University Science Departments Research Articles

BENEFITS OF INTERNSHIP ACCORDING TO POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS

A step has been taken in higher education towards the specialization of universities. In line with this step, a trend towards internship applications has started in the political science and public administration departments of universities. There is a gap in the literature on studies related to internships in these departments. The present study aims to fill said gap. The purpose of the study is to explore the benefits of internship through the opinions of political science and public administration students. The study was conducted descriptively employing the qualitative research method with a single case design. The participants of the study were identified using the purposive sampling method and typical case sampling. The participants were students of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Aksaray University. The internship program in the department had been recently initiated at the request of the students. Seven students out of a total of ten students who had completed their internship were the participants of the study. Observations, interviews and document analysis were used as data collection tools. Semi-structured interview questions were used in the interviews. The collected data were transferred to the Maxqda 2022 software for coding. Categories were generated based on these codes and themes were identified based on the categories. At the end of the study, the benefits of internship were grouped under two themes. The first theme is “Benefits of internship for students” and the second one is “Benefits of internship for the faculty”.

Future Learning Competency Extracurricular Program Operation and Performance Analysis

Purpose: This study has public value as it identifies the current status and problems of extracurricular program. It does so by analyzing the operation and performance of extracurricular program after selecting them based on the results of student needs analysis. Additionally, it verifies whether participation in extracurricular program has an effect on self-efficacy and suggests implications for future program design and activation.
 Method: Data collection was conducted by surveying students in the science department of O University in the Seoul metropolitan area, and analysis methods included frequency and percentage, exploratory factor analysis, reliability testing, correlation, and regression analysis. The research questions are
 1. How is the selection of extracurricular program based on students' needs analysis? 
 2. What are the results of the analysis of the operational performance of extracurricular program?
 3. Is participation in extracurricular program effective in promoting self-efficacy?
 Results: Based on research question 1, the extracurricular program selected were the Creative Convergence Competition, the Foreign Student Mentoring Program, 5L DAY, and the 3D Printing Instructor Certification Course. According to research question 2, the creative convergence competition was able to develop core competencies outside the major and needed communication channels between departments. International student mentoring needed to strengthen the criteria for international students to participate in the program, and the 3D printing instructor certification course needed online lectures for theory and in-person lectures for practice. 5L DAY had the highest level of satisfaction among the comparison programs. According to research question 3, participation in the Future Learning Capability Program was effective in improving self-efficacy.
 Conclusion: The limitations of this study include that the research subjects are limited to the science departments of metropolitan universities, and the effectiveness of the “Future Learning Competency” extracurricular program is verified among the core competency-based extracurricular program of universities, and subsequent research requires subdivision by department and grade, and research on various factors such as learning effectiveness and satisfaction.

The 51st reason why there are so few Māori in science

A 2022 paper by Tara McAllister lists ‘50 reasons why there are no Māori’ in university science departments, giving a range of examples of Māori experience of personal and structural racism within the edifices of science and research in Aotearoa New Zealand. In support of McAllister and the larger social and intellectual project of Kaupapa Māori to which her work contributes, this commentary offers ethnic socio-economic inequality as the ‘51st reason’ and explains how it causes the permanent disparity of very few working scientists who identify as Māori.

Web literacy among the researchers and faculty members of select universities in India during COVID-19

Purpose: The study is taken to assess the awareness, ability, use and web literacy skills of social sciences researchers and faculty of select universities in Punjab and Chandigarh from North India during COVID-19. Methodology: A survey-based study was conducted on social science departments of select universities in Punjab and Chandigarh from North India. The data were collected from a sample of 532 respondents using a structured questionnaire through emails via Google docs. The data were analyzed using SPSS and MS Excel using statistical techniques viz. percentage, Pearson Chi-square test etc. Findings: The study has found that most of the social sciences faculty and researchers of the universities under study used open web during COVID 19 for read/download web content most of them were found having the ability to use the web to some extent. The faculty was found to be more familiar with data security, digital privacy than researchers. The most of them learned how to use the web through self-study and were willing to improve their web literacy skills through some digital literacy programs. Originality: This study is original study that was focused on assessing the web literacy skills of social science faculty and researchers which helped them to use the web especially during the period of COVID-19. Practical implications: The results of this study can be used for university libraries to plan and organize some digital literacy/capacity building programs for the social sciences faculty and researchers according to their specific needs and it will help users to use web in situation like COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: Awareness, ability, use, web literacy skills, COVID-19, digital literacy program.

