Problems Of Higher Education Research Articles

Improving students’ academic integrity through academic integrity training (AIT) program in higher education

PurposeThe study examines the effectiveness of an academic integrity training program called Academic Integrity Training (AIT) in improving students’ academic integrity among final-year students.Design/methodology/approachThe research design used was one group pretest and posttest (n = 40) students in research proposal courses.FindingsAnalysis with stacking and racking analysis showed a change in the distribution of the Logit Value Person (LVP) and Logit Value Item (LVI) values on the side of the subjects and items used for this study. Testing with a paired sample t-test yielded a value of t = −3.059 and a significance (p) = 0.004, indicating that there was a significant increase in LVP at the pre-test (M = 2.52 & SD = 1.56) and post-test (M = 3.33 & SD = 2.09) in the subject of the study.Practical implicationsThe study results concluded that this academic integrity training program can improve students' academic integrity and is designed and implemented with the right personal approach to suppress academic dishonesty, especially the problem of plagiarism among graduate students submitting thesis proposals.Originality/valueAcademic dishonesty has been a major problem in higher education over the last two decades. Various strategies have been attempted to address the condition, but no program has been found to directly address the problem on the personal order or individuals who do so.

Motivations and Potential Solutions in Developing a Knowledge Management System for Organization at Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Background: Amidst a rapidly evolving digital landscape that accelerates the flow of information, higher education institutions face the unique challenge of managing vast and dynamic knowledge resources. This research delves into the motivations and innovative solutions for developing Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), which is key to optimizing knowledge resource utilization and enhancing academic collaboration. Objective: This research provides a comprehensive mapping of problems and solutions for developing university knowledge management systems based on previous research. Not only that, but the results of this study also suggest three future research studies that can be adopted. Methods: This study used the Kitchenham systematic literature review method. The author uses literature in the form of journals and conference proceedings published from 2019 to 2023. Twenty-three articles were used for this study from 5 databases, such as ACM, ProQuest, Scopus, Taylor & Francis, and IEEE Xplore. Results: This study reveals research trends in knowledge management systems within higher education, examining aspects such as country, data collection methods, research methodologies, and theoretical frameworks. The main problems motivating the development of KMS are identified and categorized based on the people, process, and technology framework. In overcoming these problems in the university business process, there are several alternative solutions, both in the form of requirements and systems. Thus, the results of this study seek to provide guidelines for future research to adopt alternative solutions from this research and develop KMS to provide new solutions. Conclusion: This study advances knowledge about various trends, motivations, requirements, and system solutions to address KMS problems in higher education. The authors' research results can add valuable insights to improve our understanding of the development of KMS in universities in various countries. Future research can identify new potential in KMS in business processes currently running in a university with appropriate methodologies. Keywords: Knowledge management system, higher education, systematic literature review, problem, solution

The Qur'anic Reading Approach to Improve Student Mental Health in Higher Education

Student mental health problems in higher education are an important and complex issue. The purpose of this research was to find out and measure how the approach of reading the Qur'an at the beginning of learning can improve students' mental health in Higher Education. The research design applies a 4D development research model (define, design, development, disseminate). The research sample was 250 Islamic Education Guidance and Counseling students and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Teacher Education. Research instruments used observation, tests, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis using the Tiagarajan Model. The approach of reading the Qur'an is relevant and valid and applied to all courses. 92.78% effectiveness rate successfully improves student mental health. Especially from the aspect of Emotional balance, reasonable stress levels, life balance, good sleep quality, healthy interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, adaptability, independence, physical fitness, academic performance, self-awareness, using effective keeping, and lack of signs of mental disorders. However, this approach is only relevant for Muslim lecturers and students. Students who are Catholic/Protestant Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucians can use approaches with their respective scriptures.

