Heterogeneous Student Population Research Articles

Blending belonging

The disruption caused by the Covid pandemic to expectations of and assumptions surrounding already disputed concepts such as engagement and participation within the student journey throughout tertiary education remains wicked in its unruliness. As such, our ability as practitioners to anticipate and manage students’ (and our own) expectations in both physical and virtual learning spaces is dynamic and fragile. However, the in-between space created by the tension of the desire to nurture a new normal and avoid The Snapback (Bryant, 2021), gives rise not only to uncertainty, but scope to innovate for enhancement. This case study will share reflections on using an e-portfolio assessment to address and consolidate the mooted four foundations of belonging in HE (Wonkhe and Pearson, 2022); connection, inclusion, support, and autonomy. The paper will consider the implications of facilitating and promoting these dimensions in the context of supporting an ever-more heterogeneous student population within tertiary education, for whom recent experiences of formal, post-compulsory education may have been disjointed or interrupted. The e-portfolio (using Pebblepad) supports engagement within the case study university’s embedded Academic, Professional and Personal Development curriculum framework, which has been designed to support learners with diverse and rich prior experiences of learning and, using an academic literacies (Lea & Street, 2006) based ethos, facilitate the extrapolation of existing competences and confidence to the academic domain.

Grade variations across EFL, CLIL, and EMI platforms: A longitudinal case study in an English language teaching department

Fluctuations and distortions in grade point averages (GPAs) can affect its usefulness as a measure of achievement. Against a backdrop of increasing internationalisation in higher education, such instabilities may be exacerbated by heterogeneous student populations and the varying role of language on English as a foreign language (EFL), content and language integrated learning (CLIL), and English as a medium of instruction (EMI) platforms. Accordingly, using descriptive and inferential statistics, we explored the distribution patterns of 58,324 grades awarded over a 10-year period at a major university in Bangkok, Thailand. We found evidence of longitudinal grade increase, grade compression, and grade disparity—all of which suggest the presence of grade inflation. Specifically, across the three teaching platforms, mean GPAs increased significantly as lettered grades compressed upwards, clustering around C and C+ levels. Grade disparity, meanwhile, decreased between courses and levels but increased between student populations (i.e., English majors were awarded significantly higher grades than non-English majors were). Based on our findings, we argue for more standardised assessment practices to tackle grade censorship and saturation, as well as potential elevations/reductions in graduating GPAs of admixed student populations. We also propose a new method to quantify and track mean GPAs through quartile measurements.

Using New Technologies and Mobiles for Students with Disabilities to Build a Sustainable Inclusive Learning and Development Ecosystem

Nowadays, the educational policy, in many countries, promotes equal access for all students, including those with disabilities, to the general school, against all forms of social exclusion. Inclusion, in an innovative sense of the concept of diversity, focuses on the active participation and interaction of a heterogeneous student population in the general classroom. “E-inclusive” pedagogy refers to teachers’ decisions about the use of technology in the educational process with a view of compensating their developmental deficits and making functional use of their strengths. The aim of this paper is to propose tech tools and e-services for the access and active participation of students with sensory and motor disabilities in the educational procedures of the mainstream school and examine the role of teachers in realizing their inclusion / e-inclusion, as the main facilitators and modulators of the classroom settings to an open learning and development student-centered ecosystem. The results showed that teachers who accept as equal members of the school community all their students and incorporate flexibly new technologies into their teaching strategies to meet their unique needs, providing them with authentic opportunities for interaction and learning, contribute catalytically to their academic and social achievements, preparing them for substantial employment and integration opportunities in community life.

Value-added scores show limited stability over time in primary school.

Value-added (VA) models are used for accountability purposes and quantify the value a teacher or a school adds to their students' achievement. If VA scores lack stability over time and vary across outcome domains (e.g., mathematics and language learning), their use for high-stakes decision making is in question and could have detrimental real-life implications: teachers could lose their jobs, or a school might receive less funding. However, school-level stability over time and variation across domains have rarely been studied together. In the present study, we examined the stability of VA scores over time for mathematics and language learning, drawing on representative, large-scale, and longitudinal data from two cohorts of standardized achievement tests in Luxembourg (N = 7,016 students in 151 schools). We found that only 34-38% of the schools showed stable VA scores over time with moderate rank correlations of VA scores from 2017 to 2019 of r = .34 for mathematics and r = .37 for language learning. Although they showed insufficient stability over time for high-stakes decision making, school VA scores could be employed to identify teaching or school practices that are genuinely effective-especially in heterogeneous student populations.

