Public Lecturers Research Articles

Effect of servant leadership on lecturers’ attitudinal and behavioral loyalty in Nigeria: conservation of resource theory perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to draw from the conservation of resources (COR) theory and investigate two separate models termed Model A and Model B. Model A examines the mediating role of life satisfaction (LS) on the relationship between servant leadership (SL) and lecturers’ attitudinal loyalty (AL) and behavioral loyalty (BL). Model B examines the sequential mediating role of LS and AL on the link between SL and BL.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a cross-sectional survey from 247 public university lecturers which were analyzed through SPSS, structural equation model (AMOS 23), and PROCESS Macro v4.0.FindingsStudy findings revealed that LS fully and partially mediates the relationships between SL and lecturers’ AL and BL, respectively. Furthermore, LS and AL sequentially mediate the relationship between SL and BL.Practical implicationsThe study provides insight to university management into how their selfless and caring behavior can contribute to lecturers' retention. As such, university management should provide an environment that fosters a culture of selfless and caring leadership behavior.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the theoretical development of SL by explicating the mechanism that links SL and positive outcomes in the workplace. The major contribution lies in exploring the mediating role of LS on the link between SL and lecturers’ AL and BL on one hand and the sequential mediating role of LS and AL on the link between SL and BL on the other hand in a context characterized by high-power distance.

Relationship of professional identity and efficacy of Chinese public university lecturers under the appointment system in sustainable human resource management

For Chinese university lecturers, implementing sustainable human resource management (SHRM) is particularly critical. China's higher education is going through an essential stage of appointment system reform aiming to overturn the traditional civil service status of university lecturers and introduce a more flexible work and talent management mechanism to universities to international teaching standards; lecturers also raise concerns about their professional role, educational mission, balance of rights and interests, and the reshaping of the evaluation system. Based on the resource-based perspective and psychological contract theory, this study aimed to explore the relationship between sustainable human resource management (SHRM) and lecturers' professional identity in the context of China's appointment system, focusing on analyzing the moderating role of lecturers' self-efficacy. This study used a quantitative research approach to collect survey data from 610 lecturers at public colleges and universities in China. The data were analyzed with a structural equation model to test the hypothesized relationships. SHRM was directly and positively related to lecturers' self-efficacy and sense of professional identity and indirectly improved sense of professional identity by enhancing self-efficacy. The findings are consistent with existing literature, emphasize the importance of SHRM in promoting lecturers' career development, and provide empirical support for applying SHRM in the context of Chinese higher education. The study provides recommendations in three dimensions: Government, University, and Faculty. It provides guidance for strategic reform of human resource management in higher education, faculty career development, and improving education quality.

Best Practice of Moodle Implementation for E-Learning: A Perspective of Public University Lecturers

Moodle is a popular open-source learning management system (LMS) used for online learning and course management. It provides educators with tools to create online courses, manage learning content, track student progress, conduct assessments, and facilitate communication and collaboration among students and instructors. Moodle is widely used in educational institutions, corporate training settings, and various other learning environments around the world. The aim of this article was to study the best practices for implementing Moodle in e-learning, as perceived by public university lecturers. This study employed a qualitative approach, utilizing Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) among lecturers from public universities. All data were meticulously transcribed and subsequently analyzed thematically. The results show, experts agreed that three best practices were i) Optimizing the task of e-learning manager, ii) Utilize the restriction option to uphold student integrity and, iii) Implementing regular data backups. Therefore, this study enriches the field by providing practical recommendations for implementing Moodle, drawing from the insights of public university lecturers.