Implementasi Kebijakan pemberian Beasiswa Dana Otonomi Khusus bagi Mahasiswa Port Numbay Kota Jayapura

As an effort to advance Papuan human resources, the Special Autonomy Law regulates education and culture. One form of concern for the future of Papuan human resources, especially attention in the education sector, was also shown by the Jayapura City Government through the Port Numbay Men's Special Education Program (PKP3N) in collaboration with the Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (UKSW) Salatiga. The provision of scholarships through PKP3N since 2013 until now has shown a fairly good performance despite the challenges and obstacles faced. This sociological condition in the field of Higher Education does not have to be a prolonged problem, but a solution must be sought. Therefore, it is necessary to create a model that is considered appropriate in answering various problems of higher education within the Jayapura City Government. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to explain the implementation of the policy of the scholarship award in the Higher Education Sector implemented by the Jayapura City Government, identify the factors that support and hinder the process of implementing the policy of the scholarship award in the Higher Education Sector for Port Numbay students. at UKSW Salatiga, and strategically evaluating the success of implementing the Special Autonomy Fund scholarship award for the Higher Education Sector within the Jayapura City Government. This study was designed with a qualitative method. Data was collected through structured interviews with policy makers (Jayapura City Government and Jayapura City Regional Secretary) and policy recipients (19 students of UKSW Salatiga). Unstructured interviews were also addressed to policy implementers and several community members. The findings of this study mainly focus on the need for socialization to executive officials, Technical OPD and Community Leaders as well as a form of attention and motivation to policy recipients as a form of follow-up for the success of policy implementation.

Placement is Everyone’s Business: A Love Letter to Our SSP Coalition

In this introduction to the special issue, the co-editors offer the umbrella term "methods of student self-placement" (SSP) to refer to any placement mechanism that includes student choice so that we can further build theoretical apparatus, gather much-needed empirical data, and subsequently flesh out meaningful differences in approaches. They argue that just as SSP asks us to rethink the mission of first-year writing, it also asks us to rethink some of the divisions in Writing Studies because placement work is meaningful across the university. Ultimately, they conclude that SSP isn't an easy fix for systemic problems in higher education, but it is powerful in fully acknowledging the complexity of placement and meeting students' diverse learning needs. 

Change my mind

Abstract: High dropout rates at universities, often caused by false expectations and a lack of motivation, pose a serious problem in higher education. Online self-assessments (OSAs) assess expectations regarding a field of study (major) and provide feedback on the reality of the major, thus pointing out expectation-reality discrepancies as well as helping prospective students choose a major. Based on cognitive dissonance theory, pointing out expectation-reality discrepancies should be related to changes in motivation for the major (expectancies for success, subjective values, intention to choose a major) and this relationship should be strengthened by feedback. Past research has shown that OSAs can correct expectations and that expectation-reality discrepancies are related to motivation but has not investigated the role of feedback for this process. Therefore, we extend past research by examining whether the positive relationships between expectation-reality discrepancies and changes in motivation for a major are stronger for prospective students who receive feedback on their expectation-reality discrepancies than for prospective students who do not receive feedback after the assessment. We conducted a field experiment in which 234 prospective students were randomly assigned to one of two groups (EG1 = OSA including feedback; EG2 = OSA without feedback). As hypothesized larger expectation-reality discrepancies were associated with larger changes in motivation for a major (expectancies for success, subjective values, intention to choose a major). Beyond that, we found a moderation effect of the feedback condition showing that the positive relationships between expectation-reality discrepancies and expectancies for success were stronger when prospective students received feedback (vs. no feedback). As feedback only showed effects beyond expectation-reality discrepancies in one of the considered outcomes, both the development of assessment and feedback should be targeted to optimize the effectiveness of OSAs.

Braiding together Critical Race Feminista participatory action research: conceptual and methodological considerations

In this article, I discuss conceptual and methodological considerations for the design and implementation of Critical Race Feminista Participatory Action Research (Critical Race Feminista-PAR) projects in higher education. I share some theoretical considerations of Critical Race Feminista praxis and methodologies that have been made by scholars who bridge critical race theories and Chicana feminist epistemology and then offer considerations for areas of expansion for Critical Race Feminista methodology. I also provide an overview of the social justice and liberatory origins of PAR and examples of other “braided” approaches of PAR that help inform Critical Race Feminista-PAR. To illustrate the application of this methodology, I provide an example from a previous study I co-constructed along with Latina higher education staff, administrators, and students that had elements of Critical Race Feminista-PAR. This article has implications for how Critical Race Feminista-PAR can be used to address social problems in higher education and beyond.