Curbing Fake News: A Qualitative Study of the Readiness of Academic Librarians in Ghana

While fake news has been a common problem for well over a century, the emergence of social media and smartphones has escalated its spread. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore the readiness of academic librarians in curbing fake news. Data was drawn from interviews with reference library staff and head librarians who were purposively selected from 12 academic libraries and evaluated through the lens of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions [IFLA] guide on ‘how to spot fake news’. The study revealed that although academic librarians were aware of fake news, they do not grasp the complexity and intricacies of the phenomenon. Therefore, the study recommends regular on-the-job training for academic librarians in identifying fake news. The Library and Information Science departments of universities in Ghana should review their curriculum to include training and education on problematic information. There should be collaboration between libraries and social media organization on curbing fake news. We support the call for information literacy, critical thinking and media literacy instructions to be embedded in all subjects with academic librarians as co-instructors.

Revisiting Transactional Distance Theory in e-Learning Environment during COVID-19: Perspective from Computer Science Students

This study is based on the separation of teachers and learners caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the implication of Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory, which proliferated for nearly 30 years but has been inconsistently validated empirically. The quantitative approach was employed, with questionnaires distributed based on the learners’ perspectives. The subjects of the study include 153 respondents from computer science department of an Indonesian public university. Three key tenets of transactional distance include dialogue, structure, and learner autonomy were specifically addressed and validated as significant predictors in this study. The findings elucidated an inverse relationship between dialogue and learner autonomy respectively with transactional distance, and a less rigid course structure capable of contributing to lessen the perceived degree of transactional distance in the e-learning environment. Furthermore, this study discovered that e-learning satisfaction and internet connection speed had an impact on the extent of transactional distance.

Testing and cheating: technologies of power and resistance

Cheating, a form of academic dishonesty, is commonly regarded as a problem in science education. This inquiry theorizes cheating not as a moral failing on the part of students or a lack of surveillance by teachers but rather as a resistance to testing. Ethnographic data from a university physical science department, analyzed with Michel Foucault’s theory of governmentality, suggests testing as a technique of disciplinary power to produce normalized cases, schooled subjects of a certain type. The resistance of cheating is an assertion of agency within inequitable power relations. As such, cheating and testing are mutually constituting. This inquiry aims to trouble the notion that testing is educationally beneficial by discussing how testing may be placing students in morally compromised positions and teachers in morally complicit positions.

The role of the mass media in managing the Corona Virus Pandemic “A field study from the point of view of faculty members working in political science departments in Jordanian Universities”

This study aimed to identify the role of the media in managing the Coronavirus pandemic, “a field study from the point of view of faculty members in the political science departments in Jordanian universities.” The researcher used the descriptive analytical method and the comprehensive survey method. A questionnaire, had been designed for this purpose and distributed on the study population which consisted of 75 faculty members, through which 56 questionnaires were analyzed using the (SPSS) program. The study found an impact of the media in managing the Coronavirus pandemic, a field study from the point of view of faculty members working in political science departments in Jordanian universities. The study recommended the following: Adopting targeted and studied media programs at appropriate times for citizens, adopting the principle of limpidity and objectivity in conveying the facts, setting deterrent sanctions for those who spread rumors related to the crisis and tend to exaggerate its effects.

Providing Undergraduates with Opportunities to Explicitly Reflect on How News Articles Promote the Public (Mis)understanding of Science

A well-informed populace is vitally important for the proper functioning of democracy. Media news articles constitute an essential means by which the public comes into contact with scientific issues. However, not all of the scientific information presented in news articles is trustworthy or accurate. Naturally, the situation becomes more complicated because most university science departments spend little empirical effort considering how to foster undergraduates’ scientific media literacy (SML). This article discusses the effect of a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) in (1) providing undergraduates with opportunities to explicitly reflect on the ways in which news articles promote the public (mis)understanding of science and (2) engaging them in argumentative classroom interactions (such as debates). It examines the written and oral arguments produced by 115 undergraduates (62 females and 53 males, 17–23 years old) in Colombia during a complete TLS supervised by the same instructor. The data used in this analysis were collected from students’ written responses and audio recordings. The findings suggest that the TLS can be a good start to show undergraduates some of the different ways in which news articles promote the public (mis)understanding of science and, thus, enrich their SML. The study contributes to the development of a research-based university science education that can inform the design of the SML curriculum for higher education.

Using Variation Theory as a Guiding Principle in an OOP Assisted Syntax Correction Learning System

Object-oriented programming skill is important for the software professionals. It has become a mandatory course in information science and computer engineering departments of universities. However, it is hard for novice learners to understand the syntax and semantics of the language while learning object-oriented programming, and that makes them feel frustrated. The purpose of this study is to build an object-oriented programming assistant system that gives syntax error feedback based the variation theory. We established the syntax correction module on the basis of the Virtual Teaching Assistant (VTA). While compiling codes, the system will display syntax errors, if any, with feedbacks that are designed according to the variation theory in different levels (the generation, contrast, separation, and fusion levels) to help them correcting the errors. The experiment design of this study splits the participants, who are university freshmen, into two groups by the S-type method based on the result of a mid-term test. The learning performances and questionnaires were used for surveying, followed by in-depth inter-views, to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed assistant system. The findings indicate that the learners in the experimental group achieved better learning outcomes than their counterparts in the control group. This can also prove that the strategy of using the variation theory in implementing feed-back for object-oriented programming is effective.