Adaptation of Universal Behavioral Supports Within an Alternative Education Setting

Alternative education (AE) settings support students with significant social–emotional and behavioral needs. Such settings often implement individualized programming; however, this presents challenges with staffing resources and training. Application of systems to address behavior on a schoolwide level could simplify training, increase staffing flexibility, and decrease use of crisis response procedures. This 2-year, descriptive case study provides an implementation example of universal behavioral supports based on a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework within an AE setting. Over the course of the study, a reduction in staff use of restraint and seclusion procedures was observed. Additionally, staff perceived the framework favorably. Implementation steps are described, along with differentiation of the framework to meet the needs of a heterogeneous student population within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Small-group instruction to improve student performance in mathematics in early grades: Results from a randomized field experiment

We investigate whether small-group instruction improves student performance in mathematics in the early grades using a large-scale RCT covering 159 Norwegian schools over four years. The students − 7–9 years old - are pulled out from their regular mathematics classes into small, homogenous groups of 4–6 students for mathematics instruction for 3 to 4 h per week, for two periods of 4–6 weeks per school year. Unlike many other recent tutoring experiments, all students are pulled out, not only struggling students. In our intention-to-treat analysis, we find that students in treatment schoolsincreased their performance by0.06of a standard deviation in national tests, with no differential effect by baseline test score level, parental education, or gender. Our study is particularly relevant for policy-makers seeking to use additional teaching resources to target a heterogeneous student population efficiently.

Adapting Statistics Education to a Cognitively Heterogeneous Student Population

Historically, the introductory course in statistics at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), has taken a traditional, lecture-based form. A previous study at the NMBU concluded that the course structure appeared to disfavor certain cognitive or personality types, extraverts in particular. Therefore, in 2016, as an experiment, the course was restructured into a student active learning course following a flipped classroom approach. At the same time, students were encouraged to do an online screening test for cognitive preferences, personality, work interest, and preferred learning style. The main outcome in the present study was exam scores. Despite the new course structure, we still found significant differences in exam scores between students with a contextual preference, compared with a digital preference, and those with a feeling-based rather than a thinking-based personality characteristic. However, in contrast to the previous study, no significant difference in exam scores was found between the extraverts and the introverts, also after adjusting for other covariates. In the present article, we outline these results and other findings that indicate that additional adaptations should be made in the course, in order to reach an even wider group of the heterogeneous student mass, helping individuals to better reach their learning potential.

What Do Adolescents Know about Citizenship? Measuring Student’s Knowledge of the Social and Political Aspects of Citizenship

This paper analyses how young people’s citizenship knowledge is related to the different domains of citizenship in their daily lives. Based on a representative sample of some 5300 students in the third year of 80 Dutch secondary schools, our study relates citizenship knowledge to student background and school characteristics. The knowledge test developed for this study situates citizenship knowledge in the literature and the societal and political context defining the social structure students live in. The contribution of our study lies in this broad conceptualisation of citizenship, which is reflected in fine-grained, more specific results than the outcomes of earlier research. Gender differences are particularly pronounced in the social aspects of citizenship and are small in the political domain. As far as ethnic background is concerned, we see knowledge differences in the domain of “acting democratically”. This is also the domain where most of the differences in citizenship knowledge between students of the various schools and tracks occur. School size, public/private school, urbanisation and a more heterogeneous student population cannot explain these differences. To mitigate inequalities in citizenship knowledge between and within schools, which are relatively large in the Netherlands, further research is necessary to investigate micro-level mechanisms within schools.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge and Their Beliefs Towards Inclusive Education: Implications for Teacher Education Programme

