Majority Of Lecturers Research Articles

Whose Voices Are Heard? Speaker Gender Representation at the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting

Gender disparities in academic medicine continue to be prevalent despite significant advances in the number of women entering medicine over the last decades. The purpose of the present study was to investigate gender representation of speakers at Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) Annual Scientific Sessions meetings from 2015 to 2018. Observational study. Internet analysis and cross-sectional survey. Speakers at the SCA Annual Scientific Sessions meetings from 2015 to 2018. Individual speakers in the main program, problem-based learning discussions, workshops, and fellow sessions were analyzed for speaker gender. Speakers' names, pronouns, institutional biographies, and accompanying images were matched with public online data and were used to identify gender. Gender data from the 2019 SCA Diversity Survey respondents were used to estimate gender of the SCA membership. Between 2015 and 2018, the number of lectures given by women was 22% to 25%. A statistically significant difference was found in the expected versus observed proportion of women in speaking slots for all combined sessions (2015-2018; p = 0.0027, 0.0023, 0.0018, 0.025, respectively). There also was a statistically significant difference in the expected versus observed proportion of women in speaking slots in the main sessions (2015-2018; p ≤ 0.0001, 0.00069, 0.00019, 0.00019, respectively). For the workshops, problem-based learning discussions, and fellow sessions, no statistically significant difference was found in the observed versus expected proportion of women in speaker slots. Between 2015 and 2018, the majority of lectures at the SCA annual meetings were given by men, with women consistently giving 22% to 25% of individual lectures. When all sessions were combined, there was a statistically significant difference in the expected versus observed proportion of women in speaking slots.

The Readiness of Educational Competency in Higher Education in Connecting the Era of Industrial Revolution 4.0

Universities within the era of the 4.0 industrial revolution, now must immediately improve in preparing themselves, especially related to human resources. Lecturers as a determining factor in the progress of education, are always required to upgrade their skills and abilities. In Indonesia, the majority of lecturers are dominated by baby boomers and generation X or digital immigrants who, in some cases, experience obstacles. In the present reality that students are now a millennial or digital native generation who tend to have their learning styles and patterns. This article highlights the competencies that must be mastered by lecturers in the current industrial revolution 4.0 era, namely: (i) educational competence, (ii) competence in research, (iii) competence of technological commercialization, (iv) competence in future strategies, (v) competence counsellor, (vi) competence in globalization, and vii) joint competence.

A Needs analysis on the development of problem based learning module for the microcontroller subject at Vocational College

Based on the analysis of student achievement throughout Vocational Colleges in Malaysia, it was found that the Microcontroller subject had the lowest achievement compared to other subjects. The results of the achievement analysis also show that students have difficulty achieving good results in the subject of Microcontroller. This indicates the need for improved implementation of the Microcontroller teaching and learning system implemented in the classroom. In regard to this matter, this study aims to identify the difficulty level of the six main topics (unit 1 - 6) and sub-topics in ETN5044 as well as the perception of the lecturers and students towards the existing module and the teaching and learning methods of the Microcontroller subject. The findings of this study shall initiate the phase of developing a learning module for the Microcontroller (ETN5044) subject using Problem Based Learning (PBL). The needs analysis also aims to determine whether the product meets the learning needs of the students. An observation was conducted involving 27 lecturers and 322 students who enroll into the 6th semester of the Electronic Technology diploma programme at several Vocational Colleges in Malaysia. The findings show that the majority of lecturers and students regard the sub-topics for topic 2 that is “Applying the instruction set of Microcontrollers” as difficult with average mean values of lecturers being 2.96, 3.07, 3.00 and 3.10, while mean values for students were 2.19, 2.21, 2.16, and 2.30. Their perception also indicates that the PBL module has never been implemented. Such findings support for the development of a learning module particularly for students undertaking the Microcontroller subject.

