Educational Exchange Research Articles

A scoping review of international virtual knowledge exchanges for healthcare professionals

ABSTRACT International knowledge exchanges within healthcare have historically been a popular method to provide exposure to practice in other national and international healthcare settings. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced many countries into lockdowns, knowledge exchanges in healthcare were forced into a period of suspension. This provided an opportunity to consider alternative methods of delivery. This scoping review explores virtual knowledge exchanges in healthcare professional education, including their format and related outcomes. Thirty-four virtual knowledge exchanges were identified. These demonstrated viability and subjective participant satisfaction. Virtual methods removed barriers of time, distance and finance associated with traditional exchanges, while still facilitating engagement with other international healthcare colleagues. However these exchanges were heterogeneous in their aims, structure and theoretical underpinnings. An understanding of educational outcomes and their measurement was not always obvious. Applying an overlay of robust pedagogical theory would strengthen and provide structure to the clearly well valued activity of international exchange.

Minhas Majeed Khan, et al. (eds.). China-Pakistan Economic Corridor—A Game Changer. Islamabad, Pakistan: Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI). 2016. iii+164 Pages. Pak Rupees 500.00 (Hardback).

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor—A Game Changer is a collection of essays, written by experts in the fields of International Relations, Political Economy, Current Affairs, and Sino-Pak relations. The book takes its readers on an exuberant journey through the history of Silk Route to the One Belt, One-Road (OBOR) initiative and the political economy of the Sino-Pakistan relations. The book not only underscores the challenges that lie ahead in making the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a success, but it also presents suggestions for making it a real game changer for development and prosperity of Pakistan, and the entire region. The book highlights the economic and political importance of CPEC by integrating analysis with the latest data. In the first article, Li Xiguang discusses the importance of the OBOR initiative. He asserts that “opening to both the east and the west”, China will become the centre of Central Asia. The idea of OBOR raised by China would not only achieve economic purposes but cultural, religious, and educational exchanges can also be made possible through this project. Historically, Silk Road had its own influence and it helped in shaping the governance and transportation of even the most distant countries and influenced the culture of even the remotest areas. In the past, the area around the CPEC has seen the ascent of the cultural centres of the world. The CPEC, which encompasses countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran has once again put China on the central stage. The author feels that China needs to maintain social relationships and political cooperation with these nations. This initiative is shaping a new world order through common destiny, common interests, values, culture, and security.

Creating Brave Spaces in Higher Education: A Short Interprofessional Education Exchange to Support Refugees’ Psychosocial Needs

Potential traumatic experiences, prior, during and after migration, are the most common risk factors consistently associated with higher rates of mental disorders among refugees. The complex nature of refugee social and health challenges requires a holistic and comprehensive approach to achieve health equity. That is why, interprofessional education and collaboration among health and psychosocial care professionals is becoming increasingly crucial to build strong foundations for socially relevant work for refugees. Academic institutions can provide learning activities to advance students’ interprofessional knowledge and competences before they enter the workforce. This study explored higher education students’ experiences and reflections on a short-term interprofessional exchange that aimed to promote mental health and psychosocial support for refugees. Participants were higher education students from Germany, Greece, Sweden, and Spain representing the fields of psychology, occupational therapy, social work, pedagogy, medicine, and nursing. A qualitative study compromising two focus groups carried out at the end and 18 months after the interprofessional exchanges. Thematic analysis resulted in four themes: a) from curiosity to responsible action, b) my cultural humility journey, c) companion stories, and d) brave spaces and a sense of hope. Interprofessional collaboration emerged as a key strategy in protecting human rights and providing equal opportunities in psychosocial support of refugees. Findings highlight the value of short-term interprofessional exchanges for preparing higher education students in health and social care to move and be responsive in intercultural societies and contexts.

