Tertiary Education Sector Research Articles

I’m a unicorn, ask me how! What the rise of ‘quit lit’ and ‘staypieces’ says about higher education and academia

ABSTRACT This paper analyses a sample of academic ‘quit lit’ to explore how graduate students might be better prepared for the realities of higher degree research and employment. It will pay particular attention to how graduate programs can provide realistic, transparent career advice and promote alternatives to academic (Alt-ac) employment for graduates. By considering the reasons ‘quit litters’ themselves give for their departure from the tertiary education sector, this investigation will be listening to the voices of those most affected by the rapidly changing face of academia.

SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS OF STOCK MARKET DEVELOPMENT: ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

Considering economic growth and banking sector development as economic factors and tertiary level of education as a social factor, this paper explores their effect on stock market development in Bangladesh during the period 1976 to 2015. This paper reveals a significant positive impact of banking sector development and economic growth and an insignificant positive impact of tertiary level of education on stock market development both in the short-run and in the long-run. The positive long-run effect of socioeconomic factors on stock market development suggests that over time the rise in tertiary education, economic growth, and banking sector development contributes into the stock market development. Hence, government should give special attention into the development of tertiary education in addition to accelerating economic growth and banking sector development to ensure broad base stock market.

Wikipedia in higher education: practice what you teach

The aim of this special issue is to disseminate to educators in the tertiary education sector best practice about ways that academics can utilise Wikipedia as a pedagogical tool and assessment plat...

Institutionalised Ethical Issues In Nigeria’s Tertiary Education: An Inquiry In Relation To Normative Quality

Tertiary education in Nigeria has been facing challenges of quality that become a serious concern to the entire citizens particularly stakeholders for that it is the tool relied upon for growth and development of the country. This study aimed at exploring institutionalised ethical issues in Nigeria’s tertiary education system and inductively speculate whether they are capable of posing a threat to the expected quality for effectiveness. Qualitative method of research was employed in the study using interview protocol to 18 participants drawn purposively from regulatory agencies of the tertiary institutions by their categories, other governmental agencies that make policies and or have necessary stake in tertiary education, and a randomly selected tertiary institution each from the four broad categories. After applying thematic techniques of analysis from the raw interview data collected, themes were identified that confirmed existence of ethical issues condensed in mutilated funding, corruption, autonomy factor, institutionalisation of tertiary education, politicisation and marketisation in the tertiary education sector. Presence of the institutionalised ethical issues raised is a shared responsibility of all stakeholders, and consequential resistance is seemingly difficult. It is therefore concluded that by their strength, the issues are capable of weakening the normative quality of Nigeria’s tertiary education as defined by the National Policy on Education (NPE), hence the need for a realistic improvement.

There is plagiarism … and then there is plagiarism: academic misconduct and admission to legal practice

ABSTRACT There is a symbiotic relationship between the legal profession and the tertiary education sector. The law degree itself is symbolic of this close relationship. Standards of the legal profession are reflected in the legal qualifications obtained by law students who wish to practice law. However the clarity of such professional requirements for legal practice become increasingly opaque with respect to plagiarism and entry to the profession. Importantly, it is the admission boards that grapple with how to balance the growth in law student plagiarism and the changing needs of the legal profession. This article exposes widely varying university plagiarism rules and argues that further research is required into whether professional admission boards should provide the “level playing field” for law students who may have fallen foul of university rules.

The Development of a Service-Learning Outcomes Measurement Scale (S-LOMS)

Service-learning as a transformative pedagogy has been adopted within Hong Kong’s tertiary education sector for over a decade; however, the lack of a standardized and validated measurement instrument to assess its student learning outcomes has been an obstacle to its further development. The current research study, collaboratively conducted by Lingnan University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Baptist University, and The Education University of Hong Kong, therefore aims to develop such a measurement instrument named the “Service-Learning Outcomes Measurement Scale (S-LOMS),” taking consideration of the unique features of service-learning in Hong Kong. The scale development and validation work, with exploratory factor analysis and reliability test, has thus far demonstrated that the student-perceived learning outcomes after service-learning can be measured and assessed through 56 items. These items cover 11 domains under four major categories, namely: a) knowledge application; b) personal and professional skills, including relationship and team skills, creative problem solving skills, self-reflection skills, and critical thinking skills, c) civic orientation and engagement, including sense of social responsibility, community commitment and understanding, and caring and respect, and d) self-awareness, including self-efficacy, self-understanding, and commitment to self-improvement. Several additional insights arising from the validation results are discussed.