WEEK WITHOUT WALLS: A 21ST CENTURY CLASSROOM IMPLEMENTATION AT TERTIARY LEVEL

This paper uses a descriptive approach to investigate the implementation of 21st-century classroom learning at the tertiary level. The action research observed the use of digital technology in a university’s “Week Without Walls” initiative. The purpose was to find out what activities were carried out in the “Week Without Walls” and how they were implemented in relation to 21st-century education learning. A total number of 17 lecturers’ teaching and learning activities were observed during a one-week university initiative of out-of-classroom “Week Without Walls” implementation. Lecturers were given directions to prepare their activities outside the classroom walls in any form or manner of their choice. The results showed that the majority of lecturers used digital technologies to carry out their activities during the week with the highest application being online learning and WhatsApp mobile sharing. This provided a strong indication that the possibilities of the use of digital technologies for teaching and learning are tremendous and highly recommended for the implementation of 21st-century classroom learning.

Leveraging Social Media in Higher Education: A Case of Universities in Uganda

Abstract Social media platforms have transformed the way we live and work. These platforms have opened up new opportunities for service provisioning and business models. Therefore, this paper presents findings of how leading Ugandan Universities are integrating social media in the teaching and learning processes. The researchers adopted a multi-methodology research approach which involved; collecting, analysing and integrating quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (focus group discussions and interviews) research methods. A total of 300 respondents were targeted (students and lecturers) of which 250 responded (196 male and 54 female). The respondents from Makerere University, Uganda technology and Management University (UTAMU) and Makerere University Business School. The results of the study indicated that majority (94.8%) of the respondents use WhatsApp, 86.5% Facebook, 82.1% YouTube, 53.8% Twitter, 39.8% Instagram and 9.2% snapchat. It was observed that 225 about 91.1% of student’s use social media for learning purposes. A total of 238 respondents use smartphones to access social media. While majority of students on social media platforms use these platforms for learning purposes, majority of lecturers (37.6%) never engage students on social media. Therefore, there is a mismatch on social media usage between students and lectures and this calls for the development of social media policies at universities to promote and guide the integration of these platforms in the teaching and learning processes.

Social networks of educational purpose as a subject of protection in the preparation of specialists of information security

The paper studies application of social networks as a component of the educational information environment of an educational institution in the educational process. The aim of the research is to justify the need to train specialists in the field of information security to provide protection and safe use of social networks in the educational process. To ensure information security of social networks applied in educational processes, it is proposed to incorporate training programs for information security specialists to build their competencies of information security of social networks, including gaining advanced skills to combat new challenging cyber threats, as well as to employ information security specialists with a high level of expertise in cyber security of social networks, determine their work functions in the elaboration of organizational and technical measures to protect users of social networks. In the course of the research, publications on incorporating social networks into the educational process as a didactic tool were analyzed. In particular, on the basis of the conducted analysis of the cited publications and taking into account the authors’ own experience, the properties of social networks that are most promising for their use as a learning platform were determined. However, along with the above positive aspects and advantages, social networks can also be considered as indirect and even direct sources of cyber threats targeted at both the entire educational process and individual users’ accounts. Theoretical and empirical pedagogical methods were used to accomplish the objectives. This facilitated efficient systematization of the collected data for its successful study and identification of the most typical features of the social networks when applied in the educational process and extension of those with specific properties were identified. The paper also describes threats that may arise when using such networks in an educational organization, suggests measures to mitigate risks and discusses functions of information security specialists in ensuring security of social networks used in the educational process. Also, it was established that for the effective and safe use of social networks in the educational process, the organizer of this activity requires specific professional competence in the field of information security, which can be insufficient among the overwhelming majority of lecturers of both general and vocational education. Moreover, a conclusion was drawn about the need to train specialists in the information security of social networks, so they can gain the required professional competences and execute their specific occupations. Proposals were made on the possible development of these competences in the course of studying certain disciplines at the level of the secondary vocational education. Integration of the described approach into the educational process of training information security specialists in institutions of secondary vocational education, aimed at providing maintenance of social networks, will allow meeting the demand for such specialists and, thereby, increasing their competitiveness in the market of educational services.

