Practice In Higher Education Research Articles

Lesson study as a pedagogical practice in higher education from an inclusive perspective: strategies and resources indicated by professors

Lesson Study as a strategy for inclusive pedagogical practices has been used in some countries as a form of collaborative work, involving both teachers and students; and fosters discussions during the implementation of teaching practices. This article aims to present an excerpt of the results of an investigation using Lesson Study conducted in Brazil, simultaneously with the University of Worcester. The analysis indicated the resources and strategies suggested by the professors during the realization of a cycle of the Lesson Study approach. The study concluded that the opportunity to research in a university context increased the understanding of inclusive education among the involved agents.

Integrating chemistry laboratory–tutorial timetabling with instructional design and the impact on learner perceptions and outcomes

For chemistry, where learners are required to integrate experimental observations with theoretical knowledge, laboratory work appears to be a viable instructional strategy. However, research has shown that chemistry laboratory instruction often fails to live up to its potential. The scheduling practice in higher education (HE) separating theory lessons and practical work into temporally disjointed sessions could exacerbate the theory–laboratory disconnect. This paper continues an earlier work, in which integrated schedules of chemistry tutorial and laboratory classes were implemented in two general chemistry courses in a freshman chemical engineering programme. Traditionally separate tutorial and laboratory classes were chained into 3 hour blocks in the experimental classes. Worked examples, group presentations and course materials designed as a merged package to connect theory with practical work were implemented for selected tasks in integrated teaching. Prior ability was measured based on previous titration experience or grades in earlier general chemistry courses. Lesson experiences were collected on the validated Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) (Galloway and Bretz, 2015). Block (or integrated) and traditional learners performed equally on theory tests, but integrated learners scored higher on a titration skills assessment. The origin of differences in skills performance could not be ascertained conclusively. Perceptions across the MLLI domains declined across schedules, with significant losses in the cognitive domain. MLLI scores did not differ by schedules. There is some evidence favouring stronger theory–laboratory connection from the qualitative MLLI data and the focus group interviews, although cognitive overloading may adversely impact low ability learners. This work showed that block scheduling does not affect the chemistry skills-set equally, which opens the topic for future research. Suggestions for future implementation of chemistry block teaching were also proposed.

ChatGPT conundrums: Probing plagiarism and parroting problems in higher education practices

The field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has seen significant advancements in recent years, thanks in large part to the development of powerful language models such as ChatGPT. ChatGPT, short for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a large-scale neural language model developed by OpenAI that is capable of generating human-like responses to natural language input. With its impressive performance on a range of language tasks, ChatGPT has quickly become one of the most widely used language models in NLP research and application. The preceding paragraph showcases ChatGPT’s capabilities, as it was composed and formatted entirely using artificial intelligence (AI). Clearly, ChatGPT holds tremendous power when it comes to writing-based tasks. As noted in a recent C&RL News article by Christopher Cox and Elias Tzoc, ChatGPT, and similar large language model technologies, have the potential to be disruptive technologies, significantly affecting not just academic libraries but higher education as a whole. In this article, we aim to explore some of these potential issues and propose a few possibilities for how we, as information professionals, may be able to help address them as they emerge.

Modern Approaches to Teaching and Assessment of Higher Education Seekers: A Conceptual Vision

The purpose of the academic paper lies in analysing the viewpoints of various scientists regarding the selection and features of the application of modern approaches to the organization of the educational process, teaching and assessment of the effectiveness of the educational activities of higher education seekers, as well as in practical investigating the main aspects of assessment and educational practice in higher education. In the process of conducting the research, an analytical and bibliographic method has been used in order to study the scientific literature on learning, teaching and assessment issues, as well as a questionnaire survey for the practical clarification of certain aspects of the evaluation and educational process in higher education. Based on the results of the research, the existing works of scholars on the use of modern approaches to the organization of educational activities in higher education and the latest trends in the assessment of the educational process have been analysed.