Lifelong Learning in the Age of Fourth IR

It is stated that education is the backbone of a nation. Importance of education to make a knowledge based society is unquestionable. Therefore governments are tired to increase percentage of educated people of their citizen. Education gets a significant amount of budget of all countries around the world. Developed countries spent 4-6 % of respective GDP in education. But countries like Bangladesh are unable to allocate enough resources but they are also spending around 1.5 – 3 % of respective GDP in education sector. As a result satisfactory results are coming in terms of primary school enrollment rate, rate of primary graduations, and female participation in education etc. c6ategories. Government is encouraging private sector entrepreneurs to invest in education sector in Bangladesh. As a result number of higher education institutions i.e. number of universities are in total above 140 in the country now. It has a significant contribution to ensure inclusive higher education during last two decades. Private sector investment in education sector especially in Private University, Medical College and Technical Institutes are contributing to stop brain-drain as well as save valued foreign currency spent earlier for higher education purpose. Not only saving foreign currencies Bangladeshi tertiary education sector is attracting foreign students and earning foreign currency too.

Intercultural contacts and acculturation resources among International students in Australia: A mixed-methods study

This paper explores the impact of acculturation conditions, orientations and outcomes on international students in Australia’s tertiary education sector. Specifically, we investigate the factors that facilitate or hinder acculturation of international students within a multidimensional acculturation context (Arends-Tóth & van de Vijver, 2006). We used a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design in two studies to investigate acculturation of international students at an Australian university and test how these factors are related to psychological and sociocultural outcomes. In Study 1, we conducted a generic qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with a conventional content analyses approach,which compared the experiences of international students who on average had high numbers of positive experiences versus those who had high numbers of negative experiences. We found that a support network of mixed-nationals, and especially host locals, facilitates positive psychological and sociocultural adjustment, and buffers acculturative stress. Study 2 quantitatively tested the association of factors found in Study 1 (perceived stereotypes, intercultural and ethnic network/resources) with psychological and sociocultural acculturation outcomes. Study 2, shows that perceived negative stereotypes loosen ties with the dominant (host) culture and reinforces ties with the ethnic (non-host) culture. The social resources associated with either culture was found to be useful for acculturation, with both independently contributing to participant well-being. Contact with host locals played a particularly crucial role in developing these resources. Our findings provide foundations for pragmatic policy implications, suggesting value in the development of formally organized contact programs in the early sojourn experience of international students.

A Portrait of Connection through Consultation: Tasmanian Senior Secondary Sport and Recreation Management Students—Cross-Sectoral Partners and the Role of Authentic and Meaningful Pedagogy to Impact a Small Island Community

ABSTRACT In the 21st century, the need for curricula and student-centered inquiry to be authentic, meaningful and transformative is widely accepted by the primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors. To achieve this, participation of high-school students in university curricula is an approach that should be considered, as it could extend the education and societal opportunities typically available. However, so far there exists a shortage of literature discussing this approach or evaluating its long-term impacts. The island state of Tasmania (Australia) is a small embryonic-regional-economy in which the youth are often held back from navigating their way into prosperous adulthood by long-established societal and financial challenges, including seventh (7th) generation unemployment, the highest youth suicide rate in the country, an inert labor market, reduced numbers of fulltime jobs, an increasingly growing dependence on welfare, and one of the country’s highest school drop-out rates. Combined, these issues appear overwhelming. Since 2014, the state’s only university, education department and local industry have collaborated to deliver deeper learning to senior secondary students. Data suggest the “deeper” approach has been meaningful because it meets the immediate and longer-term needs of those the pre-tertiary and tertiary education systems are attempting to serve. Given the collaboration and longer-term needs, a university 100 level Sport & Recreation Management (SRM) course delivered to senior secondary school students (years 11 and 12) through the lens of a community of emerging practice has merit because the university is well placed to facilitate complementary thinking for sophisticated phenomena.