Class matters in class matters: Education and emancipation in working-class culture: A conversation between Frank and Rita

This article is on education and emancipation in working-class culture, examining the use of illustrative language (particularly working-class dialect), as a tool to generate higher (or at least wider) educational exchange. Taking the form of a play script, or as an imagined sequel to Willy Russell’s play Educating Rita ([), this article utilizes the easily digestible format of conversation to explore and illustrate Mikhail Bahktin’s complex ideas on dialogism, and the ideological pedagogical position of Jacques Rancière’s novel The Ignorant Schoolmaster ([1989] 1999). We see Rita become academically educated, and as the narrative develops, the idea of what is meant when we say the word ‘culture’ is constantly challenged. Through exploring social culture in working-class communities, this narrative examines how a ‘lack’ of academic awareness has the potential to lead to a social state of intellectual undress: one that disarms and excites information exchange.

PSMA Sponsored Events Fuel Continuing Education and Knowledge Exchange [PSMA Corner

A driving goal of the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) ( <uri xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://psma.com</uri> ) is to improve the knowledge of technological and other developments related to power sources and conversion devices. To achieve this goal PSMA sponsors multiple events throughout the year to assist member companies in aligning their product roadmaps to identify emerging trends and meet challenges.

Disrupted or sustained? Chinese international students’ perceptions of transnational hybrid learning amid politics and pandemic

Impacted by the global COVID-19 crisis and its sociopolitical shockwaves, pre-existing physical mobility patterns and traditional study-abroad experiences have been thoroughly disrupted and transformed. US higher education institutions have utilized the practices of transnational hybrid learning to sustain the quality and progress of international higher education. This article focuses on a study programme that integrates online and offline learning in Shanghai, China, coordinated by a non-profit international higher education exchange agency in partnership with eight US universities and one Chinese university from August 2020 to June 2021. Through semi-structured interviews with 32 Chinese students, this article finds that transnational hybrid learning offers students greater geographical and time flexibility, room for self-paced learning and controls on health risks while ensuring face-to-face interactions and physical activities. In addition, the localization of international education might motivate Chinese students to consider their career development that balances their interests and career prospects in response to political and economic uncertainties. However, the communication and learning gaps, weakened intercultural communication, sustained sociocultural alienation and contradictions of two sociocultural contexts render the overall programme experience less desirable. In sum, this article identifies the potential of virtual mobility beyond geographical and policy constraints in transforming and reimagining the practices of transnational higher education in a post-pandemic world.

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES AS A MECHANISM OF CREATIVE ECONOMY AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS

In a period of crisis – namely, a pandemic and martial law – the economy is transforming into a system where the main driving forces are the exchange of knowledge, its mutual evaluation, where creativity and creative industries play a significant role, which ultimately form the creative economy, which economist and sociologist Richard Florida called "the new economic era of the 21st century". The purpose of the scientific work is to analyze the tools of Ukrainian creative industries that contribute to the production of a new cultural product or service, have a semantic load, are a resource for strategic communications and increase the potential of the creative economy in martial law (on the examples of successful Ukrainian cases of creative industries in the crisis period). The methodology of the study is based on a combination of systemic and value-based approaches, as well as discourse analysis, which together contribute to the disclosure of structural relationships in the ecosystem of the creative economy (in particular, social capital, entrepreneurial culture, state and international support, innovation potential, reputational capital of Ukraine in the world), their correlations with the peculiarities of national political and economic development and global trends, in particular in times of crisis, such as pandemic and wartime. The scientific work traces the genesis of the formation of a conceptual understanding of the creative economy and creative industries in the Ukrainian dimension, which contains legislative (Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 265-r "On Approval of Economic Activities Related to Creative Industries", the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine on State Support of Culture, Small Business and Creative Industries in Connection with the Implementation of Measures Aimed at Preventing the Occurrence and Spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)", etc.), terminology (the meaning of the concepts of "creative product", "creative industries", "project", "institutional support grant", etc. was clarified), social and institutional (creation of the Public Union "Center for the Development of the Creative Economy", the National Bureau of the EU program "Creative Europe" in Ukraine, the Startup Fund, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UCF), etc. Special attention in the scientific work is paid to the anonymous online survey of the UCF together with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine of creative entrepreneurs and creative professionals, which was conducted among UCF 2020-2022 applicants on the state of culture and creative industries during the war (June 2022) in order to form a recovery and strengthening plan, which identified the following needs: transparent competition for managerial positions, restructuring of the management vertical of the industry, international educational trainings and exchange programs for artists and managers of the creative sector; co-production and cooperation in international projects; emphasis on cultural factors in the state international policy; strategy of state support, minimization of document circulation. The analysis of successful Ukrainian cases of creative industries allowed to outline the tools for the development of the creative economy in the crisis period: monetization of hobbies, innovative entrepreneurship, business clustering (in particular, the idea of a cluster of creative industries), brand collaboration, craft production, creation of cultural products such as books, grant/fund support and others, on the terms of donation to support the humanitarian and military needs of Ukrainian society. And the recently created podcast "Frontline of Creative Industries" about the success stories of representatives of this industry, who with their projects resist Russian aggression and support the economy and the institution of national identification of Ukraine, opens up prospects for further analysis of such tools as crowdfunding, revitalization, development of creative clusters of Ukrainian business.