‘It is the easiest thing to do’: university students’ perspectives on the role of lecture recording in promoting inclusive education in the UK

ABSTRACT The implementation of lecture recording (LR) technology is becoming common practice in higher education (HE). While it is often promoted as a technological solution to inclusion, there is a need for more in-depth research to examine such assumptions. This study was conducted in a research-intensive elite university in the UK, employing semi-structured interviews with 15 students and 10 teaching staff and focusing on students’ voices as an under-represented dimension of LR research. The student participants recognised the usefulness of LR for improving access to learning activities and its limitations in addressing important pedagogical aspects such as student-staff relationships. LR was perceived to be aligned with a reductionist and tokenistic approach to educational provision – a compromise where the desired changes to HE’s exclusionary structure could not happen. The study concludes by highlighting the necessity of respecting students as agents of change to stimulate the critically informed use of technology for inclusive education.

Teaching practice in higher education. Analysis from educational models

The objective of this study is to describe the teaching practice from the experience of the students, based on the knowledge that teachers have about the subject, the pedagogical abilities or skills they possess, interpersonal relationships, personality characteristics, research associated with the chair, and planning. The method was quantitative with a descriptive scope and cross-sectional design, it was applied in 106 surveys to students of the Psychology Academic Unit of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, in the State of Zacatecas, Mexico. A self-made instrument called "Teaching practice questionnaire, student perception" was applied with a "Cronbach's Alpha" of 0.93. It was found that if the teacher is critically trained, assesses the teaching and learning processes through dialogue, interacts with other teachers, and builds and lives values in their educational and social context, they will be in agreement with a practice close to a paradigm constructivist.

Investigating Arabic teachers’ perceptions of extensive reading practices in higher education

Investigating Arabic teachers’ perceptions of extensive reading practices in higher education

Toward Epistemically-Just Research: A Methodologies Framework

This article interrogates the relationship between social science research and ways of doing, knowing and being that are dominant in Western universities. It traces a line from the colonial origins of dominant knowledge, through the creation of a rational scientist subject, in order to make visible the reproduction of epistemic inequality in modernity/coloniality. The link between epistemic injustice and neoliberal knowledge production practices in higher education is made clear through a particular focus on the role research methods play in this process, Finally, a reorientation is proposed along with a framework of methodologies for epistemically-just research.

Close to open-Factors that hinder and promote open science in ecology research and education.

The Open Science (OS) movement is rapidly gaining traction among policy-makers, research funders, scientific journals and individual scientists. Despite these tendencies, the pace of implementing OS throughout the scientific process and across the scientific community remains slow. Thus, a better understanding of the conditions that affect OS engagement, and in particular, of how practitioners learn, use, conduct and share research openly can guide those seeking to implement OS more broadly. We surveyed participants at an OS workshop hosted by the Living Norway Ecological Data Network in 2020 to learn how they perceived OS and its importance in their research, supervision and teaching. Further, we wanted to know what OS practices they had encountered in their education and what they saw as hindering or helping their engagement with OS. The survey contained scaled-response and open-ended questions, allowing for a mixed-methods approach. We obtained survey responses from 60 out of 128 workshop participants (47%). Responses indicated that usage and sharing of open data and code, as well as open access publication, were the most frequent OS practices. Only a minority of respondents reported having encountered OS in their formal education. A majority also viewed OS as less important in their teaching than in their research and supervisory roles. The respondents' suggestions for what would facilitate greater OS engagement in the future included knowledge, guidelines, and resources, but also social and structural support. These are aspects that could be strengthened by promoting explicit implementation of OS practices in higher education and by nurturing a more inclusive and equitable OS culture. We argue that incorporating OS in teaching and learning of science can yield substantial benefits to the research community, student learning, and ultimately, to the wider societal objectives of science and higher education.