Pemanfaatan Analisis Sentimen Terhadap Kasus Bunuh Diri Mahasiswa Menggunakan Naïve Bayes Classifier

Suicide is currently a serious problem in higher education, especially among university students, and special approaches and attention are required to prevent it. With today's advances in technology, emotion analysis techniques can be an effective way to understand students' feelings and thoughts that may lead to suicidal behavior or indicate a risk of suicide. For this study, we scraped the data for his 1,151 tweets on Twitter and cleaned it up to 817. Of these, there are 745 negative tweets and 72 positive tweets. Additionally, the data is implemented in an algorithm that performs a data split of 80:20 with an accuracy of 90,24%. That's the "depression" that often appears when visualizing Lata data. Especially in Indonesia, there are many suicides due to depression. The purpose of this study is to understand the factors associated with student suicide and to determine the effectiveness and accuracy of this algorithm. Additionally, this study is expected to provide insights into educational and mental health settings to improve prevention strategies and more effective approaches

Stigmas and limited opportunities of on-line and for-profit university doctorate graduates in Technology, Healthcare, and Business

Introduction:Walden, Capella, and the University of Phoenix universities generate many African-American doc-toral graduates, according to Diverse Problems in Higher Education. Problem:While these universities graduate many minority students with doctoral degrees, they contribute sig-nificantly to student loan debt. These universities are for-profit, on-line, or owned by for-profits. Because of that classification, these universities and their doctoral degrees have stigmas in higher education that may hinder African-American and other minority faculty chances at elite, state flagship, and prestigious research universities. Objective:The research aims to formulate strategies to help African-Americans be more knowledgeable about non-traditional doctoral program selection and the current stigmas of graduating with a doctorate from a to-tally on-line or for-profit university. The purpose is not to diminish the accomplishment of anyone with the intellect, courage, and talent to get a regionally accredited doctoral degree. This research intends to educate and empower African-American and other students of color in their doctoral decision-making and discuss the stigmas against doctorates from for-profit universities and totally on-line universities in the U.S. Methodology: The approach used was a content analysis of the literature and qualitative interviews using a phenomenological research approach. The purpose is not to diminish or demonize graduates and degrees from regionally accredited on-line doctorate programs offered by for-profit universities, because they have provided opportunities and access to doctoral education. The goal is to share the realities of the current stigmas of those degrees from those universities in academic communities at the most highly ranked universities. The ultimate aim would be to educate them on the importance of school choice, even if the only viable option for doctoral completion is an on-line or hybrid doctoral program. Results:Academic careers often depend on having a doctorate and the university that awards that doctorate. So, African-Americans and other students of color should investigate and choose brick-and-mortar universi-ties with on-line and hybrid doctoral programs, which are often viewed more favorably. This study offers an accurate world understanding of the challenges and stigmas of African-American doctoral graduates driven by where they pursue their doctorate degrees. Conclusion:This project seeks to change the behavior of doctoral program selection and modification practices that would make graduates more successful and favorable for full-time faculty jobs after graduation. Originality:The gap in the literature explored is the limited academic discussion about how attending and com-pleting a doctorate from one of these universities can be detrimental to African-Americans, especially if they are interested in full-time tenure-track faculty careers at non-profit research universities.Limitations:More current research is needed on the stigmas and challenges of getting a doctorate from a for-profit or totally online university. More scholarly dialogues from the literature could have enriched the study.

CHALLENGES TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN SERBIA – A CONTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC DEBATE ON HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM

Higher education, as an area of great public interest, is the subject of a series of state actions, laws and allocation of financial resources. Reform/s in the field of higher education assume that we have identified problems in higher education and that we have criteria based on which we will evaluate reform solutions and opt for the one/s that best meet those criteria. The intention of this text is to contribute to the identification and understanding of some of the problems that public policies in the field of higher education should address and to offer criteria for evaluating the proposed solutions. As the basic problems of higher education (in Serbia) we have identified - the enlargement of the student population and the demand for quality control arising from the need to standardize every "serial" production, the need to expand the coverage of underrepresented social groups, the need for financial and other support for underrepresented social groups, which arise from the combination of enlargement and inclusiveness of higher education, the increase in the diversity of the student population in terms of abilities, aspirations, motivation and value orientations, and the need for innovations in teaching methods in higher education, which results from this.