Today’s classrooms in Nigerian schools are witnessing heterogeneous student populations. With this current classroom nature, teachers feel generally ill-prepared and are unwilling to accommodate disadvantaged students. According to research findings, unfortunately, disadvantaged students were usually excluded during classroom instruction. Consequently, this resulted in reduced learning opportunities, stigmatization and social exclusion. Thus, this paper investigated pre-service teachers’ level of knowledge about inclusive education and explored their beliefs towards inclusive education. To achieve these objectives, a descriptive study design was adopted. The sample for the study consisted of 166 pre-service science teachers who were drawn from the population of special education undergraduate students from a tertiary institution using the stratified random sampling technique. The study utilized two validated questionnaires, Teachers’ Knowledge about Inclusive Education Test (TKIET), and True-False Twenty-one-Item Test and Teachers’ Belief towards Inclusive Education (TBIS) which is structured on a 5-point Likert scale to elicit the information from the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results of the study indicated that (1) pre-service teachers had a moderate knowledge about inclusive education and (2) pre-service teachers held positive beliefs about the effectiveness of inclusive education. Major conclusions which arise from this study are that pre-service special education teachers in Nigeria had moderate knowledge about inclusive education. In spite of their moderate knowledge about inclusive education they exhibited positive beliefs about the effectiveness of inclusive education. 
 Keywords: disadvantage students, struggling learners, adaptive instruction, curriculum modification, inclusive education

Inclusive education and its implementation: International practices

Research problem. There is a big demand for high level competencies in an increasingly knowledge driven society. Ensuring that each individual has an equal opportunity for educational progress is a challenge worldwide; inclusive education is a question of equity and a premise for active contribution to society by all people, included the weakest. Inclusive schools work to ensure full participation and access to quality learning opportunities for all learners, respecting and valuing diversity, and fighting discrimination in and through education. The aim of this paper is to study and select the best strategies for empowerment, talent development and raising achievement of all students, including the students with disabilities and special education needs. It explores the area of educational measures both for talented learners, and for upskilling staff to address a heterogeneous student population. Research methods: The methodology implies the use of authoritative studies and of official documents from national, and the International Bodies, linking them to the author’s personal experience in teaching and in project management, especially keeping in mind the inclusive tradition in Italy. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art.24) stipulates that countries must take steps to ensure that persons with disabilities can access an inclusive primary and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live. Conclusions and recommendations. We need to understand the importance of inclusivity, to widen the empirical research, to develop, and implement measures to capture the learners’ potential, their academic, and personal development, improving teaching strategies, and guidance. Families and society also make a contribution. It is a challenging task, where teachers play a key role in innovative school systems. The results of the study can be used in policy making, curricula development, teaching programs, and improving the quality of education for all learners.

Delphi investigation of strategies to develop cultural competence in physical education teacher education

ABSTRACT Background: The shifting demographics of the United States population remains a central challenge for the education sector. A pressing concern rests with the continued cultural gap that exists between a largely homogenous teacher labor force and an increasingly heterogeneous student population. Provided the longstanding existence of a cultural gap, there have been calls for scholars to identify strategies that could help current and future teachers bridge this gap in their classrooms. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to generate consensus regarding the strategies physical education teacher education (PETE) programs can adopt to develop cultural competence among physical education teacher candidates. Method: The study employed a three-round Delphi process involving the repeated circulation of a survey to panel members (N = 12) with a record of pedagogic and/or scholarly engagement with cultural competence. In Round-I, participants were provided an open-ended question that prompted them to list up to ten strategies a PETE program could use to promote cultural competence in teacher candidates. During Round-II, participants were then asked to rate the list of strategies regarding the impact and contextual feasibility within a PETE program. In Round-III, participants again rated the same list of strategies with the considerations of other panelists’ ratings. Results: The Delphi panel created an initial list of 37 strategies that could be used to develop cultural competence in teacher candidates. Round-II and Round-III data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to calculate group means. Expert consensus determined eight cultural competence strategies as the most impactful and feasible for PETE programs. The eight strategies illustrated how cultural knowledge, critical awareness, skill development, and environmental supports all need to be addressed. Faculty buy-in and departmental leadership were also identified as critical to executing those strategies. Discussion/Conclusion: The list of strategies is not intended to be exhaustive; however, it does provide a guide for PETE faculty to start the process of promoting cultural competence. In light of the growing societal emphasis on issues pertinent to the cultural gap in teaching, the authors encourage further investigation of the actual impact and feasibility of these strategies.