Ensuring the Innovativeness of Vocational Education: Neuropedagogical Aspect

The significance of the outlined direction research is determined by the fact that in modern conditions of postmodern society development, the issues of improving higher education and ensuring the quality of the educational process become relevant. The need for innovative renewal of the educational process of the higher school is determined by the emergence of a number of psychological and pedagogical problems, taking into account the conditions of postmodernity(mismatch between the needs of employers, the existing state of future professionals training and scientific and pedagogical staff’s qualifications, lack of mechanisms for selective processing of information, insufficient provision of information and psychological security of the individual, the need to develop an inclusive educational environment in higher education, etc.). The main conceptual principles of the innovative development of the educational environment in postmodern conditions are highlighted (humanization of the educational process, providing developmental learning and personality-oriented approach). The article analyzes the foreign and domestic experience of using innovative educational technologies (individualized, personality-oriented learning, as well as gamification of the future training professionals’ process), identifies their advantages and disadvantages. Peculiarities of their introduction into the practice of higher education in postmodern conditions are outlined. Prospects for further research are the development of practical recommendations for the introduction of innovative educational technologies in the future professionals training in higher education.

Purpose, process, place, pedagogical affordance and product (5Ps) of student learning in higher education: beyond Beckers

PurposeUniversities are investing billions of dollars in building infrastructure, with the design of learning spaces driven by technological developments and long-standing changes in pedagogical theory and practice. The aim of the study is to investigate the alignment between pedagogy and space by responding to a single research question: What is the relationship between the purpose, process, place and product of student learning in higher education?Design/methodology/approachDrawing on Beckers et al.’s (2015) purpose–process–place framework, the study uses an online survey and photo elicitation method to gather perspectives from educators and students in one Australian university about their learning spaces. A hybrid approach consisting of inductive and deductive coding to thematic analysis was used to find repeated patterns of meaning.FindingsA total of 24 images of learning spaces were received from 8 educators and 16 students. Thematic analysis of the images and responses by participants highlights the importance of the pedagogical affordances of the learning environment and the product of learning, which are aligned to the purpose–process–place of learning.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provided a robust approach grounded in data to understand the alignment between space and pedagogy. Articulating students learning as an output of the alignment between space and pedagogy has important implications for the design of learning spaces and pedagogical practices in higher education. One limitation to the study, however, is noteworthy. The surveys had limited responses. Whilst the small response rates may not necessarily lead to biased results, it is acknowledged that a larger sample is likely to give more reliable results to enable the theory to be generalised.Originality/valueThe study’s findings extend the purpose–process–place framework to include pedagogical affordances and the product of learning. The purpose, process, place, pedagogical affordance and product framework posits that pedagogical affordances within a place must be deployed in such a way so that teaching and learning processes can contribute to enhancing educational goals or purpose to improve student learning outcomes, i.e. product. This framework provides a context for understanding the relationships between pedagogy and space in higher education.

Challenges to the implementation of lean practices in higher education: Is the culture in higher education conducive to adoption of lean principles and philosophy?

Lean in higher education, often abbreviated as LHE, has grown in interest over the past 20 years. The application of lean principles has been observed in higher education institutions throughout the world. Many researchers have investigated both the success and the failure of lean in higher education. Although lean originated in the automotive industry, and both the automotive industry and higher education report success and failure, there is no comparison of the factors between these groups. Culture is cited quite frequently in the literature as a barrier to success. Thus, there is a need for investigation into the cultural differences between higher education and the automotive industry as they relate to lean. This paper uses Schein's three elements of culture to evaluate the differences in culture between higher education and the automotive industry. It concludes with recommendations on how to best deploy the practices of lean in higher education given the cultural differences and challenges between the two sectors.

“We don’t need another hero!”: Whistleblowing as an ethical organizational practice in higher education

The present article shifts the focus and burden of whistleblowing away from an individual to the collective and argues for the necessary incorporation of whistleblowing into an ethical infrastructure in institutions of higher education. The authors argue that institutions of higher learning should be understood as collective agents bestowed with ethical responsibility which obliges them to act in an ethical manner. The fundamental principle guiding the ethical practice of all higher-learning institutions should be a culture of voice because conscientization – the purpose of education – necessitates dialogue to emerge. However, this culture of voice is not self-evident in institutions of higher learning and transpires in the harmful ways in which some of these institutions react to the disclosure of their problematic practices by whistleblowers. In light of this, the authors propose that one should not expect individuals to assume a whistleblower role; it is the higher-education institution’s ethical responsibility to create an infrastructure which integrates channels for critical engagement with problematic practices and supports a culture of voice. This infrastructure should consist of four fundamental elements: whistleblowing’s enablement, whistleblowers’ protection, the correction of problematic practices, and the recognition of the whistleblower’s action.