Moral Problems in Higher Education

Moral Problems in Higher Education

Avoiding Academic Burnout: Academic Factors That Enhance University Student Engagement.

Burnout is one of the major problems in higher education and is linked to a decline in students' academic performance and achievement. Burnout, when prolonged over time and added to stress and high workloads, promotes the intention to drop out of studies, which translates into negative consequences for individuals and groups. Academic engagement is proposed as an effective alternative to offer solutions to improve the quality of education and counteract current negative trends. This study is based on a correlational-descriptive research design. It aimed to find out to what extent students feel engaged in their university studies and to identify and analyze possible correlations between engagement and specific classroom variables. To this end, a sample of 764 college students was studied. The result showed that students feel connected to and interested in their studies and that the area of knowledge impacts student engagement. They also indicate how learning strategies used in the classroom positively impact academic engagement.

A little push in the back: nudging students to improve procrastination, class attendance and preparation

ABSTRACT Procrastination is a prevalent problem in higher education, leading to lower performance. Procrastination is often linked with low class attendance and little class preparation, which are two important foundations to process learning materials. Hence, interventions are recommended to overcome procrastination. One promising intervention is nudging. Based on the motivational Expectancy-Value Theory, the current study aims to (1) examine the change in procrastination throughout a semester and (2) investigate whether a nudging intervention can reduce procrastination, increase class attendance and class preparation, and, subsequently, improve performance. A random assignment to treatment experiment is executed in the exercise classes of a first-year undergraduate course (N = 211). The treatment group receives five different nudges throughout the semester, the control group receives no nudges. Nudging was implemented by including an additional sentence (with a link) in the announcements on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Procrastination is measured four times. Class attendance and class preparation are measured weekly. Results show increasing procrastination in the first part of the semester, followed by decreasing procrastination. Additionally, simply providing students with nudges does not yield beneficial effects. However, students clicking more intensively on the nudges report lower procrastination and higher class attendance and preparation. Moreover, the decreased procrastination and increased class preparation caused by intensively clicking on the nudges subsequently resulted in higher performance. This paper contributes to higher education practice by informing educators about the change in procrastination throughout a semester and by offering educators and policy-makers information about the effect of nudging on procrastination.

Problematizing Iranian university autonomy: a historical-institutional perspective

ABSTRACT This article adopts an institutional perspective to elucidate Iranian university autonomy. First, a historical analysis traces statist dominance over academia in Iran by examining archival sources, documents, and scholarly works. Second, a content analysis of expert panels, interviews, and literature categorizes higher education's problems to delineate key issues. Third, a meta-analysis examines the implications for institutional autonomy and academic freedom. Fourth, governmental strategy regarding university autonomy is scrutinized by analyzing policies, laws, and statements. Finally, a reconciliatory strategy is proposed embracing accountability while expanding autonomy. Tracing critical junctures, the analysis outlines the divergence of modern universities from traditional seminaries through state establishment based on Western models, engendering governance effects. The 1851 Dar ol-Fonun constituted an initial modernizing response. The 1934 genesis of Tehran University enacted a seminal rupture with old seminaries. The 1980 Cultural Revolution expanded governmental control to reshape higher education. Consequently, extensive interventions overlaid with centralized bureaucracy have dominated academia. Resultant autonomy constraints stem from structural-administrative deficiencies, financial dependence, attenuated university-society connections, and pervasive formalism. By illuminating the historical shaping forces, this perspective identifies avenues for developing accountability-anchored autonomy through contextualized strategy, providing insights into policy pathways.

What Factors are Relevant to Understanding Dropout? Analysis at a Co-Financed University in Ecuador and Policy Implications, Using Survival Cox Models

ABSTRACT University dropout is a serious problem in higher education that is increasingly gaining importance, as it is essential to understand its causes and search for public and institutional policies that can help reduce it. This research uses conventional and extended Cox survival models to analyze the factors behind dropout rates at a co-financed higher education institution (HEI) in Ecuador. The latter allows us to model specific components, such as time-dependent and independent variables, and unobserved heterogeneity. The results show that certain student-related, family-related, or background characteristics are relevant for the ecuadorian context. However, the most influential factors affecting the dropout risk are institutional and academic. These findings provide valuable insights into the actions and policies that HEI can implement to mitigate dropout rates through internal measures that public policies can complement.