Too many senior white academics still resist recognizing racism.

As a Black woman who is the chair of a university science department, people have questioned my right to exist at every stage. As a Black woman who is the chair of a university science department, people have questioned my right to exist at every stage.

Improving Students Creativity in Producing Instructional Aids for Physics Lesson from Waste and Garbage

The rising of an environmental issue and the lack of the handling of garbage organizing give support to us to do the research by involving garbages as the main material in making simple visual aids of physics. Based on that condition, we try to make new innovations in stimulating the creativity developing of natural science education department students of UNHASY having done the lecturing of basic physics collaborated with environmental science. The purpose of the research is to be able to give insight through education program of 5R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Replace, Respect) to students of natural science department of University of Hasyim Asy’ari and apply that knowledge in changing garbage to be simple visual aids of physics. The method used in this research is qualitative descriptive, whose data can be divided into 3 kinds: observation results (detail description of what has happened in the field), interview results ( direct citation from people’s statements in interview session) dan written material. The results of the data are, then analyzed by using observation sheets of creative thinking ability. The main research subjects are 29 students. Meanwhile, the research result is in the form of the average score of students’ creativity ability reaching 72.5% with high category.The rising of an environmental issue and the lack of the handling of garbage organizing give support to us to do the research by involving garbages as the main material in making simple visual aids of physics. Based on that condition, we try to make new innovations in stimulating the creativity developing of natural science education department students of UNHASY having done the lecturing of basic physics collaborated with environmental science. The purpose of the research is to be able to give insight through education program of 5R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Replace, Respect) to students of natural science department of University of Hasyim Asy’ari and apply that knowledge in changing garbage to be simple visual aids of physics. The method used in this research is qualitative descriptive, whose data can be divided into 3 kinds: observation results (detail description of what has happened in the field), interview results ( direct citation from people’s statements in interview session) dan written material. The results of the data are, then analyzed by using observation sheets of creative thinking ability. The main research subjects are 29 students. Meanwhile, the research result is in the form of the average score of students’ creativity ability reaching 72.5% with high category.

Exploring Gender Diversity in IT and CS Departments Within 3 Private Universities in Erbil City

The number of information technology (IT) jobs is increasing dramatically in Iraq. This has produced an increased need for IT graduates than before. On the other hand, most IT and computer science (CS) departments in private universities are seeing small numbers of females in their courses. This indicates that these private universities have failed in attracting a sufficient percentage of female students. In this article, we explore the gender gap in IT and CS departments at 3 private universities: Tishk, Cihan, and Bayan, using 3 data sets related to the 2017 to 2018 academic year. The research design is descriptive and primary data were collected using personal observations made by the authors over the past 2 years. By analyzing these data sets, we can discover important issues such as students’ diversity in computing departments. For example, we find that a gender gap does not clearly exist in the IT department of Tishk University, while it’s more obvious in CS departments of Bayan and Cihan Universities. This finding implies that there is a need for some initiatives to attract women to IT and CS departments and to more investigate the gender gap in computing within the higher education level. These findings may also be relevant to the computing programs at other large public universities.

The Curriculum of LIS Post Graduate Courses in Universities of Kerala

The study analyses the heterogeneity and homogeneity in the curriculum of Library and information Science(LIS) departments in Universities of Kerala at post graduate level and to know thelevel of adoption of ICT in the LIS curriculum. LIS programms throughout the world have instituted many curriculum changes as a result of technological achievements and advancement of ICT. Four departments are included in this study. The curriculum of the departments was collected personally. There are 3 institutions (75.00%) conduct 2-year integrated MLISc programme whereas one department M. G. University conducts one year BLISc and one year MLISc programs. There is a difference in the number of papers in the curriculum of these departments. Both in theoretical and practical perspective, all the departments covered ICT and application of ICT on library field.

