curriculum Analytics of Course Choices:

In a higher education context, students are expected to take charge of their learning by deciding “what” to learn and “how” to learn. While the learning analytics (LA) community has seen increasing research on the “how” to learn part (i.e., researching methods for supporting students in their learning journey), the “what” to learn part is still underinvestigated. We present a case study of curriculum analytics and its application to a dataset of 243 students of the bachelor’s program in the broad discipline of health sciences to explore the effects of course choices on students’ academic performance. Using curriculum metrics such as grading stringency, course temporal position, and duration, we investigated how course choices differed between high- and low-performing students using both temporal and sequential analysis methods. We found that high-performing students were likely to pick an elective course of low difficulty. It appeared that these students were more strategic in terms of their course choices than their low-performing peers. Generally, low-performing students seemed to have made suboptimal choices when selecting elective courses; e.g., when they picked an elective course of high difficulty, they were less likely to pick a following course of low difficulty. The findings of this study have design implications for researchers, program directors, and coordinators, because they can use the results to (i) update the course sequencing, (ii) guide students about course choices based on their current GPA (such as through course recommendation dashboards), (iii) identify bottleneck courses, and (iv) assist higher education institutions in planning a more balanced course roadmap to help students manage their workload effectively.

Student Preferences in Choosing Chemistry as an Elective Course in Phase F of the Merdeka Curriculum

The Merdeka Curriculum differs from the 2013 curriculum regarding elective subjects. The Merdeka Curriculum has no more specialization groups such as science, social studies or language. Merdeka Curriculum allows students to choose elective subjects that suit their interests, talents and abilities when entering phase F at the Senior High School level. Schools must open at least seven elective subjects adjusted to the characteristics and human resources owned by the school. Chemistry is one of the elective subjects that students can choose in Phase F of the Merdeka Curriculum. This study aims to determine the factors that make students choose chemistry as their elective subject in Phase F of the Merdeka Curriculum. This research was conducted at SMA Negeri 17 Jakarta in the 2023-2024 academic year. The research subjects were students in chemistry specialization classes: XI-A Chemistry and XI-B Chemistry. This research uses a qualitative method with a case study research type. Sampling in this study used a purposive sampling technique with certain considerations. Sampling in this study used a purposive sampling technique with certain considerations. Data collection techniques were carried out through interviews with nine students in chemistry specialization classes, and the data obtained were analyzed qualitatively with stages, namely data reduction, conclusions, and verification. The results showed that intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence students' tendency to choose chemistry as their chosen subject. Intrinsic factors include interest in chemistry, academic value, and future study or career plans. Intrinsic factors influencing students most are future study or career plans and individual interest in chemistry. In contrast, extrinsic factors include family factors, friend factors, teacher factors, and support from schools. The extrinsic factor that most influences students is the teacher factor.

Cooperative Learning : Teaching Strategy to Improve Music Learning

In music learning, different approaches have been tried to make music more meaningful and practical for students. In implementing these methods, several strategies are employed, such as mastering theoretical learning, performance-based learning, contract learning, discovery learning, cooperative learning, stage practice, daily clocking, and the implementation of compulsory and elective courses with music at the core. Considering that high-vocational students are students with relatively low grades, it is time to find ways to better suit their studies and improve their grades and skills. Reform must be put into practice and should be based on human innovation, not on paper. The humanistic view emphasizes that teachers are decision-makers and students have the ability to understand what they have learned. In today's all-round implementation of quality education, it is advocated that there are no students who do not learn well, only teachers who do not know how to do. In the outline of teaching reform strategy in the new period, different teaching methods are adopted to train students' thinking and reasoning ability and improve students' ability to learn music. An important attempt will be made to improve students' music learning by developing teaching methods.

Parliamentary Elections and the Gender Aspect: A Comparative Analysis of the Experience of Ukraine and Sweden

Gender aspects in parliamentary elections are becoming more and more important both in the context of achieving equality between the two sexes, and in view of the important role of women in increasing the effectiveness of politics, tolerance, and combating violence and war. Studying the Swedish experience in achieving gender equality in politics will reveal directions for further political reforms in this area. The purpose of the study is to identify the most effective practices for achieving gender balance in politics by conducting a comparative analysis of the Swedish and Ukrainian experience. The main methods are statistical analysis, comparative legal method and rating method. The study of the legislation of both countries regarding gender quotas and the analysis of additional ways in which Sweden achieved modern results made it possible to formulate recommendations for Ukraine that can contribute to the achievement of gender equality in the course of parliamentary elections.

Modern trends in the training of library and information specialists

Global transformations necessitate a re-evaluation of training models for library and information specialists and the modernisation of educational programmes to meet new professional challenges and competencies, including entrepreneurial skills. The aim of the article is to analyse the conditions for ensuring the development of entrepreneurial competence elements among bachelor’s degree students in the specialty 029 “Information, Library and Archival Affairs” at higher education institutions in Ukraine through the lens of evolutionary transformations in higher library and information science education. The research employs a systematic approach, including analysis, synthesis, generalisation, and various analytical methods. Effective professional training in the library and information field relies on adapting educational programmes to rapidly evolving professional demands. Analysis of educational programmes at four institutions shows their potential to develop entrepreneurial skills through a variety of mandatory and elective courses, fostering competencies such as creative thinking, management, communication, and teamwork. Mastery of these skills is increasingly crucial for modern library and information professionals. It has been found that the compulsory educational components as well as the elective educational components from the catalogue of elective disciplines, selected from the educational programmes to assess the development of entrepreneurial competence in future specialists, highlight the uniqueness of each programme and reflect the educational institution’s overall approach to training bachelor’s students in this field. It is noted that the list of compulsory and elective educational components, according to a particular educational and professional programme, demonstrates a positive tendency in understanding the current needs of the industry and social requirements in general. The research results can be used to improve the content and structure of educational programmes for training specialists in the specialty 029 “Information, Library and Archival Affairs”, as well as to develop new syllabi and working programmes for educational components