The Sino-African higher education exchange: toward building a literature

PurposeThis paper intends to provide a thematic literature review of the scholarly research articles orbiting the Sino–African education cooperation and exchange, published between 2005 and 2022.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used in this paper is qualitative in nature with a thematic approach. The author used content analysis techniques to spotlight the major themes of the topic studied. The author selected the papers and theses, based on their heuristic capacity, from two major databases for the English and Chinese literature: Web of Science and CNKI. The selection process resulted in 60 high-quality peer-reviewed articles and theses. Another 30 research articles and theses were used as supplementary resources.FindingsThe literature concentrates on six points: the historical development, the nature of the exchange, the frameworks of the cooperation, vocational training and knowledge transfer, African students in China and their experiences, and education cooperation and soft power. However, research tends to be somewhat polemical rather than an academic debate between Chinese researchers and their western peers. Therefore, empirical studies beyond the geopolitical preoccupations and the “YEA” or “NAY” to the Sino–African education exchange are critically needed.Practical implicationsThe implications of this study go beyond the east/west or developed/developing world rhetoric and focus more on sustainable educational development on a global scale. Understanding how the literature on the Sino–African education engagement is shaping, provides valuable insights into international education in the global south. It can also be implied to approach educational engagement with other destinations such as India, Türkiye and Brazil.Originality/valueThis thematic literature review concentrates on the educational aspect of Sino–African relations. It compares English and Chinese peer-reviewed scholarly articles and theses on China–Africa educational engagement and has heuristic implications for sustainable educational development globally.

Parents of children with disabilities' perceptions regarding the quality of interaction with Health professionals working in early intervention: A qualitative descriptive study.

The aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of parents of children with physical disabilities concerning the quality of their interaction with health professionals in early intervention programs. Despite the consensus on the need for Patient and Family-Centered Care, there are still difficulties when executing such care. The quality of interaction among patients, families, and professionals is essential to facilitate the implementation of the programs. A qualitative descriptive study with thematic analysis using a Modified Grounded Theory approach. Data were collected through seven focus groups with 28 parents of children with physical disabilities who were undergoing early intervention programs in three centres. The study followed the COREQ guidelines and checklist. Two themes emerged from the experiences: 'exchange of information and education', which included all the activities, procedures, exercises and skills taught by the professionals to help parents care for their child; and 'interpersonal skills', which focused on the way the professional relates with the child and the parents. Several subthemes emerged within each theme. This study identified which elements of the professional-parent interaction are considered by parents when evaluating the quality of their interaction with the health care provider of their children. The results of this study bring to light certain behaviours and interactions that health professionals should consider in order to improve the perceptions of parents of children with disabilities regarding the quality of interaction in the context of early childhood intervention. Parents contributed to the data collected. Early intervention professionals were involved in participant checking to ensure the rigour of the study.

Istoriya razvitiya obrazovatel'nogo sotrudnichestva mezhdu Rossiej i Kitaem cherez prizmu «myagkoj sily»

The theory of “soft power” appeared in the late 20th century. Since the 21st century, China began to actively develop “softpower” and achieved satisfactory results. Modern Russia has not only inherited the rich soft power resources of the Soviet Union, but also continues to promote cultural diplomacy. China and Russia, as close neighbors, have a long history of educational exchanges. Nevertheless, at the present stage in China-Russia educational exchanges there are some problems, which should be solved by the joint efforts of both countries.