Research Development in Indonesia: Ethics Committee in Open Science and Collaboration Era

This study aimed to find out the understanding of lecturers or researchers in Indonesia about the research ethics and distribution of research ethics committees in Indonesia. The study used survey method based on the online questionnaire. The sample of the study were 160 lecturer and researcher in Indonesia. Data collection was conducted in March 2018 then analyzed descriptively, and classification of information based on related themes such as research ethics and research ethics committee. The majority of lecturers or researchers at various universities in Indonesia have understood and considered about the importance of research ethics committees, even though there were still misconceptions about duties and functions of it. The number of research ethics committees in Indonesia was still small, and the majority only exists in the western part of Indonesia. Furthermore, the disruptive innovation and industrial revolution 4.0 era expose a new tendency for the research world, namely open science and collaboration, which requires the ethical research guidance and as well as the necessity of its governance by 21st-century developments.

Lecturers’ Use of ICTs to implement the Curriculum at a Teacher Training College in Zimbabwe.

Typical job tasks entailed in implementing a college curriculum such as MS Power presentations in lectures, lecture preparation, research as well as teaching students at a distance require college lecturers in Zimbabwe to use ICTs. In most developed countries lecturers can now integrate ICTs in teaching. In Zimbabwe’s teacher training colleges not much research-based evidence exists about how lecturers cope with the considerably new technologies in their work. This study sought to obtain information on lecturers’ basic use of ICTs as a curriculum innovation that they should embrace in their work. The research employed the mixed-methods research design. I used questionnaires to collect data from a convenience sample of 100 lecturers and conducted interviews with five of the participants. A majority of lecturers indicated that they had irregular access to ICT facilities. They seldom or never used ICTs in their work. Focus group discussions revealed that inadequate ICT facilities including poor internet connectivity contributed to almost non-use of ICTs by most lecturers. Lecturers professed inadequate personal knowledge and skills to use a good number of the technologies. Findings of this study confirm the incidence of unsatisfactory use of basic ICT operations by lecturers at a college with meager functional ICTs. I recommend that the college provides enduring support to enable lecturers to evolve to the stage of proficient use of basic ICT operations for them to ultimately use ICTs for teaching.

Lecturers’ perception of interactive whiteboard for instructional delivery in tertiary institutions in Enugu State, Nigeria

The use of multimedia tools for teaching and learning has been seen to play not only a definitive role in instruction modeling but also a vital tool for concretization of abstract knowledge. Based on this premise, this study focused on lecturers’ perception of Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) for instructional delivery in tertiary institutions in Enugu State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 252 participants randomly drawn from six tertiary institutions in Enugu State. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics namely percentages and mean to answer the research questions, while ANOVA was used to test two null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that the majority of lecturers (68%) perceived IWBs as a relevant Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) tool for instructional delivery in tertiary institutions, and 61% of the participants agreed that it makes them active in their teaching practices. Furthermore, 68% of the participants agreed to the availability of IWBs in schools. However, the ICT skills required for effective utilization of IWBs were found to be grossly lacking due to lack of institutional support and inadequate power supply which constitutes top barriers facing lecturers in utilizing ICT facilities in instructional delivery. The implication for non-utilization or underutilization of the interactive whiteboards is poor students’ learning outcomes in most courses. Hence, there is a need for retraining of lecturers to acquaint them with the technical and basic skills necessary for the effective utilization of IWBs in their teaching practices in Nigeria.

Internationalisation in Higher Education: Challenges for Research Collaboration for Academics in Developing Countries (Zimbabwe)