Media Resources' Utilisation and Productivity of Lecturers’ in Public Polytechnics, South-west, Nigeria

The study was carried out with a view to investigating the influence of the utilisation of media resources on the productivity of public polytechnic lecturers in South-west, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted while close-ended questionnaire was used for data collection. A total of 735 copies of questionnaire were administered to the lecturers, while 711 (96.7%) were returned and considered appropriate for data analysis. The data collected was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study revealed availability of media resources to the lecturers and that printed and non-print resources topped the list of resources available to the respondents. Also, the study established regular use of media resources by the lecturers. They made use of media resources on regular basis and majorly for the purposes of preparing lecture notes, research and publications, obtaining general knowledge, paper presentation and proposals. High level of productivity, likewise positive significant relationship between media resource utilisation and job productivity of the respondents were established. The study recommended that modern and relevant media resources be provided for the lecturers to improve academic productivity, and that the lecturers should put in more efforts in attending and participating in seminars, workshops and conferences by presenting more papers and writing more journal articles to enhance productivity level.

Pelatihan Pemanfaatan Artificial Intelligence dan Canva bagi Dosen Fakultas Kesehatan Masyarakat Universitas Tadulako

AI training is very important for teaching staff in higher education to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to utilize AI to improve the quality of learning, provide accurate feedback, and promote effective student engagement. This training aimed to improve the knowledge and skills of public health lecturers at Tadulako University in the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and Canva. The training was conducted using lectures, practices, and discussions. The training participants were 16 lecturers at the Faculty of Public Health, Tadulako University. The training materials covered AI Bard, Gamma APP AI, CANVA, Chat GPT, and Jenni AI. After the training, all participants were able to create accounts on each of the applications and were able to practice them. Participants were also able to apply AI and Canva for teaching, research, and other needs. The training was able to improve the knowledge and skills of public health lecturers at Tadulako University in the utilization of AI and Canva. AI and Canva can be useful tools to support teaching, research, and other activities. Using AI wisely can improve the accuracy and usefulness of the information provided by AI in educational media. This can help both teachers and students learn more effectively and efficiently.

Employee cohesion and its influence on workplace learning: The lived experiences of public university lecturers in Ethiopia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the driving factors for staff cohesiveness in the workplace and how they are related to workplace learning and development opportunities. Two research questions guided the inquiry: (1) What are the driving factors for staff cohesiveness in the workplace? and (2) How does staff cohesiveness influence workplace learning?Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a phenomenological research design. The data collection involved interviews and focus group discussions with 22 lecturers in two public universities. Thematic analysis was followed to analyse and interpret data.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate that staff cohesiveness is greatly influenced by several factors. Firstly, the presence of shared visions and goals plays a significant role in fostering staff cohesion. In addition, the similarity of age and gender among employees, as well as the presence of mutual support and a sense of belongingness, trust and solidarity, managerial support and the nature of the job that requires collective action, all contribute to staff cohesiveness. It is worth noting that previous studies have not reported the influence of age, gender and job characteristics as factors influencing staff cohesiveness.Practical implicationsEmployers should not only focus on the knowledge and hard skills of applicants but also on the soft skills which support teamwork and cohesion in the workplace. Managers who want to enhance workplace learning should create opportunities for social gatherings and informal contacts in the workplace to facilitate informal learning in the workplace. Researchers focusing on workplace learning should include tacit learning practices that occur in the workplace as a result of the closeness between teammates.Originality/valueThis manuscript, which the authors hereby present, is the result of own original work. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors wish to emphasise that it has not been submitted for publication in any other journals.

Comparison of Lecturers’ Competency in Maldives Higher Education Institutes

Researchers in the past have found that instructors’ levels of competence have an important effect on their ability to teach. This research aims to determine if there is a quality gap in Maldives’ higher education institutions between public and private institutions and between full-time and part-time lecturers. An online structured questionnaire was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey as part of the quantitative research strategy. Lecturers from both public and private universities took part in this investigation. The Mann-Whitney U test found a statistically significant difference between public (M=67.52) and private (M=48.07) institution lecturers in terms of competency; U=829.50, p=0.021. However, lecturers’ competency mean rank scores of full-time lecturers (M=64.82) and part-time lecturers (M=59.34) indicate the difference of mean scores of lecturers’ competency was not statistically significant, U=937.50, p=0.55. It is likely better recruitment and in-service professional development policies at public institutes are established at the institutional level, thereby improving lecturers’ competency compared to private institutes.