From The Editor

Welcome to the second issue of Volume 2 of Health Education in Practice: Journal of Research for Professional Learning (HEPJ).This issue spans many facets of health education, from workplace-based skill development to explorations of education in the tertiary education sector at the undergraduate and doctorate levels.

Design and implementation of framework for higher education enrolment through ICT enabled application using JEE

Education is a vital tool for a country’s economic growth. The growing competence in the world has increased the demand in the tertiary education sector. As a result, the higher education enrollment process becomes tedious and time-consuming. A lot of educational institutions face issues in the enrollment process. For instance, analysing the huge data of various student demographics, grouping similarities, finding loopholes, determining the categories etc. Therefore, an analytical framework serves as a tool for a reliable and efficient enrollment process. The design and implementation of the framework for higher education enrollment through ICT enabled applications using JEE stands as a vanguard technology. The framework contains an academic dashboard with statistical representations of various categories of the enrolled student’s data, generating daily matrix reports, Google API visualizations for quicker understanding and also a counselor ranking which depicts the success rate of each counselor etc. By harnessing accurate parameters like the number of walk-ins, the number of walk-ins but not purchased applications, applications purchased but not submitted, submitted but not enrolled etc. institutions can enroll the optimal number of students. In addition, tracking enrollment trends over time provide institutions with a better glimpse of the huge data and helps them in better and effective decision making resulting in an increased reputation of the institutions. This paper focuses on data capturing through the ICT enabled an application that is developed. Based on the data captured, analysis and decisions are made.

Native vs Non-Native English Speaking Teachers : An Analysis of Business Schools in the Tertiary Education Sector

The study examines how Business Schools at universities in Korea can motivate Korean, English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in business courses under the policy of English-medium instruction (EMI). This research focuses on the role of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) and native English speaking teachers (NESTs) in an EFL environment. To conduct the experiment, EFL learners’ motivation changes and qualitative interviews are collected; the NNEST class (n = 19), and NEST class (n = 18). The results of the motivation survey showed that at the beginning of the semester, the NNEST class learners displayed a lower level of confidence and intrinsic motivation than that of NEST class learners. However, by the end of the semester, while the intrinsic motivation levels remained the same, the NNEST class showed a higher level of confidence, interest, and extrinsic motivation than that of NEST class. Qualitative interviews were also done after the semester ended. The results of the interviews showed that motivation changes had no direct effect on classroom satisfaction in EFL contexts as learners understood the differences between NNESTs and NESTs, and their expectations in class of these two teachers were clearly different. Based on the findings, the paper also provides some policy advice to universities so as to help increase Korean EFL learners’ motivation and class satisfaction under the English-medium instruction policy.

Changes in the Relationship Between Formal Education and Formal Employment Sector in Nepal Between 1995 and 2014

This paper uses seven individual-level surveys between 1995 and 2014 to analyse the hypothesis that formal education increases wage-employment and formal sector employment in Nepal. The results show that formal education has increased substantially. However, formal sector employment has remained relatively stable. Individuals with tertiary education are about twice as often employed in the formal sector than individuals without completed primary education. This relationship is less strong for secondary education (22%) and primary education (7%). The results further show that about half of the relationship arises from working in government-related sectors. The overall picture regarding the relationship between formal education and formal sector employment has remained similar over time. However, the strength of the relationship between completed primary and secondary education and formal sector employment has decreased over time. The relationship between tertiary education and formal sector employment has remained stable unless the government related sectors are excluded.