Strategies for Student Belonging: The Nexus of Policy and Practice in Higher Education

This practice report, framed within transition pedagogy (Kift et al., 2010), seeks to offer suggestions to assist higher education educators and administrators to develop and apply policies to foster student belonging. The authors of this article are employed at an Australian university which offers alternative pathways for students to enter a mainstream university degree. The authors were part of a project sub-committee responsible for reviewing literature on the definition of, and approaches to, belonging and writing a report with suggestions to enhance student engagement and progression. The report concluded that belonging should be a “whole-of-institution” approach (TEQSA, 2020) where all aspects of a student’s journey are considered when developing and applying student success strategies. This practice report culminates past studies and offers belonging enhancing teaching advice, policy suggestions and learning tools to strengthen connections between students and the higher education institutions in which they are enrolled.

Is continuous assessment inclusive? An analysis of factors influencing student grades

This paper reports a series of studies that assessed the performance of students on continuous assessment components from two courses in an undergraduate psychology programme. Data were collected from two consecutive cohorts of students (total N = 576) and the grades of students were compared based on additional learning needs (ALN; ALN versus No ALN), whether or not the students had requested an extension to a deadline, and whether or not students had missed any of the tests that made up the continuous assessment component. Results showed no significant differences in attainment between students with and without ALN, supporting the argument that continuous assessment does not differentially impact students who already require additional support. Students who were granted deadline extensions achieved significantly lower scores, but only on the course with content that built week on week. Students who missed one or more tests achieved significantly lower scores even if the grade was calculated ignoring the questions that a student had not attempted. The implications of these findings for assessment practice in higher education are discussed.

A systematic literature review of micro-credentials in higher education: a non-zero-sum game

ABSTRACT This systematic review examines academic literature published between 2012 and 2022 on micro-credential research and practices in higher education. A deductive analysis of empirical evidence from the 29 included articles offers insights into awareness, benefits, challenges, effectiveness, and factors influencing effectiveness of micro-credentials in the sector. The results suggest that there are potential benefits for including micro-credentials in higher education. The findings also highlight that micro-credentials are not a micro task for students to complete or for higher education providers to successfully implement. Micro-credentials in higher education, however, are still at the early stage of development, and further research is required to evaluate their viability and effectiveness in the long term. The review carries implications for micro-credential research and practices.

Биоэтика и сетевое образование в медицинских вузах

The issues of teaching bioethics are widely discussed all over the world nowadays. On the pages of our magazine, much attention was also paid to this problem [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. But life does not stand still, and new teaching methods require a careful approach to their implementation in the practice of higher education. In this regard, the practical component is very important for teaching bioethics students – trainings, role-playing games, any interactive forms of classes. These are well-known distinctive features of this training course. But, as it seems to us, until now our universities do not pay due attention to such a form as network education in the field of bioethics. And it is here that it can play an important role.