THE SPREAD OF THE BRITISH TEA-DRINKING CULTURE INTO THE VIETNAMESE ONE - THE REASONS BEHIND THIS PHENOMENON AND ITS RELATED RESULTS

Tea and tea-drinking tradition are dispensable parts of daily life in both Britain and Vietnam. Two of these countries are geographically and culturally far away but there are British nuances in the Vietnamese tea-drinking habits. With the method of processing the online public media sources and hardcopy literature through anthropological illumination, it is discovered that the British features seen in the Vietnamese tea drinking way are blended teas, instant teas, tea bags, teacups, and afternoon tea mini-party. There are anthropological explanations for this phenomenon, among which the most fundamental is about bilateral diplomatic relations. These diplomatic connections push forward the exchanges in economy, education, tourism, and culture between UK and Vietnam. Tea culture, therefore, is also carried out from Britain to Vietnam. The Vietnamese taking these British habits in teatime are viewed as wealthier, busier, younger, socially classier, and more open-minded people. Despite the concern of the previous generations, those young people show a positive attitude toward learning about their traditional tea customs. On the whole, it can be concluded that the British tea-drinking style in Vietnam is not as massive as the other imported cultural products such as music, movie, and fashion but it has built up a social community, which is smaller-sized but niche with the strong qualities mentioned above.

Empirical analysis of the integration mechanism of explicit and implicit education on the ideological and political education and impact on mental health: The perspective of new media.

Education nowadays should be a combination of explicit and implicit education, which can effectively improve the effectiveness of ideological and political education, promote the development of ideological and political education in universities, and ensure the quality of ideological and political education in universities. This study makes an empirical analysis of the integration mechanism of explicit education and implicit education of ideological and political education from the perspective of new media. A total of 1,050 students were included from the polytechnic university of China in the analysis. Questions regarding age, sex, source of information collections, Internet time, type of browsers used, and the influence of the Internet were asked of the students. The nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire was administered to measure the students' depressive symptoms. A comprehensive study was done to prove the depressive symptoms in students from the perspective of new media. A total of 78 % of students collected information from the Internet, and 1 % of students collected information from books. Most of the students spent more than 1 h on the Internet per day. It was concluded from the data that 245 college students were always influenced by the Internet, accounting for 24%, and 730 college students were occasionally influenced by the Internet, accounting for 73%. Forty-two college students do not influence the Internet, accounting for 4%. It can be seen that 95.6% of college students will be affected by the Internet compared with those who will never be affected by the Internet. Therefore, the new media network has high popularity among college students, as online time accounts for a large proportion of their study time. From the perspective of new media, the integration of explicit and implicit education in ideological and political education is feasible. In today's information age, education implementers need to use a large number of new media images to enable students to accept education in the integration mechanism. From the perspective of new media, it is also necessary to innovate the forms of reports, establish the integration mechanism of explicit education and implicit education, strengthen educational links and interactive exchanges, and promote university education.

Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Survey of Current Awareness, Diagnostic Modalities, Treatment Practices, and Clinical Challenges Among Cardiologists in Selected Middle Eastern Countries

