Academic Staff Members Research Articles

The Emic and Etic Conceptualizations of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB): Exploring Sri Lankan University Lecturers Perceptions of Their Work

Calls for examining conceptualizations of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) across country contexts are based on the belief that these behaviours are context specific and should vary depending on where they are examined. Thus, to better understand the nature of OCB in Sri Lanka and to further explore the nature of OCB across country contexts, the present study was carried out. Academic staff perceptions of what constitutes OCB in their jobs were examined. Academic staff members were studied because the substantial role discretion afforded in academic jobs would likely provide a wide variation of OCBs in this context. Out of the responses of 97 participants, 482 items were generated. These items were content analyzed and coded into 8 major dimensions. The etic and emic nature of the dimensions were examined by comparing the eight dimensions with those derived from other studies. Of the dimensions, conscientiousness, altruism and civic virtue were found in all other studies using similar methods. They constituted a majority of initially generated response items. The five other dimensions were reported in at least one other study. No unique dimensions were found in the present context. The results indicate that a large aspect of OCBs is etic in nature, but that a smaller proportion of OCBs tend to fluctuate based on the context. No clear pattern emerged in the variations across studies.

Interactive intragroup tutorials: a need-based modification to enhance learning in physiology.

a tutorial is a period of instruction given by a university or college tutor to an individual or a very small group. Essentially, it is a small class of a few students in which the tutor (a lecturer or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to every learner. The tutorial focuses on

Factors predicting the intention of academics of faculties of agriculture in the state universities in Sri Lanka to engage in outreach activities

Evidence of research conducted on outreach activities of Faculties of Agriculture in the state Universities of Sri Lanka focusing on agriculture related knowledge transfer is meagre or absent. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate, with an underlying theoretical framework, the factors that would predict the intention (participation decision) of academia to engage in outreach activities. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was applied for the prediction. A structured questionnaire was e-mailed and posted to randomly selected 67% of the academic staff members from each of the eight Faculties of Agriculture (N = 257) in the state Universities of Sri Lanka, where 126 filled questionnaires (49 %) were returned after three reminders. The results indicated that the application of the theory along with additional variables could explain 39 % of the total variability. In general, satisfaction, recognition and rewards, subjective norms and positive attitudes towards outreach activities were the strongest predictors of intention to engage in outreach activities. Those who have engaged in outreach activities in the past with a higher general level of satisfaction are more likely to engage in outreach activities in future as well. These findings suggest that interventions to promote outreach activities of the academia of Faculties of Agriculture in the state Universities should target these factors in the short run together with establishment of an effective formal mechanism for outreach in the long run. Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 26 (2): 285 – 293 (2015)

Faculty attitude and use of ICT in instructional delivery in tertiary institutions in a developing nation

This study is a survey aimed at ascertaining the attitude of academic staff in tertiary institutions in Imo State Nigeria towards the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching. It also examines their level of use of ICT for teaching and learning purposes. The paper also compares the attitude of the faculty by gender and type of the institution they teach in, i.e. college of education, polytechnic and universities. The paper tried to ascertain if attitude of faculty to ICT correlates to actual usage in the classroom. 300 academic staff members were randomly selected from lecturers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. A set of instrument tagged ICT attitude questionnaire and ICT use questionnaire was administered to the respondents. Data collected was analysed using descriptive, inferential and correlational statistics. Findings reveal that although academic staff have positive attitude about ICT use in instruction, they however reported low level use of ICT for instructional purposes. There is no significant difference in attitude according to gender; similarly, significant differences in attitude does not exist by type of institution among the three types of tertiary institutions. Faculty attitude was found to be positively correlated with use of ICT in curriculum. The paper concludes that academic staff should embrace innovative techniques by a favourable disposition towards them which will help boost classroom implementation of such innovations.

Undergraduate student involvement in Fashion and Textile research

Abstract This work provides an insight into a functioning partnership between one academic member of staff and one student. The student was effectively paid to learn in an area that benefitted their interests and employability, as they undertook an internship and the academic acquired an extra pair of hands to carry out the tasks that they had difficulty finding the time to do. These tasks were the first stages of research enquiry, where the time intensity of their practical nature had meant the academic had failed to embark on their research journey sooner. This case study reviews the impact of taking on an undergraduate student as a paid intern to help an academic begin their research. The benefits and draw backs from the academic and student perspective are discussed, as are the difficulties found in establishing a foothold on the first steps to research. Whilst beginning research can be difficult, it is a requirement of the academic role. With much debate surrounding the quality of work nationally from Fashion and Textile (F&T) contributions, it could be seen as a level of judgment that is preferably avoided. Statistics discussed in the work show little involvement from F&T academics and this was felt to be a result of a lack of time and guidance. Where the internship was expected to free up the academic’s time there were unseen problems that hindered progress, but also benefits that helped to shape the direction of research. Student involvement in research helped to narrow the academic’s focus into an achievable outcome and has highlighted the benefit of working with others. The findings detail the partnership as a positive experience and raises awareness of areas that need to be addressed within Institutions, so that academics can be helped into beginning research, particularly in F&T subjects.