Recently, the academic profession has come under great pressure to transform in the way it does in business moving from the predominantly collegial to a managerialist model (Kogan and Teichler, 2007). With the advent of managerialism, universities have grown into large bureaucratic structures with professional managers (Kogan and Teichler, 2007).These changes tend to affect academics in certain ways, for example through growing internationalization, change in management style and the aspect of relevance (Kogan and Teichler, 2007).With relevance came a rise of industry oriented research (Altbach, 2005). In the views of Altbach (2005) government, business, industry and labour came to play an important part in academic governance. University researchers are to join forces with researchers or practitioners in industry and business who are the providers of research funds (Altbach, 2005). The academic profession in developing countries faces the most difficult of challenges in order to maintain a viable academic culture under worsening conditions of service and fewer established norms (Altbach, 2005). Increasing internationalization may come in as an advantage in terms of information exchange at a global level as well as the rich diversity of students and ideas. However in developing countries like Zimbabwe where, access to information communication technology is still a privilege of the few, a majority of lecturers both female and male struggle to get access to information exchange and global networking. This paper explores the challenges experienced by academics in Zimbabwe with respect to partnership formation and international research collaborations. It adopts a qualitative methodology where focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with purposively sampled lecturers from three state universities in Zimbabwe. Some of the major findings were that collaborative research was hindered by funding; at times partners who bring in funds want to control the research proceedings, political challenges, language and cultural differences, poorly developed ICT infrastructure. Positives accruing from collaboration include creating of research networks, intellectual growth, access to funds and resources and sharing of skills. Recommendations include early face to face meetings of collaborating partners, the creation of research funds by the state to support academic’ research efforts, academics taking advantage of conferences held in own countries to network and institutions creating enabling environments for collaborative research.

The Readiness of Lecturers in Embedding Soft Skills in the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Malaysia’s Teachers Education Institute

This is a preliminary research to obtain information to formulate a problem statement for an overall study of the embedding of soft skills in the program courses in higher learning institutions. This research was conducted in the form of single case and multi-case studies. The research data was attained through mixed methods; the quantita - tive method by utilizing questionnaires and the qualitative method utilizing open-ended questionnaires. Qualitative data were used as supporting data in this research. This research sought to study two main issues; the readiness of lecturers and problems encountered in embedding soft skills into teachers’ bachelor’s degree courses in Malaysia’s Institute of Teachers Education. Quantitative data was processed manually to show frequency, while qualitative data was processed according to themes. Research findings indicated that a majority of lecturers are interested and ready to embed soft skills in the core courses. However, lecturers lamented about problems encountered in embedding soft skills in teaching and learning of courses even though the curriculum of the programs have been designed holistically to fulfill the needs to develop soft skills within trainee teachers.

Is the past worth studying? An analysis of lecturers' views about the relevance of the history of translation at UK universities

The history of translation has generally occupied a secondary position within translation training programs, despite the fact that numerous scholars, such as D'Hulst, Woodsworth and Malmkjær, have argued that it is relevant for the education of translators. In the same vein, attempts have been made to highlight the link between theory and practice, outlining the contribution that more comprehensive approaches would make to tackling the limited professional recognition faced by translators and the discipline as a whole. In order to assess to what extent the integration of the history and theory of translation should be pursued in the design and improvement of translator training programs, this paper presents an exploratory study in which lecturers at a number of UK universities have given their professional opinion on a range of relevant issues, focusing particularly on the role and status that the history of translation should have within translation degree programs. The results reveal the existence of different approaches to curriculum design and the limited presence of history in translation degree programs; nevertheless, the majority of lecturers acknowledge the potential benefits of the history of translation for the education of translators-to-be.

Perceptions Of Lecturing Staff On Social Media Networking Systems And Their Use Of It

The advent of technology has led to a major change in the delivering of knowledge and lecturers are in the forefront of this. No longer can projectors or black boards solely be used as a means of communication, as the student of the new millennia is an astute user of technology. Lecturers and students are both therefore expected to make use of technology in the transfer of knowledge and academic interaction. Students have a right to expect their lecturers, and the institution that they study at, to incorporate the latest technology in the delivery of their qualifications. The main aim of this study was to determine lecturers perceptions on social media networking systems and their use of it in an academic context. The study also focussed on whether lecturers make use of, and believes in, social media networking systems as an effective tool to use in teaching and in providing study content and material to students. These were tested by making use of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs namely; Perceive ease of use, Perceived usefulness, Attitude towards using, Intention to use, and System accessibility. A survey was distributed to lecturers, and it was found that social media is being used by the majority of lecturers, but more for social purposes than educational purposes. It was also found that Facebook is the most popular social media networking system to use.