Introduction: Cardiac amyloidosis is a chronic and progressive disease caused by the deposition of amyloid fibrils in cardiac tissues. The diagnosis and management of cardiac amyloidosis are complicated and have developed over the years. Methods: An online survey was sent to cardiologists in four countries (Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq) interested in heart failure and had been practicing for more than a year. The survey included questions about the characteristics of the participants and their affiliated institutes. The survey addresses their knowledge and practices in cardiac amyloidosis concerning diagnostic modalities, treatment options, and interest in education and knowledge exchange. Results: A total of 85 physicians participated in the online survey. Twenty-five were from Saudi Arabia, 24 from Lebanon, 24 from Egypt, and 12 from Iraq. There was a variation in the participating cardiologists’ knowledge, experience level, and readiness of their affiliated institutes to manage patients with ATTR-CM. Most participants believed that high rate of ATTR-CM misdiagnosis existed. Participants’ knowledge varied concerning the diagnostic modalities and ‘red flags’ raising suspicion about ATTR-CM. Another challenge was the availability of essential diagnostic modalities among various cardiology centers. A knowledge gap was also present regarding the updates in ATTR-CM management. However, there was a high endorsement towards the need for more education, physician networking, and knowledge exchange. Discussion and Conclusion: This survey highlighted the need for increasing awareness levels among cardiologists in the four selected Arab countries. Cardiologists are most likely to benefit from additional training and knowledge exchange on the latest management advances of this disease. Thus, measures must be taken to focus on the physician’s awareness of ATTR-CM patient journey to achieve a better quality of care and outcome.

SENTIMENT ANALYSIS OF REDDIT COMMENTS

A significant amount of data is generated as well as being made available to internet users thanks to the development and growth of online technologies. The internet has developed into a forum for online education, idea sharing, and opinion exchange. Social networking services like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ are quickly gaining popularity as a result of the ability for users to share and express their opinions on many subjects, engage in conversation with various communities, and broadcast messages globally. Reddit data sentiment analysis has been the subject of a great deal of research. This study focuses on Reddit comments from the AMC, Clover, and GameStop subreddits using sentiment analysis. We provide study on Reddit comments where a radar chart was produced displaying comparison between AMC, Clover, and GameStop using machine learning methods Network analysis.

Страхи российского студенчества в ситуации социальной неопределенности (весна 2022 года)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the repertoire of Russian students’ fears in four Russian regions in the context of the spring events of 2022. The usual and new aspects of fears and anxiety are described, as well as their regional differences due to the event context and territorial proximity/remoteness from the arena of a special mili-tary operation. Empirical data were collected among students of 1-4 full-time courses of study in economic, social and humanitarian areas of training in the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Rostov and Belgorod regions from 03/10/2022 to 03/15/2022. The study used the method of group focused interviews (8 focus groups). In the course of quali-tative data analysis, axial and thematic coding procedures were implemented. It was revealed that the structure of the dominant elements in the repertoire of fears is pre-served in all analyzed regions (fear of illness of relatives and friends, war, one’s own illness and loss of working capacity, arbitrariness on the part of the authorities, pov-erty), however, for students of the Urals and Siberia, the fear of illness of relatives is in the first place, while in the border regions the first position is occupied by the fear of war. It was revealed that the external environmental factors of the border areas af-fect the strengthening of fears: the closer and more real the threat is, the sharper and more specific the students' fears are. Socio-psychological tension is caused by dif-fuse, natural fears for the life, health and well-being of loved ones, one's own social future, the future of the country and the world, which, under the influence of a situa-tion of uncertainty, acquire concreteness and menacing acuteness. New aspects in the palette of fears are associated with economic, political, cultural changes in the coun-try and the world, and, first of all, with manifestations of the "cancel culture". Its economic aspect is due to the total and long-term economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, which caused a surge in economic fears, the need to cope with which will require serious changes in the economic consciousness and behavior of young people. The political aspect of cancel culture is associated among students with growing fears about the external political isolation of Russia and alienation from vari-ous forms of political activity within the country. The socio-cultural aspect of the cancellation phenomenon manifested itself in new types of fears of the cultural isola-tion of Russia as a whole, reduced access to familiar social networks and services, limited student cultural, scientific, educational exchanges and educational opportuni-ties abroad.