Tertiary Education Reforms in Ghana: Implications for Executive and Regulatory Governance of Public Universities

This article is the result of an exploratory research on regulation and corporate governance and developments in the tertiary education sector of Ghana. The materials reviewed included the legislations establishing public universities and oversight agencies and the draft bills for the reforms in the sector. The findings were qualitatively analysed. The governance and regulation of public universities in Ghana is currently going through reforms- reforms that promises sweeping changes not only in the executive governance of the universities and the regulatory agencies, but also fundamentally, in the regulatory governance of the tertiary education sector. The piecemeal individual university Acts will give way to a single universities Act and consequently, harmonised universities statutes. This has implications for the autonomy of public universities in terms of institutional, academic and financial independence. The tertiary education oversight bodies, the National Council for Tertiary Education and the National Accreditation Board will also be merged into one oversight agency – Ghana Tertiary Education Commission. This article examines the current executive and regulatory governance of public universities and the oversight agencies and concludes that public universities under the status quo enjoy a high degree of institutional and academic independence. It is however posited that this will be eroded in the emerging regime. It further reveals that the present regulatory governance framework lacks both formal and de-facto independence resulting from lack of financial autonomy and tenure insecurity. Consequently the regime lacks credibility. Conversely, the emerging regime both in terms of the executive governance of the universities and regulatory governance are tainted with insecurity of tenure, lack of institutional and financial independence. This will undermine policy and regulatory credibility with negative implications for academic freedom.

Challenges in Recruitment and Selection Process: An Empirical Study

Today’s knowledge economy very much depends on the value created by the human resource of an organisation. In such a highly competitive environment, organisations have started to pay much attention to the recruitment and selection process, as employees form their main asset. However, the critical factors involved in the employee selection process is not well studied. Previous studies on the recruitment and selection process have been performed mainly to study the performance of the employees and the criteria attracting the right talent leading to employee retention and organizational efficiency. The distinction of this paper is that it studies the existing recruitment and selection process adopted by tertiary and dual education sectors in both urban and regional areas within Australia. The purpose of this research is to conduct an empirical study to identify the critical aspects of the employee selection process that can influence the decision based on different perspectives of the participants such as, hiring members, successful applicants as well as unsuccessful applicants. Various factors such as feedback provision, interview panel participation and preparations, relevance of interview questions, duration and bias were analysed, and their correlations were studied to gain insights in providing suitable recommendations for enhancing the process.

Is feedback to tutors the key to supporting quality in adult education?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine best practices in supporting tutors in academic quality within private training enterprises (PTEs) in New Zealand and to make practical recommendations for people working in the tertiary education sector. Design/methodology/approach A hypothesis is proposed, which is then tested using a case study examining what support from the quality assurance section of a PTE’s tutors perceive to be important. The hypothesis is that additional feedback is required for tutors. The results are compared with those on the literature on quality assurance to see if there is consistency in themes. Findings The primary themes that emerged from interview and survey data were that tutors with more than three years of experience feel they would benefit from more regular, clear and constructive feedback and that these tutors need support during any programme-related changes. Research limitations/implications This research highlights that the quality of feedback is crucial in education and a worthwhile area of further investigation. Limitations include the size of the sample of interviewees and that the study was based on only one organization in New Zealand. Future research is also suggested, which could include data from other tertiary educational institutions. Practical implications The paper concludes with a practical overview of “dos” and two “don’ts” identified from the case study. The objective is to share recommendations in a practical and useable way with other practitioners. Social implications This account of an inquiry into internal quality assurance processes and outcomes offers transferable learnings to tutors, academic quality assurance teams, employers and other stakeholders across the education sector. Originality/value The conclusion drawn from this is case study is that educational organisations should ensure that anyone tasked with providing feedback to tutors is first coached themselves; otherwise, the feedback can be unhelpful.