Standards, Benchmarks, and Qualitative Indicators to Enhance the Institutions' Activities and Performance

The problem of setting standards and benchmarking the quality of educational activities of HEIs in Oman is described. In order to do so, twenty one qualitative performance indicators (activities) were selected, defined, computed and considered as standards for HEIs in Oman. Two surveys were designed to collect the data from private HEIs for the activities/indicators. The methodology, validity of the surveys and data collection was discussed. A sample of 3689 students and 882 academic staff members were chosen from across the country and from all private HEIs and demonstrated the surveys. The internal consistency of the scale and some other measures were examined. The proposed qualitative indicators were computed. The relation between academic staff and student opinions, as well as the tests of the significance between academic staff and students' opinions and the difference of the results in each activity, were also examined. The findings have shown that the proposed indicators have a considerable gain in all statistical measures applied. Conclusions, recommendations and limitations were reported and discussed.

El impacto de las políticas de evaluación del profesorado en la posición en los ránquines universitarios: el caso de la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña

Spanish universities have moved from a classical model, a teaching university, to a modern one, in which research is essential. Part of this success is due to the implementation of quality assessment policies. Nonetheless, and in spite of this, there is still a long way to place it at the level of similar countries in university rankings. The Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña has an evaluation model of the teaching performance of its staff, and also abundant information of their research. This has allowed implementing a global evaluation model. Here we present the evaluation model. Also, using 4,996 individual evaluations corresponding to about 1,700 academic staff members we analyze the evolution of the results of the evaluations of years 2011, 2012 and 2013, we study if there are differences among the various academic fields, and we examine if there exists a correlation between the evolution of the academic productivity measured using this model and the position of the university in the university rankings. We show that this model has allowed the university to improve its classification in the Quacquarelli Symonds Top University Ranking, from position 350 to 337.

An investigation of work-life conflict in regional Australia: Empirical evidence from an Australian regional university

Work-life conflict is a form of inter-role conflict that arises by reason of simultaneous occurrence of workloads and other aspects of life. Compliance with one may limit an individuals’ ability to meet the demands of the other domain. Work-life conflict has been examined by a number of discipline with varied methodological approaches. This resulted in a literature base with inconsistent findings. The extant research of work-life conflict literature mostly focused on the issues related to people living in non-regional areas; however, there is some scope of research into work-life conflict issues in some regional areas. The purpose of this study is to examine the work-life conflict among academics and general staff in a regional Australian university. The study will, therefore, explore how total work-hour and associated variables such as strain and social support affect work-life conflict among university employees. One way to examine work-life conflict more rigorously is by applying an occupational stress model such as the demanded-control-support (DCS) model that has a dedicated measurement tool and a clear theoretical framework. However, the DCS model only focuses on issues such as job demand, job control and social support. It does not consider the total work-hour that may have adverse implication for work-life conflict. This study therefore, applied an extended demanded-control-support (DCS) model for measuring work-life conflict among university employees. Both academic (n=132) and general (administrative) staff members (n=149) were surveyed through a web-based survey method, i.e. Survey Monkey, which was designed to measure each of the variables. Total work-hour of academics (48 hours) has been significantly greater than that of general staff (38 hours) ( p <0.05). The result suggests that total work-hour significantly affects the experience of work-life conflict for both the academics and general staff. However, further analysis reveals that academics experience significantly more ( p <0.05) work-life conflict than the general staff do. It is found that there is no significant difference between these two cohorts as regards the experience of strain. Finally, the study finds that the general staff experience a significantly ( p < 0.05) greater level of work related social support. The study puts forward practical implications for management of academics in regional university in Australia and guidelines for future research.