Online Learning in Dental Education: Comparison of Perspectives of Lecturers and Undergraduate Students Between a Public and Private University: A Mixed-Method Study.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the undergraduates' and lecturers' perspectives on the implementation of online learning and to compare perspectives between private and public universities. Materials and methods: The study followed a mixed-method design and involved dental undergraduates and lecturers from two study settings in Malaysia: International Medical University (IMU), a private university, and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), a public university. All undergraduates and lecturers were invited to complete an online questionnaire with evaluative statements regarding three domains: handling, didactic benefit, motivation, and an overall assessment. The comparison of perception between the private and public universities was analyzed using Mann-Whitney test. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were carried out for undergraduates and lecturers. Each FGD consisted of six people. The audio-recorded conversations were transcribed verbatim. Results: Mean scores of perceptions regarding the domains, handling, and motivation were higher among undergraduates from public universities (p < 0.05), while there were no differences for the didactic domain. There was no difference in perception of any of the three domains between private and public university lecturers. Mean scores for perceptions on the optimal amount of online learning in the future domains were higher among undergraduates from a public university (p < 0.05), while lecturers' perceptions showed no difference. Thematic analysis of FGDs revealed that both groups from private and public universities felt that flexibility and a student-centered approach are the advantages of online learning. The inadequacy to cover the entire curriculum and lack of student engagement and interaction were highlighted as limitations. Conclusion: Regardless of the university background, the undergraduates and lecturers were able to adjust to the online learning environment, which mainly reflected a positive perspective on the implementation of online learning. There were modest differences in the perceptions of dental undergraduates between private and public universities, while the perception of the lecturers did not show any difference.

The Rise of Public Sector Employee Strikes in Africa: Should We Be worried?

In this article, I explore the rising waves of workplace militancy in the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa. As a purely qualitative study, the research involved in-depth interviews with Ugandan teachers at public schools and lecturers at public universities who have been persistently involved in a series of strike activities. It also included a detailed documentary analysis and a review of related empirical literature. The findings indicated that strike activity is not only shifting from the private to the public sector, but also that the repertoire of strike tactics available to public employees has become so diverse that some actions might not be easily discernible as industrial action. These included actions similar to what has been described in German as “Innere Kündigung” (inner resignation) and “Dienst nach Vorschrift” (work to rule). Interestingly, the findings also suggested that public employee strikes have some positive value that could be harnessed for the greater good of public service delivery and that strict restrictions on public sector strikes could be counterproductive.

Unearthing Techniques Lecturers Apply to Reflect on Their Teaching Process in Selected Universities in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia

This article explores techniques lecturers apply to reflect on their teaching process in selected universities in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. The study was qualitative underpinned with social constructivism worldview. The case study design was used. In this study, data was generated from 32 participants who were purposively selected and were subjected to one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions. The generated data was analyzed using thematic approach. The study revealed that public health lecturers reflect on their teaching process using academic assessment of students, peer reflective teaching, through participatory approaches, getting feedback from the learners, participatory work in the laboratory and action research. The study concluded that although lecturers reflected in and on their teaching, the style of reflection has not been enhanced to the level of them being critical and innovative reflective practitioners. Based on the findings, the study recommends that Education standards officers should continue to maintain standards in Universities and Colleges to control over enrolments and overcrowding in classes so that the lecturers can teach efficiently and effectively so that students can benefit fully from the lecturers.

Perceived heads of departments’ power sources, subjective professional distance and work-related compliance among private and public university lecturers in Nigeria.