კადრი, როგორც კოვიდის რეალობაში ურთიერთობის ენა

The world suddenly faced the new reality by the end of 2019. Coexistence with the virus (COVID-19) endangered the human wellbeing and his spiritual, physical and all other important components necessary to live. There is hardly found any sphere not affected by this virus. The architecture is also not an exception in this viewpoint. COVID-19 damaged the architecture in different directions: education had become wrapped, the educational exchange programs were stopped, architecturally important cities and monuments remained without visitors. Biennials were postponed, the format of conferences were changed – the open communication was replaced by the distanced one. All international borders were closed for researchers, scientists and travelers. The world started to find ways to live and survive in this different reality, the various spheres started to make new planning to fit the new reality. We think that for the architecture it is important to enhance already wellprobed methodology – the frame as the communication language until we farewell with COVID-19. The methodology is widely used as in science as well in visual art. In this scientific work we discuss the role of photography and aerial photography for systemic analysis of architect concept on the example of Egyptian pyramids by using the mentioned research methodology.

Finding “Otherness” in Music and Pedagogy: A Critical Ontological Analysis of an Immersive International Music Education Exchange Program

This study sought to investigate how a cohort of American preservice graduate students in music education reconceptualize their pedagogical lens after participating in an immersive cultural music exchange program in China. By embracing a critical ontology framework, we interwove Western ways of knowing alongside local knowledge to examine the ways in which participants explored their cultural competence through self-reflection. Data indicated that participants in this study were receptive to non-Western social and musical experiences within learning environments that minimized power dynamics, such as peer-to-peer instruction and informal music making. This finding suggests that music teacher educators preparing a cultural immersion program could construct multiple types of learning opportunities in an effort to build preservice teachers’ cultural competence. In addition to careful research, design, and implementation of immersion programs, music teacher educators might also prepare students for the messiness of the cultural competence work, including cultural misunderstandings, issues of authenticity, and varying interpretations.

Scenarios for the Integration of Virtual Exchange in Higher Education

This paper describes the results of the analysis carried out within the Erasmus+ FRAMES project (https://frames-project.eu/) which collected and analysed Virtual Exchange (VE) case studies building upon desk research and through an open survey, so as to identify and describe various scenarios of accredited VEs. By using a qualitative methodology based on pattern matching analysis, collected cases were aggregated into four scenarios to be potentially used by a variety of European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): VE as a preparatory or follow-up activity to physical mobility (blended mobility); VE as an intertwined component of physical mobility (blended mobility); VE as a stand-alone learning activity; VE as a component of a course. The main conclusions and recommendations revolve around the need to expand the number of potential scenarios across all disciplines and contexts and the urge to train academic as well as administrative staff to facilitate the integration of VE in HEIs.

Ideology in Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education: The Application of Big Data Mining Technology in the Work Conducted by Counselors

The globalization of today’s world economy is developing in depth, and international education has gradually taken a new step in order to cultivate higher education talents who can adapt to the new context of development. Sino-foreign cooperative education is the main means for the country to carry out international education and foreign exchange, and it aims to cultivate complex talents who can adapt to the new international trade and exchange in the world. Due to the special nature of the student source and the complexity of the purpose of the school, the teaching concept and mode of Sino-foreign cooperative schools differ greatly from the traditional general higher education, which also puts forward strict requirements on the professional level of counselors. As an emerging technology, big data mining technology has a unique advantage in optimizing the processing and management of a large amount of data. The application of big data mining technology to the management of counselors in Sino-foreign cooperative education is important for improving the quality of education, establishing an efficient educational model of Sino-foreign cooperative education, and promoting the international modernization of national education.

Dealing with Moments of Crisis Interculturally in Educational Virtual Exchanges: A Sino–Finnish Case Study

Being able to deal with “moments of crisis” is crucial in intercultural communication. Using identities as an analytical lens, this paper examines different types of “moments of crisis” identified in educational virtual exchanges between Chinese and Finnish university students. The study shows that the participants use soothing and code-switching as strategies in these moments of crisis to “do” interculturality, i.e., to achieve interactional arrangements (e.g., moving the discussion forward) and self-other alignments (e.g., saving face). Focusing on soothing as a positive strategy and code-switching as an avoidance strategy in dealing with “moments of crisis”, we also scrutinize the emergence of the identities of mediator, fence-sitter, and facilitator in the students’ behaviors. Finally, students’ working experience, language use, and physical surroundings are identified as having a potential influence on their use of soothing and code-switching during the online intercultural interactions. Recommendations for preparing students for international virtual exchanges conclude the paper.