Interdisciplinarity in ferment: The role of knowledge networks and department affiliation

This paper examines the relation between department affiliation and interdisciplinarity in terms of knowledge creation. While the claims made for the benefits or limitations of interdisciplinarity are diverse, they have been largely related to modes of academic governance or to the bare nature of disciplines. Less is known on the precise role of social networks in fostering or hindering interdisciplinarity within intraorganizational contexts. Thus, to explore the influence of network structure, tie strength and nodal properties in interdisciplinarity within higher education institutions, we study the structure and dynamics of academic's personal knowledge networks. It is used a mixed methods approach combining the delineation of personal networks with the ties' content analysis regarding a conceptual model specifically developed for this study. Personal network data were collected and semi-structured interviews were held with 32 academic staff members of the academic and research system in Catalonia, Spain. Findings suggest that belonging to a department decreases interdisciplinarity and that institutional constraints are more significant than the strength of the ties. Researcher's network centrality and strength of ties are positively related to interdisciplinarity. Structural holes control for certain organizational rewards and individual attributes but are not directly linked to interdisciplinarity.

Analysis of research scholarship for academic staff at US ABET accredited mining engineering schools by publications, citations and h-index

Publications, citations and h-index are three quantitative measures of scholarly productivity commonly used to evaluate university academic staff members. The quantity and quality of an individual's publication record is often an integral part of promotion and tenure decisions as well as post-tenure notoriety and awards. In this study, the Scopus database was queried to provide information on the scholarly productivity of 83 mining engineering academic staff members at accredited mining engineering schools in the United States. The data retrieved in this study include the number of publications, number of citations and h-index, for each individual academic staff member. Data for individual academic staff members was then classified by academic level/rank, institution and primary research sub-discipline to produce meaningful comparative results. The data show that the average number of publications per academic increases from 4 to 22 to 49 for assistant professors, associate professors and professors, respectively. Citations (9–83–290) and h-index (1–3–6) follow similar trends. Further analysis indicates that mineral processing and mine electrical systems are the most highly cited sub-disciplines. When aggregated by academic institution, the data show that the productivity of academic staff is linked to Carnegie Research classification. Finally, the data show a clear Pareto tendency with the highest 20% of academic staff members contributing 80% of the overall citations.

Stress, Coping Strategies and Perceived Faculty Support among Nursing Students in Alexandria

Nursing students experience greater stress through their nursing program. This stress is undoubtedly related to the intensity and complexity of nursing program and its effects on their health and wellbeing are compounded. High perceived stress levels and lack of effective coping strategies and faculty support could be a barrier to achieve the challenges of nursing profession. Objective: Assess baccalaureate nursing students' stress level, coping strategies and perceived faculty support and identify stress related factors among them. Setting: The study was carried out at Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University. Subjects: 400 baccalaureate nursing students. Tools: Five tools were used for data collection. The first tool was nursing students’ basic data structured interview schedule to identify data related to students’ personal and socio-demographic characteristics. The second tool was Student Nurse Stress Index (SNSI) to assess the nurse students stress levels. The third tool was Physio- Psycho- Social Response Scale (PPSRS) to describe students' responses to stress during their nursing program. The fourth tool was The Coping Behavior Inventory (CBI) to measure the coping strategies used by nursing students during stress exposure. Finally, the fifth tool was Perceived Faculty Support Scale (PFS) to measure the students' perception of faculty support in their nursing program. Results: Findings of the present study revealed that the majority (91.5%) of the students were stressed and the most common coping strategy used was problem solving (65.3%), while only 3.8% of them perceived low faculty support. Students' stress was related to many personal and extracurricular factors. Conclusion: The study concluded that baccalaureate nursing students experience high levels of stress during their nursing education which affects not only academic performance, but also all aspects of students' health. Recommendations: There should be a collaborative effort among academic staff members to remove unnecessary stressors and provide a supportive learning environment. Regular meeting should be held between students and academic staff members to discuss the possible stressful situations that might happen.

Ethics Cases: Do they Elicit Different Levels of Ethical Reasoning?

Ethics education is widely accepted as a fundamental component of health care professionals’ personal and professional development (Goldie 2000). Universities must be satisfied that students have reached a minimum standard of ethical competence as well as clinical competence before they enter their chosen professions (Wong and Cheung 2003). However, educators have questioned whether bioethics courses adequately prepare graduates to manage the ethical issues they experience in professional practice (Elkin 2004). Student evaluations indicate formal ethics courses are helpful for introducing theoretical concepts but provide limited strategies for responding to practice dilemmas (West and Chur-Hansen 2004). Perceived gaps between ethical philosophies taught in university classrooms and ‘real life’ professional experiences remain a key challenge for educators (Cowley 2005; Kirklin 2007). Such gaps may persist when teaching focusses upon sensational or oversimplified examples that bear little semblance to the ethical issues that typically occur in professional practice (Coope 1996). Outcomes of ethics education may be strongly influenced by what students observe and experience during professional socialization (Saat et al. 2012) and students may experience miss-matches between content of ethics classes and perceptions of academic and clinical staff members’ responses towards professional issues (Hafferty and Franks 1994). Furthermore, an emphasis upon reactive approaches to ethical dilemmas may not prepare students to adopt proactive ethical decision making in diverse professional practice contexts (Verges 2010). J Acad Ethics (2015) 13:259–275 DOI 10.1007/s10805-015-9234-6