Studies on teaching and learning that exist between private and public universities in Nigeria is paramount to government and private owners of universities. Factors such as funding, teaching aids and staff motivation have been implicated in work-related compliance by workers. However, factors like heads of departments’ power sources and subjective professional distance that could influence work-related compliance more, have been neglected. This present study therefore, examined the perceived head of departments’ power sources, subjective professional distance and work-related compliance in private and public universities in South-west, Nigeria. The study is cross sectional utilizing a multi-stage sampling technique to select 900 hundred lecturers from 16 universities (federal, state and private). Data obtained for the study were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while the hypothesis was tested at 5% level of significance. The study revealed that there existed no significant difference in work-related compliance between lecturers in public and private universities t= -.969, df 499, p&gt;.05(37.015; 37.58). Also, there existed no significant interactive effects of lecturers’ perception of their heads of department’s power sources, subjective professional distance and their level of work-related compliance in private and public universities (F (1,388) = 2.062, P&gt;0.1, 0.05) ; (F (1,153). 097, P&gt;0.05). The study concluded that, perceived heads of departments’ power sources and subjective professional distance (similar or dissimilar) did. not influence lecturers’ compliance to assigned duties and responsibilities. The implication of this study is that, the management of universities should make effort in creating committed lecturers needed by their heads of department always, in order to continue to gain their compliance.

The Factors in the use of WhatsApp applications in education management in IPTA: a pilot study

In terms of educational management, the WhatsApp application is very popular among the lecturers. Lecturers, on the other hand, were found to be uninterested in using WhatsApp for educational management. The majority of WhatsApp research has focused on students in the context of learning, while this study will focus on educational management among public university lecturers. Before conducting more in-depth research, the goal of this study is to describe the pilot testing method for the proposed model. A pilot study was done to assess the survey questionnaire's applicability and reliability. The data was gathered from 100 Malaysian public university lecturers via an online survey. Before beginning the actual study, the researcher discusses the pilot testing process and methodology that will contribute to the research in this context. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Technology Use (UTAUT) model has been applied to the proposed new model. The results of the pilot study agreed that Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.829 to 0.900 for most of the constructs in the proposed model, indicating that they were reliable. As a result, the constructs in the questionnaire are suitable for larger-scale research in the future. The findings of this study are beneficial to the Ministry of Higher Education in determining the reasons for lecturers' use of WhatsApp, including whether they use it for social purposes, to obtain or share information related to university educational management, or to improve the lecture process.

Prevalence and Predictors of Food Insecurity among Public and Private University Lecturers: A Cross Sectional Study in Nangarhar, Afghanistan

Background: Food security (FS) is a substantial right of human beings and should be addressed in all groups of the society. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and predictors of food insecurity (FI) among university lecturers in Nangarhar province. Methods: 287 university lecturers were selected from public and private universities through stratified random sampling technique. FS was assessed over the past 30 days and through the 10-item short US FS survey module. Data were collected by a well-structured questionnaire in face to face interviews. Results: Results revealed that 55.05% of university lecturers suffered from FI with a higher prevalence among private university lecturers (P = 0.001). Moreover, FI was significantly associated with ethnicity (P = 0.04), education level (P = 0.01), academic position (P = 0.001), monthly income (P = 0.01), and having another job besides being a lecturer (P = 0.001). Furthermore, lecturers between 36-40 year (OR = 0.043, CI = 0.006-0.292, P = 0.001) with a bachelor's degree (OR = 0.130, CI = 0.033-0.518, P = 0.004) had the lowest odds, and those with senior teaching assistant position (OR = 9.350, CI = 3.371-25.932, P &lt; 0.001), and monthly income of less than 350 US dollar (OR = 162.70, CI = 9.315-2841.92, P &lt; 0.001), had greater odds of FI. Conclusion: FI is prevalent among university lecturers. Therefore, prompt interventions should be conducted by relevant departments to minimize the risk of FI among the lecturers.