Changing dynamic of expectations for higher education academics

Universities are undergoing significant change (Kaplan, 2021). Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, external pressures meant that universities were adapting their research practices, their teaching and learning practices, and their external engagement. This research is concerned with how universities’ employment practices might be altered to meet these changing needs. Drivers for this change included increasing access to technology, requirements for greater access, student variety, and a more challenging funding environment, as well as pressure from external providers (Bakhov et al., 2021). There is diversity in how universities are addressing these demands. Some universities have invested in significant training to prepare staff to teach in blended or online environments (Llerena-Izquierdo & Ayala-Carabajo, 2021). Some universities have invested in centralized (Bearman et al., 2021), or faculty level teaching and learning units (or both), with a purview to assist academics in developing a better student experience. Another option has been the outsourcing of the design work to Online Program Managers (OPMs) who undertake the learning design work. In reality, the most common practice is a combination of different approaches, which can lead to, for example, learning designers training academics, as well as developing courses at a whole of university level, but also working at a faculty or school level. This approach has only further confused the question of the role of third space professionals such as learning designers. This area, and the effect that it has had on employment practices in higher education is under-researched at the current time. This poster reports on a preliminary study of various higher education job advertisements, seeking to identify in what way employment practices are changing (if at all) to reflect the changing dynamics of higher education expectations of academic staff members. In doing so, it establishes a research agenda for future studies in this space. The experiences during the pandemic should provide lessons for future practices and research. In order to do so, it is necessary to consider the dynamic range of influences active in this space; for this reason, a systems thinking approach provides insight into this space. Current research that focused on educator’s characteristics (professional knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes) found that the education sector struggled to provide satisfactory learning during this period. Educators are only one part of the story here; the other part is the role of institutions, the resources provided by governments, and the general population's expectations of the educator regardless of the challenges being experienced (Wright & Meadows, 2012; Stroh, 2015). Considered together, these elements offer insights into to how we support, assess and re-engineer our systems towards better educational outcomes (Senge, 1990). Education is a societal need and if society is not benefitting from all of the inputs, then changes should be implemented. This poster provides a conceptual view of what these changes might look like at all levels. The role of the educator, as an embedded resource in a learning system, and what abilities are needed for the role or to support the role are also discussed.

Entrepreneurship education programmes research in Russia: Stakeholder expectations and university practice

Introduction. Entrepreneurial education, as an area of educational practice in higher education, is a relatively new area of activity for Russian universities. In this area, due to the special dynamics of development and transformation, especially in a pandemic, there is the most significant gap between the competencies formed by universities and in demand on the labour market. The rationale for the research stemmed from two major trends in the economy and society: industry demand for workforce with greater enterprise skills, at the same time a new generation, generation Z, seeks more flexible and more fulfilling career path. Therefore, to address these trends, universities have to diversify the skill set included in the academic curriculum.Aim. This study is aimed at studying the problems of interaction between universities and their stakeholders in curricula improvement.Methodology and research methods. Taken into consideration the regulatory nature of the curricula design in Russian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) a two-step strategy has been adopted for this research. The first step was a concern with meta-analysis of the competencies outlined in Federal State Educational Standard (FSES) in Management through the lens of entrepreneurial competencies. The second step was to investigate inclusion of soft skills in entrepreneurship curricula in across Russian HEIs. To address the objective of research, descriptive statistics and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test were applied.Results. The research findings suggest in the environment where the degree programmes have to comply with set Governmental standards, curricula in entrepreneurship struggle to develop essential soft entrepreneurial skills. Most of the analysed curricula are heavily loaded with hard and cognitive skills. Even though the government proclaims a need for innovative development of the nation, creative and innovative thinking is not mentioned either in the FSES nor analysed curricula. The research findings also led to a surprising conclusion that very few core ‘business’ modules include the development of social or action-oriented skills in their learning outcomes.Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the fact that for the first time the problems of ensuring the development of soft skills in entrepreneurial education in Russia have been studied.Practical significance. The results of the study will find their application in the design of entrepreneurial curricula to achieve the necessary balance of competencies in them.

Relationship between emotional intelligence and resilience among university students during crisis

This research investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence of university students and their resilience ability during crisis: the pandemic of Covid-19. A large-scale quantitative approach was applied with a national survey in the midst of the fourth wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam. The research obtained data from 2252 students from various universities in Vietnam. Results showed that experienced positive affect and negative affect fully mediated the relationships between students’ self-emotion appraisal and their resilience during the pandemic. Surprisingly, other-emotion appraisal decreased positive affect while increased negative affect, though both affect types mediated the other-emotion appraisal-resilience relationship. The two types of affects also played mediating roles in the relationship between the ability of using emotion and resilience among students during the crisis, and the moderation was partial. Finally, while students’ regulation of emotion was not related to either their experienced negative affect or resilience, it was indirectly associated with students’ resilience during the pandemic via the mediating role of positive affect. Implications for theoretical development and practice in higher education were discussed.