Analysing complaints and grievances as a quality improvement tool in higher education

Complaints and grievances are useful quality assurance tools in the identification of shortcomings which impede quality of higher educational delivery. However, there is a dearth of studies that analysed complaints by stakeholders in the higher education sector in Zimbabwe. This study used documentary research to examine the origin, frequency and types of complaints lodged with the higher education quality assurance agency by staff, students and other higher education stakeholders. Records of all complaints received through written, electronic, verbal or telephonic means from 2011 and 2014 were reviewed, analysed and categorised. The results revealed an upward trend in the number of complaints from 2011 to 2014. Out of the 179 complaints received over the study period, 45% were from academic staff members, 38% from students, 7% from employers, 6% from the public, 1% from media houses and 3% were anonymous. The complaints related to high workloads (93%), large class sizes (60%), high administration expenses relative to teaching and research (49%), favouritism and corruption (44%) and poor quality of graduates (11%). The study informs higher education institutions on areas they need to concentrate on in order to improve quality and recommends institutions to develop and implement effective internal grievance management systems. Keywords: complaints, quality, higher education, academics, students

A Comprehensive Set of Mobile Services Supporting Education Process

Nowadays many universities are using Internet and mobile services to support various activities in education process. However, these services often provide incomplete functionality and are not connected to each other. To address this problem, the paper overviews existing services and requests from students and academic staff members and proposes requirements for a new system. Based on the analysis, the paper proposes a comprehensive set of seven mobile services: attendance monitoring, performance monitoring, timetable management, interactive teaching, testing and exams, course materials, distribution of course tasks and group work. The paper presents architecture of the system based on Mobile Device Management followed by a description of mobile services’ functionality.

National Economic Empowernment Development Strategy (NEEDS) as a Panacea for Employment Creation and Self Employment and Self Reliant

This study assessed the ratings of lecturers in universities in Edo State on the role of entrepreneurship education in the realizations of NEEDS. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. The population consisted of two hundred and sixty-four academic staff members from faculty of education and management of University of Benin and Ambrose Alli University. The survey research design was employed for the study. The instrument used was validated by three experts. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation coefficient was used to compute reliability of the instrument which yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.72. There was no sampling as the entire population was used for the study while two hundred and thirty six respondents were used for data analysis. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using the descriptive statistics. From the results of the analysis of data it was discovered that entrepreneurship education roles in meeting NEEDS goals in Edo State are creation of employment and self employment & self reliant. Consequently, it was recommended among other things that a robust micro finance scheme be given top priority by government at all levels of governance. The development of entrepreneurship should be a major option for employment generation and income growth in Edo State. Edo State government should provide robust legislation towards encouragement and development of entrepreneurship education by commercial banks. Finally recommendations were made for further studies. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n2p61

Çanakkale Kitabeleri Kentsel Kültür Varlıkları Envanteri 2003

The inventorying of the Canakkale epitaphs began in the year 2002 and in the same year, the epitaphs in the center of Canakkale were intensively studied. In the year 2003, the in­ventory study was conducted in the Gelibolu district by four academic staff members bet­ween June 30- July, 2 and July, 7-18. In 2003. the hazires of the Yazicizade Mehmed Mosque and of Ulu Mosque as well as Alaaddin Kalfa Cemetery of Gelibolu were studied. Within 15 days of study, 440 tombs­tone inscriptions, 400 of which are from Ala­addin Kalfa Cemetery, and epitaphs of 2 mos­ques and 4 fountains have been explored, photographed, and classified. 373 epitaphs of them have been categorized with inventory remarks and from 20 of them moulds have been taken. Pertaining to the epitaphs and inscriptions in this study, 650 color photos, 250 black-white photos, 350 digital photos and 250 color slides were taken. The study will be continued in the year 2004 and within 2 weeks, it is planned that ail the epitaphs in the centre of Gelibolu will be documented. Historical cemeteries have been demolished for various reasons, such as house and road constructions; hence, it is extremely urgent that this documentation and inventory study, which sheds light on the socio-cuitural history of the city to be completed as soon as possible.