Analisis Kualitas Layanan, Kemampuan Dan Kinerja Pengurus Pokjar Terhadap Kepuasan Mahasiswa di UPBJJ-UT Palangka Raya

Open University of Palangka Raya (UPBJJ-UT of Palangka Raya) has acknowledged the education-attainment gap between rural and urban areas, and officials have determined ways to connect with students in the far corners of Central Kalimantan. UPBJJ-UT of Palangka Raya has set up study groups (PokJar) through which non urban students acquire university education. Due to its wide range of locations and heterogeneous student populations, PokJar is established through management partnership that constitutes a governing body that oversees the district-wide operation and the delivery of the continuing education programs. On this optimistic basis, the service provided by PokJar administrators becomes central to optimizing quality education in a learning environment where the administrators and students are physically separated. However, the complexity of PokJar service and administrator performance may link to negative perceptions among students. Recognizing the nature of challenges facing PokJar management is expected to usher in the planning of improvement crucial to organizational development that is effective, efficient, accountable, responsive and transparent. This study taps into the quality service, the competence and performance of PokJar administrators of UPBJJ-UT of Palangka Raya in terms of student-perceived values using PLS-SEM method. The overall results address favorable responses, strongly suggesting a good measure of how PokJar administrators� service, competence and performance meet student expectation.

Just facilitating access or dealing with diversity? Non-traditional students’ demands at a Spanish university

More and more the university institutions welcome a heterogeneous student population. In this article we analyse the main characteristics and needs of the so-called Non- Traditional Students in order to contribute to the development of more equitable conditions and improve their participation and holistic development. To this end, a qualitative study has been carried out at a Spanish university, which explored the experience of a diverse group of this type of student body. The results pointed out to a high level of motivation, determination and greater effort on the part of the group, in comparison with their mates. However, the traditional pedagogy was not suited to their characteristics and created difficulties for them. Few teachers were truly flexible with these students, since an egalitarian (rather than equitable) conception of pedagogical action prevailed. Among other things, we conclude by claiming a comprehensive and personalised education, adapted to their needs.

Libraries Supporting Transition: Developing a Pre-Arrival Open Educational Resource (OER) for Taught Master’s Students

The establishment of the Cambridge Information Literacy Network at the University of Cambridge has provided opportunities to explore how libraries in Cambridge can contribute to institutional strategic goals. A key output of the Cambridge Information Literacy Network is CamGuides, an open educational resource (OER) for taught Master’s students regardless of discipline, background, or mode of study. CamGuides aims to support transition to postgraduate level study within a student’s specific discipline, focusing on the key academic, information, and digital practices with which Master’s students commonly engage. Influenced by sociocultural theories of learning and a practice-based approach to information and digital literacies, CamGuides represents an innovative attempt to provide pre-arrival support for a heterogeneous student population. This article will outline the key stages in the development of CamGuides, including its rationale, pedagogical approach, development, and the ongoing process of reviewing its content and method of delivery.

Twelve tips for structuring classes in higher education: lessons learned from a biology premedical class.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The efficacy of flipped classrooms on student learning is dependent on student motivation. We conducted a study on the impact of the flipped classroom on student performance and satisfaction among highly motivated students enrolled in a post-baccalaureate pre-medicine program for career-changers. Surprisingly, students in both traditional and flipped classrooms indicated lecture was the largest contributor to their learning. Additionally, students in the flipped classroom highlighted specific activities most useful to their engagement, comprehension, and exam performance. Thus for heterogeneous student populations in higher education, didactic lecture remains an integral component of learning. Based on our study and relevant literature, we suggest tips on how to effectively structure courses in higher education that are tailored to the learning needs and motivations of your specific student demographic.

Making inclusive instruction succeed: what matters (most) from teachers’ perspectives? The role of teachers’ personal characteristics, joint professional work, and school-related parameters

ABSTRACTOne key function necessary to successfully teach a heterogeneous student population is to individually adapt instruction to students’ needs and prerequisites. Using structural equation modelling, the present study investigated whether or to what extent different factors, teachers’ personal characteristics, their joint professional activities, and school-related framework conditions contribute to the implementation of teachers’ self-reported adaptive instruction. For this purpose, teachers working in inclusive German schools (N = 471) were questioned. The instrument used to cover inclusive work was based on a multilevel concept oriented towards internationally well-established dimensions of inclusion. Moreover, personal characteristics and school-related parameters were covered. The key result revealed that the extent to which self-reported adaptive instruction is implemented by teachers depends, above all, on the teachers themselves, their characteristics, and their participation in joint activities. The structural framework, for example, school size or school type, did not play a considerable role. The contributing factors were discussed and implications derived.

Speech-Language Clinicians Working with Deaf Children: A Qualitative Study in Context.