Trade Union, collective bargaining, and its effect on membership growth among public university lecturers in Ghana

The research looked at UTAG's organizational effectiveness, collective bargaining, and trade union activity and its effect on the members growth. Using 109 faculty members as the sample size, a descriptive survey study was undertaken. Descriptive statistics tests were run on the items, which were summarized by frequencies and percentages, using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) computer software. The study demonstrated that collective bargaining and negotiations; education & training are the main services offered by trade unions; these have positive and statistically significant effect on membership growth. The study showed that the main difficulty facing trade unions is mobilizing members for effective negotiations. The Ghanaian legal system is very sensitive, and hence the trade union procedures are necessary to ensure and preserve industrial peace. Thus, it is suggested that solid legal frameworks and rules be offered, as these will give trade unions vigor and allow them to submit persuasive work assessments.

DIGGING UP NON-ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THEIR STUDENTS’ ESP NEEDS

This study aims to identify and explore non-English teachers' perspectives on their students' ESP needs. This study is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. The participants in this study were 16 public health lecturers at STIKes Surya Global Yogyakarta. A semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to participants to gather information related to their needs. The study analyzes the data from closed questions using simple statistics and from open questions using interpretations. The results showed that the importance of learning English is to support students’ academic fields and their communication skills. Reading is a basic skill that needs to be mastered. The students found it difficult to write English journal abstracts, practice oral communication, read, comprehend, and review academic sources in English. Teachers sometimes use English in the form of resources including books written in English and international journals and websites. Students need to learn English during their study period and after graduation. The topics needed to learn to support students’ backgrounds were health technology, health business service management, web causation of disease, health insurance, abstract, environmental health, health information system, safety, health promotion, epidemiology triangle, iceberg phenomenon of disease, research design epidemiology, epidemic, and infectious diseases, wastewater treatment, hygiene, and sanitation.Keywords: Students’ needs, ESP, public health students

GENDER NEUTRAL LANGUAGE USE AMONG UNIVERSITY LECTURERS: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INSTITUTIONS WITH AND WITHOUT GENDER MAINSTREAMING POLICIES

Despite the wide spread awareness regarding the need to reduce gender bias in communication styles, it still exists in organizations and its negative effects on women’s behaviour and perceptions in the workplace remain a great concern. Consequently, the importance of gender neutral language (GNL) use in reducing gender stereotypes and discrimination cannot be overemphasized. Gender differences between gender and non-gender policy organizations has not been given much attention among university lecturers in the investigation of GNL use in Nigeria. This study examines the main and interaction effects of gender and institution type on GNL among public and private university lecturers. Using a two-way factorial design, 161 lecturers were randomly selected from four faculties and twelve departments while convenient sampling method was used to select the target respondents. A questionnaire focusing on socio-demographic profile and a GNL test was administered to the participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test analysis and analysis of variance at 0.05 level of significance. Three hypotheses were tested. The results revealed that gender differences and institution type interacted to influence GNL use among the participants of the study. Gender and institution type are important in developing interventions for GNL use in academia.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0739/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

21st Century competencies in Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Rhetoric and reality in the wake of a pandemic

There is general agreement about the need for vocational education and training to embrace so-called modern technologies in gearing up to deliver to young people a broad range of what have become known as 21st century competencies, of which digital literacy, self-directed learning, and adaptive learning are but three. Recent Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policies in South Africa incorporate the language of future competencies that ought to be acquired by college students through their curricula and delivered by lecturers with appropriate professional training. But in April 2020, confronted by the global COVID-19 pandemic and an immediate hard lockdown, TVET colleges went into crisis mode to try to meet a government demand that no student be left behind. While blended and remote methodologies had been employed to some extent in a few college programmes, the pandemic suddenly launched all lecturers into technology dependent teaching and learning. This article is based on a survey of conveniently selected public TVET college lecturers early in the lockdown who were under enormous pressure to continue the academic programme remotely. The snapshot I obtained was one of anxiety and consternation, but also of deep concern for students and their wellbeing under inordinately difficult conditions. Their conflicting priorities while they tried to balance remote teaching responsibilities and personal needs were illustrative of Maslow's well-known theorisation of humans and their hierarchy of needs. The limited research I conducted for this article was exploratory at a time in the pandemic when there were more questions than answers in every sphere of social interaction. My findings, therefore, do not seek to be definitive and there was full understanding that the education and training landscape was dynamic and shifting. However, what can be shared here is a moment in time to appreciate the experiences of a critical component of the TVET college sector under emergency conditions, and the distance they would have had to traverse towards official exhortations to leave no student behind.