Establishing the reliability of a novel battery of range of motion tests to enable evidence-based classification in Para Swimming

ObjectivesTo evaluate the reliability of swimming-specific range of movement tests developed in order to permit evidenced-based classification in the sport of para swimming. DesignTest-retest intra- and inter-examiner reliability. SettingInternational Swimming training camps and university exercise science departments. Participants42 non-disabled participants (mean age 23.2 years) and 24 Para swimmers (mean age 28.5 years). Main outcome measuresIntra- and inter-examiner reliability of a battery of novel active range of motion tests. ResultsGood to excellent intra-examiner reliability was found for the majority (32/34) of tests in non-disabled participants (ICC = 0.85–0.98). SEM values ranged from 1.18° to 6.11°. Similarly, good to excellent inter-examiner reliability was found for the majority (35/42) of tests in non-disabled participants (ICC = 0.85–0.98). SEM values range from 0.73° to 6.52°. Para swimmers exhibited significantly reduced range of motion compared to non-disabled participants. ConclusionsThe large majority of ROM tests included in this novel battery were reliable both within and between examiners in non-disabled participants. The tests were found to differentiate between non-disabled participants and Para swimmers with hypertonia or impaired muscle power.

Radiation safety behavior model for the radiological science departments of Universities in Korea.

Objectives:This study was to employ the major variables relating to radiation safety that were derived using the Haddon Matrix to develop a radiation safety behavior model based on social cognitive theory that can be applied to improve the radiation safety behaviors of professors and students in radiological science departments.Methods:The safety levels of students and professor in radiological science departments were analyzed in order to design a radiation safety behavior management model based on the Haddon Matrix and social cognitive theory, which can be used to enhance radiation safety strategically. The survey was administered on April 23, 2015, to professor and students of 45 universities around South Korea with established radiological science departments, and the investigation lasted for 30 days.Results:When multiple linear regression analysis was conducted taking the radiation safety behaviors of the students in the radiological science departments as the dependent variables, it was found that these behaviors were affected by self-efficacy, knowledge of the materials, and attitudes towards the materials, in order of greatest to least influence.Conclusion:Since the general view on radiation safety management in universities is also changing to a maximalist attitude, the level of safety management must be increased accordingly.

Science teaching in university science departments

Science teaching in university science departments

Origins of Science Faculty with Education Specialties: Hiring Motivations and Prior Connections Explain Institutional Differences in the SFES Phenomenon

Situated in university science departments as potential science-education change agents, science faculty with education specialties (SFES) reported differences in the origin of their positions depending on the nature of their institution. For instance, SFES at PhD-granting institutions most commonly reported being hired to relieve other faculty from teaching and service burdens. At MS-granting institutions, SFES reported being hired primarily to prepare future K–12 science teachers. At primarily undergraduate institutions, SFES reported transitioning to these specialized roles after their initial hire. In our random, stratified sample of 50 interviewed SFES, all were tenured or tenure track, excepting 45% of SFES at PhD-granting institutions. Those non-tenure-track SFES were more likely to have prior institutional connections—as alumni of, through previous employment at, or with a spouse also employed at their institution—than were other SFES. These findings provide new insights into the evolving SFES phenomenon and clarify previously reported differences among SFES.

Predictive Factors Associated with Academic Performance in College Students

Abstract Studies on institutional, psychological, pedagogical, social, and demographic factors associated with academic performance, in particular those that emphasize variables that may be subject to interventions for institutional improvement, have become increasingly more important for universities (Tournon, 1984; Davis & Thomas, 1999, cited in Hernandez Marquez & Palomar, 2006). The purpose of this study is to identify and compare variables that might explain the academic performance of two generational cohort groups of freshmen students, enrolled in a business and social science department of a Mexican public university. The sample was composed of 364 students, representing 90% of the combined generational cohort groups, who presented the same standardized math and accounting tests. Descriptive and multiple linear regression analysis were performed. Based on the statistically significant results of the math test, the study found that the semester of entry (fall or winter) and class schedule (day or evening classes) (F = 46.3, p = .000), explain 23.4% of the variance in academic achievement. In regards to the accounting test, the semester of entry and class schedule (F = 31.4, p = .000) explain 26% of the variance. The study presents empirical evidence that can be useful for decision-making to improve educational processes in university settings.

Pedagogy and tools for teaching parallel computing at the sophomore undergraduate level

As the need for multicore-aware programmers rises in both science and industry, Computer Science departments in universities around the USA are having to rethink their parallel computing curriculum. At Rice University, this rethinking took the shape of COMP 322, an introductory parallel programming course that is required for all Bachelors students. COMP 322 teaches students to reason about the behavior of parallel programs, educating them in both the high level abstractions of task-parallel programming as well as the nitty gritty details of working with threads in Java.In this paper, we detail the structure, principles, and experiences of COMP 322, gained from 6 years of teaching parallel programming to second-year undergraduates. We describe in detail two particularly useful tools that have been integrated into the curriculum: the HJlibparallel programming library and the Habanero Autograder for parallel programs. We present this work with the hope that it will help augment improvements to parallel computing education at other universities.