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) increasingly attend local public schools, in which speech and language clinicians (SLCs) may lack experience with the individualized needs of a heterogeneous student population. This study explored the experiences of SLCs with students who are DHH in three different types of educational settings. Fourteen SLCs were interviewed and discussed a case study. Responses were transcribed, data coded, and emergent themes identified. Analysis was verified through triangulation of data and trustworthiness strategies. Results indicated that the skill sets of SLCs working with children who were DHH were dependent on contextual factors, such as educational placement and communication mode used, and that development of these skills requires direct experience, collaboration, and structural supports. Institutions across the deaf education spectrum should consider forming alliances to improve information-sharing and collaborative learning in order to improve service delivery in all settings.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices to children with disabilities in Bhutan: a contextualized literature review

ABSTRACT The challenges of providing education for a heterogeneous student population (in respect of gender, poverty levels, language and learning aptitude and level) have been major issues in refining Bhutanese policy and practice. These challenges are noted in respect of children with ‘special needs’ in the Bhutan Education Blueprint, 2014–24 (NSB/MoE/UNICEF, 2014), which indicated that ‘government’s initiatives to enhance educational access for children with special needs remains a formidable challenge for the education sector owing to the limited number of special schools, facilities, support services and capacity of the teachers’ (p. 26). This literature review scopes some of the key issues implied by this current situation, using the existing literature on ‘children with disabilities’ CWD from both recognized academic sources as well as the so-called ‘grey’ literature. It points to an emerging recognition of both ongoing challenges and opportunities in Bhutan which parallel those in diverse international contexts.

Reducing Inequality in Academic Success for Incoming College Students: A Randomized Trial of Growth Mindset and Belonging Interventions

ABSTRACTLight-touch social psychological interventions have gained considerable attention for their potential to improve academic outcomes for underrepresented and/or disadvantaged students in postsecondary education. While findings from previous interventions have demonstrated positive effects for racial and ethnic minority and first-generation students in small samples, few interventions have been implemented at a larger scale with more heterogeneous student populations. To address this research gap, 7,686 students, representing more than 90% of incoming first-year students at a large Midwestern public university, were randomly assigned to an online growth mindset intervention, social belonging intervention, or a comparison group. Results suggest that after the fall semester, the growth mindset intervention significantly improved grade point averages for Latino/a students by about .40 points. This represents a 72% reduction in the GPA gap between White and Latino/a students. Further, this effect was replicated for both spring semester GPA and cumulative GPA. These findings indicate that light-touch interventions may be a minimally invasive approach to improving academic outcomes for underrepresented students. Our findings also highlight the complexity of implementing customized belonging interventions in heterogeneous contexts.

READING OPEN EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF MANKIND: REPRODUCTION OF MEANING IN THE DERRIDEAN SENSE

The rapid change in the communication technologies plays a significant role in the transformation processes of societies. The studies studying the industrial revolution in two phases inform us that the first phase of the revolution involved a revolution in machinery while the second phase saw a revolution in technology. Fast forwarding to the twentieth century, however, one of the areas that has been affected greatly from the said technological revolution is education. The structural changes in education are essential for a new educational process that is consistent with a heterogeneous student population and independent of time and space. In this respect, the new education system in information age has been come to be called open and distance education. In the 21st century, when the information age gave way to the human age, we see learner oriented education system. Putting the learner at the center of the educational process, this particular system puts an end to binary opposition between the subject and object. Having aimed at identifying students’ perception of open and distance education system -being the educational technology of the twenty first century-, the present study has been conducted with 69 students that were presently enrolled to the Anadolu University Faculty of Open Education and entitled to the certificate of honor. A metaphor analysis was employed within the scope of this study. In order to evaluate the students’ perception of open education system, this study adopted a phenomenological method as its qualitative research as it seemed to be more suited to its purpose. In order to identify the students' perception of open education system, they were given a semi structured questionnaire form that contained the following statement “Open Education is like ………… Because it is ………………” and asked to convey their thoughts by focusing exclusively on a single metaphor. The answers from the participants were recorded by a camera, transcribed and analyzed through the spreadsheets created on an excel table. The participants of the study came up with 69 valid and 45 different metaphors regarding the concept of open education. Such metaphors were aggregated under 7 different conceptual categories. At the end of the study, it was established that the students enrolled to the Open Education System regarded open education as a means to access to information.