Enhancing the Quality of Engineering Undergraduates through Effective Entrepreneurship Skills

The rate of unemployment in Nigeria is increasing everyday with almost two million young graduates entering into the labour markets every year. This is indeed very worrisome! This paper discussed the issues of unemployment among graduates and the need to create an enabling environment for new start-ups. The study used a descriptive research design of survey type in assessing the impacts of entrepreneurship skills on Nigerian engineering students. Sample size consisted of 132 lecturers selected from (public and private) universities and a polytechnic in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. Questionnaire on Impact of Entrepreneurial Skills on Engineering Students (QIESES) was used to collect data. Test-retest method was used to determine reliability of the instrument, a coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency count, mean, standard deviation (SD) and T-test. The study revealed that public and private institution lecturers’ perception has significant effect on the challenges facing the implementation of entrepreneurial education in Nigerian tertiary institutions. It was therefore recommended that tertiary institutions should fulfill its roles as a major catalyst for technological advancement and economic growth. There is need to bring in to teaching, lecturers that are entrepreneurial inclined to develop study programs that enable students’ creativity, initiative thinking and enhances original leadership thinking.

Higher Education Teaching Practices Experience in Mexico, During the Emergency Remote Teaching Implementation due to COVID-19

Higher education teaching practices experience in Mexico changed from face-to-face teaching to the emergency remote teaching derived from the health contingency by COVID-19. The change from face-to-face to an online modality in the Mexican education system represented a great challenge for teachers of all educational levels. In Mexico, the federal government declared on Tuesday March 24, 2020, Phase 2 of the plan to address the country’s Covid 19 pandemic. Governments in at least ten states decided to suspend their activities and services as of March 17, including the education system. On April 13, the Mexican education system began activities in the online modality exclusively; however, derived from the country’s technical adequacy and digital connectivity conditions, a large proportion of the educational campuses, academic programs, and the teaching staff were not prepared for this situation. This cross-sectional study was carried out to analyze the faculty members experiences about the change from face-to-face to an online modality in the health emergency context due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We designed a study to gather information on practice in the new online learning scenario. For this purpose, we collected data on the previous experience in the conduct of online courses, the technological tools used, the barriers faced while driving online courses, the current conditions of use of educational and technological tools, the vision for the future, and some indicators of physical and mental health.In a sample of 341 faculty members, those working in public institutions were on less favorable terms than their peers attached to private universities. In contrast, lecturers recorded better conditions for dealing with modality change than full-time teachers. Likewise, lecturers more often mentioned having their infrastructure to teach courses from their homes than full-time teachers, which indeed responds to less access to the universities facilities in which they teach. Another important aspect to highlight is the increased proportion of teachers in public institutions and lecturers who have other jobs, so their workload can be more intense than those of their peers.

Heads of Departments Leadership Styles, Work Climate and Organizational Commitment Enhance the Job Performance of University Lecturers

For survival in the environment and increase organizational success it is mandatory for any organization to focus on enhancing employees’ job performance. The main objective of this study was to determine the correlation of leadership styles, work climate and organizational commitment with job performance. The public universities lecturers were selected as population of the study while 339 lecturers were administered as a sample for this study through stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected by using standardized questionnaire through survey method. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-25) was adopted to analyse the data according to the proposed hypothesis. It was concluded that the constructs such as; leadership styles, work climate and organizational commitment are the predictor to boostjob performance of lecturers.