A competency framework for women empowerment: the case of the local government sector in South Africa

Gender representativity in political and managerial positions in local government in general and women empowerment in particular remain contentious issues. Although an extensive statutory and regulatory framework for gender equality was established and despite the fact that specific equity targets are set, it is evident that much more needs to be done to facilitate women empowerment in the local government sector. The purpose of this article is to reflect on findings of an empirical survey conducted amongst female politicians, managers, and experts in the local government sector with the aim to design the parameters of a competency framework for women empowerment. The results support the fact that a women empowerment competency framework should incorporate various dimensions and elements, notably sector-specific job requirements, registered gender-based formal programs in the tertiary education sector, as well as content of women empowerment initiatives taken by non-governmental organizations.

An old story, a new voice: Tertiary education in the Bay of Plenty region

In this article, I first critique neoliberal effects on the Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary education sector and then provide a close-up look at tertiary education in the Bay of Plenty region. Information is based on aspects of my doctoral research which was located across three tertiary education organisations comprising the Bay of Plenty Tertiary Education Partnership: The University of Waikato, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology and, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. The findings of this research examine connections across the partnership, delving into relevant aspects of universities, polytechnics and wānanga. I evaluate the historical, geographical, political and socio-cultural context of all three institutions. Lastly, I discuss campus connections between the partnership organisations. The emerging picture reveals an old story of expansion and growth with a new voice of tension between collaboration and competition in the face of a neoliberal education context. This article offers timely implications for contemporary and future University of Waikato campus connections and may appeal to academics, graduate students, policymakers and the general public.

Dual Mode Delivery in an Introductory Statistics Course: Design and Evaluation

In recent years, the Australian tertiary education sector embraced the gradual adaption of the dual mode system in course delivery in universities and higher degree education providers. In such systems, students have the option, as well as the flexibility, to undertake the same course in a face-to-face (F2F) environment and/or an online environment. This article presents an evaluation of the dual mode design of a first-year business statistics course delivered at the Griffith University. In this article, we discuss the various aspects of the dual mode design in the course, emphasizing the use of consistent teaching strategies for the F2F and online student cohorts. Moreover, we present a comparative analysis of learning satisfaction and academic performance of the two cohorts within the dual mode system. Using t-tests, nonparametric tests, and propensity score matching estimators we provide new insights into dual mode course design. Our results suggest no significant difference in student experiences and outcomes. Discussion and analysis presented in this article is useful as feedback for further improvement in teaching strategies in the delivery of dual mode courses.

Focused Ultrasound: Applications and Implications for Education

Introduction:Focused or point of care ultrasound applications have been integrated into prehospital assessments, triage capacities, military applications, trauma, and emergency health care settings, and medical school curriculums. Often, the inclusion of focused ultrasound is to answer specific clinical questions. However, the value is ultimately determined by the experience, skills, and training of the operator performing and interpreting the examination. Ultrasound was reserved for traditional imaging providers as little as two decades ago. However, as the application of ultrasound expands within clinical medicine, there is an increasing necessity for associated education and training.Aim:To highlight the applications and uses of focused ultrasound in the current diverse health care landscape while identifying the associated educational considerations, including the undergraduate tertiary education sector.Methods:A search of peer-reviewed published literature was undertaken to determine the range of current usage of ultrasound imaging across professions, and to identify the education and training available.Results:The results discussed within this presentation will highlight identified trends, ultrasound applications, educational considerations, and potential future practices based on the content of the literature explored.Discussion:Technology is rapidly advancing in the field of medical ultrasound with handheld ultrasound scanners now smaller, less expensive, and more accessible than ever before. Paralleled with these advances and the more generous use of ultrasound come the expectation and pressures of competent skill diversity among healthcare staff and specialists. Significantly, sonography is still considered by many as the most technically demanding and operator dependent medical imaging modality available. Therefore, as the application of ultrasound expands within clinical medicine, educational considerations must also align with this expansion to maintain diagnostic accuracy. This means an increasing demand for associated education and training, including in the undergraduate tertiary education sector.