The Readiness of Lecturers in Embedding Soft Skills in the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Malaysian Institutes of Teacher Education

This is a preliminary research to obtain information to formulate a problem statement for an overall study of the embedding of soft skills in the program courses in higher learning institutions. This research was conducted in the form of single case and multi-case studies. The research data was attained through mixed methods; the quantitative method by utilizing questionnaires and the qualitative method utilizing open-ended questionnaires. Qualitative data were used as supporting data in this research. This research sought to study two main issues; the readiness of lecturers and problems encountered in embedding soft skills into teachers’ bachelor’s degree courses in the institutes of teacher education in Malaysia. Quantitative data was processed manually to show frequency, while qualitative data was processed according to themes. Research findings indicated that a majority of lecturers are interested and ready to embed soft skills in the core courses. However, lecturers lamented about problems encountered in embedding soft skills in teaching and learning of courses even though the curriculum of the programs have been designed holistically to fulfill the needs to develop soft skills within trainee teachers.

Challenges Faced by Malaysian Polytechnic English Lecturers in Utilizing Digital Language Lab

Abstract The installation and upgrading of Digital Language Lab (DLL) from the analogue language laboratories into all Malaysia‟s polytechnic to improve the students‟ English language learning experience has received feedback both positive and negative from their English Language lecturers. This study explores the challenges of Seberang Perai Polytechnic English Language lecturers faced upon the utilization of DLL and its integration toward their teaching of English. The challenges are classified under three categories: challenges from the lab facilities, challenges from the teaching practices and challenges from the students themselves. This purpose of this study was to identify issues faced by the lecturers during DLL sessions that are detrimental in improving polytechnics students‟ language proficiency. From a total of 18 English Language lecturers from Seberang Perai Polytechnics, seven interviewees were purposively sampled and consented to be interviewed for in- depth research. Findings of this research reflect that majority of lecturers agree that although digital language lab enhances their teaching experiences in a variety of ways consecutively to catch up with the digitally native students yet at the same time informs of various challenges faced in order to integrate DLL into their lesson plan.

Reflection: a casualty of modularisation?: Enquiry Based Reflection Research Group

Introduction. The use of reflection in nursing and midwifery is well-established and reflective skills are taught on both pre- and post-registration courses as a way of integrating theory and practice, and of developing students’ critical and analytical skills. Reflection is generally regarded positively with an assumption that reflective skills benefit both practitioners and patients. The aim of this study was to identify the educational strategies used to develop reflective skills in one pre-registration diploma in nursing curriculum. Methods. The survey was cross-sectional in design. A questionnaire was designed for the study to explore perceptions of both students and lecturers in one educational establishment. Curriculum documentation was analysed to examine where in the curriculum the development of reflective skills was prominent. The sample consisted of two student cohorts from the adult branch and all senior lecturers within the Institute who taught on the pre-registration programme. Results. The findings revealed a complex picture of students’ and lecturers’ views of the teaching and learning strategies used to develop reflective skills. Lectures and group work were the strategies cited most commonly by the students, whereas the lecturers felt the strategies used most often were personal tutorials, group work and case scenarios. The documentary analysis revealed that out of the 13 modules, there was explicit reference in only three modules to reflective practice. Furthermore, it was evident that the majority of lecturers were not clear where in the curriculum reflective skills were taught which suggested that an overview of the whole curriculum is not always evident. Conclusions. Modularisation may have contributed to a fragmentation in the way in which some key health practitioner skills are developed and built upon throughout a curriculum. There needs to be agreement on the nature of the skills which are central to the development of reflective practitioners and clear thinking on how these are developed and assessed within a curriculum.

Pastoral care in tertiary education: Experiences of lecturers helping students in distress at new university

Abstract Lecturers in tertiary education are often called upon to offer support to distressed students. The vast majority of lecturers have little or no training in appropriate helping methods. As a first step towards the eventual provision of such training in higher education, a survey has been conducted on a selection of departments within the University of Portsmouth. The responses (50% of those sent out) gave details of the frequency and nature of lecturers' provision of personal help or informal counselling for students in distress. The results show that the incidence of helping students in distress appears to be vey high with 94% of respondents having advised one or more distressed students in the last year. Findings are discussed, along with consideration of future directions for this research.