The Threat to Norwegian as an Academic Language

In 1991 Norwegian state institutions gained the option of introducing “performance salary” as part of local salary negotiations. One institute, in the humanities, began rewarding academic staff for their published books and articles. At the University of Oslo Institute of Philosophy in 1997, an author of a book published in Norwegian received a bonus of 7,000 NOK (ca. $1,100), while an author of a book published in English received a bonus of 15,000 NOK. An academic staff member who edited a scholarly book or professional journal in Norwegian received a bonus of 2,000 NOK. If the book or journal was published in the English language, the editor got a bonus of 5,000 NOK. The author of a doctoral thesis written in Norwegian received a bonus of 7,000 NOK, while an author of a doctoral thesis written in English received a bonus of 15,000 NOK. The author of an article in a professional, refereed journal received 1,000 NOK if the article was in Norwegian and 7,000 NOK if the article was in English. The presentation of this strategy before the Institute for Educational Research in 1997 produced protests among our academic staff. We saw the system as a danger both to our country's language and to a university's obligation to the rest of society. We saw it as a threat to democracy. Unfortunately, the case in point at the Institute of Philosophy began an ongoing policy trend.

Reciprocal and scholarly service learning: emergent theoretical understandings of the university–community interface in South Africa

This study addresses underlying principles to interpret scholarly-based service-related teaching and learning. Such principles include addressing specific concerns of communities, transforming theoretical knowledge into lived experiences for students, making the knowledge generated within communities meaningful and forging constant growth and learning gain for both students and community members (CMs). Following a grounded theory design, academic staff members, students, community organisation representatives and CMs were involved in service-related projects. These projects involved a South African research-led university which engages with its local communities – some evolving from destitute positions. Seven academic modules from six faculties were analysed over a period of two consecutive years. Results opened up new perspectives on service learning, a concept previously mainly researched as an inward-looking inquiry or implicitly embedded in curricula. New student attributes are suggested which include scholarliness (including taking a stronger research view on undergraduate work) and reciprocity (i.e. students not only learning in communities but also from communities and vice versa). Such innovative emphases on student attributes open up fresh meanings and theory for community engagement and university curricula – particularly in the context of a developing country.

Rethinking teaching and teaching practice at university in a lifelong learning context

The development visions of universities, the growing heterogeneity of learners at all levels and changes in higher education are increasing expectations of academics’ professionalism and their teaching practices. Learning experiences and teaching practices at university influence further choices and support continuing lifelong learning of university students. This paper presents research results from an empirical survey carried out at Tallinn University in Estonia. It investigates how students experience teaching and teaching practices and how academics experience their own teaching. Within a theoretical framework of adult learning principles, the emphasis is on the importance of and interrelations between teaching practices and the student learning process at university. Relevant data were collected from 235 students, who were asked to fill in a semi-structured questionnaire, and from 9 academic staff members, who were asked to submit reflection papers. The students and the academics in the sample came from three different disciplines: (1) mathematics/natural sciences; (2) educational sciences/teacher education; and (3) social sciences. The empirical data thus gathered were then analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The authors’ findings indicate that while students experience current teaching practices as somewhat limited to a one-sided passing on of knowledge to learners, academic staff perceive their teaching as a collaborative process which helps their students’ development. This discrepancy creates tension and thus calls for change.

Scholarly Communication in a Digital Environment: Populating the Institutional Repository of the University of Botswana

AbstractThis paper examines the numerous benefits of digital scholarly communication made visible through institutional repositories (IRs) that have become trendy in institutions of higher learning in developed countries of the world. In line with its vision to be a leading centre of academic excellence in Africa and the world, the University of Botswana (UB) established its own IR known as the UB Research, Innovation and Scholarship Archive (UBRISA). This paper discusses the challenges of profiling digital scholarly communication on UBRISA, a technology brimming with potential but which UB staff has largely ignored. The consequences of this neglect are seen in the paltry submissions to it during its four years of existence. The paper explains the implementation policy, and the involvement and functions of a tripartite team that drives UBRISA. The paper notes that the problem of tardiness experienced in populating the digital repositories of other institutions is also deeply rooted in UB. It shares some failed efforts made to populate UBRISA through the instrument of the performance management system – an annual contract which the academic staff members sign at the beginning of the year. The paper then analyses the efforts of the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme (SCAP) that worked with UB in training its staff regarding the operation of the IR, and also established a workflow process for vetting, describing and uploading content to the IR so that UB scholarship could become more visible to the world. Some recommendations are also offered.