Marketisation in higher education and quality concerns

ABSTRACT This article discusses the impact of marketisation on the quality of research and education in Turkey and the USA based on the narratives of higher education scholars. It also compares the perception of Turkish and American scholars regarding the implications for Turkey and the USA. It is concluded that there is a link between marketisation and the quality of teaching and research in higher education. While the concerns of Turkish scholars associated with higher education are systemic and perennial regardless of the marketisation process, American scholars tend to associate quality problems in higher education more with the marketisation trend in the country.

Solving the Problem of Reducing the Audiences’ Favor toward an Educational Institution by Using a Combination of Hard and Soft Operations Research Approaches

Because of hyper-complexity, a difficulty to define, multiple stakeholders with conflicting perspectives, and a lack of clear-cut solutions, wicked problems necessitate innovative and adaptive strategies. Operations research (OR) has been a valuable tool for managers to make informed decisions for years. However, as we face increasingly complex and messy problems, it has become apparent that relying solely on either hard or soft OR approaches is no longer sufficient. We need to explore more innovative methodologies to address these wicked problems effectively. This study has bridged the research gap by proposing a structured process encompassing a subdivision-based problem structuring method for defining the wicked problem, a multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) for prioritizing subproblems, and a hard OR technique, data envelopment analysis (DEA) for tackling one of the most critical subdivisions. The proposed methodology, the subdivision-based problem structuring method (SPSM), implemented in a case study, focuses on a higher education institution experiencing a decline in student admissions and involves five steps. First, a diverse group of stakeholders is formed to ensure the comprehensive consideration of perspectives. Second, the wicked problem is defined, considering long-term consequences, multiple stakeholders, and qualitative stakeholder opinions. Third, a hierarchical structure is created to break down the wicked problem into manageable subproblems. Fourth, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method prioritizes subproblems. Finally, the subproblems are addressed one by one using a combination of soft and hard OR tools. The findings highlight the benefits of integrating hard and soft OR approaches. The study concludes with reflections on the implications of using a combined OR approach to tackle wicked problems in higher education and beyond.

New Resilience for the New Normal: Online Students’ Early Strategies for Course Persistence at the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Student attrition is now a global problem in Higher Education with most institutions experiencing high volumes of early exiting students. However, student resilience has yet to be adequately explored, particularly among the increasing online student population, as a possible mechanism to reduce attrition rates. In the present study, online, undergraduate students were asked two qualitative, open-ended questions to elicit their subjective understanding of resilience in the context of their university study. Thematic analysis identified that health-, work-, and relationship-related experiences were the top-three stressful experiences described by students. Academic management, self-care, and positive psychology techniques were the most common student coping strategies. The findings suggest a highly individualized conceptualization of what might predict retention or attrition. Findings are discussed in the context of assisting online, undergraduate students to utilize their resilience to persist in university.

Kris i högre utbildning?

This article uses examples from the media debate on higher education in Sweden, as well as from a research project on independence in higher education, to discuss the significance of class and social background in relation to higher education. The article takes as its starting point how higher education in the media debate tends to be described as being in a severe crisis, and how the roots of the perceived problems in higher education are described to lie in deficits or incompetence of the individual students, but also within higher education itself. The discussion of what role class and social background may play in this, relates these examples to the assignment given to Swedish higher education institutions to promote widening participation and to the claims within the field of academic literacies that academic writing is not only a question of writing skills as such, but also a question of epistemological understandings, meaning making, and students’ background, identity and self-perception.

A typology of social equity discourses and its contribution to a wicked problem

In Volume 23, Issue 1, Larsen and Emmett (2021) briefly outline the Australian political context before presenting a summary of four social equity discourses that can be seen in the literature and policy. They argue that debates surrounding these discourses are unproductive and contribute to social equity as a wicked problem in higher education. This article builds on these findings by naming the four discourses as a typology and suggests how a typology is beneficial to multiple stakeholders. This article further develops this argument by presenting evidence that social equity is indeed a wicked problem for which the typology is a small step towards solving it. Whilst this article specifically focuses on higher education in the Australian context, the ideas presented can readily be applied to higher education internationally.